faline
09-06-2013, 04:15 PM
When: August 20 – 28, 2013
Who: Gene & Me
Today: August 27, 2013 - Tuesday
Plan for the Day: Magic Kingdom
The Reality:
We were up late last evening so do not rush to rise this morning. For our entire trip, the crowds at the Magic Kingdom, in particular, have been much, much heavier than we were expecting for this time of year. I opt not to return to the Magic Kingdom today. Instead, we decide to go to Epcot.
We set out but Gene has forgotten his watch so returns to the room to retrieve it. As we pass the boat dock, he notes that we just missed the boat and said he thought we would have taken it had it been there. Instead, we walk over.
The standby time for Soarin’ is already at 40 minutes or so, so we collect fast passes and decide to have some breakfast. We each select an adult breakfast platter. I’m not a big fan of scrambled eggs to begin with but, even less so when they are just lukewarm. The sausage is on the cool side; the bacon rather limp and not hot either. The slice of French toast is not warm at all. I eat some but promise myself, I will not eat here again.
There is still time to our fast pass so we cross the park and take the sissy version of Mission:Space. To kill some time, we wander through Mousegears. We grab fast passes for Test Track which are for between 3 and 4 that afternoon. Really?
We head back over and enter Soarin. We are seated near a mom and her daughter. The daughter is a bit apprehensive about the ride but does well. However, she does not want to ride again when her mom suggests it. The little girl nicely asks if we’d like to ride again as she has another ticket. We thank her and decline.
I suggest we look at the standby line at Test Track to see if we can tolerate that. Looking at it, we decide we can’t tolerate that line. We decide to stop in the Rose & Crown for a beer. It’s noon. I walk up to the front door and tug. It does not budge. Gene tries. It seems to be locked. We walk around the other side and enter the door by the piano. Many tables inside are unoccupied which is a surprise. While we are ordering, I let the person know that it appears their door is still locked. Someone runs over to unlock the doors. A few minutes later, the pub has really filled up and all the tables are taken.
I’m feeling like having a burger so suggest we check out Beaches and Cream.
A boat is at the dock as we exit through the International Gateway. Since Gene had expressed interest in riding the boat earlier, we hop on and exit at the second stop – Beach & Yacht Club.
We haven’t been in Beaches & Cream in years. Back then, you simply walked in and, if all the seats were taken, you just waited for someone to get up so you could grab their seat(s). Now, we are handed beepers and told the wait would be around 30 minutes. 35-40 minutes later, I check in to see where we are in the queue and am told we are next. A few minutes later the beeper goes off and we are seated at the counter.
We both order burgers – fries with mine; onion rings for Gene. He has a chocolate milkshake while I select a vanilla coke. It’s filling but not the best burger I’ve ever had – certainly not worth a 45 minute wait to be seated at the counter. Oh well.
Since it is close to our fast pass time for Test Track, we go back into Epcot. The line stretching down the middle of the road is the fast pass line. We’re told it will be about a 25 minute wait (The single rider line is listed as 20 minutes) in the fast pass lane and that the backup is due to the ride having gone down earlier in the day. We shuffle forward and are finally ushered into the room where one designs your car. From there, we enter a small hallway devoid of all pictures or anything to see. Finally, we are boarded on a car for our ride on the “new” Test Track. I’m underwhelmed. I much prefer the old storyline – at least there was a story line. Ok. We’ve done it.
We exit Epcot once again and decide to go to the pool one last time on this trip. We splash around a bit and head back to our room.
Thought about packing up tonight but decide it will wait until morning. We shower and dress. Neither of us are hungry since we had such a late lunch. We head over to the general store and pick up a Mickey Ice Cream bar and Ice Cream sandwich.
Illuminations is running late this evening. It does not start until about 10 minutes after it’s scheduled time. We eat our ice-creams. On our way into the room, Gene drops one of the tea light holders we had on the balcony and it shatters. He has bare feet so I head around to the bedroom door to let him in that way. He gets some shoes, finds the broom and rounds up the shattered glass.
