Ice Station Cool and World Showcase, the second half
Cori and Gina having fun shopping in MouseGear!
After picking up the onride photo from Test Track, we headed off towards Mouse Gear for a quick peek. Amazingly enough, no one bought anything. We must have been seriously ill! But, Russ did promise to buy me a pin (something he does on every one of our trips), so we headed to Pin Central where I snagged a totally cute Minnie in a Mission:Space costume.
It was now past 7 p.m., and Gina and I had not eaten since lunch. (Cori did have her egg rolls, and Russ joined her with fried rice, so their food cravings weren't quite as strong.) Best decision for food was World Showcase! Passing Ice Station Cool, I nonchalantly mentioned we should make a quick stop for a free refreshment. They fell for it! (I should mention Russ has already visited ISC.) Leading the way, I grabbed two cups and quickly filled them with Beverly. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] Before you could say, "Yuck!" the cups were in Cori and Gina's hands with me going on about how awesome this drink is. Seeing how I'm the "good" one in our group, the totally believe me and chugged that stuff down. The looks on their faces were priceless!
Finally recovering from Beverly, Gina decided she wanted so Mexican food to kill any taste left in her mouth. Russ and I both had the kid's menu burrito w/chips and a drink, Cori had chips & salsa, and Gina ordered the full-fledged nachos. Total for all of us was around $22. Not bad!
After scarfing our food, we backtracked to the other side of WS where the girls could check out the stores in Canada and France. Just quick looks in those, plus a long lingering in Italy (very cool air-conditioning going there) before we made it over to Germany for our treat - Bittersweet Chocolate! I had been waiting all day for this! [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img]
Gina and Cori glad the day is almost over!
We found a good spot to park ourselves while waiting for Illuminations to start. Not sure the girls were totally thrilled with staying for this, but there was no way Russ and I would miss it. Probably our favorite attraction in all of WDW...seriously. Just love the globe, the fireworks, the story...everything. Alas, our day had to end though and we were soon on our way back to WL. The monorail ride wasn't nearly as fun as on the way in (is it ever?), and our wait for a boat back to WL from MK was exruciatingly long. But eventually we did make it back, and Russ and I enjoyed our last evening on the rocking chairs while the girls took one last quick look around the lodge. After I put everyone to sleep, I headed off to the pool and spent about an hour down there enjoying the surroudings. Even though I got down there after 11 p.m., it was incredibly crowded and just a very festive atmosphere. And the lodge was just beautiful to look at during nighttime. Honestly, I was glad to hit the pool alone this time just to really relax and enjoy the peacefulness of WL. Arriving back at the room, I found the gang fast asleep, and before I knew it, I was in dreamland also.
Last up: Bidding adieu to WL [img]graemlins/cry2.gif[/img]