Soarin' Over The Pond - An Oct 2017 Adult Mother-Daughter Trip, Yacht Club, MNSSHP, F&W UPDATED 12/2 2021!!

[MrsPMcD]

Hiya. It’s been a while but I’m all caught up. Boo to you looks amazing. Love all your photos. Sounds like a brilliant day. We love water parks too and they always feel like a “day off” even though my feet are knackered going up all the steps to the various rides . I’m betting you slept well this night

Haha yup quite a while! I'm enjoying writing this just to reminisce. Got some Magic Mail today too, new pair of ears - Yacht&Beach Club themed Honestly, to this day I remember how sore my feet were and how much I could have done without the extra steps from the Boardwalk!!

 

[Hubie]

Day Two - Happy Birthday Epcot!!

Apologies for the delay in actually posting day 2! My now not so new job is still super busy (but fun) and I was also really ill over Christmas and then we lost our fur baby so trip reporting fell by the wayside. However as our next trip to the World starts in 59 days (FP+ are all secured!) I thought I needed to hustle on with this report - if anybody is still reading it...

I actually managed to sleep all night so no checking the clock every hour and I was even woken up by alarm at 0700. We had a quick room breakfast of pitta and PB with a cup of tea (can't hit the parks without tea!) and then we were off. The sky wasn't splitting with sunshine as we walked towards International Gateway but it wasn't raining yet either! My aim was to be at IG by 0830 as I was expecting pretty big crowds for Epcot's 35th birthday and thought there might be something special happening - there might have been at the main entrance but not IG. We did get our 35th anniversary "I was there" buttons though and they were super cool. We modelled those with our 35 ears too

IMG_2585 by travelbug_1986__10, on Flickr

IG wasn't actually too busy and we were about the 20th people there. With not much going on it was a bit of a boring wait but I used the time to check out the day's offerings on the special commemorative map. We debated whether or not to go for the merchandise but decided we would rather just soak up some memories than by more stuff, plus we already had our ears, buttons and maps!

Untitled by travelbug_1986__10, on Flickr

As soon as we were released at rope drop people started sprinting, I've seen this before with the Frozen "dash" but this was different, and a bit confusing, I definitely wondered if I was missing something. But everybody was just sprinting to the merchandise area! We wondered again if we were really missing out (there hadn't been anything I'd seen on the Disney blog that I really wanted) but decided to stick with the original plan and take advantage of being in early to get another ride on Soarin'!

Over at The Land pavilion Soarin' was a walk on and we soared all over the world on B1 again. After Soarin' we checked out the merchandise queue and woooooooow was that sucker long! It was also raining and we just weren't interested! Instead we turned back around and headed to one of our favourites, Living With the Land. When I was a teenager this was boredom central but I love it again now - I loved it at 5 &10 too just not in the "Universal Years" - anyone with teenagers I'm sure you know the scenario!! LWtL was lovely and calm as usual, we loved spotting all the plants being grown for F&W Festival and loved the 35 that they had grown with cabbages! We got some info on the Behind the Seeds Tour as we thought we might do that this year (2018). Anybody done it and recommend it?

IMG_2591 by travelbug_1986__10, on Flickr

As we had boarded I'd noticed the LWtL Cast Member had a pin trading...banana! I guess LWtL themed! So my Mum traded a pin from her birthday pack - our first ever pin trade! We really liked doing this, it was a great way to interact with CMs. We may grab another mystery pack this year and trade again - the guys will hate that though

After our ride and pin trade we headed into Sunshine Seasons I seriously love this place. I have wonderful memories of it as a child and I think if they ever get rid of the hot air balloons I'd be seriously sad. I had my heart set on something I had seen mentioned in the special edition map - a special 35 cupcake. Wow. I really regretted splitting it with my Mum!! It was chocolate with a PB&J core and PB icing. So. Good!! Also ridiculously pretty!

IMG_2594 by travelbug_1986__10, on Flickr

Almost too pretty to eat... almost! Oh and time for more tea too!

