Day 17- Happy Birthday to Magic Kingdom & Epcot!

Posted on October 1, 2014 by maymiller

Magic Kingdom and Epcot are both celebrating their birthdays today! Magic Kingdom opened October 1, 1971! Epcot opened October 1, 1982! Happy Birthday to you both!

Monorail…

Off to Epcot!

From the monorail…

We’re here!

Under Spaceship Earth…

There’s a rainbow in the fountain!

We decided to go to Epcot first! Celebrations began with eating soup in France. Les Chefs de France has the most wonderful French Onion soup. The chefs there are amazing and make a great Gluten Free soup for us!

France Pavilion

Les Chefs de France

The sign…

Entrance…

Place Setting

Beautiful seating in this room!

GF French Onion Soup & Bread

Next, we are going to see the Air Supply concert in the America Gardens Theater. It was great; the weather was cool.

Air Supply Concert!

We enjoyed the 1.1-mile walk around the World Showcase Lagoon. Magic Kingdom is our next stop, so we grab the Monorail from Epcot and head over to the Transportation Center to catch the next Monorail to Magic Kingdom. It is so beautiful this time of the evening.

Leaving Epcot…

We arrive as the Main Street Electrical Parade is happening. We make it to Starbucks and get a couple of hot drinks to warm up before the fireworks. We have FastPasses to watch the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular fireworks show from the Rose Garden. It was beautiful to see Cinderella’s Castle light in the Celebrate the Magic projection show before the fireworks. The Rose Garden is a wonderful place to sit on the wet grass and watch the projection show and the fireworks! Spectacular!

Dresses for the Birthday!

At the Transportation & Ticket Center…

Waiting for the Monorail 🙂

Electrical Parade

So fun!

Cute!

UP!

Fireworks

Wishes…

And all our Wishes will come true!

We have met so many people from Texas all during the day. We waited in the longest lines for the Monorail tonight; people waiting to get on seem to be very restless tonight. We go to the last car and began to get on as a nice gentleman said to me, “I was saving this seat for you.” How kind. I was talking to his wife and found that they had friends in North Texas! They both were so excited that I had lived there; their best friends live there and the couple goes there often! How cool! They got off at the first stop and another family got on. As I was talking to the wife, she said they were from Texas, in Louisville! We met fellow Texans all day! It was good to have that camaraderie with nice and kind folks! A good ending to a wonderful night!

Day 12- AMC Downtown Disney 24 and Epcot

Posted on September 26, 2014 by maymiller

We need to go to Downtown Disney and go to the movies to celebrate our 12th day! Downtown Disney is full of restaurants, shopping, bowling and a movie theatre! AMC Downtown Disney 24 with Dine-in Theatres! What? Dine-in Theatres? Next time we are doing that! Anyway, we saw Guardians of the Galaxy; loved the detail and the story.

Downtown Disney “West Side” Entrance

Walking in…

Overview of DTD

Frozen Yogurt!

Lots of snack options!

Speaking of stories, I loved the movie Saving Mr. Banks! I loved the way they showed the kind tenacity of Walt Disney. He had a dream to produce Mary Poppins, and the patience to wait in order to see it happen. Then, I also love the movie As Dreamers Do. It tells the story of Walt Disney’s early years in life. Walt went through tough times in his early years, tough years; he had such determination. At the last, he made a move across the country and got into the right place to make his dreams come true. It is a beautiful and tough story.

After Guardians of the Galaxy, we were off to Epcot. We went to grab a bite to eat. The park is so full of people; it looks like a summer evening! The Food and Wine Festival is bustling. We decide we will go to Sunshine Seasons for supper. It is a good place to eat, the lines are good, the food is good, and it is quick.

Twinkie! Someone wanted to buy her sweatshirt… It’s really cool!

On the way to Sunshine Seasons…

It’s in The Land building…

A cool place!

Sunshine Seasons is downstairs

Down the escalator!

Plenty of choices!

