Lions and Tigers and CGI Bears, Oh My! June '16 - COMPLETED 6/4, page 22

While that was all happening, Dylan and I were leaving Hollywood Studios and taking a bus to Disney Springs. But which bus? We get in line for the Coronado bus, thinking we'll go back there, then grab a bus to DS. It's a roundabout way, but it might be the easiest. It's taking FOR-EVER, though.

As we wait, I see my first ever Brazilian Tour Group (tm); a gang of about 20 or so teenage girls. They're standing in a circle near the bus stop, chanting while 3 of them do some dance in the middle. Dylan's annoyed (by people having fun), but hey, they're enjoying themselves.

Ok, where is this bus? I come up with the game-changing idea to get on a bus to one of the resorts close to Disney Springs. Then, we can walk over. The sign says "Disney Springs Hotels" are straight ahead, so off we go. Saratoga Springs! Old Key West!

Or...not. Huh?

Apparently, "Disney Springs Hotels" means the Marriot, et al, and NOT anything Disney. C'mon.

Deciding once again to go back to Coronado first (not very efficient, I know), we get back in that line. A bus came and went since we left. To top it off, I accidentally punted some kid's BB8 souvenir cup while stepping over the chain to exit the line. It was ok, though. I apologized like crazy, and he was cool with it. Plus BB8 was intact.

We got on the bus, finally, and it was back to Coronado. We got off at Station 2, then waited for the next Disney Springs bus. One came, we got on, and I texted Kristin, telling her we were finally on our way.

She texts back: "Once Upon a Toy Closes at 11:00."

What? I thought they were open until midnight? We're never going to make it. And that's not just being pessimistic.

The bus drops us off literally 17 miles from Once Upon a Toy, and sure enough, when we get there, it's closed. Dylan spots people coming out of it still, but I explain that they were probably inside before it closed. He's not happy. At all.

So here we are, tired, frustrated, and having wasted a good three hours trying to get a plastic weapon that we never even got close to. On two, separate occasions. Ugh. I just want to go back and get to bed.

We walked the 17 miles back to the bus stop (Disney Springs is, like, totally confusing anymore. For me, at least. But that doesn't take much.). We finally reach it, and the bus is boarding RIGHT NOW. It looks like it's almost full. But we might make it.

...

We do. Yes!

In a turn of irony, the back of the bus is loaded with college-aged conventioners.

We reach the back, and there is only one seat left. Dylan dives in. The only reason he got it was because one of the girls wanted to try to quickly finish her ice cream outside the bus before she would have to throw it out, so we got to board before her.

So when she finally boarded, do you think Dylan gave up his seat for her? HECK NO. We were tired. REALLY tired. And she should have thrown out her ice cream. Or eaten faster. They had no idea what we'd been through. We've seen things. We were not kidding around. Or giving up seats.

I was standing, though. Because I'm nice like that.

Anyway, the lights went down, the bus got rolling, and we were on our way. And then the night ended in what, looking back, was the only way this night could end: the row of girls in the back started singing. Loudly. It was that "I can't feel my face when I'm with you, but I love it" song. Which is what I think it's really called. Look it up.

Whatever it's called, they were singing it. All of them. And clapping. And swaying.

Dylan was in the middle of it all, expressionless. Having seen him yell at Emily for singing too much at home, I was waiting for him to explode. I was almost certain it was going to happen. I could sense it coming.

But he held back. Good kid :) He did have a sense of humor about it, recording some of the audio to immortalize the horror.

Around 11:45, our bus rolled into Coronado Springs. The connies (my new word for conventioners - spread it around) got off at the fist stop, and we could relax. We then reached station 4, got off, went right to the room, and got ready for bed. We were DONE.

Kristin and Emily weren't back yet (MK was open until midnight), but I was in bed within minutes. DONE.

The girls rolled in at about 12:30, and said they had the best night. Yeah, the photos make that clear. Good for them! We tell them about our nightmare of a night, but I'm happy they had a good time.

Our day wasn't a total loss, though. We did have a great day when it wasn't revolving around light sabers or standing room only FastPasses for Mickey shows.

Oh well, this day's over. Moving forward. Tomorrow, we're back at Epcot. And it's hard to NOT have a great day there.

Good night!

(up next - our fourth and final Epcot day!)
 
