8/15 - Day 5(Day 4 of Disney!)
Sorry for the delay on the post, you know how the week and weekends get.
Also, I promised rude monorail guests HOWEVER I was corrected that happened later in the week. But EPCOT DID happen so here we go!
We had decided to forgo the Princess breakfast this time and just get a Frozen fastpass to start the day off. Fortunately being at the Poly means you can just walk to the TTC and just hop on the monorail and go!
Our plans for the day were pretty packed. Let's face it, there's no real leisurely stroll in Disney, especially with kids.
Frozen and Nemo FP in the morning, followed by general EPCOT wandering, Mouse Gears and lunch. It doesn't sound like much but since we were only spending half the day there we had to move quick.
DW's shirt is sort of an Easter Egg
Monorail wasn't really full so we had a car all to ourselves. Downside was getting through security as the lines were a bit long this morning. Since I had the stroller I took all the bags and let everyone roll through no bags and I stood in the line. Not a big deal but it seemed to take longer than usual.
Strolled past Spaceship Earth and worked our way straight to Frozen Ever After! The walk wasn't bad, got hot quick so it was nice when we got indoors. It's a cute ride, they did a good job with the overlay. I wasn't really sad to see Maelstrom go, I didn't really understand most of it especially the ending where the trolls push you into an oil rig in the middle of the ocean. Oh and you definitely will get wet on this ride
After getting dropped off in the gift shop, DD and DS made their way over to the Frozen stuff while DW found the artwork from Larry Dotson. We love his stuff and each time we go we get at least three prints. This time around we decided to start getting prints of hotels we've stayed in. It's not all that many but something fun for us to do. And he's ALWAYS there when we go! Normally we get him to personalize our prints but he wasn't there yet so we just bought and rolled out as the children were being a bit unruly.
Next up meet Anna and Elsa! The line was 30 minutes but it was more like 15 and we got right through. We were "last" in our group so the kids got a little extra attention.
DD always gets "princess struck" and gets nervous and doesn't say a word, too cute.
That Anna is always talking about chocolate!
It was pushing 11 so we(I) decided we grab an early lunch to fend off the crowds just to get a seat. Thanks to the youtube, we had seen videos of the different cupcakes so DW definitely wanted to try Sunshine Seasons so off to the Land we go!
Since they did the tier thing our options were limited for FP's, especially with the kids so we snagged a Living with Land which turned out we actually needed it! The line was HUGE!
Who doesn't love a slow moving boat ride in air conditioning? DS was a big fan of it due to some of the animals that appeared.
Sorry I don't have any pictures of the ride. It is interesting to see the people working in the lab wondering what's going on in there.
Afterwards we walked over to Sunshine Season's and got the kids chicken tenders, fries and mac and cheese.
DW and I decided to go for the Asian station and grabbed Mongolian Beef and Sweet and Sour Chicken. The noodles grabbed me in, what can I say
We wound up switching meals since the SSC had pineapple in it and I'm not a fan. The beef was quite tasty!
Next up, cupcakes!
First up was the Hazelnut. The frosting was normal butter cream which is tasty as always, but inside had a hazelnut filling. It was ok, DW liked it more than me. I wouldn't get it again but that's just me.
Next was the lemon Belle cupcake
I was also not a fan of this one as it was a literal lemon. It had a lemon frosting with a cherry center. Again, DW liked it and I was not a fan. I guess I'm just a traditional cupcake guy(Funfetti!)
It was starting to get jammed in there and we had a fast pass for Nemo so made our way over to The Seas only to find out Nemo was down. Oh well, it would come back eventually so just rolled into the back door and headed for Turtle Talk.
The kids sat up front and DD tried to ask a question and didn't get picked so we told her we'd try again on our second EPCOT day. I remember Crush was talking to a kid and asked where his parents were and goes "Let's talk to the dad, he looks terrified"
When we got out Nemo was working again so we left and came back in to ride. I took a bunch of pictures on the ride but they didn't turn out at all, oh well. Nemo got lost, they found him
Spent some time in the aquarium and found Nemo!
Hidden Mickey and a shark
BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE!
We dilly-dallyed a bit in the Seas before leaving and heading over towards Mouse Gears, DW's favorite store in ALL of Disney World. It's at this point that DS fell asleep in the stroller so it was easier for DW to shop. We only picked up a few things and on the way out stopped at the pin store and got a few pins.
