Andy & Annabel Return to Disney World - Updated 6/2 - Day 14 Part 2 About This Page:

[Annabel]

It was saying a 5 minute wait but we walked straight through without stopping. I only really wanted to do the Clam Ride. We helped find Nemo and decided to move to the Imagination Pavillion so I could visit with my favourite purple creature Figment. Yay! Straight in again, no one in front of us or behind so I snapped away.



We get to the front and a car was just pulling in for us. There was one other couple on our ride, that's all.





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[Colexis Mom]

Great time at Epcot Annabel! Photobucket has been very quirky lately! The only one that is too large is the last one posted (of Figment). I'd just check that one!

[Cam22]

Great morning at Epcot! That was a whole lot of sugar on your beignets! I think someone had a heavy hand with the sugar shaker. All your pictures look great!

[mojjo]

Great morning at EPCOT!!!

I'm really enjoying the info on POFQ since we'll be there in under two weeks. Did you really like it?

[simbarel]

Your details are great, sounds like a great morning!

[ariel14]

Fabulous morning at EPCOT!!!! More pls!

[ilovedisney247]

Actually those beignets don't have enough sugar on them--at Cafe DuMonde they literally have mountains of powdered sugar! And now I'm hungry, but not quite hungry enough to make that walk in the cold snap we're having!

Great morning at Epcot--I love how empty it was for you!

[ilovedisney0_0]

Your photos are all showing up as the same size for me. I laughed out loud when you called those people with the strollers "bright sparks". Sooooo funny! I love that everything is basically a walk on!

[chezp]

Great morning at Epcot! Your photos are all showing up to me as the same size, so I guess whatever the issue is, it's resolved now!

[Annabel]

Originally Posted by mojjo

Great morning at EPCOT!!!

I'm really enjoying the info on POFQ since we'll be there in under two weeks. Did you really like it?

We absolutely love POFQ and would love to stay there again. We were used to staying at Pop Century so at first were a little worried that POFQ wouldn't have that "magic" but it so did. It never felt too crowded, even the day we tried the pool was ok and we were able to find a table with a parasol no problem. I can't think of a single thing I disliked about it. The fact that they had cupcakes in the food court every single day does not influence my decision in any way

I'm glad the pictures seem to be ok, I was a little worried as some of them look huge but when I check them, they're all the same pixel size. Maybe Photobucket is playing up a little. Oh well, on to the rest of the day Typing all this up and looking at my photos is making feel happy and quite sad at the same time. I'd be back there in a heartbeat if I could

[PrincessSharon]

Sounds like a fun morning at Epcot!

[Annabel]

Day 2 Part 2

Hubby filmed Figment on the Flip Mino for me. Unfortunately the end was ruined as the man behind us used his flash and a Cast Member came over the tannoy reminding him no flash photography. We totally missed what happened in Figment's house. Oh well. My camera then decided it didn't want to play anymore and froze while I was trying to delete a photo. To turn it off, hubby had to take the batteries out. Very weird. I'm now praying our camera doesn't decide to die on us as I don't think we could afford a new one right now. Fingers crossed! And yes, I'd turned the flash OFF to take photos, I always follow the rules

Anyway I had to try the “Compose Your Own Figment” machine in Imageworks but it's a shame you can't send the old picture emails to your account as before. I was disappointed by the lack of Figment goodies in the shop. No new cuddlies, no new snowglobes, just a few t-shirts and old cuddlies that I'd bought in 2008. Bummer. We left and decided to try and catch Captain EO. I'd originally seen this in 1989 during my first ever trip so I wanted to see if I remembered any of it. Hubby had never seen it so had no idea what to expect. It told us we had a 6 minute wait, not bad.





We watched the original pre-show and then we were in. They told us to go down about 3 quarters of the way. Most people stopped halfway so we had no one in front of us.



We were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the show. I have to say that I didn't remember a single bit of it. I felt afterwards like I'd seen a forgotten piece of Disney World history. I was surprised but pleased hubby enjoyed it. He was never a big Michael Jackson fan.

As we walked past the fountains, hubby declared that he was hungry. I offered him lunch at Sunshine Seasons or Electric Umbrella. He chose the Electric Umbrella so we walked on over, me humming along to the Innoventions Loop. Hubby teased me saying “no, you've never this before, have you?” As we walked inside, a Cast Member handed us a menu so we could choose before we got to the tills. I thought this was a good idea as in the past, people have been so slow deciding what to eat while they're already at the till. We decided on 2 Angus chuck bacon cheeseburgers with fries, 2 strawberry cheesecakes and 2 drinks.