Day 10 - Wednesday - Epcot

Itinerary:
  • Sleep in
  • Epcot from afternoon to close

FastPass+
  • Spaceship Earth: 2:45-3:40
  • Frozen Ever After: 3:50-4:50
  • The Seas with Nemo and Friends: 4:50-5:50

ADR:
  • Coral Reef 6:00pm
 
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Alright, I realize the Day Header photos show a sign for Shanghai Disney. And I realize the Itinerary post says we're going to Epcot. So which is it?

Epcot.

So why the sign for Shanghai Disney?

We'll get to that later.

But for now, I'll start this day off by confirming that nothing says "sleep in day" like a fourth Epcot day following a late night. Sure, it's our last day going to this park, but we've already seen and done everything there. Today is just gravy.

Well, with one exception.

Frozen Ever After, the highly-anticipated (and controversial, though mostly hated) reskinning of the classic Maelstrom ride in the Norway pavilion opened yesterday. And we have FastPasses for it today. I heard that the ride was down a lot of the first day, so I'm hoping they worked that out. We'll see.

In the aftermath of yesterday's lightsaber debacle, I told Dylan that I don't want to give up on getting one. I don't want it to beat me now. It can't get away with what it did to us.

He agrees. He's like me in that he doesn't like to let things beat him. We WILL get that lightsaber.

Ok, but when? Maybe on our last day. We were originally thinking about going to Disney Springs on our departure day, but that's up in the air. But we WILL get that lightsaber.

But now, we're going to Epcot.

We got to the park around noon, and since it's Epcot, we decided to NOT eat at the Pepper Market prior to boarding the bus. Nope, we've got other plans. But more on that in a minute.

The first order of business is a trip to Guest Relations. After telling our Fantasmic(!) FastPass story to Kristin, she agrees that we got a pretty bum deal. Now, let's see if the GR CMs agree.

...

As always, they do (Disney magic!), and she is able to transform our disappointment to bonus FPs. Anything but Frozen Ever After. Ok, how about Soarin'?

The extremely helpful CM, whom I again forget to praise to Disney management, makes it happen. We now have anytime FPs for Soarin'. Awesome! Kristin's great at this. I would probably just accept it and move on, but that would result in no Soarin' FPs for today. Her way's better.

Alright, that down, it's time for lunch. For Kristin, it's France. Again. She LOVES that place (Boulangerie), and wants an encore. The rest of us are holding out for other things. Today is a "eat what you want for lunch" day...within limits. We're not just going to let the kid eat Mickey Ice Cream Bars and call it a "meal". But we're not forcing them to get anything in France. In fact, it's only Kristin today. I have other ideas as well.

On the way there, we pass the typically-closed gate in front of the convention center between the Canada and UK pavilions. I don't remember the name of it, but its here:



Anyway, the typically-closed gate is currently-open, and there are characters inside. And not just any characters. C-level characters!



Soon after we enter, the CMs at the gate close it. Exclusive access!



Ok, ok. Calm down, Winnie the Pooh fans. I know he's not "C-level". So let's change that first comment to "B and C-level characters!" That should be more accurate. This guy's probably considered "B-level", for that matter:



However...







This is great! We got to meet a lot of rare-or-uncommon characters in a short period of time, with no wait. What a fun surprise!
 


Now, back to France:





Apparently, a lot of people have the same idea:



Kristin gets through the line, in time, and gets herself the Croque Monsieur:



If you take notice, it actually has CHEESE on it. And a decent amount of cheese. Unlike the one she got at Be Our Guest.

She's happy, but now I'm hungry. I'm in the mood for sushi from the Japan pavilion, while Emily wants kakigori. I know, I know...not much better than a Mickey Bar. But this isn't her lunch. It's a pre-lunch snack.

First, some photos in Morocco:







Then, some shopping in Japan:



Then, another trip through the Kawaii Culture room, where I spot a quote that I LOVE:



I was probably a Japanese teenage girl in another life. A life that also, somehow, took place in 2016.

Now, before you ask "what the-?" and close this TR, never to return again, let me attempt to change the subj- look, origami!



I'm not exactly sure why they have the girl with carpal tunnel in both wrists folding small pieces of paper, but it's their business, and they can run it how they like.

Moving on, it's time to get our food.

Or maybe not. We get to the kiosk, and Magic Band charging is not working. So we can't use snacks to get the food. I don't want to pay cash, so we continue around World Showcase, hoping the issue gets resolved in short order.
 
