Trip Report “Parents please supervise your children, and children please supervise your parents” 2018 Graduation Trip Report! *COMPLETE*

Well, it’s been three days, but I’m back from “The World”. Still trying to recover and catch up on sleep . I was pretty exhausted, but we had a great time! The Disney depression has officially kicked in, but I’m hoping this TR will help alleviate some of the pain.

For those of you who are just joining and are wanting to know the Who, When, Where, and Why, feel free to read my PTR!

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/the-captain-is-headed-home.940164/

This is my first TR, and the bar was set pretty high for first timers (cough cough @becca_ cough cough). Seriously, if you haven’t read her first TR, you need to! Anyways, I hope everyone bears with me and enjoys the 2,000+ pictures that I made, along with this TR!

Up next: Travel Day!

 

[Captain Barbossa]

I know! Love those floating flower beds--so pretty!! F&G is such a nice time to visit EPCOT.

Including this one, my past 4 trips have been during F&G. It would look and feel so weird if I went and F&G wasn’t going on. It’s no doubt my favorite time to visit EPCOT!

 

[Captain Barbossa]

Test Track!

I was directed to Studio A.

This is the greatest concept car I’ve ever designed!

On to the Sim Track!

My car won all 4 tests!!

I was super excited because I’d never won all 4, and I may or may not have done a little trash talking.

Man I really want a Stingray.

80k? My desire to want a Stingray has greatly lessened. Nah, that’s actually lower than I thought. I was thinking more like 90-95k.

I’m surprise they let kids rub their nasty, sticky hands all over an 80k car. Imo, no one should be allowed to touch it.

Up next: More EPCOT

 

[Captain Barbossa]

EPCOT continued

M was waiting for me in the gift shop. I grabbed us a FP for the Seas, so we headed there next.

This guy was chilling outside of TT.

I always see a lot of rabbits at EPCOT.

We heard from L, and she was making her way through security. I think she was gonna grab some Joffrey’s (yuck ) then meet us at the Seas.

There was this one family on Nemo that kept taking pictures with the flash on. It wasn’t your normal flash either, it was super bright blinding flash. Um hello, it’s called a dark ride for a reason!

The manatees were very active.

Up next: More Seas!

 

[Captain Barbossa]

The Seas continued

I could watch the manatees all day long.

The divers were out!

There were 8 of them. It looked as if they were doing some cleaning/maintenance work.

Up next: More Seas!

 

[riverside]

I could watch the manatees all day long.

You & me both!!

 

[fractal]

I need to spend more time in The Seas on my next trip.

 

[Captain Barbossa]

Not TR related, but I’m currently waiting for Christopher Robin to start!

 

[Captain Barbossa]

I need to spend more time in The Seas on my next trip.

I could stay in there for a long time. There’s just so much to look at.

 

[Captain Barbossa]

Real quick, I just want to let y’all know that I absolutely loved Christopher Robin! It was very very good. For once they actually hit one out of the ballpark. No doubt the best live-action movie from the Studios in a while.

I don’t think there was a dry eye in the theater. Yours truly definitely did some tear shedding. Ewan McGregor’s performance was phenomenal and is Oscar worthy.

Overall, the movie was great and vastly exceeded my expectations (which were already high). I highly recommended that everyone go and see it! (bring tissues though)

 

[Captain Barbossa]

The Seas continued

The sea turtle was visible today!

He was just chilling at the bottom.

At this point, L had already met back up with us, and we saw what we wanted to see, so we headed outside to discuss the game plan for the rest of the evening.

Random pic of the Seas pavilion.

I have no idea why I took this. I absolutely love that color though. If I ever get a beach house (doubt it), that’s the color I’d want it to be.

After talking over our plans, we decided to head over to O Canada. But first, I was on a quest to find the Bambi topiary.

The camera on my iPhone started to act weird.

This one actually looks somewhat cool.

Idk. Maybe it was the sun.

Up next: More EPCOT

 

[Tuvalu]

Real quick, I just want to let y’all know that I absolutely loved Christopher Robin! It was very very good. For once they actually hit one out of the ballpark. No doubt the best live-action movie from the Studios in a while.

I don’t think there was a dry eye in the theater. Yours truly definitely did some tear shedding. Ewan McGregor’s performance was phenomenal and is Oscar worthy.

Overall, the movie was great and vastly exceeded my expectations (which were already high). I highly recommended that everyone go and see it! (bring tissues though)

Couldn’t agree more!!

 

[becca_]

Couldn’t agree more!!

Y'all are making me so excited to go see it!!

 

[Captain Barbossa]

EPCOT continued

I found Bambi!

I’m so used to the Bambi, Thumper, and Flower topiaries being over at the Canada pavilion during F&G, so I was surprised when I learned that they’d been moved this year from Canada to Showcase Plaza.

I think we briefly went inside Port of Entry.

Illuminations prep taking place

Up next: O Canada!

 

[Captain Barbossa]

O Canada!

Another EPCOT rabbit!

The Victoria Gardens is a great spot to see them.

This really is one of my favorite shows! And Martin Short is the perfect narrator!

Apparently, my dad got really dizzy and started to get sick when he saw O Canada for the first time. He said it was during the scene when the horses start running around.

Earlier I snagged me another FP for Soarin’ at 7:30. It was 7 on the dot when we got out of O Canada, so I had some time to kill.

So pretty!

Dole Whip on me for the first person who spots the Beach Club!

I made a quick stop in Northwest Mercantile and the Trading Post, then I headed back towards Future World. M and L were gonna walk around WS, and I’d meet up with them after Soarin’ so we could get our spot for Illuminations.

