Real Time Trip Report Days 7 & 8: Epcot

[gokatgo]

We had an 8:00 ADR at Akershus so I had called to see what time the buses started to Epcot since it didn't open until 9:00. I was told they started at 7:20 so we arrived at the bus stop at 7:18. Well guess they really started much earlier and we ended up having to wait a while. We made it to Epcot and through the gates at 8:00 and hurried through the park to Akershus.

All 7 of us came to this meal. We did not see our aunt and uncle at all the previos day. While we did MK and MVMCP, they met some friends and went to the Gaylord to see the ice sculpture display. They showed us pictures and it is very elaborate. They also had dinner at Wave at the Contemporary and they said it was excellent

before we were seated, we met Belle and had our pictures done, this was beet nice and part of a meal here. Since we had 7 people, we got two set of pictures. The meal consists of a cold buffet- yogurt with toppings, bagels with several types of cream cheese, smoked salmon, herring, cheeses, fruit and pastries including lingonberry muffins. They then bring a hot plate of bacon, sausage, efggs and a potato dish. The food was really good. I had smoked salmon on a bagel for the first time and loved it. This was one of those foods I tried as a child and didn't like, I'm glad I finally gave it another try! Since we were late checking in, we were the first party seated in the second room and it took a while for the characters to come around. They did a princess parade around the room and the kids joined in. Only Mimi went from our table, the boys did not want to parade around with girls. We were then met by Mary Poppins, Ariel, Snow White and Aurora. At 9:00, Steve left to get fast passes for Test Track. He also rented a double stroller for the big kids. this cost $30 but ended up being a very wise investment since they were so tired from the night before. It also became a moving locker for us since we could stow purchases and throw all the jackets on top. This was a good park to do it in too since there is more room.

after breakfast we headed to Test Track. The stand by line was only 5 minutes so we saved our fast passes. Sammy was a little nervous but ended up loving it. He is obsessed with cars so it was the perfect ride for him. DA and DU went with us on this one and then left the park to meet some friends. They are going to the Tiffany Museum in Winter Park today and they will meet up with us later

The weather was brisk in the morning but sunny. The date was November 30th.

Right now its Decmber 3rd at 7:45 am. They are taping the parade at MK today and I am going to try to rally my daughter to go over with me for a couple hors and see if we can catch a glimpse of Justin Beiber

We had two great days at Epcot, so more to come soon!

[faline]

Very nice Epcot day! Good luck with your quest of the day!

[gokatgo]

Next we headed to Mission Space, green version. I was really nervous, especially when I saw the barf bags in there. But it was just right. We got fastpasses so the kids could do the more intense version later but Mimi decided she didn't want to. We caught up with steve and sammy in innoventions. They had done a few things. We all went in the severe weather display and really enjoyed it. We also signed the kids up for their first Kim Possible mission. These ended up being the highlight of our kids Epcot experience. Next, We all headed to Ellens energy adventure. It was nice and relaxing. We watched a performance of the Jammitors then headed to Club Cool. Ben and I loved sampling. Mimi and Sammy don't like soda. We tricked steve into trying the bitter soda from Italy! We also got some ice cream and then headed back to test track to use our fast passes. It was before 1:00 when we headed into Mexico.

[gokatgo]

this Day turned out to be one of my favorites. We live Epcot, there aren't as many "big" rides so it seems so much more relaxed. And there is more room so it didn't seem crowded on this day

Here is what we did in each country, we took about an hour in each:

Mexico:
River ride
Shopping- Mimi got a little leather purse
We got one taco plate with chips to share and sat out by the water. And of course a margarita too
The kids also did their first Kim Possible mission around Mexico, all of the interactions were so cool. And they set the phone to do a little ring when it's time to pass it to the next kid in the group so all 3 kids got a turn to work the Kimmunicator
We also watched a bit of the 3 kings storytellers, the mariachis and we visited Mexican Donald

Norway:
We did the boat ride and watched the movie, walked right on and since we had already eaten here, we looked around the shops. Sammy really wanted a Viking sword but we held off since we didn't want him walking around with it all day
we saw a little bit of the Norwegian Christmas storyteller before we moved on

China:
Mimi and I visited Mulan and then we all watched the acrobats. We saw the movie and walked through the shops. We got egg rolls and Chinese beer

And the kids had started going to the kid cot stops and they loved it. However the next day we got an idea from someone else. Instead of just carrying around the Duffy bear thing, we asked the kid cot cast member to sign the autograph books. The stamped the page and wrote in thei language, it was really great! I kind of regretted not doing the passports but it was nice to have everything in one place