We haven't seen the American Adventure yet (this year), so in we go. Unfortunately, the show doesn't start for 45 minutes. Kristin doesn't seem to care about the wait, but I'm really hungry now. So hungry, I pay CASH for a curry chicken pocket (for me) and strawberry slushie (for Emily) from a kiosk outside the China pavilion. Yep, the system's still down. Photos on the way...





No food photos, but I think there was one on the first day I got the chicken pocket.

Stomach (more) full (than before), it's back to the American Adventure, where the Voices of Liberty are performing:



Em and I are down for this. Literally.



They (or some similar group) also perform a capella versions of Disney and popular songs on the stage outside, which is typically reserved for aging superstars of years past. A capella is a musical style that really doesn't co-exist peacefully with me, especially when they're singing Green Day. If people wonder why I sometimes gravitate to bands that are less well-known, one of the reasons is "so I don't run the risk of hearing the a capella version". But Green Day's good. Just not the Voices of Liberty (or whoever) version.

Into the actual animatronic show now, and it's a good one. I think we tend to overlook this one when considering things we love about Epcot.

Emily got a "Spirit of Adventure" award at her fifth grade "moving on" ceremony at school, so I point out the statue of that name inside the theater. See, you have something in common with the Seafood Shanty guy!

Afterwards, it was time for the kids to eat. Since they're picky, Kristin suggests checking out the Liberty Inn, where we've never eaten. With all of the other options, we just can't bring ourselves to eat hot dogs in World Showcase. The kids, on the other hand, have no problem with that:



Emily gets the usual:



They enjoyed their meals, but I can't say I'll ever eat here. Again, too many other options.
 
We did some shopping in Germany next, where Kristin and Emily got monogrammed Disney drinking glasses, and I got a Biergarten shirt (none pictured). Then, it was on to China:







We stop just inside the building to say, "hello!" in the domed room, to hear the echo, and then went into the waiting area. The exhibit to the side of the waiting area has been changed since we were here last year, now providing a glimpse into the new resort in Shanghai:



























See! I told you we'd get back to that sign. More from Shanghai:







I'd love to visit every Disney park and resort at some point, of course, but Shanghai's not at the top of my list. I did watch a ride-through of their Pirates ride, however, and WOW. So cool! Some other great attractions are there, too, but I'm not sure I want to go to China anytime soon.
 


Before the movie starts, Dylan hands a bribe to a local official:



Kristin and I see another quote we like:



...and then, we enter the theater. We enjoy the film of "our beloved China", as always, and then it's back out into the Florida sun...just in time for the acrobats!











Amazing! We checked our respective timepieces, and saw it was just about time for our first non-throwaway FastPasses of the day. Skipping our 2:45s for Spaceship Earth, we make our way toward a more magical land.

We're going to Arendelle.

(up next - Frozen Ever After, dinner at Coral Reef, and more Epcot!)

 
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Great Update, sounds like a fun day at Epcot so far.

I love the American Adventure! Especially the finale with the The Voices of Liberty are great too.

We ate at the Quick serve place there a couple years ago and it was good but the menu has changed since then. They used to have a nice grilled shrimp dish with cajun rice (I think it was Cajun), and then the Burger had a crab cake on it instead of just a regular cheeseburger. (My dad had that and really enjoyed it)

Awesome display about Shanghai Disney, Love the Chinese acrobats!

Looking forward to your Frozen experience.
 
Ok, I'm behind so I'm gonna respond to the last split up day update here. So Em and K for the win, huh? D and J for the loss?? Haha. I shouldn't laugh. I've had some losing days at Disney myself. Our last Friday evening (6/10/16) was an absolute mess with total wash outs of Jedi Training and Fantasmic, my 2 yr old with a 103.1 fever, and me injuring my knee by slipping on a standing puddle of water. So I do feel your pain.

Btw, was that the new SW fireworks or the old ones? We saw the old ones (6/8) which I thought were crazy fabulous! I've heard the new ones are good but it's more projection based so there is limited "good" seating so we are probably doing the dessert party next June just to get the view.

Can't wait til my boys are a tad older so we can enjoy the late nights at MK. Not to say we left before 10:30-11 this last trip, but it wasn't because we were racing to and jumping on a ton of awesome rides, most of them of the thrilling variety.

