While we were on Everest, my parents had been nice enough to pick us up ponchos from the gift shop to wear on the way back towards the front of the park. So, of course this called for pics!
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By the time we reached the tram it had finally stopped raining for the day so the ponchos got put away in our bags. Luckily, we didn't need them again on that particular day.
We decided since we were considering going to MK that night that we would park at the TTC and then take the monorail over to Epcot. We usually try to take the monorail over there at least once anyway because we like to ride through the park and see everything from a different perspective.
When we got to Epcot, Stephanie wanted to take Steve on Spaceship Earth, so I decided to tag along with them because I just love dark rides, My Mom, Dad, and Matt decided to go on ahead and look around in Innoventions while we rode. After we got off we called my parents to find out where they were and they told us they would come back to meet us. While we were waiting I got approached by a CM who asked me to complete a survey. It was really short and more likely a pre- screener for a survey sent to my e-mail which I still need to finish completing.
I wanted to drag Steph and Steve into Club Cool to see if I could get them with the same Beverly trick that had worked so well on my parents. Either A) They knew what I was up to or B) They are in that rare group of people who don't seem to mind the taste of Beverly. They both drank without any facial expressions and said that it tasted just okay. Grr... It figures.
From there, Steph said she wanted to ride Figment which I had no problem with because I love him. Before we got to the Imagination Pavillion we decided to take a family picture in front of the fountain right outside it.
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Steph wanted a few shots of just her and Steve.
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We went ahead and did Figment which was only a 15 minute wait. I don't know if Steve knew what to make of me and Steph singing along with "One Little Spark" at the very end lol. They took a quick look around Imageworks and after seeing nothing exciting we left. We noticed that Soarin had a 25 minute wait and Steph really wanted to do that so we headed for The Land. None of us minded doing that ride again anyway.
The standby line wasn't too bad. Matt, Steph, and I played along with the mobile game on our phones. We were all team purple and we found out one of the guys ahead of us was also purple so we had a good time getting our team to the top of the leader board. Soarin was just as good this time around. Steph actually screamed at first scene (I won't go into detail about which part, but if you've seen it you probably know which part because it's kind of sudden and takes you by surprise) which made us all laugh. My only complaint this time around is I guess we were seated farther away from the middle of the theater so some of the scenes looked a little too wide.It's definitely a better experience if you are in the middle of the theater.
After Soarin we decided to stop and get a snack because we were getting kind of hungry. We got Mickey pretzels with cheese and sat on a planter while we ate them. Steph really wanted to do Test Track but the standby line was 75 minutes and she didn't want to do single rider because she wanted to definitely ride with Steve.Instead she opted to do Mission Space. Her, Steve, Matt, and my Dad decided to go for it while I opted to stay behind with my Mom. As I mentioned before I can't do spinning rides anymore and I'm a bit claustrophobic, so I can definitely leave the experience.
My Mom and I decided to look in Mouse Gears for a bit. Then I lingered over to the pin trading spot to look for a few new pins. There were also a few people with pin trading boards and books. I would've definitely looked longer, but I didn't want to just leave my Mom. So eventually I wheeled her over near a bench by Mission Space and we waited for everyone else to finish their ride.
By then it was about time to start heading over to our dinner ADR which was something I was looking forward to for literally years. We were finally eating at Le Cellier. I've always wanted to try it and even though I've heard the quality has gone down recently, I still wanted to check it off the Disney bucket list. I didn't care that it was 2 TS credits and probably not worth it. I also did not care that Matt did not like literally anything on the menu. I was going to eat there and nothing was going to stand in my way!
We wound up being early by the time we got to Canada so we decided to squeeze in the movie before checking in for dinner. We were still a bit early for check in, but I gave them our name anyway where they informed they were currently running 15-20 min behind schedule. I also noticed they were training quite a few new CMs, so this my have contributed to the rush.
Thankfully it had cooled down quite a bit, so we waited outside until they finally called us around 6:40pm. Our reservation had been for 6:15pm. Also keep in mind that we had a 7:30 Frozen FP which I was already afraid would be a tight squeeze. I figured we had until 8:30pm, so we should be fine, right?
