Today we had literally no plans! We had made fastpasses at Animal Kingdom initially, but as we did everything we wanted to do there on Wednesday we cancelled them, so hopefully someone snagged the Flight of Passage one.
We were thinking we may have a lie in, but as the 10k ran right but our room there was so much clapping and cheering outside that by 6.30am everyone was awake (if you are staying at a hotel which is on one of the courses during marathon weekend and don’t want to risk being woken it might be worth asking for a room at the back of the building) We decided to head down and cheer ourselves so the girls stayed in their pjs and we threw some clothes on quickly. It was great watching the runners go by and the girls loved it when they got high fives! We even spotted our lovely US travel agent who organised the marathon bibs for us in her Wildcats outfit (who doesn’t love a bit of Troy & Gabriella?!)
We then debated whether to head to a park, but the girls are feeling the aftereffects of yesterday’s 3am get up, so decided to let them play whilst we started packing a few bits away. After another issue of adult credits being taken for child meals at the hotel quick service counter (we even ordered off the separate child menu this time!!) the manager said he was going to just swap all of our remaining child credits to adult ones as the system was just too glitchy at the minute (he did say that they haven’t many guests on the dining plan at the minutes as they mainly have marathon runners and convention guests! Every time we pass someone in the corridor Winnie asks me if they’re a convention person! She’s a little obsessed although I’m not entirely sure she even knows what a convention is 🤣). Anyway, the result was that we ended up with adult credits that totalled our remaining child + adult quick service allocation, but they didn’t remove the child specific credits, so after thinking we’d end up spending everything we will now have a chunk left over! Still, the girls had 2 adult breakfasts this morning which they polished off quickly and we decided to grab something for lunch around the pool. (although none of us are big fans of the waffle fries which cuts down our options).
We didn’t do much at all as we weren’t sure if the girls would need to nap, and with another early start to cheer Steve on tomorrow we needed to conserve energy. In an ideal world the running part would be at the start of the trip and the relaxation would come after, but school holidays meant that we did it the other way or we’d have had to take the girls out of school for 2 weeks which we didn’t really want to do. I had made a reservation at Crystal Palace for this afternoon (Polly’s choice after Winnie chose Chef Mickey) just in case they fancied a parade/ meal trip to Magic Kingdom, but we decided to cancel and head to Epcot instead as Polly wanted to eat around the world. Now, this is the girls that only likes approximately 3 vegetables and about the same amount of fruit, won’t eat even her favourite foods if they have a slightly different taste/ have touched other foods/ smell funny, and won’t touch sauces other than ketchup and gravy, so we weren’t sure how it would play out but decided to give it a go anyway!
We arrived at the International Gateway entrance (so handy from this hotel) and met Mickey as there was hardly any queue. We then started our food journey but immediately skipped Canada as they didn’t fancy anything! (apparently Duke Caboom’s ‘yes you Canada’ phrase doesn’t apply to trying the poutine in World Showcase!) Next stop was Mexico. We did the Grand Fiesta Tour first then bought a children’s tacos meal and churros. Churros went down a treat, but the tacos weren’t a winner because they didn’t taste like Mummy’s! Err, that’s because Mummy didn’t cook them!! Polly did however polish off the nachos and cheese dip which we took as a win!
We then decided to meet Donald. He was a little late coming out so the CM waiting got Winnie up to the front and said she’d need to start meeting guests instead, which was funny. Donald is always brilliant, and he had lots of fun with the girls.
Next stop was Norway where we stopped at the Kringla Bakeri where they chose the Lefse (a kind of bread like pancake filled with cinnamon, sugar and butter). Again, this was a winner, and for a snack credit a fairly substantial (i.e. stodgy) dish.
We then went to China and the Lotus Blossom Café where we tried both Children’s meals, the sweet and sour chicken and the pot sticker (dumpling type thing) and spring rolls. The girls ate the chicken and rice (no sauce, obviously!) and we ate the dumpling and spring rolls as they didn’t like them (but we did!)
In Germany they opted for a bag of sweets from Karamell-Kuche, you know, the ones every child brings back from a European holiday to hand out to their classmates? Well, I initially thought this seemed a waste but when I saw the queue and realised we could pay for the sweets next door I came around to their idea!
We didn’t get anything in Italy as I vetoed the ice-cream suggestion until they’d had something savoury. However, they spotted the funnel cake in America, so that plan went awry! There are better value funnel cakes in other parks (Hollywood Studios is great) but this was really tasty considering it was plain and just dusted with icing sugar. The girls declared it to be their favourite so far.
We then picked up a shaved ice in Japan. Polly didn’t like it but Winnie, who’s teeth are so sweet and think they are actually made of sugar, loved it! We then had a quick look around the Japanese shop, which is huge, before moving on.
We were going to get something in Morocco for ourselves, but we were pretty full and didn’t think spicy food the night before a half marathon was the best move, so we carried on to the UK as the girls wanted a portion of fish and chips to share. We stopped for a quick photo before heading over the bridge to the Yorkshire Fish and Chip shop.
Every time we go here Polly eats the chips, Winnie eats the batter and we get the fish remnants! Steve did get a pre-race beer though! Not sure that was the wisest move seeing as it’s going to be incredibly humid tomorrow, but never mind!
Don’t be like Steve!
Whilst Steve was getting the fish and chips the girls met Goofy. He’s another character that is always a fun meet, and although the set up at Epcot is a bit odd (no photographer) it was lovely to meet characters in the outdoors.
A quick walk (or run from the girls) back to the hotel and everyone is now in bed with half-marathon outfits laid out ready for another early start and the last leg of our family 60k challenge!
I am really hoping I can get the girls up in time to go and cheer for Steve on Main Street! That would be amazing.
Doodle & Peg Do Disney 