Posted at 1:29 pm by taryngirl, on January 14, 2022
10/2/21
After checking in at Art of Animation, we wanted to head to Epcot. We had secured a virtual spot in line for the brand new ride, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. One of my main priorities was getting a late breakfast in France.
To get to Epcot from Art of Animation, you have to take Disney’s Skyliner transportation. There is no bus service available unless for some reason the Skyliner is down.
Here we are over top of Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort.
We arrived sometime between 10 and 11 a.m. One of my favorite quick service dining locations in Epcot is Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie. Entering at the International Gateway is super convenient because France is the first country next to the entrance.
The line was out the door and down the walkway!
My favorite is the Crossaint Jambon Fromage–Ham, Cheese, Bechamel in a Crossaint. You can get it warmed or not. SO GOOD!
And my new found love…the Baguette! Fresh from the oven and served with butter on the side.
Some views of the France Pavilion:
The entrance to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
We just briefly whizzed through some countries when our return time was called for the virtual line for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. Once your group is called, you have one hour to return to the entrance of the attraction.
Inside the ride!
The ride was SUPER CUTE! A great addition to Epcot. I do get somewhat motion sick and had to close my eyes at one part, but it wasn’t terrible.
At the time of this post, the virtual line method has ended for Remy and it’s just a regular standby line!
Posted at 11:23 am by taryngirl, on September 22, 2021
5/17/21
Today was our Epcot day. We slept in and got to the park around 10:00 a.m. The posted opening time was 11:00 a.m., but I knew they would open the gates prior to that.
Our Touring Plan:
10:07 a.m. we were allowed in, and we made it to Test Track at 10:13 a.m. The gates there didn’t open until 10:17 a.m. though. We were on the ride by 10:25 a.m, then headed directly to Soarin’ and were in line by 10:42 a.m. The posted wait time was 20 minutes, however, we were out at 11:22 a.m. From there we hit Living with the Land, and The Seas with Nemo and Friends.
Our plan was to just eat and walk around the countries! Everything looked so beautiful with the pretty flowers and amazing topiaries.
After walking around the countries, we took a Skyliner ride to Riviera Resort to check it out. We then went back to Epcot and hit the DVC Lounge for a drink and snack. We watched Pixar Shorts and went on Journey Into Imagination with Figment. We had dinner reservations at Via Napoli and then stood in a longgggg line for Frozen Ever After.
Here are some of the sights from around Epcot during the International Flower and Garden Festival:
ImaginationHeading into MexicoChinaGermanyItaly
This photo is my favorite!
FranceFrance
We were able to catch a glimpse of new Ratatouille ride area that is opening October 1st!
Located between the United Kingdom and Canada:
Located near The Seas with Nemo were these really gorgeous butterflies! The perfect backdrop for two Instagram loving teens!
Overall, it was a fabulous day in Epcot! We saw everything we wanted to. Up next will be my dining review of Via Napoli, which is one of our favorite restaurants!
Posted at 12:36 pm by taryngirl, on December 8, 2020
Continuing on with our day at Epcot, we finished up our Germany snacks and headed toward Mouse Gears to do some shopping. The entire center where the fountain used to be, is all blocked off and under construction at the moment. They are redoing things in there. That means that Mouse Gears is now moved to a different location. It’s still in Future World East, just a different building. The selection is still really good!
From there we headed to Spaceship Earth. Wait time posted was 20 minutes. We waited 25 minutes. Once exiting there are no games anymore. It’s completely silent! I’m assuming this is because of Covid, and the fact that they don’t want people touching the games and crowding. We went over to Journey Into Imagination with Figment, which had a 20 minute wait time posted. We waited 5 minutes. Also, at the end of this attraction there are no games or anything interactive!
Here you can see they are only seating every other row on this attraction for now.It’s empty and quiet!
Of course at the end of this, we went and enjoyed the DVC Lounge which is upstairs in this building. We sat for about an hour and enjoyed some drinks and snacks while recharging our phones and resting our feet.
