NO CAPES! A Nov. 2014 TR ~ 12/31: Departure Day - TR Complete

[SarahDisney]

Hello, DISboards! I’m Sarah, and you have somehow stumbled onto my Trip Report for my amazing November 2014 Walt Disney World trip. For those of you interested in reading my ramblings on planning, here’s a link to my PTR. However, reading the PTR is not necessary for enjoying the TR, so feel free to skip the planning and just continue reading here (this is especially true for those of you who already read the PTR).

Trip Basics:
Dates: November 3rd-7th, 2014
Resort: Art of Animation, Little Mermaid Section
Parks: Day 1 – EPCOT; Day 2 – Magic Kingdom; Day 3 – Hollywood Studios; Day 4 – Animal Kingdom (Day 5 was travel only)

Who Are We?

Me: Sarah

Favorite Animated Disney Movies: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Frozen, Finding Nemo
Favorite Non-Animated Disney Movies: Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mighty Ducks Trilogy
Favorite Princesses: Ariel, Belle, Anna
Favorite Non-Princess Characters: Winnie the Pooh & Friends, Minnie Mouse, Pluto
Favorite WDW Park: Magic Kingdom & Hollywood Studios (and Epcot too … anything but Animal Kingdom)
Favorite WDW Attractions: Test Track, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Toy Story Midway Mania!, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid, The Seas with Nemo and Friends

My Awesome Sister: Beth

Favorite Animated Disney Movies: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Tangled, The Incredibles
Favorite Non-Animated Disney Movie: Mary Poppins
Favorite Princesses: Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel
Favorite Non-Princess Characters: Mary Poppins
Favorite WDW Park: Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot
Favorite WDW Attractions: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Test Track, Festival of the Lion King, Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros, Toy Story Midway Mania!, For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin

Small Summary of the Vacation:
AWESOME! As anyone who read my PTR knows, my plan was to do most of the rides and meet most of the characters, all in 3.5 days. That plan derailed pretty quickly (but we expected that). Overall, we did almost everything we had listed as “must dos” (may have actually done everything … I’d have to check my notes) and saw most of the characters we wanted to see (including some new characters: Anna and Elsa, Aladdin and Jasmine, Rapunzel, Rafiki, and Beast).

This was our first time going in November (previous trips have been February with the family , January, March (the mess that was spring break), and October). Overall, waits were pretty decent. Character waits were generally longer than ride waits. Our longest ride wait was Peter Pan’s Flight, which was about 40 minutes (listed wait time was 30 minutes, but it was about 3:20 and we were getting there at the same time as the people who had just watched the parade). Many rides were walk-ons, and the ones that weren’t had waits of about 10-15 minutes. I think we chose our FP+ well – most of them were walk-on with the FP+ and had long or semi-long standby lines.

The title of this TR was one of our mottos/guidelines/rules for the trip ... and becomes especially relevant on Day 3. But you'll have to wait for that story.

So, that’s my introduction. I’ll start posting actual trip report soon … I’ve got about 750 pictures to sort through, so it might take a while, but hopefully I’ll be able to at least start trip reporting soon!

 

[SarahDisney]

Table of Contents:

Day 1 - Monday, November 3rd
Wake Up: 5:15 AM (Sarah) & 5:30 AM (Beth)
Part 1 - Leaving on a Jet Plane
Part 2 - We're Trying to Catch a Princess
Part 3 - I Think They Planted More Trees
Bedtime: 11:40ish (Beth) & 11:51 (Sarah)
Day’s Totals (according to Sarah’s Fitbit): Steps - 23,543; Flights of Stairs – 10; Miles – 9.83

Day 2 - Tuesday, November 4th
Wake Up: 6:35 AM
Part 1 - Character Morning
Part 2 - The Prettiest Bathrooms in Magic Kingdom
Part 3 - Sarah’s Favorite Movies, Come to Life (and More)
Part 4 - Anna & Elsa and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train - Two Walk-On Attractions
Part 5a - Fireworks Outside, Snowfall Inside (Part 1)
Part 5b - Fireworks Outside, Snowfall Inside (Part 2)
Part 6 - Thus With a Kiss I Die
Bedtime: 12:20 (Both)
Day’s Totals (according to Sarah’s Fitbit): Steps - 23,628; Flights of Stairs – 10; Miles – 9.98

Day 3 - Wednesday, November 5th
Wake Up: 6:15 AM (Sarah) & Approx. 6:50 AM (Beth)
Part 1 - I Could Go Running
Part 2 - We Don't Need a Bucket!
Part 3 - Bag? Hat? Halloween?
Part 4 - Whose Phone Should We Believe?
Bedtime: 12:15 (Both)
Day’s Totals (according to Sarah’s Fitbit - for Sarah only): Steps - 29,684; Flights of Stairs – 4; Miles – 13.02