Our FP+ for Spaceship Earth was ready and I was super excited. It's between SSE and ToT for my favourite ride in all of WDW - just slightly different experiences. Plus, unlike LWtL I have never lost my love for this ride. It's my Dad's favourite too. I just find it instantly relaxing and super soothing. Zen! No photos here as I just really like to be in the moment on this ride. I work in comms and I wonder if that has something to do with my love for this ride. Once we exited the ride Future World was super super busy so we hopped over to WS for opening and the serenity of the gardens in China.

IMG_2603 by travelbug_1986__10, on Flickr

IMG_0063 by travelbug_1986__10, on Flickr

IMG_0059 by travelbug_1986__10, on Flickr

One of our goals for this trip was to explore some of the pavilions more deeply and we really enjoyed the gardens in China and the Shanghai Disney display before we went in to see the 360 film. Bit of a pet peeve alert why do people go into these films just to talk, sit on the floor (when they've been told not to) and look at their phones. It's really irritating for those of us who are actually interested. Anyway rant over!

Next up we explored Italy, we always spend time in this pavilion and this wouldn't be our last visit this trip! There's a totally random sign tucked away which says "Gemma" (my name) and which I have a photo with for every trip from age 5-31! I wish I'd retaken the one I got on honeymoon as it's not great but c'est la vie!

Untitled by travelbug_1986__10, on Flickr

Untitled by travelbug_1986__10, on Flickr

IMG_2611 by travelbug_1986__10, on Flickr

Next up we wandered up to Germany to the Christmas shop and to breathe in the smell at Karamel Kuche. We didn't buy anything this time but we picked out what we wanted before heading back to Norway for... our first trip on Frozen Ever After. I know this ride is divisive and I'm not a massive Frozen fan but I definitely wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Meh. It was OK but I would definitely not queue standby for it!

Our stomachs were grumbling by this time so we stopped back into China for a QS snack. The china QS restaurant gets really bad reviews but I love the pot stickers here (as does my husband) and my Mum likes the spring rolls so to each their own I guess!!

Untitled by travelbug_1986__10, on Flickr


On our way back to Future World for another ride on Soarin' (told you we went on it a lot!) we met my No. 1 duck in Mexico

Untitled by travelbug_1986__10, on Flickr

I love Donald, he's my favourite character to meet and is always so happy when you tell him he's your favourite. Got to love an under dog errr duck.

After Soarin' we decided it was time to leave Epcot for some pool time, via Canada, where we watched Oh Canada (more people on phones/talking) and enjoyed the waterfall! Another pavilion explored! Having reread all our trip notes now it's no wonder that my feet ached! We fairly covered some distance!!

We got changed quickly in our room and then headed to the pool via Hurricane Hannah's for lunch. Yum. I text my husband this photo as the pulled pork sandwich at HH is one of his favourites.

Untitled by travelbug_1986__10, on Flickr

We also had a Pina Colava each, although mine was virgin (boooo) as I was driving later. We had a wonderful time just chilling at Stormalong Bay, we floated around the lazy river a few times and sunbathed. Perfect remedy to Epcot sore feet!

Next up Day 2 Part 2 Adventures in car hire land, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Sanaa and back to Epcot!

That's an awesome looking sandwich. I agree with you about people and their phones. Check out this picture in one of the most beautiful areas in Norway (Geiranger Fjord)


.

 

[MrsPMcD]

That's an awesome looking sandwich. I agree with you about people and their phones. Check out this picture in one of the most beautiful areas in Norway (Geiranger Fjord)

I still think of that sandwich often SO good! Thank goodness for all the walking at Disney though!

Oh my goodness!! That's ridiculous isn't it? And how depressing. I'm pretty strict with the phone at Disney, photos and MDE only. Why be on your phone when you can do that anywhere? Very much about being in the moment. Plus you miss so many details and Disney = escapism, I 100% do NOT want to know what's going on outside of the bubble! The phone screens on dark rides and talking during the WS films are probably top pet peeves!

 

[MrsPMcD]

Day 5 - Animal Kingdom Day 1 - Fichwa! Fellow.