While there are no character meet and greets available at the moment, there are characters out and about. We were able to see Joy and Pooh right outside of the Figment attraction.
We headed into The Land and went directly to Living With the Land. Wait time posted was 10 minutes, but we walked right on.
Plexiglass barriers up in between the queue rows.Only sitting every other row on this attraction. But you can also see the dividers up between seats.
After this, Alex went to ride Soarin’. The wait time posted was 35 minutes. She was on and off in 35 minutes.
Barriers up between the rows.
Here’s a picture of Garden Grill. The characters are there, but walking in the row of tables behind the patrons.
From there, we went to The Seas with Nemo and Friends, where there was no wait. We also stayed to explore the SeaBase since we had some time to kill before our dinner reservation at Coral Reef.
It was finally time for our dining reservation at Coral Reef! I hadn’t eaten here since my husband and I went for our anniversary many, many years ago…pre kids I think.
The entrance may be hard to find. If you are standing facing the entrance to the Nemo ride, go right around to the side of the building.
You can see the one way enter/exit, as well as markers on the ground.
There are (for the most part) no paper menus anymore. You have to scan the QR code at the table or outside of the restaurant to see the menu. The menus have all been paired down for sure! Offering less selections than normal.
Note…I don’t eat any seafood! At all!
Warm rolls with butter. SO GOOD!Side Caesar SaladSeared Mahi Mahi (Alex’s meal). She has a shellfish allergy, that’s why there’s an allergy pick.My meal! I ordered the Caesar Salad with Chicken as my meal. It was delicious!Of course we had to get the Chocolate Wave for dessert to share!View of the restaurantView from our table! We were right next to the gigantic tank.
Our reservation was for 7:15 p.m. We were in and out and at the bus stop to the resort by 8:25 p.m.
I would definitely eat here again, and would recommend anyone who needs a break from the countries to give it a whirl! When I travel with our big family, we always eat in the countries. This was a nice break from that since we had all of the food booths in the afternoon. The staff here was very friendly and accommodating.
Posted at 9:46 am by taryngirl, on December 1, 2020
11/14/2020
Recapping a little bit from my previous post, Disney After Covid (which focused mostly on safety and Covid procedures)…
I was presented an amazing opportunity to visit both Disney World and Universal Orlando. I am a Disney Vacation Club member and had several points available to use thanks to a canceled trip back in May, I’m an Annual Passholder, and had a free flight thanks to Southwest Airlines points. That covered the Disney portion of my trip. Universal Orlando invited me to stay on property and experience the parks for a few days, so I could see how they are keeping guests safe while still having loads of fun!
My travel day started off with a 2:50 a.m. alarm to wake up. (I am NOT a morning person unless I’m traveling!). My cousin Alex was my travel partner. We left around 3:40 a.m., and drove to the Philadelphia Airport, arriving around 5:10 a.m. at our parking lot. We went with Smart Park on this trip. I really just look around to see who is cheapest! Upon arriving at the parking lot, we were picked up in a shuttle with two other travel parties. We felt very safe. Everyone was wearing masks and the driver was wearing gloves.
Once at the airport, security was a breeze. Everything is still normal…shoes and coats off, everything on the belt and through the scanner. Everyone in the seating area was social distancing. Our flight was scheduled for 7:05 a.m. and we landed and had our luggage by 9:45 a.m. A note about Disney’s Magical Express…it is not the same! They no longer send you yellow tags in the mail or get your luggage and deliver it to the resort. YOU must get your own luggage from Baggage Claim and take it to the Magical Express with you. We flew Southwest, so our terminal was the A Terminal. We had to get our luggage from there and head over to the B Terminal to get on the Magical Express.
