WDW Trip 2016-Part 11: The Long Way Around The World

Blogger's Note: Ever use the phrase "I'm so tired I can hardly think straight"? Well, in this edition of my WDW trip report that applies to me. My family was pretty tired too. I'll explain as I share our evening in Epcot's World Showcase. 

As we headed into World Showcase plaza from Future World West, the intentions of our group were rather vague to me. I knew that we were looking for more of the Flower & Garden topieries and that James wanted to get something to eat in Germany but other than that I wasn't sure what we were going to do. 

I was very tired from the long day we'd had up until this time. I wasn't thinking straight. For the first time in our vacation I was about to let my family down in my capacity as their guide.

When we came out of Future World West we should have gone to the left. We could have boarded a water taxi, which would have taken us across the lagoon right to the Germany pavilion. That would have made our night so much easier. But here's how it did happen. 

We made a right and headed toward the Canada pavilion. There we saw topiaries of Bambi and his friends. 

No one seemed interested in going into the pavilion to look around so we continued our counter clockwise journey. This told me that, with Germany being one of our destination, there was a good chance that we may be in for the entire 1.2 mile walk around the World Showcase lagoon.  

As we approached the United Kingdom pavilion we saw a couple of Aria's favorite topiaries. Captain Hook and Tick Tock the Crock. 

There were also some floral versions of the friends from the 100 acre woods. 

At this point Brandi needed to eat to settle her stomach. So finding a place to get something she liked so she'd feel better became a priority. This was something I totally understood, no problem. The place we needed to go was the quick service window at the American Adventure pavilion. That was 4 pavilions away, still about a 1/4 mile from where we were at the time. So we headed that way. 

It's at this point in my story that I'd like to pause for a moment to describe what the atmosphere and crowd were like as we walked through the World Showcase on this night. 

In addition to all the topiaries and special floral displays, a big part of the Flower & Garden Festival is the international foods and specialty "adult beverages." This is true especially in the World Showcase. During the festival alcohol, already a big part of World Showcase (just google "drinking around World Showcase) becomes an even bigger part of the experience. Because of this being in this section of Epcot felt more like we were in the middle of an international street party than anything else.

There were people walking around with drinks, some obviously on the verge of having one too many; others clearly having that as a goal. Also there were groups of people standing in the middle of the walk ways socializing; making walking along the pomade like a serpentine obstacle  course. 

The best way I can put it is that there was a lot of carousing. I know that's an old fashioned term but it fits. This made me feel very uneasy. 

Now let me stress that no one bothered us nor did we have any issues due to what was going on. It just wasn't exactly the kind thing I felt comfortable having my granddaughter around. 

It was a very very different experience than any other we'd had all week. It didn't feel like Disney. But we were in the middle and we had to make the best of it. 

We managed to make a stop at the France Pavilion long enough to get our pictures taken in front of the Beauty & The Beast topiary. 

I also snapped a couple of shots of flowery versions of my favorite castle characters. 

Near Morocco, we saw a sand sculpture promoting the soon to be released remake of The Jungle Book. 

Finally, we made it to the American Adventure and found the Liberty Inn counter service restaurant. We got our food and sat at an outside table overlooking the promenade and lagoon. Brandi got herself a burger and shared it with Aria.

As I stated before, James wanted food from the German pavilion. So he went on down to Germany. We would catch up with him after we finished eating. 

Although eating did make her feel better, Brandi was still very tired. I thought it might be best if we left after we met up with James and headed for the front gate. But the American Adventure pavilion is the midpoint of the Showcase. I knew we had as much walking ahead of us as we did behind us. 

But that's when my mind kicked in and I thought of an easier way to go. We could catch the water taxi from this side of the lagoon and cut down on the walking. 

I asked a cast member where we could catch the taxi. He said right outside of Germany (great! we were going there anyway) but because of the Illuminations fireworks show at 9 o'clock the last one ran at 7:30. It was 7:45. 
We couldn't catch a boat or a break. 

So it looked like we were taking the long way around. 

We said "howdy" to the Woody topiary before leaving the American Adventure area. 

 Along out trek to Germany we saw Mufasa, Sarabi, Simba and Rafiki from "The Lion King."

When we caught up with James he was standing at a table next to the lagoon across from the Germany pavilion. He was eating and talking with some guys he met while in line for his food.

Once we started back on our way the other members of my family decided they wanted to do a little browsing of some of the shops and kiosks along the way. 

