How Many Days In A Row Will We Wear Tie Dye (or Disney 2009 review): Part 7.2featured

I hope the shorter posts are making these easier to read!

Obligatory photo reminder: Don’t grab ’em without my permission. Blah blah blah.

Very full from breakfast, we made the quick walk up to the monorail and quickly found ourselves on our way to Epcot. I couldn’t contain myself…I was SO excited! If we had one day and had to choose one park, Epcot would be my choice. As much as I love the magic and nostalgia of the Magic Kingdom, the old Hollywood whimsey of DHS and the natural beauty of the Animal Kingdom, there’s a special place for Epcot in my heart that goes back to my first visit.

It was a matter of seconds before we arrived at the TTC and a quick walk down and up the ramps to the Epcot monorail and we found ourselves waiting for the Epcot monorail. I don’t care for the design of the TTC. There should be an easier way of transferring monorails (especially for those pushing someone in a wheelchair- grandma is a very petite woman, but pushing her in her chair to transfer monorails can take it’s toll on the knees…at least at Epcot, there’s an elevator at the monorail station).

The best thing about the Epcot monorail is that it always empties before you get on, so we had a pretty empty car to ourselves and discussed a plan of action. The park had just opened and we knew if we wanted some Fast Passes, we’d have to act quickly. See, if you get to the park early enough, you can get FP’s for an early time (you can use them after the designated time). The earlier they are, the earlier the time passes and the quicker you can get FP’s for another ride. So the plan of attack was for Mom and grandma to take all our our tickets and get FP’s for Test Track while Stephanie and I rode Spaceship Earth. We’d all meet at the Land pavilion and if everything went as planned, our time for “new” FP’s would be soon and we’d get FP’s for Soarin’. Since the only ride that grandma can go on without transferring currently was Rio de Tiempo (since one of our favorites, Living with the Land, was down for refurb), she planned to stay in the park for a few hours and then go back to the hotel to rest. While she was resting, the three of us would go on our rides and then, weather depending (we didn’t want grandma out in the rain if it was going to pour), we’d bring her back to the park when it cooled off in the evening for dinner, fireworks and maybe a walk around World Showcase.

Here’s the thing where we all couldn’t agree: I love World Showcase. I’d spend an entire day there (well, I’d probably ride Spaceship Earth a few times, but other than that…) if I could just taking pictures, exploring the pavilions, shopping and sampling the tasty ethnic offerings. Stephanie HATES World Showcase. I don’t know why because she never really tells me other than muttering something about her not liking it being my fault. Being there is like pulling teeth for her. We compromised and she told me that I could have an afternoon to explore on one of our three Epcot days. Well, she told me this last time and she put it off until our last Epcot day, when it rained cats and dogs all day and I couldn’t get any good pictures or really explore anything because everyone packed into the indoor pavilions. So I wanted to go our first Epcot day, Stephanie wouldn’t agree and we weren’t coming up with a compromise. I was hoping for a resolution and soon.

It was maybe 30 minutes after the park opened when we arrived at Epcot, and the lines to get through bag check were insanely long. The wait was compounded by the fact that I could see Spaceship Earth but couldn’t go on it quite yet, which just made it seem so much longer. At least we were shaded because even though it wasn’t quite 9:30 am yet, the sun was scorching and I was covered in a light sheen of sweat seconds after exiting the comfort of the air conditioned monorail.

After we made our way through the crowds at both bag check and ticket entry, we stopped to take our obligatory Nicole-and-Stephanie-in-Epcot picture. I think we have one of these from all of our trips.