A fun thing I overheard at the Magical Express desk while we were heading to check in…they were expecting 6,458 passengers on the Magical Express on this particular day. The supervisor I guess?? was filling in the workers behind the desk so they knew what to expect. We got in line at 9:57 a.m. Be aware that they are using assigned seating from back to front, and using only every other row. The person checking us in told us where to sit. We were on the bus by 10:08 a.m. and departed at 10:20 a.m.
We arrived at Bay Lake Tower at 10:48 a.m. and were the first stop. We may have actually been the only stop as it seems everyone got off here… We headed into the lobby. We wanted to check our luggage with Bell Services and head to Epcot. We also wanted to change into our shorts because it was hot!
This is one thing I did comment on the survey they gave me. Because there is no luggage delivery anymore, Bell Services is CRAZY! Be prepared for longer than usual waits to actually check the luggage with them.
Bell Services line
We finished changing and got organized, checked our luggage, and then were at the bus stop at 11:35 a.m. There is no monorail to Epcot at the moment. The bus arrived at 11:45 a.m., and we made it to Epcot at 11:55 a.m. We were hungry for lunch and decided to start with some food booths! We decided to go counter-clockwise starting in Canada because we knew we wanted to eat something from there!
One of my favorite restaurants is Le Cellier (in Canada), but it’s on the pricey side. The items at this food booth are some of my favorites!
These did not disappoint and were tasty as usual. I absolutely LOVE the soup with the pretzel bread dipper! We continued on and our next stop was the World Showplace Events Pavilion, located between Canada and the UK. I have never seen this open for this particular event, but they do have other events there. I was interested to check it out, and it housed several food booths!
The Liquid Nitro Cake Pops came highly recommended to me from friends who had already been there, so of course I had to try one! I went with the Twix version.
This was really good and different! By this point I was already full, but I still had some items on my list that I wanted to try. Here are some pics from along our way.
FranceView from between France and MoroccoMorocco
Our next stop was in Germany at the little caramel store, Karamell-Kuche. This is a must do for me every trip! It has some of the best snacks. There were some new offerings this trip, possibly just seasonal? I had to have the Gingerbread Salted Caramel Buttercream Cookie Sandwich!
IT WAS AMAZING! My favorite snack from anywhere in the world. And possibly the single best thing I have ever tasted! The cookie was soft, but had a crispyish layer outside. It was perfect. The buttercream and caramel was so good together! I wished I would have bought more to bring home. We found a table next to Mexico in the area where the band usually performs so we could stand and eat our snacks.
What you can see in this picture is the line just to get inside the Mexico pavilion. The man holding the sign actually had to cut off the line because it was too long. The wait from here was about a half hour. I think they cut it off because they didn’t want too big of a crowd blocking the sidewalk.
While we were standing there, some cast members came rushing by telling everyone to get to the side, and that a horse and carriage were coming. We had no idea what was going on! All of a sudden, this went by:
It was brief, but exciting to see! We decided that they do not announce times for these little cavalcades because they don’t want people gathering and lining up. We were just out of Mexico when this one came by:
Short and sweet! It was nice to see the characters out and about since there are no real meet and greet experiences at the moment.
Next up will be the rest of our day at Epcot with dinner at Coral Reef!
Posted at 8:08 pm by taryngirl, on November 23, 2020
11/14/20
An opportunity arose for me to do a quick trip to Florida to visit both Disney World and Universal Orlando, and I couldn’t resist! Several things fell into place…I had DVC points to use from a canceled trip in May, my Annual Pass was expiring on November 17th, and Universal Orlando offered me an amazing deal that I couldn’t pass up! Throw in the free flight I was able to get with my Southwest points, and that was just the cherry on top. I was excited to check out how things are running post-Covid since I have clients scheduled to travel within the next couple of months.
This post is going to deal with everything specific to Disney World and the protocols in place at the resorts, the parks and the restaurants, as far as my personal trip is concerned. My cousin Alex traveled with me.