Paula went into "Karamel Kutche" the Wurther's Original carmel candy shop just before we left Germany. She bought a chocolate covered carmel filled turtle and a paper cone full of carmel drizzled popcorn. She shared some of the popcorn. It was very good.  

James and Brandi explored a few of the kiosks. Somewhere along the way Aria picked out another novelty toy in one of the souvenir shops. 

Although half of it was concealed by walls because of the construction of the new Frozen Ever After attraction, we stopped by the Norway pavilion to take pictures of the royal family of Arendelle. 

 By the time we got to the Mexican pavilion area most of us needed to find a restroom so we headed to a building the park map calls "The Odyssey Center." From what I later found out it's used to be a restaurant and is now only used for special events.   

We were lucky enough to find an open bench along the wall next to the restroom walkway. Paula and I took advantage and sat down to rest our legs. 

It was about 8:30 by then and the crowd started to gather around the World Showcase Lagoon in anticipation of the start of Illuminations:Reflections of Earth. 

James & Brandi decided that they wanted to stick around and let Aria enjoy the fireworks. 

With the available viewing places filling in very quickly they decided to go get their place and wait until the show started. 

Paula and I opted to stay on the bench. Initially, I thought we would have a good view of the lagoon from the bench we were sitting on but as it turned out there was a building in the way. I was too tired to even consider moving to a place where we could watch it. 

At about 8:55 an announcement came over the PA system advising guests to stay in one place when the lights around the World Showcase dimmed. At 9PM it became much darker and the crowd became one continuous silhouette around the lagoon. 

From our vantage point we could see the highest fireworks but most of the show was blocked. But that didn't bother me. I had found the place where Brandi and James were standing. Aria was perched securely on her daddy's shoulder's enjoying the show. I enjoyed watching her reaction to night time spectacular. 

Thirteen minutes later, the show was over. It was time for us to head to out of the park. So the 5 of us along with thousands of other guests headed for the inevitable bottle neck that was the walkway between Showcase Plaza and Future World. 

As tired as I was, I really didn't like being forced to bunch up with strangers. We would be a part of the moving hive until we reached the Innoventions Courtyard and the crowd spread out into Future World. 

But as we turned the corner onto Odyssey Bridge, I got an unexpected surprise. There were some graphics projected onto Spaceship Earth. 

This was something I had never ever heard of before. Even with all the travel guides, trip planning websites, and podcasts I listen to I had no idea this was going on. Seeing it came as a complete and pleasant surprise. 

The sea of humanity moved along at a slow but steady pace. It took us about 15-20 minutes to get out of the park and head toward the parking lot. 

Earlier in the evening, I had agreed to drive home. It was the only time I drove to and from the park that week. All of us were very glad the day was over. Soon after arriving back at the house, everyone said "good night" and retreated to the serenity and comfort of our bedrooms.  

The task of visiting all 4 parks during our vacation was now complete. But we still had one day to go in our vacation; one more park admission left on our tickets. We would use it for our second trip to the Magic Kingdom. 

There were some first time experiences yet to be enjoyed, Paula had yet to enjoy her favorite Walt Disney World snack, and there was a dragon in our future. Be sure to check back soon for the conclusion of our week. 

In My Next Post: Lunch in a castle, a show for the birds, going for a spin, and a good-bye cruise. All that and more in Part 12. 

   


  





  


   

• Anna and Elsa from Frozen
  Located at Norway Pavilion

WDW Trip 2016-Part 10: Morning At The Beach/Afternoon At "The Living Seas"

The white Chevy SUV that had taken us to Walt Disney World each of the 3 previous days took a different route to another highway on day 4. James drove 5 miles north on I-4 and then headed east on Rt 528. An hour or so later we were at Lori Wilson Park walking onto the sands of Cocoa Beach. 

Four of us put their toes in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. (Being a born & raised "Jersey Boy" I'd done it before at "the shore" when I was growing up.)

The beach was beautiful and the sun was bright. It was a very nice day. 

Aria was very excited to be on the beach.

She played in the sand... 

...and so did I

While I did keep up with the tradition of drawing a sand heart on the beaches we visit; unfortunately I did not get a picture of Paula and I together. Just one of those things that got lost in the excitement of the day. 

James pitched in and helped Brandi with the task of collecting sea shells souvenirs to help remember their daughter's visit to the ocean. 

Because she loves being by the ocean so much, my wife was thrilled to be back at the beach. But this trip was mostly about the Conner family of three sharing this first time experience together. 

Of course, this was a special day with my family and will always hold a lot of great memories for me. But it was the things common to spending time at the beach that ended up influencing the rest of our day.