I think the night before we had both been asleep by the time our heads hit the pillows! Many miles had been walked, many steps climbed, many water slides conquered and so much candy collected (see below and remember 1. this is just my mum's and 2. she didn't originally want to trick or treat ) But there are very few rest days on a WDW holiday and we had things to do and other planets to explore. So as soon as that alarm woke me...

<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/3o85xC3NEfqM8NP16g" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="

">via GIPHY</a></p>
THIS was immediately on repeat in my head. Like, immediately. I didn't even think about the alarm, my brain just went straight into "Boo! To you! and you, happy halloween" Lol. Catchy!

And the candy haul!

However, once I was awake and banishing 'Boo to you' from repeat in my brain, it was time for a quick room breakfast and off to Animal Kingdom! This would be our first experience of Pandora and I'd been on it so many days in advance (obviously) to snare us FP+ for FoP today and Navi River Journey the next. We also had FP+ for Everest and Kilimanjaro Safaris.

Fichwa Fellow! We'd done another little of park Disneybounding today, Mum had picked this top especially for an AK day and this is my Jungle Book dress which only gets worn at Disney!

Our first stop that day was Africa! We were super lucky as, as soon as arrived, we were treated to one of my absolute favourite sights in AK - Winged Encounters! If you've never caught this, under the radar, display before then be sure to grab a times guide on your next trip. I first saw it with my husband on honeymoon in 2014 and was so excited to see it again. Winged Encounters in the Macaw display where AK CM keepers ask the birds to fly from their enclosure, swooping low through the park to an area in front of the Tree of Life. The CMs do a short speech about the birds, how they're cared for, their natural habitats etc but the main draw is the wonderful colours of the birds and the looks on people's faces as they narrowly miss their heads! I don't have any pics because I just like to take it all in but there are some wonderful pictures by very talented photographers all over the internet and I'd recommend (if you haven't already) checking out the episode featuring the Macaws on Behind the Scenes at AK on Disney+!

I love all the details in AK - how could you not? For me this park is very much about ducking into these corners and taking it all in. The imagineers just did the most incredible job of capturing the authenticity of each continent. I've spent a good amount of time in Egypt and my Dad has worked in a lot of countries in Africa, we're both immediately transported.

I really like the Dhow repairs poster, I once sailed up part of the Nile from Aswan to Luxor aboard a VERY basic Dhow and this poster always makes me chuckle.

Soon we were tapping our magic bands and heading out on Safari, Jambo!

My notes tell me that this was a great safari and we saw loads of animals. Again, sorry! In the moment so didn't take loads of pics but have put some below from my 30th birthday trip when we splurged and did the Wild Africa Trek which was INCREDIBLE!! If you are wondering if it's worth it, yes! WE loved every moment, apart from we were frozen because it was not the warmest of Florida days - we got the first tour so that the animals weren't too hot, it worked but we were also not hot

QUICK BREAK AND TIME TRAVEL BACK TO 2016.....

AND Back to 2017 (/2021 when I'm actually writing this)

After our safari it was time to leave this planet far behind us and jet off to Pandora! We were both super excited about this, a new land and a new ride.... To be continued!

 

[MrsPMcD]

Day 5 at AK CONTINUED

Now looking through my trip notes I know that we were on our way to Pandora when I left off BUT I don't think today was the day for any rides! According to my notes we were just having a good explore around and checking out the imagineering!

I just don't think there is anything better for a Disney Vet than when there is something completely new to explore, to research and generally geek out about! I had also tried to avoid too many spoilers before this trip. Due to the pandemic we still haven't even been to Galaxy's Edge or Toy Story Land!! However, apart from working out how to get a boarding pass, I have managed to avoid watching any videos and seeing too many details of the lands. Given that most of my insta feed is WDW this is an impressive feat! It means that next year (please God!!) when we can travel again we will have a LOT to explore, yay! Also hoping that Tron Light Cycle will be up by then. SO EXCITED. Anyway, I digress. First impressions of Pandora were just WOW. What an incredible land to explore, I found Avatar the biggest snooze fest and couldn't care less about the sequel but the AK land was incredible.

Not sure what was going on here... I think we were either just caught mid convo or there was supposed to be a magic shot, lol.