We started off with a a 7:00 a.m. flight on Southwest from the Philadelphia Airport. We booked offsite airport parking at Smart Park. Starting there, the attendant at the booth was wearing a mask. The shuttle bus driver was wearing gloves and a mask. There were two other parties on the shuttle with us.
Once at the airport, we did the self-service check in. The workers behind the counters were wearing masks. All security workers were also wearing masks. They still are doing regular security. Shoes off, coats off, and everything goes on the belt through the scanner. Once we got to our gate, people were definitely social distancing and not sitting next to one another. There were constant announcements about mandatory mask wearing, and what types of masks were permitted. They did have some available if needed. Southwest is currently not utilizing the middle seats on their planes, unless there are family members that sit right next to each other. They are seating every row.
As always (pre-Covid I did these things!), I had my Clorox wipes to wipe down my seat, tray, etc., and my hand sanitizer. The only beverage available on the flight was water, and they had prepackaged snacks.
In summary, I felt super safe in the airport and on the flight! Everyone was being respectful, wearing masks and social distancing.
Once in Orlando, we were using Disney’s Magical Express transportation from the airport to our resort. This service has changed! They no longer send you the yellow tags in the mail to attach to your luggage. You are responsible for getting your own luggage from baggage claim and taking it with you to the Magical Express bus!They do not deliver the luggage to your room anymore! Since we flew on Southwest, we arrived on the A side. The Magical Express is located on the B side. This means that we had to go to baggage claim on the A side, then go back up and across the entire airport to the B side and downstairs to the Magical Express location. (They also are not doing airline check in at the resorts. So you also bring your luggage with you when leaving the resort and getting on the Magical Express.)
Here you can see the plexiglass up at the counters, as well as some signage.
The lanes are numbered and the cast member will tell you which lane to enter. There are signs all along the lanes with these social distance markers.
The cast member scanning our bands to enter the bus assigned us specific seat numbers. He had a map of the bus with a dry erase marker, and was marking off the seats he assigned. They are utilizing only every other row and are filling the bus from back to front. We were first in line so got the very last seats! (As a side not, there was a girl next to us who was assigned to another bus. She asked if she could sit near the front, and the cast member told her she could sit on a bench until the bus filled up and then could sit in the front. She didn’t like that answer and proceeded to the bus.)
The Magical Express delivered us to Bay Lake Tower with our luggage. The lobby is small and it was chaotic! This was mostly due to Bell Services and luggage. People who did not have a room ready or were checking out but not yet leaving the resort had to check their luggage with Bell Services. Our room was not ready (as indicated by the text we had received while at the airport). So our plan was to check our luggage with Bell Services and then head to Epcot. A note! The monorail to Epcot was not running at the time so we had to take a bus.
We waited for a bus and once it arrived, the bus driver assigned us seats using a seat number. He was wearing a mask.
There are dividers up between seat numbers.
Standing is not permitted so the handles were zip tied up.
None of our buses were ever even nearly full. I felt very safe on the Disney bus transportation!
Once we arrived at Epcot, signs were everywhere!
Everyone has to pass through a temperature screening.
They used handheld thermometers.
Everyone also has to pass through security which is very different! They no longer go through your bags. You walk through a metal detector with your bag on you.
These signs on the ground are EVERYWHERE! Spaced 6 feet apart! Every ride, every kiosk, every store check out, EVERYWHERE!
Up next are attraction queues. The above signs are all along the ground/floor. Also, they are not using every seat/row! This is Journey Into Imagination with Figment. They did only one row per car. This was the same for Pirates, Mine Train and Small World as well.
You know the fun area once you exit the Figment ride? It’s CLOSED! It was so quiet. Normally it’s chaotic with people everywhere. We found this to be a trend for every interactive attraction. (At the end of Spaceship Earth, all activities closed. Pretty much any interactive piece at any attraction is inaccessible.)
This is the queue for Living with the Land. Barriers are up between the rows of the queue.
On the boats, you can see the dividers up between seats. They also were not seating every row on this ride, but there was no line so they were spacing us out.
