Today was our full out Epcot day. The park was open from 9-9:30 and we had the following fastpasses (fp) booked: Mickey and friends at 9:50-10:50, Spaceship Earth at 11:05-12:05, and Frozen Ever After at 12:55-1:55. Since Epcot is on a tier system for their fastpasses, our current pick for our tier one attraction is Frozen Ever After. For our tier two choices, we always pick Spaceship Earth for one, but our second pick bounces around between Finding Nemo and the meet and greet with Mickey and friends. I feel like Mickey usually gets longer lines than Nemo, but if we visit Epcot late in our trip, we don't seem to care if we meet him here, especially since Epcot offers the special meet and greet for Disney Visa cardholders which has always been for us 2-3 of the fab five anyway. Before I get too far gone in our fp choices, let's move on. We always try to arrive early, before the parks open, because we feel you get the most done that way. We also were attempting something new this time at park opening and we didn't know how that would go. When they opened the checkpoints, we quickly entered the park and made our way to stroller rental. That's right, we rented a Disney stroller for the first time. We realized while traveling to Disney that we forgot to pack our stroller. I don't know how we could forget that, but we did. I guess since we never use it at home anymore, we just didn't even think about it. Anyway, we weighed our options and decided to rent from Disney. We thought we'd see how Littlecjc did without a stroller on day one at Animal Kingdom (great, by the way) and if it went well, we decided we would rent the stroller for 2 days. Epcot is a lot of walking, so we knew we wanted one here, and we also thought it would be nice to have one the day we attended Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party since it would be such a long day. She usually only uses the stroller for a nap anyway, so we were hoping this would work for us. For our single stroller, the cost of one day was $15 and if you rented two or more days they discount it to $13 each day. I'm not sure how popular these rental locations are later in the day, but this process moved quickly, and we were back in the crowd, with our stroller, by the time the Jammitors came out to entertain us. We were back far enough that we couldn't really see them, but we heard them and were still among the front of the herd when they dropped the ropes.
After visiting with Snow White, we quickly found Chip and Dale near the caramel candy store.
9:00
Our first stop as usual here was at a character location. I was a little concerned at first, when the doors weren't even open yet and I started to doubt our decision, but a castmember soon opened the doors and we walked right in to meet Joy and Sadness, characters #1 and 2.
We then quickly moved across the hallway and met with Baymax, character #3.
It always feels so good to knock out these three characters right away. The five minutes it takes to meet these three at the beginning of the day is so worth it. Yes, we didn't walk onto our next ride, Soarin, but the line moves quickly and it was still shorter than it will be the rest of the day. So, after parking our stroller outside of the Land pavilion, we rode Soarin' Around the World, attraction #1.
After our ride around the world, we were heading up the escalator when Littlecjc stated that she wanted to ride the boat ride, so we went back down the escalator and rode Living with the Land, attraction #2.
I know it's not much, but they did decorate inside the ride for the holidays, so that was a nice surprise for us.
10:00
When we left the Land, we debated heading to our first fp, but decided instead to knock out Nemo while we were here next to it. So we left the stroller where it was and snapped this quick picture before heading inside.
It's been so long since I've done standby, that I forgot how long the queue line is. We walked straight through it all, but it's a lot of weaving inside that building. Eventually, we made it to a shell and rode Finding Nemo, attraction #3.
Most of the time, we explore the Seas pavilion some, but this time Littlecjc ran straight to Bruce's play area. So, after a little play time, we were able to convince her to move on so that we could use our first fp. We found our stroller and moved it up to the Character Spot where we met Mickey, Goofy, and Minnie, characters #4, 5, and 6.
11:00
It was almost time for our next fp, but with a little time to spare, we made our way to the front of the park for a picture.
Our next fp was right there, in that large silver ball behind us. I understand that this ride is a must since you travel inside the iconic ball, but the line here amazed me. I don't remember how long the standby line said it would take, but even the fp line wrapped up and around longer than I've ever seen before. Of course, being the fp line, it still moved quickly (a lot quicker than the standby) and we shortly rode Spaceship Earth, attractioni #4.