After we'd had a good wander about we were getting pretty peckish now I think that back in 2017 this might have been pre Satuuli Canteen? Or possibly we just really didn't fancy the offerings so we reverted to a good ol quick service alternative, Flame Tree Terrace. I also used mobile ordering for this, before it became a 2020/1 necessity and not many people used it! It meant we wandered up, loitered in the vicinity and then skipped the MASSIVE queue - there were definitely some looks of 'how did you do that?' Disnerd knowledge people, DISNERD. KNOWLEDGE! We found a nice table under cover and down by the water. Despite being under cover we only just stayed dry as a typical Florida storm whipped up and the rain was blowing into our little shelter! Mum had the chicken and ribs combo (she loves ribs) and I had the smoked pulled pork sandwich and I always love the beans here for some random reason! Once the rain let up we headed over to Asia for Flights of Wonder but we had to make a character pit stop first....

Look guys, you're on my dress!

This was such a lovely character meet, I love when the characters interact with you and it's more than just a click and point.

After the character meet we were at the perfect time to catch Flight of Wonder (now Feathered Friends). I'm really excited to see this new show as I am hoping it loses the annoying 'tour guide' character who I couldn't stand. I loved the show so much to see the clever birds but found the tour guide really inane. I always put my hand up to volunteer (much to my husband's horror - audience participation is his idea of hell ) but have never been picked. To explain quite how much my husband hates audience participation, whilst on honeymoon (at WDW obviously) we took a side trip to Universal and during the Disaster! show he used me as a human shield to avoid being picked, hiding behind me (now he is over 6ft and I am 5'2" so this was some achievement I did then end up getting picked which I did enjoy but he tried to get the set to swallow him even with that! HAHA!

Next up it was time to take on the fearsome yeti....!

Now I do like Everest for the ride (apart from going backwards which both mum and I just put up with in order to do the forward bit!) but I LOVE the queue! I actually hate when it's too quiet and you have to rush through and can't see all the details. Anyway, despite having fast passes we still had some time to wait in the line so it was great to have a look at all the details so clever!!

Despite having survived the yeti encounter, our adventures were not over yet... a storm was brewing over Everest, threatening to descend on these two intrepid adventurers. With nervous glances over our shoulders we picked up the pace towards the exit. We just made it to near the tap styles when the deluge started. Now, if you'll remember back to a few nights prior, my Amazon purchase ponchos had not been the best buy... yeh it was time to part with some cash and just get a Disney poncho! Poncho'd up we ran as fast as our shoes would let us to the bus stops. There was no way we were risking a longer walk back so we waited on the Yacht&Beach bus.

This had been a pretty relaxed mosey around Animal Kingdom, due to the action packed previous day, nonetheless it was nap time! Back in the room we crashed out and then headed down to dinner in our resort.

We really love Cape May Cafe breakfasts but had never done the seafood buffet... hmmm. It wasn't our thing. Neither of us are very good with 'fiddly' food and although I love crab I just couldn't get to grips with extracting it from the legs! We both ended up eating a random mix of things but definitely didn't get our money's worth out of this buffet, a bit of a bust for us!

Heading back to the Yacht Club we did stop to really appreciate the flower arrangements in the Beach Club lobby. I love flower arranging and really appreciate the effort that goes into these arrangements

Looking at these just makes me so desperate to be back!!

After a pretty chill day (by WDW standards) it was time for an early bedtime as we had early plans tomorrow and we were heading straight back to Animal Kingdom!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Sounds like a pretty perfect AK day to me-well you probably could’ve done without the rain bit at the end
I love those afternoon thunderstorms but only when I’m under cover somewhere and able to enjoy them while staying dry usually with a g&t in hand.
By the time we get back to WDW it will have been at least 4 years. That’s the longest gap we’ve had since we started going in 1993. On the plus side though there will definitely be lots of new things to explore. I really do hope things improve and that travel is allowed soon. Until then I’m enjoying reading along on your trip report and reminiscing

 

[MrsPMcD]