So, FYI, I'm reading your 2015 report again. I finished 2014 so it just made sense to check it out again. Lots of things make more sense now. Go figure. Maybe I should've went chronological in the first place, huh?

Ok, let me go back and read the next update.
 
I feel you pain with regards to the "build your own lightsaber" saga. Our son was obsessing about making his own throughout a recent trip and everytime we went to Tatooine Traders, the line was out the door and around the corner!!!!! (Once Upon a Toy didn't even enter our minds! Good call on Kristin's part.) Finally, on our last day of vacation, we rearranged our day, and went back to Hollywood Studios at rope drop with the sole purpose of building a custom light saber -- and success! We made it happen! Even though we were the first in, it took a LONG time to build. Not a very stream-lined process. But, we couldn't let Hollywood Studios win and beat us out of building this lightsaber.... good times... I think :)
upload_2016-10-17_13-43-29.png
 
I've probably already mentioned this but we are going to try Les Halles for breakfast next June. I'm super excited about that after seeing all the reviews of it.

Love American Adventure! I'll freely admit that this past June we spent exactly zero minutes in Workd Showcase. It wasn't planned that way but that's how it ended up, so we'll need to remedy that on the next trip. I'm sure you are outraged that one of your TR followers committed that sin but hopefully you won't kick me off the TR just yet.

I enjoyed the Shanghai stuff. It's interesting to see it, most specially since I doubt I will ever make it there. Though my DH's friend lives there and runs several bed and breakfasts so we actually could end up there one day if we could afford the plane ticket.

So I knew there wasn't a trip planned for 2017 but I guess I missed the 2018 news. Wow. I guess you have had a good run though. Right now we have no Disney plans past 2017, until about 2020. But I'm gonna work my darndest to change that. This upcoming trip will be my DH's first in 25 or 30 years, so the pressure is on for me to delivery an addicting trip!

Looking forward to more.
 
So, that is an awesome plan of eat whatever you want day at EPCOT. Everytime I try that, I lose the battle and end up eating what everyone else wants... and I'm 27. :sad2:
I definitely just ate Mac and Cheese for lunch, so I'm channeling my inner Emily... haha, so much for proving my adulthood. I can't wait to see what else you guys did, especially coverage on Frozen Ever After! I haven't ridden the re-do yet, so I'm working on coercing the family to take a trip this December! Keep the updates coming!
 
Can't wait to read your review of FEA! I'm hoping this is something all three of my kiddos will enjoy on our trip next year.
 
Geez, how did it get to be the end of October???


Another Epcot day - love it!

FEA - I've only experienced it via YouTube videos. We didn't get FP+ for it in August and were just going to see if maybe we'd happen to hit it with a 30 minute or less wait. Bwahahaha. As if.

B and C level characters?? Jackpot!

"Fashion is just a statement to show what you love". I love sweatpants.

How about A Capella Iron Maiden?
 
We ate at the Quick serve place there a couple years ago and it was good but the menu has changed since then. They used to have a nice grilled shrimp dish with cajun rice (I think it was Cajun), and then the Burger had a crab cake on it instead of just a regular cheeseburger. (My dad had that and really enjoyed it)

I might have tried that! The menu's kind of boring now.

Awesome display about Shanghai Disney, Love the Chinese acrobats!

They're great! It's amazing how the never seem to mess up. At least when I'm watching.

Btw, was that the new SW fireworks or the old ones? We saw the old ones (6/8) which I thought were crazy fabulous! I've heard the new ones are good but it's more projection based so there is limited "good" seating so we are probably doing the dessert party next June just to get the view.

The projection was the best part. The fireworks themselves were off to the side and behind the theater, so the projection/lasers/small fireworks stole the show. The "old" SW fireworks were great, too. We saw them last year.

Can't wait til my boys are a tad older so we can enjoy the late nights at MK. Not to say we left before 10:30-11 this last trip, but it wasn't because we were racing to and jumping on a ton of awesome rides, most of them of the thrilling variety.

The late nights at MK weren't quite as late (earlier park closing) as we remembered them in previous years. I hope that changes.

So, FYI, I'm reading your 2015 report again. I finished 2014 so it just made sense to check it out again. Lots of things make more sense now. Go figure. Maybe I should've went chronological in the first place, huh?

Not really. I make the same bad jokes in every one of them.