Day 4 - Thursday, November 6th
Wake Up: 6:15 AM (Both)
Part 1 - Chef Brad's Scissors
Part 2 - Never Again
Part 3 - Up Close and Personal With ...
Part 4 - Is the Pool Closed?
Part 5 - I'm Gonna Swing From the Chandelier
Bedtime: 9:50 (Both)
Day’s Totals (according to Sarah’s Fitbit): Steps - 25,191; Flights of Stairs – 32; Miles – 10.52

Day 5 - Friday, November 7th
Wake Up: 3:34 AM (Both)
Worst FP+ Ever

 

[KatMark]

I'm here Sarah and looking forward to hearing all about it.

I love your intros. A little disappointed in the lack of love for AK, but then I really dislike the Studios and know a lot of people love it.

Glad you got to see Anna and Elsa.

 

[dreamseeker9]

Here and ready to read all about your wonderful vacation!

 

[MonsterWDWmom]

I'm here can't wait to hear about your trip!

 

[ach222]

I'm here! Can't wait

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm here Sarah and looking forward to hearing all about it.

I love your intros. A little disappointed in the lack of love for AK, but then I really dislike the Studios and know a lot of people love it.

Glad you got to see Anna and Elsa.

Thanks for joining in!
We're not big animal people, so AK doesn't really have much for us. We'll go and do a few things, but there's nothing to really keep us there, and if we had to pick a park to skip, it would probably be AK.

I'm very happy we got to meet Anna and Elsa - they were great!

Here and ready to read all about your wonderful vacation!

Thanks for joining in! Hopefully reading this will give you some ideas for your upcoming trip (assuming I actually get anything posted before you leave)!

I'm here can't wait to hear about your trip!

Thanks for joining in! It was a great trip and hopefully you'll enjoy reading about it!

I'm here! Can't wait

Thanks for joining in! Hopefully reading this will get you even more excited about your upcoming trip! (Only about 2 months to go!)

I've got a lot on my plate for today (coming back from vacation is never easy, and I start my continuing ed classes tonight for extra fun), but hopefully tomorrow I'll have the beginning of the trip!

 

[SarahDisney]

Day 1: Monday, November 3rd
Wake Up Time: 5:15-5:30 AM (in NY)
Outfits:
Sarah – Goofy
Beth – Snow White (Inspired)

Part 1: Leaving on a Jet Plane
(not so many pictures early on in this, but there will be more as it goes along)

We got up bright and early (okay, maybe not so bright, but early) and were in the car headed to the airport at 6. About 20 minutes later (maybe even a little less), we arrived at JFK, said goodbye to our dad, and unloaded our stuff from the car.

I then proceeded to take this picture:

For those of you who are confused … that’s the old TWA terminal (which is right across from the JetBlue terminal). It’s really pretty and I wanted a picture of it. I wish I could have gotten one with no cars, but that’s not likely at any point in time when the airport is open.

We had checked in and printed our boarding passes the night before, so all that was left was dropping off our bags and going through security. Bag drop had a short line and went perfectly fine, no problems. We went to the security line and were sent to the TSA pre-check area (we didn’t have pre-check indicated on our boarding passes, they were just sending everyone there). This was exciting because I was wearing my chucks, which can take 10 minutes to get on and off.
At one point we were asked to wait, so we made friends with the TSA agent, Officer Jeffrey, who complained that he wanted a drink – because “it’s always 12 o’clock somewhere.”
And that became one of our mottos for the trip.

Going through security, I set off the metal detector (I still don’t know why) and had to go through the scanner (which I didn’t mind, since I was allowed to keep my shoes on). Then I had to be patted down – something showed on my back, but I’m guessing it was just that my shirt was bunched up or something. Once we were through security, my sister picked up coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts (and right after she got the DD coffee we saw a Starbucks … oops, I should have remembered that was there). We got on the plane and had an uneventful flight.

Once we landed, we put on our MagicBands, deplaned, and headed over to level 1 to cross to the B terminal for the Magical Express.
I know what you’re all going to say – you can’t cross between terminals on level 1! We forgot. So, we got to level 1, couldn’t find magical express, so we went back up to level 3 (we didn’t remember if you could cross on level 2 – but the answer is yes), and made our way over to terminal B, and then back down to level 1, where we found Magical Express pretty easily.
But, as we said at the airport, we’ve done this how many times and we don’t know how to find Magical Express?