With the cleanup completed, I had for my last bath bomb of this trip
Who: Gene & Me
Today: August 27, 2013 - Tuesday
Plan for the Day: Magic Kingdom
The Reality:
We were up late last evening so do not rush to rise this morning. For our entire trip, the crowds at the Magic Kingdom, in particular, have been much, much heavier than we were expecting for this time of year. I opt not to return to the Magic Kingdom today. Instead, we decide to go to Epcot.
We set out but Gene has forgotten his watch so returns to the room to retrieve it. As we pass the boat dock, he notes that we just missed the boat and said he thought we would have taken it had it been there. Instead, we walk over.
The standby time for Soarin’ is already at 40 minutes or so, so we collect fast passes and decide to have some breakfast. We each select an adult breakfast platter. I’m not a big fan of scrambled eggs to begin with but, even less so when they are just lukewarm. The sausage is on the cool side; the bacon rather limp and not hot either. The slice of French toast is not warm at all. I eat some but promise myself, I will not eat here again.
There is still time to our fast pass so we cross the park and take the sissy version of Mission:Space. To kill some time, we wander through Mousegears. We grab fast passes for Test Track which are for between 3 and 4 that afternoon. Really?
We head back over and enter Soarin. We are seated near a mom and her daughter. The daughter is a bit apprehensive about the ride but does well. However, she does not want to ride again when her mom suggests it. The little girl nicely asks if we’d like to ride again as she has another ticket. We thank her and decline.
I suggest we look at the standby line at Test Track to see if we can tolerate that. Looking at it, we decide we can’t tolerate that line. We decide to stop in the Rose & Crown for a beer. It’s noon. I walk up to the front door and tug. It does not budge. Gene tries. It seems to be locked. We walk around the other side and enter the door by the piano. Many tables inside are unoccupied which is a surprise. While we are ordering, I let the person know that it appears their door is still locked. Someone runs over to unlock the doors. A few minutes later, the pub has really filled up and all the tables are taken.
I’m feeling like having a burger so suggest we check out Beaches and Cream.
A boat is at the dock as we exit through the International Gateway. Since Gene had expressed interest in riding the boat earlier, we hop on and exit at the second stop – Beach & Yacht Club.
We haven’t been in Beaches & Cream in years. Back then, you simply walked in and, if all the seats were taken, you just waited for someone to get up so you could grab their seat(s). Now, we are handed beepers and told the wait would be around 30 minutes. 35-40 minutes later, I check in to see where we are in the queue and am told we are next. A few minutes later the beeper goes off and we are seated at the counter.
We both order burgers – fries with mine; onion rings for Gene. He has a chocolate milkshake while I select a vanilla coke. It’s filling but not the best burger I’ve ever had – certainly not worth a 45 minute wait to be seated at the counter. Oh well.
Since it is close to our fast pass time for Test Track, we go back into Epcot. The line stretching down the middle of the road is the fast pass line. We’re told it will be about a 25 minute wait (The single rider line is listed as 20 minutes) in the fast pass lane and that the backup is due to the ride having gone down earlier in the day. We shuffle forward and are finally ushered into the room where one designs your car. From there, we enter a small hallway devoid of all pictures or anything to see. Finally, we are boarded on a car for our ride on the “new” Test Track. I’m underwhelmed. I much prefer the old storyline – at least there was a story line. Ok. We’ve done it.
We exit Epcot once again and decide to go to the pool one last time on this trip. We splash around a bit and head back to our room.
Thought about packing up tonight but decide it will wait until morning. We shower and dress. Neither of us are hungry since we had such a late lunch. We head over to the general store and pick up a Mickey Ice Cream bar and Ice Cream sandwich.
Illuminations is running late this evening. It does not start until about 10 minutes after it’s scheduled time. We eat our ice-creams. On our way into the room, Gene drops one of the tea light holders we had on the balcony and it shatters. He has bare feet so I head around to the bedroom door to let him in that way. He gets some shoes, finds the broom and rounds up the shattered glass.
With the cleanup completed, I had for my last bath bomb of this trip