I feel you pain with regards to the "build your own lightsaber" saga. Our son was obsessing about making his own throughout a recent trip and everytime we went to Tatooine Traders, the line was out the door and around the corner!!!!! (Once Upon a Toy didn't even enter our minds! Good call on Kristin's part.) Finally, on our last day of vacation, we rearranged our day, and went back to Hollywood Studios at rope drop with the sole purpose of building a custom light saber -- and success! We made it happen! Even though we were the first in, it took a LONG time to build. Not a very stream-lined process. But, we couldn't let Hollywood Studios win and beat us out of building this lightsaber.... good times... I think :)
View attachment 201577

We may be taking another shot at that. Stay tuned!

I've probably already mentioned this but we are going to try Les Halles for breakfast next June. I'm super excited about that after seeing all the reviews of it.

It's wonderful! We can't miss it. Always a hit.

Love American Adventure! I'll freely admit that this past June we spent exactly zero minutes in Workd Showcase. It wasn't planned that way but that's how it ended up, so we'll need to remedy that on the next trip. I'm sure you are outraged that one of your TR followers committed that sin but hopefully you won't kick me off the TR just yet.

Don't even speak to me until that problem is fixed.

I enjoyed the Shanghai stuff. It's interesting to see it, most specially since I doubt I will ever make it there. Though my DH's friend lives there and runs several bed and breakfasts so we actually could end up there one day if we could afford the plane ticket.

I want to see all the Disney Parks someday. I can dream :)

So I knew there wasn't a trip planned for 2017 but I guess I missed the 2018 news. Wow. I guess you have had a good run though. Right now we have no Disney plans past 2017, until about 2020. But I'm gonna work my darndest to change that. This upcoming trip will be my DH's first in 25 or 30 years, so the pressure is on for me to delivery an addicting trip!

Boy Scout backpacking trip next year, then Kristin and Emily are going to the British Isles in 2018. The girls are coming back to WDW next year, but with Kristin's mom. And not me. Jealous!

So, that is an awesome plan of eat whatever you want day at EPCOT. Everytime I try that, I lose the battle and end up eating what everyone else wants... and I'm 27. :sad2:

That's usually what we do, but I don't think Kristin was about to try making everyone eat at Les Halles again :)

I definitely just ate Mac and Cheese for lunch, so I'm channeling my inner Emily... haha, so much for proving my adulthood.

Yes, but did you do it 12 days in a row?

I can't wait to see what else you guys did, especially coverage on Frozen Ever After! I haven't ridden the re-do yet, so I'm working on coercing the family to take a trip this December! Keep the updates coming!

Update coming tonight! And yes, coercion is good.

Can't wait to read your review of FEA! I'm hoping this is something all three of my kiddos will enjoy on our trip next year.

That will be in tonight's update.

Geez, how did it get to be the end of October???

I know! Time is flying. Maybe that means my next WDW trip won't take THAT long to get here!

Another Epcot day - love it!

There can never be enough!

FEA - I've only experienced it via YouTube videos. We didn't get FP+ for it in August and were just going to see if maybe we'd happen to hit it with a 30 minute or less wait. Bwahahaha. As if.

:)

Yeah, the ride's a bit popular, isn't it?

B and C level characters?? Jackpot!

Indeed! I love seeing rare characters. Even if they're ones I don't really care about.

"Fashion is just a statement to show what you love". I love sweatpants.

That counts!

How about A Capella Iron Maiden?

No.

Ok, now let's get to the updates! I'm been dragging my heels long enough. Time to wrap up Day 10.
 
It's time! It's finally time! New attraction!

Ok, maybe not.

Old attraction! With new theming! But, sadly, fewer trolls.

But that's ok. I know a lot of people are upset that the classic Maelstrom attraction is no more, and in its place is a movie tie-in. But I'm not. I love Frozen, and pretty much any new adventure is a plus to me. Besides, was the old ride really THAT great? I mean, I'm a huge fan of the troll room, but beyond that, it was really just a large polar bear, an oil rig, and some Vikings. And not the cool, 5-1 (at the time I'm writing this), football-playing Vikings, but actual Vikings. Ok, I'll give - they were still cool. And not really "actual". They were animatronic. But they were authentic, real-life, fake Vikings.

Like these guys:



Ok, maybe not EXACTLY like those guys. The guys in the photo are real Vikings. How they're in 2016 is beyond me - recently unthawed? Mickey's Magical Time Machine?