Anyway, once we got to where we needed to be, it was a short wait before we were on

Our bus is the one that’s somewhat blocked by my sister.

Once we were on the bus and seated, the driver welcomed us. He was funny. He said that we should be careful walking down the stairs when we got off the bus – if we fell he’d have to cushion our fall (for women and children at least – men would be on the second bounce). We liked him a lot.
For the second year in a row, we did something we never would have done before last year … a bus selfie (we’re normally not selfie people, but there were quite a few of them on this trip):

This was our first time seeing the “new” DME-TV video, and we did not like it at all. I want to see my characters going on vacation! Usually I pay attention to the video, but this time I did not at all … it didn’t grab my interest. So, if anyone at Disney’s Magical Express is reading this … please bring back the old video! (yeah, I know, not gonna happen)

Our bus was going to Art of Animation, Pop Century, and Animal Kingdom Lodge. About half an hour after we got on the bus, as we approached our first stop, I snapped this terrible picture:

We got to check-in and our room wasn’t ready yet, so we stuffed what we needed into the smaller backpack and dumped the bigger backpack (which is way too big for the parks) and our other carry-on with luggage services and headed to the bus stops. Not so much later, we saw this:

That approaching bus was for us! Time to head off to our Day 1 park, Epcot!

One not too long bus ride (and a little bit of walking) later, we were seeing this view:

We took a giant golf ball selfie:

But then we also took some regular pictures (the sun was kinda in the way for these):

Once we got some golf ball pictures, we stopped in to get someone who had not yet had her coffee (aka me) some Starbucks:

(we forgot to take the picture in Fountain View, so we took the picture at our next stop)
That’s an Iced Grande Vanilla Nonfat Lite Ice Latte. I didn’t so much get lite ice, but that happens even at my normal Starbucks sometimes, so I’m used to it. I’m not going to make them redo my latte just because they gave me too much ice – it annoys me to have so much ice left over at the end, but I deal with it.

Next stop was some shopping at Mouse Gears.
At first we wandered a bit and Beth made me try on a Goofy head hat thing … but it looks terrible so I’m not posting that picture.
Then came the real reason for our visit to Mouse Gears. I had read on the Disney Parks Blog that the Pandora charms were being released on November 3rd in Mouse Gears at Epcot, Uptown Jewelers in Magic Kingdom, and World of Disney in Downtown Disney. I decided the week before the trip that I wanted a Pandora charm, and I wasn’t sure if they would sell out quickly, so I wanted to stop in and check them out on release day (we had already looked at pictures online while on the bus, but seeing them in person is different). The only one of those stores that I was going to be anywhere near on November 3rd was Mouse Gears, so we stopped in.

I waited on line (yes, there was a line) to see the Pandora charms. But the woman at the front of the line was taking too much time and I just didn’t have the patience. So we left and headed to our next stop, a meeting with some of our favorite characters:

We brought canvas bags for characters to sign (and lots of “Sharpies,” both big (Hengbao brand, which still cracks me up for reasons I can’t explain) and regular (Target brand), for characters to sign with). Here’s the Chip-n-Dale signature:

I had dumped my backpack (and I think also my folder, which for some reason was not in my backpack) off to the side for picture taking. When we were done taking pictures, Chip went over and picked up my backpack … and walked away with it. I’m still kicking myself for not taking out my camera and taking a picture. But yeah, Chip walked away with my backpack, and I had to ask very nicely several times to get it back.
I really love Chip n Dale, we always have the best interactions with them!

Also, we now have 3 ways to tell them apart (you learn a lot listening to people on line):
1 - Chip has a chocolate chip brown nose
2 – Chip has 1 tooth, Dale has 2
3 – Dale’s nose is bigger


Next up on our agenda was our first FP+ …

We did not take any pictures inside – part of my resolution for the trip to enjoy the attractions and not keep taking pictures. But it was just the same as always … it’s enjoyable, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Our next stop was a ride inspired by one of my favorite movies:

Wait was listed as 10 minutes … which actually meant walking straight on. And at the end of the ride … we found Nemo! But what we didn’t find were the dolphins and manatees that we usually see at the end. I was a little bit disappointed.

Once we left Nemo, our next stop was a ride I was dreading …

I firmly believe that Figment is creepy.
This was probably one of our longest ride lines of the day – 15 minutes or so. Lots to take pictures of on the line, but the major highlight for me was …

My sister didn’t recognize Weebo! I think she needs to watch Flubber again.

