Today we decided to take things quite steady. We had a breakfast reservation (well, I say breakfast, but it was actually 12pm) at Trattoria Al Forno on the Boardwalk, so decided to spend a few hours in Epcot beforehand. It was an Extra Magic Hours morning, but I decided not to wake anyone early and play it by ear as there was nothing, we were desperate to do, other than the Wreck it Ralph/ Vanellope meet and greet. We were all up and ready for about 7.45am and set off for the bus stop on our stress-free morning. Except then the bus which was due at 7.54am ended up being delayed, and delayed a bit more, and a bit more, by which time the bus stop was full to bursting. When the bus finally arrived my inner calm was starting to seep away, but I pulled it back especially after a nice man moved to let me sit with the girls rather than across from them ( I think he saw the look of horror on Winnie’s face at being a whole 3 feet apart from me and took pity!) The bus ride was fairly uneventful until Polly informed me that she had coughed some phlegm up and couldn’t swallow it! Steve was stood down at the bottom of the bus so there were a few frantic hand signals (still can’t shout!) to get a tissue into which I hoped she would be able to subtly spit said mucus. Unfortunately, subtle isn’t a word that really exists in Polly world, and despite my best attempts to get her to face the window I fear that she may have put a fair few people off their breakfast!
When we arrived at Epcot it was utter chaos. The lines for the magic band check they do for Extra Magic Hours were huge, but the time passed quickly as we were completely mesmerised by one of the security ladies who was making a repeated announcement about where to stand in a voice that was so perfect, with each announcement being so perfect that it genuinely sounded like a recorded message. I wish I’d filmed her. She was incredible!
We then had to queue ages for security but at last there were minimal queues at the turnstiles but by this time my carefree, stress-free morning mood had all but vanished. It’s so much easier entering from the World Showcase Entrance that leads from the Boardwalk. Another reason Boardwalk resorts get a huge thumbs up from us. We did plan on doing the meet and greet first, but the girls saw there was no wait for Spaceship Earth and asked to go on it again. We weren’t in a hurry so agreed, thinking at least we could relax and lower our blood pressure on the nice, gentle ride. WRONG!! The ride stopped twice during out journey, the first time for over 10 minutes in the pitch black just as you enter it. By the time we got off it was after 9am and all the offsite guests were in the park so we decided to head for the Ralph and Vanellope meet then. The queue wasn’t bad at all and they were so much fun (I’d say probably the best characters we’ve met). They spent ages with the girls and had loads of interaction. They even walked off to go on the rides to leave the girls doing the meet and greet (not for long though as I think Polly’s look of terror drew them back!) It was worth today’s trip for this meet alone.
We then went to watch the Pixar Short show as the girls love the shorts (Steve opted to go for coffee instead which none of us argued with. Steve without coffee does not a happy family make!) It was a really nice break from the heat of the park, and we all enjoyed it. We then headed for our Soaring Fast pass (the only one we made today) and enjoyed it as much as ever. I used to worry about my sandals falling off but with my current elephant-like feet status that is no longer an issue! After that we decided to go on the Journey into Imagination with Figment ride as we’d never done it. Once we were on, I realised why! Neither girl really enjoyed it and it felt a bit flat. I also didn’t understand what amazing things we were supposed to be seeing/ smelling/ hearing etc with our imaginations! Maybe I was just half asleep but the school teacher in me was not impressed!!
World Showcase was now open, so we went to the Mexico pavilion for the 3 Caballeros ride (cute…tick, cool…tick, no queue…tick!) before doing a bit of pin trading around the world. It was getting close to our dining reservation time. Now, you may be realising that our girls like to look the part for any and every character meet, and Ralph and Vanellope just weren’t cutting the mustard, so we were dragging a rather big bag of costumes and accompanying accessories around with us ready for them to change into for the meal. Obviously, Winnie also wanted a full hairstyle change (that kid!!) but 5 minutes later we had transformed from arcade game characters into Rapunzel and Flynn (with more than a little shoehorning to get their sweaty bods into slightly too small dresses. It’s how I imagine a wrestler would feel getting back into his/ her lycra outfit after a mid-match wee! The struggle was real!)
We walked to the Boardwalk via the World Showcase exit and arrived at the restaurant about 11.55am. We were the last family to be seated and the girls had to join the parade before we were even seated or they’d have missed it, but it was still a fun breakfast. You get to meet Rapunzel and Flynn Rider as well as Ariel and Prince Eric. The food is a platter of pastries to share followed by your choice of entrée (Steak and Asparagus for me because I’m having asparagus withdrawal after missing out on any yesterday!!) which in our experience have always been good. We also all got a glowing thing in our drinks which were included in the dining plan (some sort of random cocktail for us and chocolate milk for the girls). It was like some sort of 70s disco!
Flynn and Rapunzel were both brilliant (Flynn is always fabulous and spends ages chatting with you whilst maintaining his smoulder, but on this occasion Rapunzel was just as good) Prince Eric, bless his heart, had clearly learnt a selection of small speeches and decided to get every one of them out in one gigantic speech! Cue the polite English nods/ smiles/ polite chuckles once more as none of us actually had a clue what he was talking about!! It was a bit like when you watch University Challenge and when the questions starts think ‘yes, I’ve got this’ but by the time it ends you can’t even remember the subject matter let alone work out the answer! Ariel was pleasant enough, but I think she was ready to clock off. The girls were happy with this though as it meant they didn’t have to even attempt to make conversation with her. We were all finished by about 1.30pm so used my 25% off Lyft code that I received yesterday to get back to the hotel from the Boardwalk as we couldn’t face the walk back through Epcot to get to the buses.
We had a really chilled out afternoon. The girls went in the pool with Steve and did a Disney quiz which they won 3rdprize for (no idea how as Steve isn’t exactly what you’d call a Disney guru!) then we went into Simba’s Cubhouse for a bit of crafting. We are now having a teatime picnic in bed before a shower (Winnie’s coming up with every excuse under the sun for avoiding that part…that child is pure grubbiness) and an early night as we are hoping to stay up for the Magic Kingdom fireworks tomorrow. Wish me luck with that as the girls haven’t been awake past 8pm all holiday yet!
I’m signing off early so I can spend some time snuggling my little people rather than writing this while they are setlling to sleep (and because I’m sure none of you want to read about the next episode of Puppy Dog Pals which is all that we’ll no doubt be watching!)
Goodnight y’all!
Doodle & Peg Do Disney 