I'm referring to leaving the beach and driving home with sand everywhere and later on in the day the effects of spending time the sun. 

About 2 o'clock we left Cocoa Beach and headed back to Kissimmee to clean up, get some lunch and rest up. 

Back on Tuesday morning when I discovered that our plans to visit 2 parks in one day with out the Park Hopper feature was not possible; it was decided that we would visit Epcot on Wednesday sometime after getting back from the beach.  

Other than the first glimpse of Cinderella's Castle from the far end of Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom, the initial sight of the Epcot's icon, the Spaceship Earth geosphere is my favorite "view" in Walt Disney World.

Upon entering the front gates we took advantage of the first of many photo opportunities afforded us by the Disney Photopass photographers stationed throughout the park. 

The annual Epcot Flower & Garden Festival had just started a few days earlier. This topiary greeted us at the entrance. 

Donald Duck & his nephews with their gardening tools were the first of many topiaries that enhanced our afternoon & evening. A lot of them became the back-ground for some memorable pictures. 

As we headed into the park our plan was to just go to a couple of attractions,grab some dinner, and then head back to the rental. We were all tired and sunburned from the beach that morning and really needed the rest. But, as we started to enjoy the park, things changed. 

Our first task was to get something to snack on. Our path took us really close to Spaceship Earth. 

We got our late afternoon snack at the Electric Umbrella on the east side of Future World. Based on our previous 3 Epcot visits, Paula and I like this place. Its location and the food's pretty good. While munching on our late afternoon snacks, I found our first destination on the park map. 

We walked across the Future World, passed the Innovention Courtyard fountain and behind Club Cool. There we found the "Butterflies On The Go" garden.

Since the festival was just starting the garden, didn't have that many butterflies. There were a lot of chrysalises which held the promise of many more but not at the time at our visit. We were only able to get a couple of actual butterfly pictures. This is one of the monarch's that we saw.

Ironically, the most impressive butterfly we saw in Epcot turned out to be made of flowers. 

Upon leaving the butterfly garden we passed a floral display that we all really liked. Although the F&G festival added a lot of wonderful foliage we were really impressed with these "everyday" Epcot flowers.  

Next on our agenda was a visit to "The Living Seas" area and attractions. This was the main reason for spending the afternoon at Epcot. 

Initially, James wasn't all that enthusiastic about going to this park. But I had an ace up my sleeve. 

In the last few years James has become quite the fish keeper. He has a rather large salt water tank at his house. He is really into anything that has to do with keeping salt water fish.  

Knowing this I counted on him getting on board with visiting Epcot once he realized that it is home to a 230 foot wide, 27 foot deep, 5.7 million gallon salt water tank. And I was right. He was interested in both the wide variety of fish and the coral. 

In 2007, "The Living Seas" area was rethemed to include the group of characters from the movie "Finding Nemo". It's official name is now, "The Seas With Nemo & Friends."

This area has a couple of cool looking outside displays featuring the characters from the Pixar film. The above picture features 3 of the animatronic seagulls who continuously repeat their catch phrase: "mine, mine, mine"
Before we went into the pavilion, I wanted a group picture in front an outside display. We found a photopass photographer stationed at one of them.   
He took quite a few shots of us. This one is the best. 

For a few shots he asked us to pose in our best fish impressions by putting out hands up to our faces like fins. 

Aria's pose was more "Home Alone" than "Finding Nemo." Brandi tried to teach her how to do it but she never got it quite right. 

But that's okay she's still my little cutie. 

With only a few minutes waiting, we were soon in our "clam-mobiles" and cruising through the "The Seas With Nemo & Friends" dark ride. The Havens were in one shell and the Conners were in another. 

It was the first time on this ride for all of us. It was a fun trip through the "ocean" with the animated Nemo characters "swimming" among the real fish. 

Next, we went to "Turtle Talk with Crush." Brandi and Aria set down front with the kids. James, Paula and I sat a few rows back.

I don't remember if Aria told me what she thought of the show. I liked it though because Dory was part of it. 

Right next to Turtle Talk is a play area called "Bruce's Sub House" themed to the Nemo shark characters. 

There was a great photo op here. A life size walk-in model of Bruce, himself.  Aria wouldn't pose with me so I "braved it" alone. It left me feeling a little down in the mouth. 

Our tour through the pavilion continued on to Sea Base Alpha, the aquarium area. We walked around exploring both floors. Paula and I got separated from Brandi, James & Aria so I don't know what their first-time reaction actually was. 