After Mom snapped our picture, we walked towards Spaceship Earth and went our separate ways: Mom and grandma went towards Test Track and Stephanie and I got into the long line for Spaceship Earth and we’d meet up in 45 minutes at Soarin’. And I’m not hyperbolizing when I say long line. The wait was 30 minutes. For Spaceship Earth. A continuously loading ride. And from the time we got in line until the time we actually got on the ride really was 30 minutes. The wait was the same more or less all week, which was frustrating for many reasons (namely because it’s one of my favorite rides and the more I wait, the less I ride), the biggest being the reason the line was so long. Every time we got in line, the line would get held up by parents taking pictures of their kids (because there’s so much interesting stuff in the background? I don’t get it) and holding up the line to get them posed and then take the picture, check it and then take it again, or teenagers texting and not paying attention. Bottom line? The line wasn’t moving because people were being inconsiderate. If you want a picture of your kids with Spaceship Earth in the background, do it before you enter the queue or at the entrance of the park. I’m not sure what’s so special about the queue for Spaceship Earth, given that there’s literally nothing to see in the queue but the silver chains that form the queue, but every time we’d get in line, without fail, there’d be amateur family photographers who just needed to have the perfect picture of their kids in the Spaceship Earth queue. Me? I passed the time putting on an extra layer of sunscreen and taking random shots of the ride. No posing or stopping necessary.

Mom called us right before we got on to tell us she and grandma got us FP’s for Test Track at 10:00 am. Perfect! We wouldn’t be riding until the afternoon, anyways, so no rush to go over and ride and since our time was approaching, we could get new FP’s for that evening soon. She and grandma were going to explore Innoventions (which has to be the most arctic pavilion in Disney…it’ll dry your sweat-soaked skin in seconds). And with that, the phone went away, I made sure the flash on the camera was off and we got on the ride.

So, you know how parents have all kinds of embarrassing stories about their kids that they pull out at inopportune times (like Prom, weddings and family functions)? Every time Disney or Epcot comes up, I have to tell this story. Mom had only been to Magic Kingdom and Stephanie had never been to Disney when we went on our first family trip to Disney in 2001. I had gone the year before with my high school choir and I had some excellent tour guides in my friends, so when I went with Mom and Stephanie, I was a great tour guide and they trusted in my knowledge of the parks and rides. So the first time we went to Epcot together, I took them on Spaceship Earth right when we entered the parks (well, we stopped to have some family pictures taken first and then we went on Spaceship Earth). You know how on Spaceship Earth, the beginning of the ride is a slow and very steep ascent? Mom obviously wasn’t listening to the track that said the ride was a slow-moving ride through time and when we approached the top, I told her to get ready for the big drop and led her to believe we were on a roller coaster. She screamed that she wanted off the ride (did I mention she hates roller coasters of any kind?) and I almost peed in my pants. Mean, I know, but I was 16 and it was the funniest moment of our trip. And she was a good sport…she got a laugh out of it, too. On the flip side, she has the story of how last year, I started dozing off on Spaceship Earth (which I tend to do if I go on towards the end of a long afternoon) and I guess when the ride vehicle rotates and starts going backwards, I really fell asleep and threw my head back and my Chanel sunglasses went flying off my head (which, thankfully, the nicely coordinated person behind me caught…in the dark!). The moral of that story? Don’t wear sunglasses on top of your head on Spaceship Earth.

Anyways.

We got on Spaceship Earth and I turned the flash off my camera. Apparently, it’s not allowed to take flash pictures on dark rides. I don’t really care since I have an SLR camera and I can get my shot on most rides without a flash. The people on the DISboards get their panties in a collective wad over this. They say it ruins the experience, etc. Nine times of ten on every dark ride I go on, someone is taking a picture with a flash. Does it take away from my experience? No. Do I care? No. But if I took a flash picture on Pirates of the Caribbean and the DISboard poster who said he’d grab the flash offender’s camera and throw it in the water touched my camera? There’d be a lawsuit, my friends. I was also later able to take some nice pictures on my iPhone of the ride. Now, when I’m flipping through my phone pictures, I have some nice reminders of our trip.

I didn’t take many Spaceship Earth pictures this go-round because I wanted to experience the ride. I’m a geek. I know it. I have a journalism degree, so the history of communications is always fun and fascinating to me. But there’s something about Spaceship Earth. Everything is just so real. Unlike the Great Movie Ride, where the scenes were aesthetically pleasing, they weren’t realistic. On Spaceship Earth, most of the scenes are just so real. I can, and often do, lose myself in the magic of it all. The part I don’t care for, though, is the part they took away to add in the interactive part. I miss the diorama scenes, and the multicolored lights to keep you entranced while you’re descending. And Stephanie and I always fight over who gets to press the buttons.