After dinner, we headed for the America Pavilion for the concert. The park is really busy, so we decide we are going to forgo the “Eat to the Beat” concert and backtrack and watch Off Kilter play in Canada. It is really cool to hear this band and the kilts are really unique! They will be here until the end of September.

Busy evening!

Off Kilter

Kilts!

Rock ‘n’ Roll

Now to the best part! As we were heading back to the front of the park, we stopped by Guest Relations to upgrade our passes because we are now residents of Florida! Water Parks, here we come!!!

When we were finishing up at Guest Relations, a couple was trying to find Soarin’. We came from that building earlier this evening, so I offered to walk with them for a while and get them pointed in the right direction. I love when you can help people find their way around the park. Finally, we headed out to walk to row 50 and find our car. What a wonderful night!

Day 11- Disney Character Outlet & Epcot

Posted on September 25, 2014 by maymiller

It is a beautiful, cool, cloudy day and the Disney Character Warehouse Outlet is in sight! I love going to the outlet. There are so many fun items and it is always changing! The clothing, beach towels, figurines, trading pins, shoes, jewelry, and other items are a very good value. There are two locations in Orlando- one at the Orlando Premium Outlets on Vineland Avenue (our usual stop!), only a few minutes from Downtown Disney, and another at the Orlando Premium Outlets on International Drive.

The Character Warehouse!

Located near the Food Court

Shirts and Hooded Sweatshirts…

Lots to choose from!

Toys!

Trading Pin Set…

Little Mermaid Pins

Now, off to Epcot to enjoy the beautiful day. Epcot is busy and the tram is quick to pick us up and take us to the gate. I enjoy the faces of those who are arriving for the first time. The excitement and anticipation is in the air, the music is lively, and everyone is trying to get a picture as they enter Epcot.

As we get into the park, we head for the Terra booth for watermelon juice. Patagonia has two gluten free dishes, the roasted Verlasso Salmon with Quinoa, and the Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri sauce and Boniato puree. They were both delicious. Somehow the clouds have moved; it is 87 degrees today, and of course the humidity is high! Shade! Lunch is pretty busy and the crowds are pretty thick today. Australia was next and we enjoyed the Lamb Chop with Mint Pesto and Potato Crunchies!

Terra Menu

Terra

Watermelon Juice

Patagonia

Australia Menu

Lamb Chop!

Passport Stamp

Mexico has a Rib-Eye Taco that is really tasty. Now we are off to ride the Gran Fiesta Tour ride. There you will find The Three Caballeros leading the way through the ride! It is really fun and the line moves so fast! I love this ride! Located inside the Mexico pyramid, which is a good place to explore, the ride is nice and cool. After the ride, as we leave Mexico, we see the mariachi band! They asked where I was from, and I replied, “Texas! I saw the Mariachis when we traveled and visited Mexico City when I was 12!” Pretty funny, that was 44 years ago.

Mexico Menu

Passport Stamp

Pretty tile!

Going in the building in Mexico..

Gran Fiesta!

In line…

Walking out of the ride…

A cool shop!

Now off to Farm Fresh for Griddled Yard Bird with Braised Greens and House Made Habanero Sauce. Tasty!

Twinkie and Farm Fresh

Love the building…

Yay for FL!

Grilled Yard Bird, Greens and Habanero Sauce

Passport!

It was a fun day!

Love this quote!

Back to the Parking Lots

Monorail above us!

Where we parked today 🙂

Day 10- Hollywood Studios, By way of Epcot

Posted on September 24, 2014 by maymiller

We had an absolutely fun afternoon at Hollywood Studios. We did take the long way around, but it was a fun trip. We started at Epcot, parked, and walked 3/4 mile to Rinse. We saw them at the Flower and Garden Festival and a few weeks later picked up some of their natural body products at the America Pavilion in Epcot. Their natural deodorant has become a favorite and it holds up to the FL heat and humidity so well. Today, we picked up some roll-on essential oils, called Thievery, and it smells amazing! Check them out at: http://www.rinsesoap.com!

The Rinse Booth

Roll-Ons

A few of their goodies!