Next up: More EPCOT!

 

[Captain Barbossa]

EPCOT continued

I made it over to Future World pretty fast, and I still had about 10mins til my FP. I really wanted to ride SE again, so I checked the wait time and it was only 5mins, so I headed over there.

It was actually a walk-on!

After returning to the present day, I headed over to the Land so I could catch my flight.

I just love the Soarin’ logo!

Row 1!

Wadup Patrick

Like I’ve said before, I really love the new film! I still think think the original is better, but the new film is super cool! And it fits in perfectly at EPCOT! So glad I got to ride it 4 times on this trip!

It was 8 when I got off Soarin’, so I had an hour to head back to WS, grab some dinner, and find a spot for Illuminations.

I picked Northern Bloom (Canada) for the final F&G outdoor kitchen of the trip.

There were 2 young looking girls and a guy in front of me in line. All 3 ordered the alcoholic version of the Maple Popcorn Shake and became very insulted when asked to show their IDs. The guy looked like he was 21, but still a little on the young side. The girls on the other hand looked like they were high school aged. (16-17)

After acting as if it was the biggest inconvenience in the world, the guy and one of the girls presented their IDs. The other girl was having trouble getting hers out of her wallet. She asked the CM if she could just show it in her wallet, and obviously the CM said no and that she had to take it out.

The girl said the state of Florida was stupid and she had no idea why she had to show her ID. (So much stupidity in one sentence ) She then went on to say that back home in Illinois she doesn’t have to show her ID to purchase alcohol.

She finally had enough, threw her wallet at the CM, and stormed off. What an idiot! I felt bad for the CM. She didn’t deserve to put up with that bs nonsense.

Anyways, back to the reason why I was at Northern Bloom. Beef Tenderloin Tips, Mushroom Bordelaise Sauce, and Whipped Potatoes with Garden Vegetables.

This was another dish that L got back in March and thought was really good.

To me it was pretty disappointing. Meh at the best. The mashed potatoes and mushroom sauce were good, but everything else, not so much. The carrots and onions were cold, and the tenderloin tips weren’t so tender. And there was also a good bit of fat left on the meat.

If I knew the vegetables were going to be cold and the meat was pretty much mediocre, I would have easily gone back to Fleur de Lys and gotten the braised duck with gnocchi.

While I ate, I continued my trek around World Showcase.

Up next: More WS

 

[Captain Barbossa]

WS continued

I didn’t realize it was the 25th anniversary of F&G.

I found my spot to watch Illuminations.

It was about 8:30, and I called L to see where they were and told her that I had a spot for Illuminations. She and M were actually on the Gran Fiesta Tour at the moment and would head my way once they got off.

Up next: Illuminations! (and possibly a wedding )

 

[Captain Barbossa]

Illuminations!

L found me around 8:45. M hadn’t eaten dinner yet, so she was gonna get something then meet us.

Since L was here to hold our spot, I went and got my Illuminations snack.

I’ve been wanting to get a funnel cake from the stand at the American Adventure for a while. Doesn’t look like it, but this thing was huge! Needless to say it was good!

With my sweet tooth satisfied, I was ready for Illuminations. But it was soon revealed that Illuminations wasn’t the only entertainment that was about to take place.

L and I had noticed some oddly dressed CMs hanging around the backstage entrance next to the Liberty Inn. Most of them were holding those light up orange wand/cones. You know, those things people wave standing on the runway at airports. We knew something was going on, and then it happened.

A little blurry, but yep, someone was getting married during Illuminations! I’ve seen plenty of proposals at WDW, but never an actual wedding!

When the bride walked by, the guy next to us said, “someone has way too much money”. The ceremony took place in the area in Italy down by the lagoon that’s usually roped off for the Illuminations dessert party.

I was looking for a camera crew, secretly hoping this was gonna be on Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings and that I might be on tv, but there wasn’t one to be seen. I believe the ceremony and Illuminations started at the same time. Not sure how the bride and groom were able to hear the preacher over the fireworks.

Anyways, back to Illuminations.

These were the only pictures I took. I really just wanted to soak this one in and enjoy the moment.

During “We Go On”, I started to think about all the stuff happening in the world today. Look, we all have our differences, but we cannot forget that we’re all one race, the human race. That’s the message of Illuminations.

I started to tear up a bit when Illuminations ended, knowing it might be gone the next time I visit EPCOT , but I hope not. I then turned to L and asked, “Hey, where’s M?”. We just realized she never found us.

We slowly began to walk back to Future World, enjoying the nighttime beauty of World Showcase.

Next up: Finding M and Leaving EPCOT

 

[fractal]

Illuminations gives me the same "chills".

 

[Captain Barbossa]

EPCOT continued

We stopped for some PP pictures along the way.

M finally texted L to let us know that she was in Mouse Gear, so went there next. M and L glanced around for a few minutes (not sure if they got anything) then headed back to Sports. I stayed in Mouse Gear a while longer because I still had some shopping to do.

The CM that checked me out noticed my graduation button and Clemson shirt, then asked if I was going there. When I replied yes, she got excited and said that’s where her best friend goes! So we briefly talked about Clemson for a couple minutes. I actually saw a lot of Clemson fans today at EPCOT.

I left Mouse Gear and began the depressing walk to the exit.

Note the moon shining above SE.

I thought that was really cool.

I saw a bored looking PP photographer, so I gave her something to do.

Up next: Last bit of EPCOT

 

[Captain Barbossa]

Illuminations gives me the same "chills".

It’s always been my favorite fireworks show on the property.