We skipped Germany since we were having dinner there the next night and headed to Italy. We looked around the shops and watched the Christmas storyteller. We really enjoyed watching these and this one was my favorite. We got some chianti and headed on our way

We passed by the American Pavilion, I wanted Ro go to the show with our aunt and uncle but we never did end up seeing it. The 5:00 candlelight processional was just starting, it looked so beautiful. We will be seeing it the next night

We headed to Japan and got a strawberry kaki gori and some hot sake. The kids got a kim possible mission and it was a really fun one. During the mission, Mimi had to use the restroom so we went upstairs to the restaurant. We had teppanyaki here years ago but the front dining room is really beautiful. DA and DU ended up eating here later and said it was really good

We went back to finish our mission and then shopped in the Mitsukoshi department store So many awesome things. Mimi lives all things Japanese - last year she asked Santa for a kimono and her birthday party was at Benihana so you can imagine how much she enjoyed this pavilion. Ben got some pokemon cards and Mimi ended up picking a pearl and having it mounted in a silver oyster setting. This whole experience was top notch- the little ceremony they did was fun and Mimi was so happy, this was a huge highlight of our trip and a great souvenir for her. Before leaving Japan we watched the storyteller, another charming story

[gokatgo]

We skipped by France and headed to England so we could check in at the Rose and Crown. Our ADRs were for 7:50 but my strategy was to check in at 7:30 and wait up to an hour for a waterside table. It was really cold out so we weren't sure how this would go. We met up with DA and DU and we took the boys to meet pooh and tigger. It was funny since Sammy had no interest in pooh at the crystal palace the day before. He can very slow to warm up to things. We walked around the shops and finally got seated right at 8:30. There was plastic around the patio and heaters going so it was nice and cozy. We were one table back from the edge. Our server, Kylie, was fantastic the kids they recruit from the various countries are such treasures! I had steak, it was excellent. The kids had fish and chips. Right before illuminations they pulled back the plastic. We turned our chairs and had a pretty good view, but not quite as good as I had hoped

We headed out and caught the bus back to Wilderness Lodge, exhausted but it was a GREAT day!!

[faline]

Don't you just love those low key days that turn out to be so wonderful in memory?!! It was nice you got to sit out on the Patio for Illuminations! Very lucky as these tables are very hard to get!!

[gokatgo]

We are in our rental car on our way to port canaveral for a 4 night cruise on the Dream. This is our first cruise, we are so excited!

I will have to finish our trip report later but we had another day at Epcot, a magical day at MK for Sammy's birthday and a final day at the resort.


Bon voyage for now!!

[faline]

Enjoy!

[Jennifer_and_Chris]

How exciting! I could walk around World Showcase a hundred times and discover something new each time.

Can't wait to hear about the cruise!

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the Report! :smickey:

[gokatgo]

We are back from our cruise and headed back to Orlando. What an experience!!

Anyway, our second day at Epcot found Steve moving slowly so Mimi and I took off a little earlier. We took the boat to the contemporary and the the monorail to Epcot. We arrived about 10 minutes after opening and headed right to Soarin. We love this ride, especially since it shows our home town of San Diego! Sammy is finally tall enough for it but he didn't get to experience it on this trip. I'm sure we will be headed to California Adventure when Carsland opens so he will have to do it then. Next Mimi and I went on the land boat ride. Even though she is only 9, she loves this type of attraction and we both soaked up the information and enjoyed seeing the plants grow. We grabbed breakfast at Sunshine Seasons and met up with the boys.


We walked right on the Nemo ride and spent some time in the shark interactive area. The kids learned a lot!! We walked through Inniventions, but didn't see much we wanted to do so we headed over to the Imagination Pavilion. We watched the Captain EO Show, it was like visiting an old friend. I remembered it so well!! And I felt so sad too. Seeing Michael in his prime. Ben is a big fan and all the kids really loved this show. Don't miss it!! We headed onto the figment ride, my kids love this and the song. I think it's seen better days. We played for about 10 minutes, bought some pins and headed to Canada.

It was about noon. We watched the Canada movie and caught a bit of Off Kilter. I got a beer but Steve's stomach wasn't working properly so he didn't share it with me

Next we headed to the UK and did a Kim Possible Mission. I had noticed some objects the night before that we didnt go to on our mission. The cast member told me there is more than one possible mission in a country. This whole program was so cool and gave us grown ups a chance to explore the country while the kids looked for thei clues. I loved the Beatles store, so much great stuff. We were really good about staying on budget thoug so I didn't get much for myself

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Sounds great, my son loves all things Japanese too...he's not really a fan of WS but loves to look there.