We grabbed a cup of hot tea and went to catch the boat from Epcot to Hollywood Studios. As we were walking out the gate, we saw the boat was leaving, so we walked to the Boardwalk to catch it there. On the way, I saw a mom taking a picture of her daughters. We stopped and I asked her name; she was so cute. Her name was “Mae.” Oh, my! My daughter met them on Day 7 at Tony’s Town Square! I love when we run into someone we’ve seen before. Then, we made it to the dock and caught the boat.

Off to the boats…

Tooti and her tea…

Almost to the boats…

Destinations

Across from Epcot boarding…

To the Boardwalk…

The Dolphin hotel in the distance…

Walking…

to the Boardwalk!

Pretty!

Boats!

Boat time!

One boat…

Our boat!

Flag

Boardwalk across the waters…

Tooti and Me!

Another boat!

#boatselfie

When we arrived at Hollywood Studios, we took our picture with the Olaf sand sculpture… smile!

Arriving at HS!

OLAF!

The entrance…

Once inside the gates, our first ride is the Studio Backlot Tour. We heard they will be closing it and I wanted to see it before it is gone! The last time we went, Tooti and Twinkie were in the skit, and it was so much fun. After the skit, you walk through movie prop storage area; it is very interesting. Outside you catch a ride through the backlot and get to see the behind the scenes of the movie world and some Disney things like costumes and a wood shop. We had half an hour before our FastPass for the Toy Story Midway Mania ride, so we grabbed a quick meal while we waited.

Studio Backlot Tour

The Entrance…

Props shop…

More props!

Parasols, anyone?

Muppet Cab!

Row 4 for the tour!

Plane…

Plane

The Earful Tower

The plane and tower

Catastrophe Canyon

The tanker

Fire!

Fire and water!

More fire and water!

The stunt show, as seen from the tour.

Off to Toy Story Mania! Oh, look, the Green Army Man!!! I need a selfie with him! Thank you! I love the Army Men! Toy Story Mania is one of my favorite rides. I love the 4D ride, it is like being in an immersive video game that spins you around as you try to rack up the most points. A LOT of fun! The lines can be long, so it’s best to try to get a FastPass+ scheduled ahead of time.

We love PIXAR!

Me & Green Army Man

#armymanselfie

Scrabble!

TSMM Sign!

Toy Story Midway Mania…

Then entrance…

Love the big toys!

Dominos!

A glider…

Etch-a-Sketch

GIANT Crayolas!

3D Glasses time!

The ride…

Tinkertoys!

Love the theming.

How to play

Ready!

Our scores!

Done!

Giant lights!

What the ride actually looks like!

Fun time! Then, we were off to catch the boat back to Epcot. We met a young family whose son will be 5 in a few days and is enjoying his first time to Disney! Got on the boat and sat at the back, it’s open and you can see all around. A young family came out from inside the boat and I got to meet them. We talked a little and their children were so well behaved; you could tell how much they are loved. We landed at Epcot, got off, and headed for the entrance. Epcot was bustling and so crowded since they have extra magic hours until 11:00pm. We got to the car and then stopped in the Magic Kingdom parking lot to watch fireworks. A very relaxing day today!

A Frozen Store!

Day 9- Epcot

Posted on September 23, 2014 by maymiller

Yay, we are headed for Epcot! When going to Disney, remember, no matter what day it is, there is a possible rain shower waiting to fall! Be prepared with rain gear, we choose shoes that can get wet, umbrellas or ponchos. It is just a way of life here, it rains, it usually clears off and it is sunny again. It is just the way Florida is.

We headed for Epcot in a full-blown gully washer. Texas way of saying it was a monsoon! I was told that it rains every day in the summer, but now? It is hurricane season, so it rains a lot! We parked in the first parking lot and walked right up to the bag check and right into Epcot. The rain is still heavy as we get close to the Festival Center.

It’s raining…

It’s pouring…

Umbrellas…

Rainy day shoes!

Yay!

Lots of rain!

At the Festival Center

We looked around at the Ghirardelli Chocolate area while waiting for class to start. They had the most amazing displays (made of chocolate!) that different bakeries around Disney made. It was fascinating! We had our class and headed out, it was once again raining cats and dogs!