We called Mom when we got off the ride and she and grandma were hanging out in the Land pavilion, so we set off to meet them over there. Around this time, my legs were beginning to kill me again. I was getting charley horses off and on and my muscles just burned and ached and my shins felt like a brittle piece of wood that someone was trying to hammer a rusty nail into, and so began the rest of the trip, where I’d have to sit or stop and stretch every five or ten minutes. A walk from Spaceship Earth to the Land pavilion, which isn’t more than three or four minutes, took ten. I was convinced the first day in unsupportive shoes, followed by yesterday where I had to alter how I walked to avoid putting pressure on the painful blisters I had on my heels had caused the beginnings of some stress fractures in my shins and the rest of the trip for me became about finding ways to avoid a wheelchair or scooter (which was stupid, but I really, really didn’t want to be in a wheelchair or scooter). The smart part of me who has been through this before knows the only way to treat stress fractures is with alternating ice, heat, anti-inflammatories and rest. The traveler in me decided no one and nothing would stop me from touring the parks. And so we continued.

We stopped to sit in some benches towards the end of the shadowed passage to the Land/Living Seas area and we were treated to a performance by a group of street percussionists. I don’t remember the name of the group, but they put on quite the performance and drew a large group.

We made our way into the crowded Land pavilion and quickly spotted Mom and grandma. I love the Land pavilion. There’s something so inherently Disney to me about the hot air balloons on the ceilings, but I don’t remember why I love them so much. I just know I have to stop and take pictures of them every time I visit and whenever I need a rest or safety from the rain in Disney, I often head to this pavilion. Something about the high, vaulted ceiling, the natural light and those pretty balloons entrances me. I wish I could bottle the feeling. And, you know, there’s the fact that it houses one of (in my opinion) Disney’s best rides: Soarin’.

The heat outside was miserable and grandma was already feeling the affects from it, even though she had limited time in the sun. We brought plenty of bottles of water and Vitamin Water and Mom was plying grandma with fluids when we met up with them. Normally, we’d all go ride Living with the Land, but it went down for a refurb a week or so before we arrived and we were all bummed. But, if the worst thing we have to bum us out is a ride going down, I’d call the trip a success. We sat around and talked for a little bit while we all rehydrated.

Our Test Track FP time had come and gone, so we could get another set. Lucky for us, Soarin’ FP’s were available for late afternoon and we grabbed a set of those. While we were grabbing the passes, I noticed that the standby for Soarin’ was 40 minutes. Since the standby for Soarin’ is almost never less than an hour, and is often 90-120 minutes, I decided we must pounce. Mom gave us her blessing and told us to call her so we could meet up after the ride, and off to Soarin’ we went.

The line was slow and unmoving in many parts, but it was exactly 40 minutes from the time we entered the ride until the time my tush hit the seat. I took two Advil when we were sitting with Mom and grandma and it wasn’t helping much, so I spent most of my time sitting in the queue while Stephanie played along with the queue movement games.

The portion of the line where there’s movement games (and where I enjoyed a nice sit…but oddly enough the only place in Disney World where I can remember having no service on my phone) moved quickly enough, but the slowest part of the ride is after you pass the movement games and you’re assigned a concourse. It seems like you’d be on the ride quickly, but that’s really the longest part of the line and the wait.

Soon enough, though, we found ourselves in the middle row (I can never seem to get in the top row!) and on the ride. I have to ride Soarin’ barefoot at least once on every trip. The ride is some kind of magic alone, but the faux California wind tickling the bottom of my feet while I allow myself to escape into the sights of the California landscape and the smell of evergreens and oranges might just be my favorite part of all of Disney.

We got off the ride and met Mom and grandma in Innoventions and the short walk was havoc on my legs. This just wasn’t normal. Stephanie had some leg problems right before one of our cruises the year before and Mom called the orthopedic, which resulted in Stephanie laying in bed at the Gaylord Palms for two days hopped up on paid meds before we left on a cruise that she couldn’t drink on (which was also her first cruise where she could legally drink). Mom was ready to get the doctor on speed dial, but I really, really didn’t want to ruin the trip for anyone else and I didn’t want it ruined by pain meds and wheelchairs for me. I’d deal with it when we got home. Grandma was tired and not feeling well from the heat and decided she wanted a quick lunch and go rest at the hotel. The problem? We had an hour and a half until our lunch reservation at Chefs de France.