Here you can see Soarin’.
These signs are all around the popular photo taking areas. There are also cast members carrying handheld signs that say this same thing. They were approaching people who were removing masks for pictures.
Moving onto dining now…
This is Coral Reef Restaurant, which is a table service location. Everything is one way in, one way out. Every dining location, shopping location, etc. Doors are specifically marked ENTER or EXIT only. They have limited indoor seating and are not using every table. If you want a table service meal, it’s very important that you have a reservation! I saw them turning people away if they didn’t have a reservation.
Another very important note, all quick service locations are MOBILE ORDER ONLY! This includes resorts and parks. Even if you only want a muffin or an orange juice. It’s all on the My Disney Experience app, or you scan a bar code located at the location.
There is no grab and go section that is self-serve at the moment. Drinks are not self-serve either. Once you scan the QR code, it takes you right to the menu for the dining location. Here you choose your pick up time. You do not have to be AT the location to order. You can be in your room, somewhere around the resort, in a ride line, etc.
After that, the menu will pop up and you can scroll through and click on what you would like. You pay right through the app with either you credit card on file or you can add a different card.
Once you arrive at the location you can click that you are here and they will begin preparing your food. Just a note…we found that it took a good 10 minutes or longer for the food to be ready once we clicked we are here. So we began clicking it as we were walking on our way before we got there. Once the food is ready for pick up, the notification changes and it tells you what number table to go to to pick it up. They have multiple stations so people aren’t picking up at the same station at the same time. They are marked with big numbers on the floor.
After you pick up your food, if you ordered a drink, you move to a different station, and someone will get it for you. This is the Contempo Cafe drink station area:
The food is served in bags that are sealed, and packaging that is sealed. I removed my sticker before I remembered to take a picture!
Next up is the resorts. This was in our Villa at Bay Lake Tower.
You will notice that they are back to individual serving sizes of the toiletry items.
The remotes are packaged in plastic stating that they have been sanitized.
One last picture I took was at the monorail located inside the Contemporary Resort.
We did have our temperature screening and security done here on our way to the Magic Kingdom. This allowed us to bypass those things at the Magic Kingdom.
Overall, we felt very safe during our entire stay. There are hand sanitizer stations everywhere for use at your discretion. No one is spraying it on you. I was pleasantly surprised that everyone was complying with the mask mandate and social distancing. The only time you could remove your mask was if you were stationary off to the side eating or drinking. If a cast member saw someone walking and eating or drinking, they did remind them of the rule.
Capacity at the moment is maybe 1/4 of what it is normally. So there were so many less people. Many of the ride queues went way out onto the walkways. Adding to capacity will definitely affect this. What seems like a crowded area really isn’t, because the line is continuously moving. It will be interesting to see what happens once they expand the capacity!
After our jaunt on the Skyliner, we rode it back to the Epcot Station and entered through the International Gateway. We had dinner reservations in Mexico at La Hacienda de San Angel, but before that, we made our way through the countries a little bit.
It’s always a joy to listen to Mariachi Cobre located just outside the Mexico Pavilion! They sound really good and are super talented!
There are two table service restaurants in Mexico. San Angel Inn is located INSIDE the pavilion.
(By the way, I love my iPhone 11 Pro! This pic was taken with it. No flash!)
We took a quick ride on the Gran Fiesta Tour before our dinner.
From there, we headed outside of the pavilion and across the walk to the second table service restaurant…La Hacienda de San Angel.
The view from our table (Yes we are inside! We just had a window seat.):
The menu:
(A side note…I have only eaten at this restaurant one other time in my life, and it was several years ago. I absolutely did not find the menu appealing at all, but my cousin wanted to try it. It ended up being my favorite meal of the trip! So I couldn’t wait to get back here.)
Chips and Salsa come complimentary. The salsa was really good!
I ordered the Pollo al Pastor, which was adobe marinated chicken breast with vegetables. It was spicy but delicious!