Halloween cup!


Our lunch was very good and I really loved the fries, very unusual for me. The cheesecakes were tasty. We were full to brim as we waddled out and headed towards Ellen. It was time for some “Stupid Judy!” Hubby likes going on this ride so he can have a nap. Me, I just love this ride and have to do it at least once a trip. We got to the Universe of Energy to find they wouldn't be letting anyone inside for 4 minutes. It's the first time we'd waited outside, normally we just make the start of the pre-show. It was absolutely boiling outside as it was gone 1pm. We tried to find a bit of shade. We were finally let inside and we took a seat. I'm guessing we had an Ellen fan sat next to us as she laughed at every little thing Ellen said or did. I only laughed at “Stupid Judy”, for some reason that tickles me. We were first through the doors and in the front row. Fabulous! Amazingly hubby stayed awake throughout the whole ride, which shocked me. The man sat beside him however slept pretty much the whole ride. Not that I could blame him as I was yawning a lot myself.

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[Annabel]

Once Ellen had won Jeopardy and whipped Judy's butt, it was time to leave the park as my feet were aching as well as my back and pelvis. We had thought about riding Spaceship Earth on the way out but there was quite a line. We were lucky as a bus pulled in as soon as we reached our bus stop. So far so good. Unfortunately our bus driver took a right turn instead of a left and was taking us in completely the wrong direction She didn't realise until she'd pulled out and she apologised over the microphone and aimed for Caribbean Beach resort to turn around. This added a good 10 minutes to our journey home. She was very apologetic, I guess her mind must've been elsewhere.

We were back in our room by 2pm. I quickly took the weight off my feet as I was exhausred! Hubby took the photos off the camera and the videos off the Flip and on to our laptop. I looked at the air-con unit by our window and spotted a Disney Parks folder. I said to hubby “I don't remember that being there this morning” and picked it up. It was a Congratulations picture signed by Mickey and Minnie. Way cool! I checked my pedometer and was shocked by the readings. I earned 5 activity points, walked 11,508 steps and 4.79 miles, just spending the morning at Epcot! I didn't feel bad about the burger I'd eaten after that! We rested and showered before leaving for the bus stop at 4.20pm. By now my feet were no longer aching. Again, a bus to Epcot pulled up straight away. It took us via Riverside so it took a good 10 minutes to get off Port Orleans property. We were at Epcot for 5pm and took a slow stroll to Germany. I was really feeling the heat on my arms and hubby insisted on buying some sunscreen to make sure I didn't burn. What a sweetheart It was so hot and I regretted not bringing my sunglasses.

When we got to Germany, we saw a huge line. We looked at each other – surely it wasn't for Biergarten? Unfortunately it was. It lead from the front of the restaurant right out past some of the shops. The line hardly moved and we had no idea why. We decided to join the line at 5.20 even though our ADR time wasn't until 5.55pm, that's how bad the line was.





It was so hot, everyone was sweating buckets. A Cast Member kept going up and down the line asking everyone if we had reservations and it soon became obvious that not all of us did but people wanted to try and get in anyway. It took until our ADR time to get to the podium. There was even 2 Cast Members checking people in so I have no idea what the problem had been. As we were checking in, the couple next to me who had assured the Cast Member they had a reservation didn't in fact have one and were unhappy to be told there was a 2 hour wait. There were loads of people waiting inside. We were given our pager and had to wait 10 minutes for it to go off. Our table of 8 were all seated together. The couple next to us lived in Chicago. Man, I wish I had only a 2 and a half hour flight to Disney World.

I had no idea the restaurant was so big inside!


We ordered our drinks (diet coke for both of us) and set off to explore the buffet. We mostly skipped the salad bar although I had to try the macaroni salad. Next was the cold sausage and salami platter, hot sausage with sauerkraut, pretzel rolls, chicken schnitzel, beef roulades (I think), green beans and meatloaf. I have to say all of it was divine, especially the roulades. The beef melted in the mouth. We were so hungry by this point that I realised about half way through that we hadn't taken any photos. That's why the plate is kinda empty!