Our next stop was Pin Traders, to pick up our map and stickers for Chip 'n' Dale's Christmas Tree Spree. We love these scavenger hunts that are now apart of these festivals at Epcot. Littlecjc really enjoys searching for each item and it really helps her stay motivated to walk the world showcase. For convenience sake, we decided to go ahead and eat lunch now at the Electric Umbrella.
12:00
We had great timing leaving lunch, as the Jammitors were just coming out to perform. We asked Littlecjc if she wanted to watch and she made the decisioin to stay put.
She loved this show and they passed out stickers to junior jammitors at the end, so win win. We continued on when they were finished to Mission: Space, attraction #5.
Littlecjc is still too short for the more intense version, but with the help of the new booster seats, she's allowed to ride the green side, although I still wonder how much she actually sees. Either way, she thinks it's great. She also loves playing in the play area at the ride's exit. In fact, this is probably the hardest play area to get her away from when we're ready to move on. We try to let her play when she wants to, but there is always that eventually moment here when enough's enough and it's a battle to get her to move on.
1:00
We were on our way to the World Showcase, when we stumbled across the Festive Center at the Odyssey Center and decided to stop. Inside was The Cookie Nook, a new holiday kitchen. This trip was actually our first time to attend the Festival of Holidays, so they actually were all new to us. This was a nice stop though, because there was a movie playing for the kids to watch while the adults could enjoy the kitchen and browse the merchandise set up here. The also had crafts set up for the kids and a backdrop where you could take your own pictures, but Littlecjc made some friends at the movie screen and so that was as far as she made it.
I thought this was great, because the video seemed like the old classic Christmas Disney cartoons that I remembered watching as a kid. They had some tall tables set up behind the viewing area, so we could watch Littlecjc and enjoy our snack, the warm apple fritter.
This was tasty! As you can see, we also picked up some holiday passports here. These are great, because they have stickers inside meant to mark which kitchens you've visited, but they are also helpful when little ones need something to do. Patrick also tried one of the locally brewed beers here.
We actually spent a bit of time here, and by the time we left, we needed to head straight to Norway for our third fp at Frozen Ever After, attraction #6.
After scanning our magic band and making some modifications, we eventually ended up with another fp for Test Track at 5:00. With that ride pass secured, we backtracked a bit and started our Chip 'n' Dale hunt at Mexico. We didn't really know what we were searching for yet, but it didn't take long to find the big wreath with Dale holding his ornament inside the pavilion above the store entrance.
The line for the boat ride here was actually really long, so we decided to skip this since Littlecjc was just getting started on her scavenger hunt and she was already anxious to find the next one.
2:00
So, back in Norway, we found Chip and Dale at the back of the Kidcot area.
We quickly moved on to China, and again found Chip at the Kidcot station.
Before finding Chip and Dale in Germany, we took in a little of the entertainment provided by Margret Almer and the Bavarian Band and then decided to wait and see Snow White. Littlecjc loves her and the line looked short so we jumped in and waited for Snow to make her appearance. This made character # 7 Snow White.
In Italy, we found Dale back by the Kidcot station again.
3:00
Already half way through with our search, we found Chip inside the American store, Heritage Manor Gifts.
The American pavilion had a beautiful tree set up, so we stopped to take some pictures.
Patrick decided to stop at the American Holiday Table kitchen for a chocolate pecan tart and two chocolate apple shakes, one with butterscotch schnapps and one without.
While in line, he realized there was a photopass photographer on the other side of the tree, so of course we walked around the large tree to take some more pictures.
After two stops for pictures, Littlecjc was ready to move on and find Chip and Dale at Japan. What a surprise, they were again at the Kidcot station.
When we moved on to Morocco, it seemed like we weren't going to find Chip at first since we apparently walked right past him, but we quickly spotted him on our second lap.
In France, we found Dale at the back of a store above all the new Ratatouille merchandise.