My cousin ordered the Enchiladas de Vegetales.
All entrees come with family style rice and beans.
Overall thoughts…our server was a little crazy, but efficient. One example, when filling my water, he basically dumped the pitcher onto me and my plate of rice. The meal was so good, and I love the setting right on the lake. If you have dined inside at San Angel Inn, give this a try! I prefer the food here! They only serve during dinner.
After breakfast at All Star Movies, we headed to Epcot. We got there around 11:30 a.m. We were in no rush. We had some FP+ scheduled and were really having a leisurely day.
We noticed that Spaceship Earth had been down all morning, but when we walked through the gates they must have just opened up. So we hopped right on it with no wait! It was my most unusual ride this time. Our car was very jerky and squeaky, and our little interactive screen on the way down wasn’t working correctly.
From there we needed to head to our Frozen Ever After FP+. We cut through the walkway to the left and got some good views of the scenery being set up for the Flower & Garden Festival.
It really was a perfect day weather wise!
We didn’t eat here, but I snapped a quick picture of the current Quick Service Menu at La Cantina de San Angel. This is located right on the water outside of the Mexico pavilion.
This is the menu for the Mexico table service restaurant that is open for dinner, La Hacienda de San Angel. This is located outside of the Mexico pavilion on the water, and is only open for dinner.
Much to our delight, some of the topiaries were up! In Norway:
After riding Frozen Ever After, we were deciding what we wanted to eat for lunch. We planned to snack around at some quick service places, but we weren’t TOO hungry yet. We had eaten in China last time and I LOVED IT! So that was on my mind…
We took a quick jaunt through the shops here. It’s one of my favorite…maybe because I am part Chinese? Maybe because I love what they offer? I’m not sure!
When exiting out the back, we came across this neat find:
I was trying to ask the man questions, but he was taking pictures and trying to get people to purchase. I didn’t know if it was a temporary thing, part of Flower & Garden that would be starting, etc. Later on, he actually was carrying one through the Lotus Blossom and showing people who were eating there.
Of course I decided I wanted to eat at the Lotus Blossom Cafe. This was the current menu at the time. It had different things on it since we had eaten there in January!
I went with the Beef Noodle Mongolian Style. This has a little kick, so be aware! But it was so good!
After that, we continued through the countries until it was time to head to our Nemo FP+. We took the boat back to the other side.
We had time before our FP+ and wanted to shop, so we went to MouseGear first. This is one of my favorite shops anywhere! (I made a purchase but had absolutely NO room left to take anything back since I only had a backpack. I had it shipped directly to my house for somewhere around $7!)
After our Nemo FP+ we went over to the Land pavilion for a snack. On the way down to Sunshine Seasons, we stopped at this little counter area at the exit of the Living With the Land ride. They had these super cute plants!
If I had space in my luggage, I would have purchased one of these! It’s the perfect gift for my youngest daughter, and so neat to think we have a piece of “the Land” in our home!
We were in the dessert mood, and couldn’t decide between these two things:
A fabulous piece of Carrot Cake.
A Whoopie Pie.
The Carrot Cake was the for sure winner! It was SO GOOD. Moist and amazing frosting. The Whoopie Pie was just ehhhh. I doubt I would get it again.
We had one more FP+ to use here at Journey Into Imagination With Figment. As soon as we used it, Chrissy was on the app securing another FP+. We decided to head over to Hollywood Studios because she was able to get SLINKY DOG DASH!!!
In case you wondered…here are three different flavors of popcorn located near the entrance to Figment! To my knowledge, you can get the refills in your bucket with these flavors.
We stopped at Guest Services on the way to the bus to Hollywood Studios to see if they still had any Figment magnets for Annual Passholders…SCORE! They did. We did have to show our AP and he did look us up online.