From what James told me, he enjoyed it but wasn't as impressed as he thought he would be. Still I'm glad he got to see it. 

Once we left the "Living Seas" pavilion we walked around looking for more topiaries. 
Here are some of those we saw. 

And of course, I save my favorite for last. 

At this point, other than crossing back over to Future World East to ride Mission Space       (I never did get to ride it), there wasn't anything else I had planned to do. 

But as we explored Future World West area we came up with some ideas. Paula said that she would like to see more of the topiaries. James remembered the good food he had in the Germany pavilion back during our 2004 trip.     

Soon it was decided that we would head deeper into the park. We passed the Imagination pavilion heading toward the World Showcase.The 2nd half of our visit to Epcot was about to begin. As the park began to fall into the twilight of evening we would soon have an "Illuminating" end to our day.  

Coming Up in Part 11: Terrific Topiaries, Tiredness, and Taking the long way. Be sure to come back for the rest of our Epcot story. 

  

WDW Trip 2016-Part 9: Chef Mickey's and Swimmin'

Continuing to share with you the way we spent our 3rd day of our week in Florida back in March. After spending the first 3 hours of our day in Disney's Animal Kingdom we left to go to lunch at Chef Mickey's restaurant. 

The Contemporary Resort is one of the WDW hotels that opened at the same time as the Magic Kingdom back in October 1971. It is the Disney resort closest to the Magic Kingdom; within walking distance as a matter of fact. The 
A-Frame design building is unique in that the track of the Magic Kingdom monorail look runs through just above the Grand Canyon Concourse on the 4th floor.

 For many long time Disney fans this hotel is the one anchored in their personal memories of visiting Florida as kids. 

It took us about 10 minutes to drive from the Animal Kingdom to the Contemporary. 

It was the first time I'd been there, other than a quick trip through it during a ride on the monorail back in 2004. 

To be honest with you, I will probably only ever spend time at this resort as a visitor and not a guest. With room rates starting at more than $350 per night, for me, the cost is prohibitive for several reasons. But that's a subject for another blog post at another time. Let me get back to the tale of our lunch experience. 

We parked in the lot outside Bay Lake Tower, the Disney Vacation Club wing of the resort, and took the elevator to the 5th floor. After a short walk across the Skyway bridge we were on the 4th floor of the Contemporary tower. 

We checked in with the cast member at the front desk of the restaurant. We were given a blinking pager and told it would be a few minutes until our table was ready. 

We were pointed toward a Photopass area to have some pictures taken as a memento of our visit. 

Unfortunately at this point the headache that had bothered Brandi all day had gotten rather intense. She needed something to drink and a place to relax for a few minutes. We wandered across the concourse to the Outer Rim lounge.

We just sat and chilled for a few. Aria was all about her Nana and her Simba. 

After about 15 minutes the pager went off and we headed to the restaurant for our lunch. 

The "core five" of all the Disney characters (Walt's company was built on the shoulders of these animated pioneers) is the reason we booked this lunch. It was great to get a second "up close" encounter with them. But the buffet turned out to be worth the time as well. More on that is coming up. 

From the moment we were shown to our table I could tell that the experience was going to be better than the character lunch at Hollywood & Vine the day before. 

The theme for the restaurant was, of course, Mickey Mouse. The classic Mickeys were everywhere. 

I really liked those incorporated into the back of the chairs. 

As we waited for our waitress to come and take our drink order, Aria continued to be all about her Nana. 

Our table was along the left wall of the dining area about 2 tables past the little alcove that led to the "backstage" kitchen area so the characters came to our table either just before or just after they took a break. 

Now here's a quick review of our own personal character parade. 

First to the table was Donald Duck. He signed Aria's autograph book and...

...at Aria's suggestion, posed with Paula. 

Next to our table was Pluto. Two days earlier in the Magic Kingdom, Aria had seen Pluto but didn't like him very much. 

As you can see from this picture she wasn't very enthusiastic about interacting with him this time either. 

So he just signed her autograph book and I buddied up with Mickey's pal for a picture. 

It was the little lady of the group that came by the table next. My grand daughter was delighted to see her new friend again. 

 I was at the buffet when Minnie came around but the pictures show that it was a happy reunion. 

The next reunion would prove to be a little more interesting. 

When "The Big Cheese" came to our table he started with a wave.  

This time Mickey didn't talk to her so she seemed to be okay with him. She even posed for a picture and even let him close enough to get half a hug. 