Upon arriving at the UK, we unfortunately just missed Mary Poppins, but at least we were able to see her finish while she finished her set. We then found both Chip and Dale hanging out inside one of the shops.
Our final stop for the scavenger hunt was a quick find of Dale. He was way up high in the first room of the store when we walked inside.
4:00
Before continuing our loop, we stopped at both the popcorn cart (for maple popcorn) and the new Yukon Holiday kitchen for the seared salmon with Crown Royal maple whiskey glaze, parsnip silk, apple chutney, and hazelnut croquant.
As you can see, we almost forgot to get a picture of this one. As we finished the World Showcase loop, we stopped in to ride Figment, Journey into Imagination, attraction #7.
Littlecjc got caught off guard by the skunk this time.
We all spent a little time after the ride to play inside Imagination Works.
Littlecjc also partook in a time honored Disney tradition here, she tried on a fun hat at the gift shop.
At this time, we cut across the park stopped in at Disney Traders for our prize in completing the Chip 'n' Dale Tree Spree scavenger hunt, which was a collection of little pins matching the stickers of the Chip and Dale with their ornaments. They actually had the pins divided into three different packs so you could collect them all if you bought three sets of the map and stickers. We only bought one, so Littlecjc had a choice to make. Once she had made her decision we moved on towards our fp at Test Track.
5:00
When we reached Test Track, attraction #8, we discovered that again, the fp line was backed up. We actually had to weave around outside before even entering the building. Oviously, this was still faster than standby. In fact, when this happens, it seems like they pretty much stop the standby line just to keep the fp line moving. After scanning our bands and searching for new fps, we were able to pick up Illuminations. Of course, our vehicle was decked out with accessories.
Littlecjc decided this was her favorite ride this time. She really wanted to go again, but the line was huge, so we told her maybe later. Instead, we made way back to Norway.
6:00
We visited with Elsa and Anna, characters #8 and 9.
As we exited Norway, we made the decision to try to check out the 6:45 Candlelight Processional. We hurried off to the American Pavilion not really sure what to expect. We had seen people already lined up when we first passed the theater 3:00 for the 5:00 show. We had heard that this show was very popular, but we had never seen it before and were unsure on whether we really wanted to stand in line for it or not. We were also hoping that our narrator, Matt Bomer, was not going to be a big draw for the local crowds. When we reached the theater the line looked really long since they had not opened the theater yet. A castmember was at the start of the line counting people as they entered, so I asked her if she thought we would get in for the 6:45 show. She gave me a definite yes, so we decided to wait. Shortly after we got in line, they opened the theater and we began to move. We did easily get into the theater for this show, but there weren't many rows left behind us for those that chose to get in line after us. There is also a dining package available for this and their line was on the other side of the theater where they were led to the front of the seating area.
As you can see, we were pretty far back, so we didn't get any pictures worth anything, but Patrick and I both enjoyed the show. Littlecjc on the other hand, decided that this seemed like a good time for a nap. I'm pretty sure she fell asleep before the first song ended.
7:00
When the show ended, we found our stroller and took our time leaving the congested area since Littlecjc was asleep, we were in no hurry. Patrick and I took our time walking around the World Showcase, trying to decide if we wanted any more food or merchandise.
8:00
Eventually, we ended up near the front of the park for this photo op.
9:00
Around 9:00, we entered the fp viewing area and found a good spot to watch the show. We were able to sit on the ground until showtime. Littlecjc decided to wake back up during the show. We debated not staying since she fell asleep, but we knew there was a holiday tag at the end of the show and we wanted to see that. I'm so glad we stayed. The holiday tag was amazing! There were so many fireworks all over the sky and I loved it.
10:00
After Illuminations, we took our time leaving the park. We took advantage of our baby carrier since Littlecjc was still sleepy, used the restrooms and returned our stroller before stopping at the front of the park to take one final picture.
By the time we got to the bus stop, the wait wasn't too bad. This was a great day for us. We visited with 9 characters and rode 8 rides. We ate some delicious food and experienced a new festival, including the Candlelight Processional.
No comments:
Post a Comment