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[Annabel]

On the second buffet visit, I discovered the mac and cheese and pot roast. Wow, the pot roast was amazing! No one will be surprised by the fact that hubby only had one plate of dinner and then 2 big plates of dessert. The Bavarian cheesecake was delicious, the vanilla pudding so-so, black forest mousse cake was ok and the apple strudel was divine. I could only manage finish one plate of dessert. It was all yummy.

Top left black forest mousse cake, right apple strudel, bottom bavarian cheesecake


I liked the pint glasses of diet coke. I polished off 2 of them as we'd waited so long in the heat.



The band were very good and it certainly kept the kids entertained, there was always loads of children on the dancefloor when the band were playing.


This was our first time using the Dining Plan on table service and it was easy to use. While hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed Biergarten, we won't be hurrying back. The choice of food was great and we enjoyed everything we tried but there are other restaurants we want to try. It was soon time to venture back into the heat.

We had a little walk through the Germany shops including a peek at Karamell Kuche. Oh, it's a shame that I was so full from dinner as the caramel yellow cupcake looked absolutely delicious! As I'm sure you realise by now, the way to my heart is with cupcakes. Especially the Disney ones. Anyhoo, it was still incredibly muggy even though the sun had gone down.





Hubby asked if we could stop and sit down so I found us a seat at the front of the American Gardens theater. He was a very tired bunny so we sat chatting and soaking up the atmosphere for a good 10 minutes. We had planned to stay for evening Extra Magic Hour but hubby couldn't face it. He was tired and his back was starting to ache.

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[Annabel]

Italy:


We had no chance of using our VIP vouchers in Morocco as a wedding party was there. As we walked over the International Gateway bridge, we noticed some lightning flashes behind the clouds. No thunder but fork lightning like I hadn't seen since my 1989 trip. Hubby had never seen it before and we were both transfixed. How can something so beautiful yet seem so scary at the same time? We posed for a Photopass photographer before crossing into the UK. We had a look in the shops. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Who and Queen merchandise is cool but a lot of the Welsh souvenirs (as well as Scottish and Irish) have disappeared. All we found was a small flag – one that hubby had bought 3 years before. I loved seeing the Paddington Bear merchandise in the Toy Soldier, I adore the bear. It reminds me of when I first started dating hubby in 2001. There was a Paddington Bear stall at Paddington Station in London which is where I used to get the train to Wales to visit hubby on weekends. I bought one then and he's still on show in our bedroom.

World Showcase is so beautiful lit up at night, it's a place that feels very special to me. We decided to stop at Club Cool for a cold beverage. I was very disappointed to see no Cherry Coke t-shirts as I'd seen in 2008. The amount of Coke clothing and merchandise has been scaled back. I found a gorgeous hot pink journal to write my trip report in and we bought a bottle of diet coke so hubby could have some ibuprofen for his back. Out of all the Club Cool drinks, I like the Ginger Ale. Hubby walked all round the dispensers waiting to see someone sample the Beverley, to no avail.

Fountain of Nations:


There was no line for Spaceship Earth so we hopped straight on. I love this ride so much. We had a good laugh at our personalised ending. I made sure hubby took a few photos.





I emailed the postcard to us back home at the end of the journey. As we approached the bus stop, a bus was heading towards us. We joked it was the bus to nowhere as it had no destination on it. Lucky for us, it was ours. The French Quarter line was pretty big and we didn't expect to get on. We did and to our surprise, we got a seat. Trust me to pick the seat right at the back of the bus which was wet. I jumped up, quickly declaring I had a wet bum which made a few people laugh. The air-con unit had been dripping on to the back seats. At least I was wearing black shorts! Thankfully our driver took us straight home without getting lost and we were soon back in our room. Behind the bus stop I spotted a path and asked hubby if he thought it might go to our building. We decided to find out and as it happened, it did. We were happy to find a shortcut to the bus stop without having to go through the main building.

We were in our room by 9.30pm, both exhausted with aching feet. I had worn my Weight Watchers pedometer again this evening. In total we had walked 19,966 steps and 8.31 miles. No wonder we had aching feet! Hubby fell asleep quickly but it took me awhile to get comfy enough for sleep. We had an early start planned at Magic Kingdom so I switched off about 11pm.

Coming up: Day 3: Um, is that our rental car? It's bright red!