Sounds like a pretty perfect AK day to me-well you probably could’ve done without the rain bit at the end
I love those afternoon thunderstorms but only when I’m under cover somewhere and able to enjoy them while staying dry usually with a g&t in hand.
By the time we get back to WDW it will have been at least 4 years. That’s the longest gap we’ve had since we started going in 1993. On the plus side though there will definitely be lots of new things to explore. I really do hope things improve and that travel is allowed soon. Until then I’m enjoying reading along on your trip report and reminiscing

It was a great day and I am with you on the rain. When you're Scotland/UK based you just think 'at least it's warm rain', huh?! My husband doesn't really like AK but I definitely love it for the details and atmosphere although why it is a billion times hotter than any other park I don't know We will be 4/4.5 years since we were last there too! So many new things to see - I watch the travel updates pretty regularly! Starting writing up the next day now which given it is grey and cold outside is a nice break!

 

[MrsPMcD]

Day 6 - Back to AK, back to Pandora and then 'Eat to the Beat!'

How is it already Day 6 and why do Disney days go so fast?! This was another packed Disney day but in hindsight one of our best, so much done and so much fun.

We were up and at 'em early again today with a pre-park opening reservation for Tusker House breakfast. This was to be our first time at Tusker House and it really didn't disappoint, it has become a firm 'must do' for us and on our follow up trip the year after this report we made a 'brunch' reservation i.e. the last breakfast slot so you get the change over food with the lunch service too. Top tip! I really hope they bring back the TH buffets soon, although reviews of the family style are good too.

We got an early bus from the Yacht Club to AK and got to enjoy this...

Wow! Not another soul in sight. This was such a special moment. I do love when you get times like this, 'living' at International Gateway has meant we've had this in the WS before, especially the UK/Canada but never really in front of a park icon.

We wandered towards and into Harambe, enjoying the views. It was definitely an overcast morning but this added to the atmosphere and we had our trusty Disney ponchos at the ready...

As I said at the start this was our first experience of Tusker House and (apart from the noise) we loved it. The food was so varied and delicious and I loved the decor. I am a huge curry fan and will happy have a leftover curry for breakfast (I know I will be in the minority) so I was loving the variety of food. Not the most attractive plate pic and it's been so long that I have no idea what this is (obviously bacon) but I think it's a type of cornbread and some kind of frittata! Obviously the ubiquitous POG juice too, yum!

It was also soon time to meet the main man himself.... Donald! Haha yup I am a BIG Donald fan, love the Number One Duck, sorry Mickey!

Mickey gets the love too though!

Donald's (other) gal too!

After our big breakfast and meeting the characters in their safari kit, it was back to Pandora, after yesterday's recce I now knew exactly where we were going! We finished eating around rope drop so we were in a good place to get to Pandora ahead of the crowds, we also had the advantage in that we were not heading for FoP, in fact we met the queue for FoP on our walk to Pandora via the walking link to Africa! Yikes! I'd prioritised the FoP fast pass over Navi River Journey though so if we wanted to ride NRJ it had to be rope dropped! This was definitely the right strategy and we only waited about 20 minutes to ride. Having ridden FoP a few times now, I actually prefer the river ride...! Unpopular Disney opinion! in fact on the next trip we did FoP with the guys (my husband and my dad) and had the option to do it again but I passed - it just makes me feel really sick. I am really sensitive to smells giving me nausea and I HATE the smell in FoP, it's really strong and chemically and I ended up almost passing out after the last time we did it. The other point of yesterday's recce was so that we could walk into Pandora from the 'proper' entrance as I knew that today we'd be taking the short cut from Africa and I didn't want to miss out on the first looks as they were designed to be experienced by Joe Rohde.

Today was going to be another HUGE step count day. Our touring plan style definitely prioiritises experiences over cutting distance so after NRJ we were back to Africa to visit the animals before our FOP FastPass. I'd chosen a later FP as I knew we would be full from breakfast and definitely wouldn't be up for a 'thrill ride'! We always love visiting the gorillas but alas they were less excited about our presence

I've really enjoyed the 'Behind the Scenes at Animal Kingdom' documentary on Disney+ think I mentioned it in yesterday's update too. Learning more about the gorillas, how they're cared for and the conservation work that Disney does was really interesting, I'll be rewatching before our next trip. I've also always felt a bit hypocritical liking AK as I really hate zoos and have never visited one (ditto Sea World) whilst I am still a bit uncomfortable with the areas allotted to some of the animals (mainly the tigers) I know that the conservation work Disney does is valuable and a lot of the endangered animals have a very good life compared to being hunted in the wild!