Posted at 9:55 am by taryngirl, on February 5, 2019
8/15/18
Being a Disney Vacation Club Member does have some perks! There are some special events held throughout the year for us. We were lucky that one was happening while we were there! I also was luckily able to get tickets…these events sell out quickly! It’s a free event, but they limit the number of people.
The event time was 9:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m., however attendees could start entering at 6 p.m. Upon arrival, we were given our food vouchers (a quick service meal was included), a wristband and a map/schedule of events through a special check in line.
Each person was given a voucher for a quick service meal available at one of the locations listed above.
We headed straight for Sunshine Seasons!
Mongolian Beef–Mongolian Beef and Vegetables served with Rice (You can pick from fried or white rice). $13.49
This was my meal. I never really get to eat lunch here. Usually only breakfast because I am waiting while people are riding Soarin’. This was good! The dessert was the Key Lime Tart, and one of my favorites! I did pay out of pocket for the dessert here.
(I have no idea which this is!)
This was a special for the evening I believe, as I can’t find it on the regular menu!
Slow Roasted Pork Loin–Slow Roasted with Mashed Potatoes, Barbecue Sauce (she got it without) and Corn on the Cob $13.99
I think this was just okay. A little bit dry if I recall.
When we were finished eating, we headed towards Spaceship Earth. (We had FP+ for this evening! We were able to make them for regular park hours before the official party started.)
After our Spaceship Earth FP+, we headed to our Test Track FP+.
It was really hot and muggy this evening. Another perk for the party was unlimited fountain beverages. We stopped in Electric Umbrella for some drinks and for Kinsey’s meal of Chicken Nuggets.
Mousegears is one of my favorite stores! So of course I had to check it out and see what seasonal merchandise they had.
They have really stepped up their game! It used to just be a few t-shirts. If you happen to come unprepared for the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, don’t worry! They have plenty you can choose from!
From here, my cousin and her family wanted to meet Sebastian. He had one of the longest lines! Kinsey and I rode Nemo while they waited. There was a steel drum band for entertainment while waiting in the line!
We went from there to the dance party that was happening with a live DJ. Kinsey couldn’t get enough!
It was soon time for the fireworks, so we walked to the edge of the World Showcase.
After that, we were pretty tired, so we headed back to the resort.
Overall, it was a really fun time! There were other rare characters to meet but that wasn’t our focus. We just wanted to have a good time and hit a few rides. Oh, and have a Mickey Bar! I would definitely do this again if we happened to be there during these special events.
Posted at 2:45 pm by taryngirl, on November 17, 2018
We headed back to Epcot for the evening after a small afternoon break. Having hit most of what we wanted in the morning, we didn’t have to rush around to get anywhere specific. We made our way leisurely through the countries to our reservation in Italy at Via Napoli. This is Kinsey’s FAVORITE restaurant in Epcot! Pizza is probably her favorite food.
I never have seen this lobby/restaurant in a calm state. It’s always buzzing with activity and there’s usually a line at the hostess stand waiting to check in.
We come here specifically for the pizza!
Normally our service here is very good, but tonight our waiter did not impress me. First of all, he was more worried about his tip from the surrounding tables as people were leaving than he was about taking our order and getting it correct. He messed up the order and did not bring us the correct thing. Ultimately we ended up with Margherita and Carciofi pizzas. I cannot even explain how good the Carciofi is! I think it’s the truffle oil they drizzle on the top. I silently wish they had a pizza window where they sold this. I would get it for my lunch every time!
One thing to note…we were seated in this newer area. They expanded the seating area inside. This was much quieter than being in the main dining room area.
After dinner, we made our way to the front of the park to do some shopping at Mouse Gears. (One of my favorite places to shop! I find they have a bigger selection than most other locations.) We hit Spaceship Earth as our final attraction.
Up next…Disney’s Hollywood Studios–Toy Story Land!
