[Joy J]

This morning I zipped down to the Boardwalk Bakery to grab our breakfast and bring it back to the room while Kirk was getting ready. Kirk enjoyed a bacon and egg Panini while I savoured every bite of my cinnamon bun. Then it was off to Epcot.
On our way over to Soarin, we stopped to watch the Jamitors perform. After grabbing a fast pass for Soarin, we rode it using the standby line, then killed some time on Living with the Land before riding Soarin again. Truly neither one of us can ever get enough of this amazing attraction. A very amusing incident occurred while using the washroom after leaving Soarin. A very patient mother was instructing her daughter (who appeared to be about 3 or so) on how it wasn’t polite to say certain things to people. Apparently the little darling had told some woman in the washroom that she had a “big butt.” On hearing that this was a no-no, the little girl said, “But Mommy, she did have a big butt.” The charmer couldn’t seem to understand what was wrong with stating a true fact as it was obvious the child didn’t construe it as an insult, just a statement of fact. Those of us watching this interplay couldn’t help but smile and giggle as anyone who has children has been in this sort of situation at one time or another.
We tried the Where’s the Fire game since Kirk had yet to experience it before getting in line for another first timer for Kirk - Mission: Space. Now that there’s a less intense version, it’s great that those of us with weaker stomachs can still have fun on this ride.
We were now beginning to develop a severe case of the munchies so we headed over to World Showcase for lunch with a brief stop for a visit with Figment on his attraction. Then we enjoyed a tasty lunch of fish and chips in England before returning to our hotel for our midday break.
After our break, we decided to visit Animal Kingdom to see both the main shows there. Since Festival of the Lion King was already in session when we arrived, we spent some time meeting and greeting Mickey and the gang on the character greeting trails beside the theater. By the time we were finished frolicking with our Disney friends, it was time to line up for the show. As always this show was delightfully entertaining and moving (it never fails to make me cry no matter how many times I see it).
I had been talking so much about the new Finding Nemo show that Kirk was really anxious to see it for the first time. So that was our next stop. The show was amazing and Kirk was suitably impressed. We now realized that we would soon have to leave Animal Kingdom in order to make it to our dinner reservation in time. On our way out of the park, we stopped to visit with the Pooh gang (except for Winnie himself who was taking a honey break).
Kirk is a huge fan of the villains so he had been particularly looking forward to our dinner at 1900 Park Fare as he would have the chance to interact with the evil stepmother and the two ugly stepsisters. For me, I always enjoy the food on the buffet at 1900 Park Fare so I was also happy at the prospect of this meal. Well, Kirk’s expectations were more than met but not so mine. For the first time ever, I thought the food here was not up to snuff. The roast beef was fat and stringy and the side dishes were cold and not very tasty. On the other hand, the character interaction here was nothing short of superb. Cinderella and her prince were their usual charming selves, the stepmother was chillingly formal and remote but the real stars of this meal were the two stepsisters who were hilariously funny with their outrageous antics. They put on quite the show for the entire time we were there. The restaurant also had two organized group activities which were great fun for the children. The first was a “royal dance” where a waltz was played and Cinderella and the Prince danced with each other and then picked assorted children to dance with. Later on, the stepsisters invited all the kiddies out on to the floor to learn a special little dance. All in all, in spite of the rather lacklustre food, this meal was still a roaring success because of the fabulous character interaction to be found here.
After dinner, we jumped on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and then took the bus back to our resort to call it a night.

Joy