Then, of course, Papa had to get in on the act and amazingly, Mickey got a genuine Aria smile. 

It's not much of a surprise that as far as I'm concerned the last character to come by was the best.

Aria wasn't overly excited about Goofy but I sure was. It had been over 5 years since me and "the goof" posed for a picture together on my 50th birthday trip. 

Paula took this shot and managed to get not only me and Goofy but Brandi too. She also managed to get Aria's reaction to Goofy's silly antics. 

The characters did a good job at making their way around the entire restaurant and giving each table plenty of attention. 

Similar to the Disney Jr. characters at our DHS lunch, the Fab 5 occasionally would gather together and do a "celebration" dance. Not anything special but when it comes to the beloved characters, just a little bit of a show is always fun.

Now you'll notice there wasn't any pictures of James in that meet & greet section. That's because he was busy doing his best to empty the buffet. So now that I've shared our character experiences let's turn toward what was James' focus during our lunch, the food. 

As I was doing some research for this post, I noticed that a lot of the online reviews for Chef Mickey's by the so called "Disney experts" have a very negative opinion of the food. 

Now as a person who has a stomach about the size of my fist thanks to my surgery a few years ago, eating mass quantities at a buffet is not something I can do without severe discomfort and digestive consequences. So don't take my food experience at Chef Mickey's as any kind of guideline for what it will be like for you (unless you've had the same type of surgery). 

While I only tried about 4 or 5 of the items, what I did have was very good. The kielbasa was delicious. The "mickeyroni & cheese" was good. The pasta was shaped like classic Mickey heads. 

But out of the few foods I ate there are two that I really liked.  

While not fancy and pretty common on the breakfast menus throughout Disney World the Mickey waffles are the best I've ever had. I may be easy to please when it comes to waffles but I loved these. 

The other memorable food item was a small simple dessert called "Mickey Domes". 

Modeled after the popular mouse ears hat, the dessert is a chocolate cream filled sandwich cookie topped with a half sphere of chocolate mousse and a pair of round dark chocolate candies. It was indescribably delicious. 

Now I know that 3 of the 4 foods I mentioned happened to be shaped like Mickey Mouse but that's rather common in the Disney food world. I chose them because they looked and smelled good and they were. 

Within the Disney Fan community it is an accepted conclusion that Chef Mickey's is the quintessential character meal in Walt Disney World. 

Now that I've been there I would have to agree. Chef Mickey's is a character meal restaurant in Disney deluxe resort. That makes the standards it has to meet much higher than those in the moderate and value resorts and especially the parks. I found the food to be above average and the atmosphere to be unique. In addition, while your eating the monorail whizzes by overhead through the Grand Canyon Concourse of the Contemporary Resort. You can't get any cooler than that. 

Our lunch was over but Brandi's headache continued. She needed to go back to, what Aria had come to refer to as "our new house" and rest.  We were all tired from the activity of the past few days so we (Paula & I) agreed to go back and just chill at the house. 

Aria, however, had a different idea, she wanted to go swimming. The heater in the private pool at our vacation home was not working right. It made the water too warm to make for an enjoyable swim. 

So while James went into Kissimmee to get Brandi's Tahoe washed, Nana & Papa took our grand daughter to the community pool in our resort. 

For me, this turned out to be one of the best times of the entire vacation. Paula didn't want to get in the water. So she sat on a lounge chair and watched Aria and me swim in the pool for about an hour or so. 

 We had a great time with just the water and a small pink bucket. We played until James came back to pick us up and take us back to the house. 

We got changed and headed out to the Black Angus Steakhouse nearby for dinner. The restaurant is at the corner of West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway (Rt 192) and North Old Lake Wilson Road. It was James suggestion to have dinner there. It was a pretty nice place. The entrees were priced in the $15-$25 range and includes lots of choices other than steak. 

After dinner we took a short drive down Bronson Memorial Highway to look at some of the local shops. The one James wanted to see was closed. After a brief stop at a Walgreens to pick up some incidentals, we headed back to the Windsor Hills resort. 

By the time we got back it was after 9PM. Our 3rd day in Florida was over. We said our "good nights" and went to bed. The next day we would make a 1 hour trip east so 4 of the 5 people in our group could dip their toes into the Atlantic Ocean surf for the first time. 

Coming Up in Part 10: Surf, Sand, and Sunburn and our visit to the Flower and Garden festival. 

Bayview Gifts
So after our lunch, we decided it would be best to head on back to the vacation home. Later in the afternoon we would go out to dinner and then we would spend the evening just chilling at the house.