However they got here, they're here. And here is the extra-long FastPass line for Frozen Even after:

...

Oh, shoot. It appears we didn't photograph the line for FEA. Well, not really. Anyway, we were backed up past the entrance for Akershus. Not too bad, considering I found out later that the line, at one point during that day, went all the way back to the African Outpost, or something. Odd we didn't see that.

So why is the line so long? As I'm sure the Disboards vets reading this know, it's because the ride was down for a significant part of its opening day. And today. So people with FPs for either day got to use the FPs whenever.

It just so happens we were here at our scheduled time anyway, but it looked like a long wait was ahead of us all the same. Fortunately, there was entertainment in the queue. In the form of the aforementioned "these guys".

Dylan is not thrilled AT ALL about having to ride FEA (huh? C'mon, kid - new attraction!), but after getting singled out by the neo-Viking, he had not choice but to have fun. And fun was had.

In his very limited English, he instructed Dylan to fire an air bow:



It took a few times for Dylan to get what he was asking him to do, which lead to the pseudo-Viking shaking his head and laughing "Dylan..." Hilarious stuff!

Now finally following, Dylan's first shot was off...



...and, apparently into ground a foot or so in front of him. Awful!

Well, I assume "awful". Air bows shoot air arrows, so the not-quite-Viking could have just been making fools of us. Anyway, Dylan got another shot:



Over the church! Or so we assume, based on the almost-Viking's reaction:



Impressed, the just-suspend-disbelief-and-accept-that-it's-a-Viking awards Dylan with a scroll. Get it? Scroll? Like, they say "Skol", which is like Norweigian "prost", and it rhymes with scroll, so...anyway, now that he's done harassing Dylan, it's on to Emily's new friend, Baby S:



If you've seen "Brave", you know that long-time-ago-Europeans-with-armor-and-swords don't really like bears, so this guy is a bit apprehensive. His companion is even more concerned:



The two begin to replicate bear noises:



Baby S is like, "what the-? I don't do any of those things."

Eventually, the latest addition to Emily's Disney bear family is returned. Ok, ride time!
 
Ok, maybe not yet. We're still outside.

Disney seems to understand the situation and has a lot of CMs, including managers, in the area. Water is available for guests in line. In all, I think they handled it well. At least for those of us who didn't personally witness the enormo-line earlier in the day.

We approach the attraction...booooo! They sealed it all up!



Here's what happens on this ride:



Here's the invite:



And here's the queue inside:



MUCH improved from the old Maelstrom's queue, but also much longer. In all, I'd say we waited around 45 minutes. With FPs. I'm sure that will all even out eventually. But remember, this was only the second day this was open. Plus, there were a lot of people cashing in FPs they didn't get to use when the ride was down.

Sorry - "temporarily closed for a maintenance adjustment". I worked at a non-Disney theme park as a teen and got yelled at by a maintenance guy for telling a guest the ride I was working was "temporarily not running." Hey, look - Big summer blowout!



Apparently, Arendelle now likes being in deep deep deep deep...snow in Summer. Not sure of the reason behind the change of heart.

Oh, and you know you just sang that line when you read that. Don't deny it.

The sauna was a little room off to the side of the queue. Just theming. Every now and then, "yoo hoo, family" would appear on the screen:



But our camera wasn't having it.

Here's this sign again, in case you wanted to see it in different lighting:



Almost there!



Hey, look - remnants of the old attraction!



More theming:



More somewhat-patient humans:



Ok, we're right there! Not much longer now.



About two more boats in front of us. As we board, we snap a photo of the new backdrop:



And one of the boat:



AND THAT'S IT. Not a single photo after that.

None.

Sorry, fans! Too bad. We're NOT showing you the one thing you probably read this entire Trip Report hoping to see. And why not?

Well, it's that stupid "we want to enjoy the attraction rather than watching it through a camera" thing again. And no, I don't regret it. But yes, I wish I had photos to show you.

Because the ride was AMAZING. In all caps, so you know I'm serious.

The animatronics were the best I've seen, and the scenes were fun. The "Let it Go" room, which replaced the troll room from the Maelstrom, really sold the whole "now you shall go backwards" thing. In all, I thought it was a fantastic ride. Possible top 5 now. Maybe top 3.

Yes, I liked it that much.