After our visit to the gorillas it was time to walk back to Pandora to experience FoP, on the way we appreciated some of the details around Africa, I love the CocaCola details here. At one point I had a collection of Coke bottle tops from around the world that I had collected on my travels - I just really love the branding and how recognisable/universal it is (not just a Disney nerd a branding nerd too!)

However, remember yesterday's AK downpour? That was just a warm up!!

Time to dive into the restroom between Africa and Pandora to poncho up!!

A selfie I sent to my husband back in the UK - where it was dry and sunny! haha!

I'm really not sure the pictures do the monsoon justice but if you've spent time in Florida then you know!!

The water coming off the floating mountains definitely wasn't all by design!

We made it through the monsoon to FoP though and tapped in for our FP. I've only ever ridden FP so have never been in the standby queue and likely never will because 1) as already touched on, it makes me feel ill and 2) because of 1 I am 100% NOT paying for a FP for it! Oh Bob Chapek what are you doing...???! Anyway, this was our first ever time on FoP. My Mum loved it and I... well, meh. By the time we were flying over the 'whale things' I was thinking dear God I hope this ends soon, lol. Not one for my travel sickness. I did give it another go on our next trip but that's me done, the next trip I felt even worse, probably because I anticipated it! I can really appreciate the imagineering, creativity and scenery but the movement is not for me. It's no Body Wars (arrrrrrrggggh recoils in horror at the memory) or Star Tours (pass the sick bag) or (to jump parks) Harry Potter's Forbidden Journey (thought I was going to die) but eeek no. It also makes me realise that I will never pilot the Millennium Falcon, sad face! My Mum who also can't do simulators has since decided it's out for her too - you'll find us floating gently around the Navi River Journey!

Post FoP it was back to Africa, walking in a slightly zigzag pattern as though I'd been on a World Showcase F&W festival binge... Nope just my inner ears protesting post banshee ride!

And we were off on safari again! We tapped in at the FP tap styles and were soon climbing aboard our truck and into the Harambe Wildlife Reserve again. The animals were out in force and loving the rain apart from the painted dogs who were hiding in their cave - don't like getting wet, just like our dog! We got to see one of the baby elephants swimming, the hippos being fed and the lions lounging in the rain! Who'd have thought the big cats would be ok getting wet but hey! A great safari.

We rounded off our morning in AK with another walking tour, this time through Asia to see the bats and tigers, I love the bats.... hmmm although am now a lot less keen on them in a pandemic world.... anyway I DID love the bats! I like how creepy they are but hopefully this past 18 months is a lesson in leaving things alone!

After the Maharajah Jungle Trail we spent time watching the monkeys on their island, I LOVE watching these guys swing around the temple and boy were they vocal today. So loud and very active, it was great to watch - we always really enjoy hanging around this area and watching Kali River Rapids and the monkeys. Having watched the monkeys for a while we headed back to the front of the park to catch a bus to our second park of the day - I really hope park reservations have gone and park hopping is back by our next trip....!!!
We were off to Epcot and we had plans to Eat to the Beat with Christopher Cross!

 

[MrsPMcD]

Life update and Part 2 of Day 6!

So another bit of an hiatus from the DIS Boards but not quite as long as last time!! Will start with a bit of a life update which explains the absence! It seems that DIS Board trip report updates are my Talisman if I want a new job! After a 5 week (!) recruitment process I secured a new (very exciting job) which will be a great career move. We'd also already booked a much needed Disney trip!! Which was scheduled for September next year and we were already looking forward to it, even planning a DisBoards meet up with @chunkymonkey Now we are STILL going to WDW next year (well pandemic allowing) but we will be going a bit later aaaaaaand taking someone else with us! We will be taking a very new addition who will be four months old then Are we insane? Possibly! But if you're going to start as you mean to continue (travelling)then best start with somewhere you know really well, has the facilities and where you know exactly what to expect. My new work have been very good (I found out half way through recruitment and told them before I signed) but I won't be taking a particularly long leave by European standards - luxurious by US standards so I will have been back at work a month before this holiday/vacation.