But, what grandma wants, grandma gets. We certainly weren’t going to parade her around the parks in 100+ degree heat until she got a heat stroke or got sick. The closest place to eat was the Electric Umbrella, so we headed over there to get grandma some lunch.

I don’t know why, but I’m pretty sure Mom’s two favorite places to eat at Disney are the Electric Umbrella and Starlight Ray’s Cosmic Cafe. I think it’s because of the fond memories she has of our first trip (which was nearly two weeks…we ate at those two venues a LOT). She leaves most of the planning to me and Stephanie, and we’ve taken her to the likes of California Grill, Narcooseees, Yachtsman Steakhouse and Le Cellier, but if you ask her where she wants to eat at Disney, she’ll mention the Electric Umbrella. Go figure.

Grandma wasn’t all that hungry, but we decided since she was going right back to the hotel, anything she couldn’t finish would go back with her and she could snack on later. She wanted chicken, so we got her the chicken nugget meal (I think it was seven or ten pieces…I don’t remember…we got her the largest increment) with fries, a strawberry cheesecake and a large lemonade. For whatever reason, I seem to lack all of the counter service receipts (so I can’t do a true cost analysis of how much we saved on the deluxe dining plan), but I think it came to around $15, and we used one meal credit.

Grandma got through three or four pieces of chicken and most of the cheesecake before declaring herself full. By this point, we had lunch in an hour, which meant Mom had an hour to get grandma back to the hotel, get back on the monorail and into the park, and to the very back of World Showcase. Meanwhile, she insisted I get a new pair of shoes since she blamed my leg problems on the fact that I left my gym shoes at home. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want her to have to pay $40 for a pair of Crocs that I’d likely never wear again, but that’s the kind of person my Mom is. She didn’t care for the price and only wanted for me to feel better.

With that, we split up. Stephanie and I went to Mousegears and Mom and grandma went back to the hotel. The shoe choices were sparse. The only ones that I thought were cute only went up to a size 5. There were fit flops, which I really wanted to try, but Mom said Crocs. I was stuck with black Crocs with red straps and cutout Mickey heads. I have very feminine tastes and these went against everything I liked, but it seems my feet had swelled up two sizes larger than normal and they were the only ones that fit. I’m not sure if the swelling was from the heat, my leg problems or a combination of the two, but they weren’t an encouraging sign.

Stephanie and I looked around Mousegears for awhile (which has everything under the sun…a true shopping lovers dream!) before deciding to head over to France so we could take our time. Since France is at the back of World Showcase and I was too stiff to walk over there like we normally would (it’s a lovely walk coming from the Canada side of World Showcase), we decided to take the boat over to Morocco and walk from there. The boat only comes every 15 minutes, and we had to wait about 10 minutes for the next one to come over.

Mom called us to tell us they had just gotten to the hotel room and she was going to get grandma settled. I didn’t remind her that lunch was in 20 minutes and just told her to get here as soon as she could and to bring some extra water bottles back with her.

We saw Belle and the Beast doing an autograph session across from the restaurant. That would have been fun, but we wanted to check in and let them know that our party would be three instead of four and one was running late.

The podium area was packed, so Stephanie and I went out to the fountain in the pavilion to sit and enjoy the ambiance. I’ve never been to France, so I have no idea what real France is like, but there’s definite French influence in the pavilion. It seems so authentic. Mom is a Francophile and loves all things French (which is why we were dining at Chefs de France, even though it’s another restaurant I don’t care for) and the France pavilion, unsurprisingly, is her favorite. Stephanie and I love it because Beauty and the Beast is our favorite Disney movie and holds a prominent position in our childhood memories (every Halloween, we’d sort out and trade our candy while watching and it seemed to be played every snow day we had in elementary school). If you look around the pavilion closely, you’ll find many Beauty and the Beast references.

Some seats freed up near the restaurant podium, so we went to sit there and not long after, our name was called. We told them we weren’t all present, but they insisted on seating us and told us they’d tell our server to hold off for a bit.