Posted at 3:51 pm by taryngirl, on November 16, 2018
I’m SO SORRY for the delay in getting up my next blog post! Once back to school hit, so did SOCCER SEASON! I’m slowly reclaiming my life back…
Continuing on with my trip report from August…
Today was Epcot day. We were at a very convenient location to walk to the Transportation and Ticket Center, and hop directly on the monorail to Epcot.
Here you can see where they are building the new Guardians of the Galaxy indoor roller coaster. When facing Spaceship Earth, this is on the left hand side.
A perk of having an Annual Pass, is there is a separate Annual Pass line which usually moves much faster. We always arrive here by 8:30 a.m.
It was another gorgeous day…but HOT!
We were doing our usual AM Touring Plan:
Ride Soarin’
Ride Living with the Land
Ride Finding Nemo
Zip through the Living Seas
Ride FP+ Journey Into Imagination with Figment
Ride Gran Fiesta Tour
Ride FP+ Frozen Ever After
We always rope drop Soarin’ and save our Tier 1 Fastpass for Test Track or Frozen Ever After. We headed directly towards the Land Pavilion. I personally do not ride Soarin’! I can make it about half way before I have to close my eyes. It messes with my head… While everyone else rides, I usually check out Sunshine Seasons. I love the variety for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Look at these GORGEOUS cupcakes that were available this day!
My plan was to get breakfast while I was waiting. I went with the Breakfast Platter, which included scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes, and cinnamon French toast bread pudding. I don’t like Disney bacon, and LOVE Disney sausage, so asked to sub and they happily did.
I love this! Every single thing is so good. Especially the French toast bread pudding. I grabbed Kinsey a croissant, which is her usual!
After riding Living With the Land, we headed over to the Seas Pavilion. I have never in my life waited in a line for the Seas with Nemo ride. The queue is soooooooo long. Here’s a view from our walk over there.
The Nemo ride ends inside The Living Seas Pavilion. Here you can wander around (as time permits!) and check out all kinds of cool creatures.
After we explored The Seas, we headed to our next FP+ at Journey into Imagination with Figment. The ride was down, so we headed to the DVC Lounge for a quick drink and snack. We checked again and the ride was up!
From there we headed back to the countries. Mexico was our first stop. We wanted to check out the new Kidcot Fun Stops since they had recently changed.
Now you get a Ziploc bag, and collect cards and stickers to put in the
m. The cards have some facts on them.
You can find these stops at each country. Just look for a table with a cast member to collect a card from each country.
From Mexico, we headed to Norway to use our FP+ at Frozen Ever After. A FP+ here is a must if you want to ride!
Next was China…one of my favorite pavilions! I love the shop here.
Next stop…Germany! My favorite snack place is here!
I present to you…Karamell-Kuche! I can never decide because there are so many delicious goodies here!
This was also our favorite Kidcot Stop! He was super interactive and even sang to her.
Next stop was Japan. This is my #1 favorite country to visit! I love the store here, and the overall vibe. Kinsey also loves this because they have a huge Kawaii display set up…which she loves!
(They also have an entire display of Gudetama, which she found awhile ago somewhere on YouTube.). It means Lazy Egg, and for some reason she loves it!
Our next stop was Morocco, which is where I grabbed lunch. Tangierine Cafe is the quick service location in this country. There isn’t much seating inside, but there are some extra tables outside.
If you are on the Disney Dining Plan or Quick Service Plan, this is a great value for your credit. I love the Chicken Shawarma Platter. It’s served with a side of Hummus, Tabouleh, and Tangierine Couscous Salad with fresh Moroccan Bread. It’s super filling and delicious!
From there, we decided to hop on the Friendship boat to take us back to the opposite side of the World Showcase, so we could head back to the resort for our afternoon break.
Of course we had to stop and get a picture at one of the famous “Walls of Disney!”
After we explored The Seas, we headed to our next FP+ at Journey into Imagination with Figment. The ride was down, so we headed to the DVC Lounge for a quick drink and snack. We checked again and the ride was up!
Taryn's Mad Hatter Adventures 