The monorail ride back was uneventful and like I said before, being at the Poly is nice that we don't have to change monorails to another hotel. Now off to rest!
Cranked the AC below 70 and got recharged before our 5:15 dinner at Chef Mickey's! This was just the precursor to the Happily Ever After dessert party. Now I had gone back and forth to whether to keep the Chef Mickey's or not, I was afraid about leaving my car for longer than the three hours we had read. Our thinking was we eat, walk over to MK and then be able to walk out of MK to the car without having to use the monorail or the boat after the fireworks. I threw caution to the wind and decided to just risk it and go for it.
The drive was only a few minutes and we self parked and walked straight in. This was the early seating so the place was kind of empty to start. But first the obligatory picture!
No thanks, Mickey. I'm not here for your bowl of random vegetables.
We were seated across the back wall towards the entrance by the windows and was told the characters were going to be coming quick and boy did they!
First up Donald! He quacked the kids up. Such a quack up. Quack.
The mouse himself!
Oh Goofy. What a dip.
Minnie I was unimpressed with, and this is the second time this happened. She got to our table, literally dragged the kids out of their seats and moved on. The first time was at HS last Christmas and it was the same thing. I don't know what her deal was but she was not pleasant, even with the smile.
Pluto! He was impressive. The books were upside down and he signed them so they showed up right side up. He licked the kids too, ha.
Pluto was on point.
Dinner was good, had some decent options and the kids ate most of their meals. Passed on dessert as our next destination was the HEA Dessert party. Overall this is a great meal for kids, a little pricey but you get 5 main characters in one shot.
Walked over to MK and since we had some time to kill before the party opened we did everyone's favorite, the TTA!
I don't think either of them are looking at the camera.
Paging Mr. Morrow!
We make our way over to the checking spot, which if you're not familiar with it's right after the bathrooms from main street into the old Noodle Terrace.
After check-in, we are led to a table towards the bottom part of the Terrace. They do a nice job in covering up all the tables with clothes and candles. And the food is actually really good. Today they had cheeseburger eggrolls! And those. were. awesome. I hear they have those near the Tiki Room in MK if you want to get your hands on some.
This was my plate
Red Velvet cupcake with frosting, Oreo cookie with cookies and cream filling and a chocolate Mickey face and of course, chocolate covered strawberries. I got many of those.
They also have sparkling cider, coffee and milk. It's pricey, but it beats lining up hours ahead of time sitting on the ground.
After we ate, we walked to the check-in desk and someone led us into the "grassy" area in the hub that's roped off. Most of the middle was taken and people were already sitting on the ground so we just stayed to the right. There was a tree kind of in the way but we could still see. Plus the kids didn't want anything to do with fireworks so they stayed in the stroller.
They do photopass now!
This is one of our new favorite soundtracks, we sing it all the time. The show is awesome, I highly recommend it. And we paid extra for the party just for the special seating. As you can see, we got the 'obstructed view' side
I kept checking on the kids. DD had fallen asleep and DS was crying due to the noise. I can't blame either of them, I was the same way at their age so I'm definitely sympathetic.
Right before the castle goes back to normal. But look at the mass exodus to leave! We waited probably 10 minutes for the crowd to die down, which it didn't, so we hopped in with the rest of them. Took us down the overflow lane behind main street and we turned around and went to the candy store at the end to check for some treats and then make our way out. The monorail line was crazy as was the buses, but fortunately the car was at the Contemporary(my hope!).
Sure enough, there was the car right where we left it. All my worry was for naught. And it was worth not having to wait in those crazy lines to get out of the park. One year we tried walking back and getting on the monorail at the Contemporary only to call a Lyft to go to the Poly since that line was also insane. Why don't they finish the path to the GF? That would be a good walk back. I mean it'd be long but another way out.
Back to the room for some well earned sleep. Tomorrow was our "day off," so to speak. Since the three of us only have 8 day tickets, we decided to use this day so DW could go to the Character Warehouse during the day and then we'll have a pool day in the afternoon. And then dinner at probably new my favorite restaurant, Chef Art Smith Homecomin!
-Sorry for the delay on the writing, you know how busy things get with the kids