The wine flights looked really good, but I was totally not willing to pay $20 for it, so I just stuck with a Coke. My Mom, Dad, and I ordered the Black Angus Boneless Rib-Eye. I love Rib-eye steak so I was excited. I also subbed the veggies for fries (yes, I'm THAT person. I know some people may be cringing right now at how classless I am). Steph ordered the Chicken Two-Ways and Steve ordered the Alaskan Halibut. Matt didn't like anything, so he decided not to use his credits and just order a side of poutine and he'd get something else later. I was also super tempted to try the Cheddar Cheese Soup, but it was a bit too hot for me to really want soup.
It took forever for our food to come. I was starving by the time I got it, but my steak was really good. My Dad enjoyed his as well. My Mom was unimpressed, but she's not much of a steak person. Steve said the halibut was really good and Steph was indifferent on the chicken. By the time we were finishing up it was already about 7:45 and we still needed to order and be served dessert and pay our bill. I was starting to get a little anxious about this FP...
When our waitress finally came over for our dessert orders Steph and I got the Chocolate Whiskey Truffle. I honestly don't remember what everyone else ordered because by now I was mentally trying to figure out how we were going to make it from Canada to Norway with my Mom in a wheelchair by 8:30pm. It was now after 8pm.
When our dessert finally arrived I felt bad, but I did have to politely ask the waitress if she could bring the bill right over because we had a FP for Frozen that was going to be closing shortly. I had nightmares of us missing it and I really wanted to ride it without waiting in a two hour line. She assured us if we did miss our window just to tell a CM that we were dining at Le Cellier, but now I was too keyed up. I could barely enjoy my dessert.
As soon as my Dad finished with the bill I practically ripped my family up from the table and started booking it towards Norway. (It was now 8:15-8:20pm.) In hindsight I was probably being a bit ridiculous, but I was having an insane Disney moment. I may have actually cried if we missed this FP, especially since it was the only one that I had pretty much no hope of rescheduling if we did.
Somehow we made it with maybe 5 minutes to spare. I was never so relieved to see that Mickey head turn green! lol Thanks to FP we practically walked on. Now I know I've ridden Maelstrom before, but I didn't really remember it too much except the going backward part. I knew that the ride itself was still the same with the addition of all the Frozen stuff. For what it was, I loved the ride, but I'm a Frozen fan. Matt said what I've heard from many others that the faces on the animatronics were kind of creepy. I didn't really mind, but I could see where people thought that. I for one actually filled up with tears during the Let It Go scene because I felt like you really felt like you were in Elsa's ice castle. It was amazing! I also had no idea they took a picture (not that you'd see me anyway since Steph's head is completely blocking my face lol
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Steph said she loved it and now she wants to see Frozen. (She still hasn't seen it even though I've been bugging her to watch it with me. It's SUCH a good sister movie!)
After we got off Frozen it was just about time for Illuminations, so we found a spot between Norway and China. It was then I realized that we had barely touched World Showcase and I wasn't sure if we'd be able to make it back to visit any of the countries.
I love World Showcase and NEVER get to spend a fraction of the amount of time I wish to spend there. I was heartbroken and then I realized that our trip was already past the halfway point and I was starting to realize with everything we've seen, we still were not going to be able to see a lot of what we wanted. Darn you WDW for being so big! Needless to say I may have cried a little during Illuminations. The inevitable Disney depression was starting to set in a bit.
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After Illuminations of course we got swept up in the closing rush. Getting out of Epcot is still not as bad as MK by a long shot. I feel like there is more space for crowds to disperse. When we got to the monorail though that sucked. The line was pretty long and we really had no choice but to stand in it. Everyone decided that they were tired and we should probably skip the EMH because we had an early breakfast ADR the next morning. (Well, early for us). So we waited about half an hour for the monorail back to the TTC to get our car and head back to the hotel.
Would I make it back to Epcot to cram in a mini trip around the world? Stay tuned! Next up, the Universal portion of this trip report.