Trip Report continues!

The second part of our day started on the bus to Epcot. I think this was my first trip where you could get buses between parks and didn't just have to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of Disney resorts to navigate from parks not on the monorail!

Reading back on the notes from this day blows my mind that it's not two separate days! I think our next trip will be a lot less packed, by necessity! Our first stop in Epcot was for lunch at Sunshine Seasons, I love Sunshine Seasons, have probably said this before - I find it very nostalgic as well, the hot air balloons are probably my earliest Disney memory - random.

After lunch it was back to Soarin' yet again. I do still love Soarin' but... I prefer over California!! Next up it was off for some mega relaxation, Epcot style... Spaceship Earth. Ahhh I love this ride and it perhaps explains my career in comms - influenced from an early age by Spaceship Earth.

After our trip through space and the history of human communication, we were en route to the World Showcase via a few pit stops (again, I'm marvelling at how packed this day was!!). We popped into Mouse Gear for some souvenirs, I picked up a small dog bowl for our fur baby at the time, Gus, it still gets used now he has crossed the Rainbow Bridge, our Fur Baby Brinkley is a lot bigger though so it's now his travel water bowl! We also happened upon the fountain show at the Fountain of Nations. We were the only ones watching which was nice and we then nipped into Club Cool! I wonder if the new Club Cool will be as sticky??!

We took advantage of one of the first F&W Booths, en route to WS, for a favourite of mine, Crab Cakes. This was at Coastal Eats. The crab cake was good but I remember the CM being really weird!! I did wonder at the time if he was high!! That's how weird it was and obviously stuck with me

We turned left and headed towards Germany to hit Karamel Kuche which my Mum LOVES! We both picked a square of caramel to enjoy whilst watching Christopher Cross - we wanted to get the full experience and eat to the beat!

However, wooops! I'd got my timings a bit out and we were STILL, despite doing everything we'd already done, an hour early. Oh well if you have time to spare then where better than the WS?? One of our favourite pavilions is Italy so we decided to head to Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar for a glass of prosecco and some grisini. It was really nice to SIT DOWN, it's also lovely and cool, dark and relatively chill in there. A good break before the next adventure.

Once we'd enjoyed our unplanned break, we were off to the Eat to the Beat stage with our (now a bit melty) caramel. When we'd booked our trip, I was scanning the artists who were playing and was delighted to see Christopher Cross, both Mum and I are definitely fans of his big hits so we were very keen to make this show.

He was absolutely great and we really enjoyed the show (and the caramel) His hit 'Sailing' was a highlight and whenever I hear that now it takes me right back to that day and moment, sitting in the sunshine with my mum, looking out towards Spaceship Earth. Lovely.

After the concert we had a wander around the Japan and Morocco pavilions (HOW?? lol I guess fuelled by sugar!) We also stopped at the Belgian Booth for some beef with mash before exiting at the IG and heading back to our hotel on foot - which I've noted by this point were very sore, we'd been out for 12 hours but we still were not quite done! On the way past the Beach Club we came across the smores making area and well, it would be rude not to join in!

Thanks to the CMs for making sure we didn't set everything on fire! It was fun.

With that it was back to our room to rest our very weary feet, enjoy a glass of wine and watch Legally Blonde from bed! What a day!!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

You really did have a fun jam-packed day but isn’t it wonderful to just walk out IG back to your room for the night and sure a toasted marshmallow only adds to the luxury of it! Heavenly!
Congratulations on both new baby and new job. I always travelled when my kids were small and other than the addition of baby stuff found it relatively easy and fun plus as you know WDW definitely caters well for little ones

 

[chunkymonkey]

Yay! I found your TR! Thanks for tagging me! Looking forward to our DISmeet next year! In the meantime I have your TR to catch up on! I love your dress in AK though! So cute!