Inside the Festival Center…

Culinary Demonstration…

Ghirardelli!

They’re Chocolate!

Disney Villians

Boardwalk Resort Bakery

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Contemporary Resort Bakery

Toy Story

Hollywood Studios Bakery

Maleficent

Yacht & Beach Club Bakery

Avatar

Epcot’s Central Bakery

Disney Nature “Bears”

Amazing detail!

Grand Floridian Bakery

No problem for me, we just headed over to Mexico for dinner. We decided to go to San Angel Inn for dinner and were seated by the water. The food was fabulous! Oh, it is nice to have a light sweater for inside dining, it can get a little chilly. I loved watching the Gran Fiesta Tour boats glide through the water. The kids and I got to meet an Imagineer in July for Tooti’s birthday lunch and she called us the “The Three Caballeros”. If you get to ride the Gran Fiesta Tour ride, be sure to look for Donald Duck, Panchito and Jose’ Cariocas!

San Angel Inn

Pretty inside!

From the Gran Tour Fiesta, by the water…

Lots of yummy food!

Tostadas!

Outside, in Mexico…

We decided to get dessert to go so we could see the fireworks! Even with the light rain, the fireworks were beautiful.

Mickey topiary!

Fountain & Fireworks

Day 3- Epcot

Posted on September 17, 2014 by maymiller

We headed for Epcot today and had a perfectly wonderful afternoon and evening. The day is cooler with cloud cover and the park was less crowded.

On the way…

to Epcot!

Getting close!

The entrance

Parking lot

Monorail

The first ride we went to was Maelstrom in Norway! So, after passing through Future World, you go past Mexico and before China, you find Norway! The line was pretty long and with the FastPass+, you just walk up, scan your magic band and walk in to ride the ride. Best thing ever! We took pics and enjoyed Twinkie’s favorite ride. Maelstrom will be closing down for refurbishing and a redesign into a Frozen themed ride that will open in 2016. We are SO excited to see what it looks like!

Norway Pavilion

At the entrance…

About Maelstrom

In Line…

Part of the ride goes backwards and looks like you are about to go over a waterfall… eek!

Troll hugs!

On the way to France, I stopped and got a strawberry shaved ice (Kaki Gori) with sweet milk in Japan. We took pics for couple that asked as we passed by them… just a part of being at Disney. Fun!

In Japan

The Menu

Strawberry & Sweet Milk

There are the most amazing crème brûlée in many of the restaurants, but if you don’t have a reservation, then Les Halles Boulangerie & Pâtisserie (in the France Pavilion) is a great choice! The chef came out and made us some freshly torched crème brûlée. There are many beautiful desserts and breads to choose from, so we ask for some that have not been near any of the other bakery treats. If you are gluten-free or have food allergies, you totally understand… The chef there is wonderful! After great thanks and appreciation for our special sweets, we headed out!

Heading into France

The bakery

The treat menu

Creme brulee!!

One of our faves!

Rainbow of Macarons

Drinks

A place to sit

French themed merch…

We took a break and sat by the water fountain in France and a little girl was going to throw pennies when her mom and grandmother said they were out. “Oh, I have some!” So, I pulled out my change and found 5 pennies! She readily took them and had fun throwing them in as her grandmother and I talked, she said that she usually has to give her quarter and dimes. I told her a story, “when mine were little, we would get a roll of pennies and go to the mall. Of course, they shared most of them with the other little kids there, but it was a lot of fun!” She said that that was really a good idea… we smiled and said our goodbyes. Cute little kid!

France Pavilion

The sun was beginning to set so we started back to Spaceship Earth, i.e. the Epcot ball. That ride is packed in the mornings, but in the evenings you can just about walk straight up and get on quickly, just a hint if you plan on riding that ride.

Pretty clouds!

A garden full of birdies!

Ducks and birds coming to rest at the beach…

We are looking forward to the opening of the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival that opens on this Friday, September 19 and runs until November 10, 2014. There will be feasting, festivities and special events, including awesome concerts.