We were seated in a small annex of the main dining room. We always sit in this room. It’s almost like a sun room, in that the large windows look out upon the pavilion and when it’s nice out, sunlight streams into the room. As it was, the sun was disappearing into the clouds and I was sure the forecasted rain would be coming soon.

Right as we were seated, Mom called to tell us she was entering the park. We told her to take the boat launch from Canada, but Mom really isn’t that great with directions and since we don’t spend a lot of time in World Showcase, I was afraid she’d get herself lost. We told her where to get the boat and how to get to the restaurant and then our server, Michael, came over to introduce himself and bring us some water. We told him Mom would be a few minutes, so he took our drink orders and gave us a few minutes.

While we were waiting, Remy came over to see how we were and tell us he’d make our food extra special (via his assistant, of course). I thought this was a cute and interesting spin on character dining.

Michael came with our drinks and Mom came into the restaurant. Instead of taking the boat, she just walked over (and made great time!). We had a nice, cold diet Coke waiting for her and we settled in to peruse the menu while Michael brought over some nice, crusty rolls for us to munch on while we decided on lunch.

Stephanie decided to start with one of the flatbreads with creme fraiche, bacon and onions, which was the house specialty. The flatbreads are huge when they come out…the size of a plate! But they’re actually pretty light and thin, which is why I suspect she ordered it (I had the goat cheese and tomato one last year and we both were surprised at how nice and light it was despite how big and heavy it looked). The crust is nice and crispy…almost like compressed phyllo dough and was topped with a thin layer of creme fraiche, bacon and a lot of onions. The flavors worked so well off each other, with the saltiness of the bacon and the bite of the underdone onions working against the sourness of the creme fraiche and the slight sweetness of the dough. She enjoyed it. I tried a piece and I really liked the harsh juxtaposition of the crunchy-yet-soft crust, the bacon (which was soft as opposed to crunchy) and the onions (which were crunchy as opposed to soft) and how the smooth creaminess of the cream brought it all together.

Les Tartes des Chefs a la flamme Alsacienne

We told Michael that Mom spoke some French and he was delighted when she conversed with him and ordered in French. She started with the imported cheese plate, which had nice slices of swiss, brie and what looks like a muenster with a nice sized medallion of goat cheese and a side salad. Mom strongly dislikes goat cheese and promptly placed the medallion on my plate since I love goat cheese. It was a bit stronger in flavor than I’m used to, but it was every bit as smooth and creamy as a good goat cheese should be. Mom said the other cheeses were excellent. I only tried the brie, which was very good, so I’ll take her word for it. The salad was fresh and flavorful and added a nice light aspect to the heavy cheeses, which were served in ample portion.

Assiette de fromages de France

I wanted to try the french onion soup because Stephanie raved about it the last time we were here, but it was too hot for soup and french onion soup is a bit heavy for a lunch starter, so I went for the Salade au bleu (romaine hearts, blue cheese dressing, bacon, walnuts, croutons). I’m very picky with my salads. I have very specific tastes and I rarely find a salad that I like unless I make it myself (the only salad that’s usually sure to please me is a simple wedge salad). That said, this was a fantastic salad. Probably one of the best I’ve ever had on vacation. The lettuce was crunchy and it was thoroughly dried (my biggest problem with lettuce is when it’s too wet and I have water sloshing in my mouth while I’m eating). The dressing was a creamy blue cheese that was lighter than any blue cheese dressing I’d ever had and the bacon, walnuts and croutons added a great crunch. My only gripe is that I wish there were some blue cheese crumbles in the salad, as the dressing was tame on the blue cheese flavor and it would have worked well against the saltiness of the bacon and pecans. I know that it’s probably because blue cheese is an acquired taste and not everyone cares for a heavy taste of it, but I love a good blue cheese and this really needed some more. But overall, this was a really great, light start to the meal.

Salade au bleu

Stephanie ordered the Croque Monsieur (the classic French toasted ham and cheese sandwich served with a green salad) for her entree. She had this the last time we dined here and she really enjoyed it. It’s really just a simple hot ham and cheese sandwich, with some thicker ham and a lot of cheese, but Stephanie really enjoys it. It was served with a side salad, which was the perfect light side for such a heavy sandwich.

