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| Tinker Bell! |
We drove over to Art of Animation for lunch before taking the bus to Epcot. I was most excited about meeting Joy and Sadness from Inside Out - and they were completely adorable! The entire meet-and-greet area was fantastic and the character interaction was so fun! We were also hoping to meet Baymax, but the line was extremely long - not surprising because he is unbelievably popular - so we just snapped a quick photo and decided to come back another day. We grabbed a snack at Kringla Bakeri og Kafe to sustain us as we dealt with the crowds of drunk people who take over the World Showcase during the Food and Wine Festival.
I really, really, REALLY dislike Epcot during Food and Wine (and, to a lesser degree, during the International Flower and Garden Festival) because people are so loud and rowdy and obnoxious when they are drunk. I don't think Disney does a very good job of keeping things under control and we saw so many clearly intoxicated people that it was embarrassing. At least during Flower and Garden, the park is beautiful and colorful and filled with amazing topiaries - I wish I could say something similarly positive about Food and Wine, but I cannot. It's awful.
The only reason we braved Epcot that day was our Frozen Ever After fast pass and our late dinner reservation at Via Napoli. Luckily most people were out in the open areas where the alcohol was available at the pavilions, so we were able to actually visit the pavilions without having to deal with the ridiculous behavior. I can't wait for Food and Wine to be over! Unfortunately, it continues until November 14, so it will still be happening on our next trip, but we should be able to enjoy Epcot during our upcoming December trip!
I loved Frozen Ever After just as much as I did when we first experienced it on our last trip. I know people went crazy and it was overdone and everything was Frozen this and Frozen that. But when I hear Let It Go, I cannot help but tear up. It has truly become one of my very favorite Disney songs - and believe me, that is really saying something. The attraction is so well done! I wish I could ride it over and over, but based on the wait times, so does just about everyone else!
On Sunday, we ventured to Disney Springs. As I've written about in previous posts, the whole area was a complete disaster for a few years due to construction and I pretty much vowed to not return until the construction had been completed. I'd read several promising reviews online, so we decided to go there first thing before it got busy. This proved to be a wise move, because by 11:30, the place was already a mad house. I will say that they've done a really nice job with Disney Springs and we only saw part of it, so there is much more for us to explore on future trips!
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| Orange Bird <3 |
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| Best idea for an ATM ever! |
After Disney Springs, we went over to MK for a few hours. We were pleasantly surprised to find the crowds more than reasonable on a beautiful Sunday afternoon! We had lunch at Be Our Guest and rode the PeopleMover - getting an entire vehicle to ourselves...score - wandered around for a few hours before heading to Boardwalk.
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| 75th anniversary of Dumbo |
The reason for going to Boardwalk was a new creamery called Ample Hills that opened not too long ago and we were looking forward to trying the ice cream after reading some rave online reviews. The ice cream was SO yum. We had an "Ooey Gooey Butter Cake Sundae" that was spectacularly delicious and a "Hard Black Cherry Float," that is essentially Black Cherry Hard Cider and Dark Chocolate Ice Cream. Awesome.
From Boardwalk, we took the bus to Animal Kingdom because it was open until 8:30 (relatively late, at least by AK standards) and we'd never spent much evening time in the park. C was wearing a Finding Nemo t-shirt, and as we were going through security, one of the officers called out "Shark Bait!" and the other five officers all replied in unison, "Hoo Ha Ha!" It was adorable!
There were very low crowds and the stand-by line for Expedition Everest was only ten minutes, another very pleasant surprise! We watched the new lighting and projections on the Tree of Life; unfortunately, I did not get any good photos. I was not in a particularly good viewing spot and I didn't really even know what to expect, so my photos did not turn out as planned. The low lighting made it hard to even capture what was happening (at least on my phone - perhaps a real camera would be a better choice next time!), but it was very colorful and entertainingI Hopefully I can do better with photos on our next nighttime visit to AK!
On Monday, we got up early, packed and checked out of Caribbean Beach, and went to Epcot with the goal of meeting Baymax. Imagine our surprise when we got there and there was no line. No line! It was the best! I would really like my own real life Baymax. Sigh...
After meeting Baymax, we went to Sunshine Seasons food court in The Land for breakfast before riding Soarin' Around the World for the first time. Since I know many people have yet to experience it for themselves, I can sum up my review to a single word: downgrade. I'm all for refurbishments and reimagining attractions and innovation, but this was simply not good. Too much distracting CGI! We will not make the mistake of wasting a fast pass on it again. RIP, original Soarin' - you will be greatly missed, but will live on in my mind when I listen to your theme song.
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| Action Shot - fistbumping with Baymax <3 |
Unfortunately, we had to head to the airport for our afternoon flight, but it was a beautiful afternoon, a smooth flight, and there was an empty seat between us (except for when I put Dumbo there for an adorable photo!)!
As we were driving home, my mom sent me two photos of Ginny, who was anxiously awaiting our return. So cute!
Happy Tails to you!