Kristin and Emily loved it, too, but Dylan was not impressed. Which was not surprising.

And,of course, the best part...no more "Norway in the 80's" film after the ride! Perfect! It's like they read my complaints. We exit the ride, thoroughly satisfied with the experience.

Alright, let's ride that again!

Haha...yeah, right. I don't think My Disney Experience would be of much help getting us more FPs for this tonight. It was great that we got to ride it, though. Great near-end for our Epcot experience for this year!

One more waterfall photo:



One more of the area:



And then, it was back to Futureworld.
 
We still have some time before dinner, but figure we're done with World Showcase for another year. I mean, we're never truly "done" with World Showcase, since I could live in World Showcase. But, for now, we're moving on.

Since we're headed to Futureworld, the obvious first stop is Club Cool. Since everything always seems to lead back to Club Cool. Beverly prost...



...and we're out!

After that, we stopped in at Innoventions for a Disney Visa photo op, which came out really nice. I have that photo somewhere, and may show it to you sometime. But, since it's not in sequence on Photobucket, and I'm on a roll writing this update, I'm not going to get sidetracked looking for it.

But I AM going to get sidetracked making myself a peanut butter and banana sandwich on multi-grain bread. Be right back...

...

...done. Well, not done eating it, but done making it. I'm eating it as I type. This sandwich is my new nightime "thing", and it seems to keep me from binging on chocolate, chips, Jimmy Dean sausage biscuit, and hot dogs at 11:53 at night.

Wait, why was I telling you this again?

No clue. So I'll get back to our story. Please pardon the peanut butter on the keyboard.

Now, back to Epcot.

But before that, back to the sandwich. I bet many of you know a similar sandwich was a personal favorite of the "King"...yep, Elvis. He liked to fry it in a pan, though, which, to me, makes it much too messy.

And speaking of Elvis, when we visited Graceland in the late 90s, one of the rooms had a TV showing the "Piranha Brothers" sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus. With no explanation. Was Elvis a fan? Was someone who worked there? I never did find out. I guess I could Google it. But not now. Because it's 12:02 now, and I really want to get this update done!

So back to Epcot. For real this time.

We got to the Seas with still about an hour until dinner, rode the Nemo ride (no photos! forget it!), then did the usual Seas tour: check out the manatees, complain about how bad the smell is near the manatees, watch the dolphins for a few minutes, blow by most of the other exhibits because Kristin's not a huge fan of aquariums, master shark trivia, and, of course, do this:



This photo area is a case study in how terrible little kids are at waiting in lines when their parents aren't right next to them. But, as you saw, Emily eventually made it to the front. And lived to tell the tale.

All that done, we walked over to Coral Reef.
 
Since our ADR was for later than usual, there was virtually no chance we would be seated tankside. Which stinks. In fact, there wasn't much farther from the tank we could be:



That doesn't stop the love, though:



Or the tank photos:





There was some sort of unholy hybrid ray/shark thing in the water, which Dylan and I quickly decided was an abomination and should never have seen existence. Some things just should not be. Look - food's here!



That was Dylan's pork tenderloin. He ate it, but wasn't a huge fan. I got shrimp and grits, and loved it, as usual:



And, of course, Kristin got the New York Strip Steak:



This is one of her favorite steaks in WDW.

Usually.

Tonight, she said it was really fatty. And not very good. Ugh. That stinks.

I think Emily got a bowl of corn chowder, or something. She didn't eat much. She's like that sometimes.

For dessert, I got the usual Bailey's and Jack mousse thing:



Kristin got the Chocolate Wave:



And Dylan got the Turtle Cheesecake:



As always, the desserts were wonderful, but the meal overall wasn't the best. I think not sitting by the tank took a lot away from the usual experience, and with Kristin not happy with her steak, this became a lowlight of the dining experience on this trip. It's a shame, since this is one of our favorite restaurants in WDW.

We pay, and we're out. Best to just move on. We have more Epcotting to do!

A PhotoPass photographer gets a good shot of the kids...



...plus, one with them making fish faces that Dylan would probably prefer I don't post. But he got Dylan to do it, so thumbs up to that CM.

One last shot of Seas, the ball, and people waiting to get their photos taken...



...and it's off to the Land. We have FastPasses for Soarin', and we- oh, heck. Let's just say we're going to ride Soarin'.
 

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