Croque monsieur et sa salade verte

Mom is a quiche fiend, so she had the quiche lorraine (the famous ham and cheese quiche served with a mixed green salad). She enjoyed both the quiche and salad immensely. Instead of a slice of quiche, she was served a small quiche. She really enjoyed it, as the egg and ham portion was nice and fluffy and the crust was flakey and had a nice crunch, but the portion was a bit too big given the heaviness of the quiche.

Quiche Lorraine

Nothing on the menu really appealed to me, so I ordered the Gratin de Macaroni (macaroni baked with cream and Gruyere cheese) since I had a taste when grandma had it a few years ago and it was tasty. The mistake I made was not realizing just how heavy this dish is. It’s more of a pasta casserole and the heaviness of the pasta is weighed down further in cream and cheese. It’s sinfully rich and delicious, but I didn’t even make it through a third of it. This really was comfort food at it’s best, though, and I wish it’s something I could order out on a cold night in Chicago. But for a hot day of touring Disney? Not so perfect.

Gratin de macaroni

Stephanie wanted something really light for dessert, so she ordered the trio of sorbets, served with an elephant ear and drizzled with raspberry sauce and berries. We all thought of ordering this, but decided to order different desserts so we could sample them. I think the sorbet trio had a lemon, a mango and a basil sorbet (or some other herb). Stephanie’s favorite was the mango. I thought the lemon was tasty. No one liked the herby one.

Assiette de sorbets du jour

Mom ordered the Profiteroles au chocolat (Puff choux with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce). Holy moly, these things were huge! Her plate held two very large scoops of ice cream, cradled by dense pastry caps on both ends, a dense layer of rich chocolate sauce, a sprinkling of berries and a shaving of white chocolate to top it off. She said it was phenomenally delicious. I didn’t even attempt to touch it since the sight of it gave me a toothache.

Profiteroles au chocolat

I can’t find what I ordered on any menus, but it was a chocolate mousse cake with blood orange sauce and coconut ice cream. The cake, while dense, was surprisingly light and the rich chocolate with the tangy blood orange sauce was every bit as good as I thought it would be. I’m not a big fan of coconut, so the ice cream went untouched except for a small taste which had only but a vague taste of coconut and was very creamy and obviously homemade.

Chocolate Mousse Cake with Blood Orange Sauce

Michael was quick and efficient and had the cheque ready for us before we even needed to ask. Pre-gratuity and post-tax, the total came to $98.52 and we used three meal credits. At this point, we were realizing the true downside of the deluxe dining plan: since gratuity isn’t included anymore, most of the savings are negated by the fact that the meal prices are inflated and thus, we were spending a lot in tips.

Since we were already in World Showcase, Stephanie decided that I should get France out of my system and knock one country out so I’d have less to do later. A nice woman offered to take our picture and though Mom was leery of me handing off a very expensive camera to a stranger, she seemed nice enough. And she took a nice picture, too. But Mom was right, I needed to be more careful.

We started off together in the perfume shop. Like I said earlier, if you look closely enough, there’s a lot of Beauty and the Beast and classic Disney references hidden in this pavilion. The most obvious one is the stained glass window, which is right out of Beauty and the Beast, but some not-so-obvious ones are hidden away. The hidden gems are something I love most about Disney- no matter how many trips we do or how many times I look at the same thing, I’ll always find something new.

Mom and Stephanie went off to look around and I went to take a picture of everything I could find. We met back up at the souvenir store and debated getting a snack at the patisserie to bring back, but ultimately decided we were entirely too full from lunch to even browse the shop. I was even too full to enjoy a flight of fine French wines, which is one of my favorite parts of the pavilion.

I’d earlier decided I wanted to buy something in each country (a task I’d ultimately fail at since I couldn’t find anything I wanted in a few countries) and while we were in the wine store, we came across these small tins of hard french candies that grandma used to carry in her purse when we were little! What a small world! They’re called “Rendez Vous” and they’re small pearls of heaven. And, at $2.50 a tin, they’re cheap and savory souvenirs. We must have bought seven tins of mixed fruit and berry varieties and we couldn’t wait to show grandma what we had found.

After we finished exploring “France,” we took the ferry back to Future World to get some rides in before dinner. Except we didn’t quite finish the rides…or make it to dinner…but that story will have to come in the next part 😉