 

[MrsPMcD]

You really did have a fun jam-packed day but isn’t it wonderful to just walk out IG back to your room for the night and sure a toasted marshmallow only adds to the luxury of it! Heavenly!
Congratulations on both new baby and new job. I always travelled when my kids were small and other than the addition of baby stuff found it relatively easy and fun plus as you know WDW definitely caters well for little ones

Thank you!! Sorry for the super slow response!! Starting a new job and managing pregnancy has been a wild ride!! We are planning away for Disney too and happy to see the Covid restrictions around the world slowly going away. Now almost 28 weeks so into 3rd trimester and had a pretty good time of it and managing to stay active. I know we are so excited about travelling with him but yup already realised the huge amount of kit we will be carting lol!

 

[MrsPMcD]

Yay! I found your TR! Thanks for tagging me! Looking forward to our DISmeet next year! In the meantime I have your TR to catch up on! I love your dress in AK though! So cute!

Hey! Yay you're welcome. We've moved our dates so we will be there for 14 nights from 17 November! Let me know if there's an overlap with anything you have planned Thank you, I do love that dress!

 

[MrsPMcD]

Friday - Our last full day

These days always come around far too quickly on a Disney trip! However, we didn't have too much time to dwell on that as we were up early, a quick snack breakfast in the room and off to rope drop Hollywood Studios. We were off at a trot too as we always walk faster than the Friendship Boats so took the walking path. As soon as we were in, we walked straight to Rock n Rollercoaster. Aerosmith were in a super generous mood and we were soon piling into a super super stretch and racing through LA traffic to their concert.

Next up it was my favourite ride for theming and I was sporting my themed ears too!

After all of the being turned upside down and falling faster than gravity, obviously the only thing we had on our mind was - food!! and a specially nutritious, Disney breakfast was called for...

We decided to split the ginormous PB crunch (aka butterfinger) cupcake and then were lucky enough to be able to people watch the Citizens of Hollywood and then catch the March of the Stormtroopers!

Having escaped the stormtroopers we ran off to give an update to the rebel forces aka Chewie. Chewie was one of the first characters that I got a photograph with on my first trip age 5 so we wanted to recreate it. We showed Chewie the original and we had a great time 'talking' with him! I think we will need to recreate it again on our next trip (2022!) with our own little person. (Can't believe it has taken me 5 years to finish this report!)

Next up we were off to Toy Story Land to compete on TSMM - well not much of a competition I do love to win!

A must for us is always to visit the Cmas shops and find a new decoration for our trees. On the way, we bumped into these two cheeky chaps, always good for a character interaction!

I particularly love this shop as 'It's a Wonderful Life' is mine and my husband's Christmas Date every year!

We were getting pretty hot and tired by this time so it was time for one last FP and I needed one last ride on ToT! On the way out we even bumped into this scary fellow!

By this time our feet really needed a break and we decided it was time to get a Friendship Boat back, we stopped at the main gate for a glass of water being handed out by CMs - must have been really hot as I don't remember ever seeing this before!

After resting tired feet for a little while in the room, reapplying sunscreen and getting into pool clothes, it was time to head down to Stormalong Bay for a float and a cocktail!

BLISS!! Well it was until the Florida lightning rolled around, then the pool was closed and we headed back up to the room - but it's always great to watch a Florida storm from inside! We also had dinner reservations at Disney Springs so we needed to shower and gt ready. With Mum being half Irish, we always eat at Raglan Road. We are always blown away by how authentic the food is, especially the soda bread and we love watching the dancers. This time we had a great table really near the main stage so a great view! We had the scallop forest to share and the Braised be Beef - both delicious.

After dinner we had a quick nose around the new (to us) Marketplace area, so nicely done and lovely to window shop but we were both too tired to be bothered with any actual shopping! We did see the Strolling Piano though - I wonder if that is still on the go?? Very random and very cool.

We waited for what felt like forever for any bus back to the resort area, eventually one for the Yacht Club came along but it did seem like an interminable wait. We watched a little bit of Jurassic World in bed before crashing out - the next day was our travel day