We went on the ride and … I am vindicated! My sister agreed that Figment is creepy! So … that’s something we’re not going to do again.

And, a picture from the ride exit area, to finish our last ever Figment experience:

After Figment, it was time for our next FP+ (and my favorite ride at Epcot):

We were able to design our car right away … we may have gotten a little bit silly with the designing:

After we designed the car, we did have to wait for a little bit to get on the actual ride (we probably could have gotten on earlier if we had pushed coming out of the design room, but we didn’t want to). We had a single rider with us in our row – a very nice woman who had never been on Test Track before. She liked the beginning parts (indoors), but was disappointed that it was over so soon … and then we told her we hadn’t even hit the best part yet. And we went outside for the awesomeness that is Test Track … and she said: “I didn’t know this was going to be a roller coaster.” Well, it is, and it’s awesome.

I’m not posting the ride picture because my sister’s hair is in her face, so she would object (also, because we don’t have memory maker, so my ride pictures are screenshots and therefore not great quality, so I probably won't be posting any unless they're really amazing).

I would have done it again … but the standby line was 70 minutes, and we had other things to do.
What other things, you ask? Anything more would put me over my 25 picture limit, so you’ll just have to wait to find out.

Coming soon … Chocolate, Soarin’, more characters, and World Showcase.

 

[KatMark]

Great update, Sarah.

I'm glad you arrived and got checked in and got a bus almost immediately to Epcot.

Sorry that there was a line for Pandora (I hope you are able to find it later) and that the woman in front of you was taking too long.

Despite the sun, great photopass pictures when you arrived.

I love your pictures with Chip and Dale. I agree with you...they are favorites...always so fun. I knew about the Chip nose to distinguish them, but never knew about the difference in teeth and size of nose.

It's funny...we have complete different reactions to the attractions you've done thus far. I LOVE Spaceship Earth (but I have sentimental reasons mostly because it was my dad's favorite ride). I also LOVE Figment...but then it is an original (although it's on it's third version) and I don't like Test Track. Yep, quite the differences, but that's what is great...something for everyone.

Ooooh...I'm intrigued...Chocolate. Can't wait to hear about it.

 

[dreamseeker9]

Great first update!

I always get turned around in the Orlando airport trying to find the B side Level 1 for DME, too! I don't know what the deal is. I'll see if i can get it right the first time this trip!

I noticed you and your sister's long-sleeved shirts. I'm debating now on whether or not to wear short sleeves or long sleeves to the parks. Were you comfortable in the long-sleeved shirt and jeans?

I love The Seas, too! And last time I went, the manatees were there (so cute!), but the dolphins weren't. I asked a CM where they were, and she said they overslept - I just looked at her like, c'mon, you're talking to an adult and I want the truth, but she wouldn't give me any more info.

I'm kinda with you about Figment. Journey into Imagination isn't on my list for this trip. Test Track is, and I'll do single rider for a shorter wait (hopefully). So fun!

 

[SarahDisney]

Great update, Sarah.

I'm glad you arrived and got checked in and got a bus almost immediately to Epcot.

Thanks! We actually had pretty good luck with buses most of the trip!

Sorry that there was a line for Pandora (I hope you are able to find it later) and that the woman in front of you was taking too long.

I was so annoyed at that woman ... but thankfully we did get a chance to see the charms later (more on that in the next update)

Despite the sun, great photopass pictures when you arrived.

Thanks!

I love your pictures with Chip and Dale. I agree with you...they are favorites...always so fun. I knew about the Chip nose to distinguish them, but never knew about the difference in teeth and size of nose.

Thanks! The teeth we heard someone in front of us mention, and the size of nose my sister realized from looking at them. We'd been told about Chip's brown nose by cast members in the past, so that was the only way we knew before this trip.

It's funny...we have complete different reactions to the attractions you've done thus far. I LOVE Spaceship Earth (but I have sentimental reasons mostly because it was my dad's favorite ride). I also LOVE Figment...but then it is an original (although it's on it's third version) and I don't like Test Track. Yep, quite the differences, but that's what is great...something for everyone.

I like Spaceship Earth, but I don't love it ... but I understand that a lot of people do. I don't understand why people like Figment (or how anyone could possibly not love Test Track) ... but to each their own. I like that pretty much all the parks have attractions across the spectrum - so there's something for everyone to love.

Ooooh...I'm intrigued...Chocolate. Can't wait to hear about it.

We love chocolate (who doesn't?), so any opportunity to eat chocolate is a good idea in our book!

Great first update!

I always get turned around in the Orlando airport trying to find the B side Level 1 for DME, too! I don't know what the deal is. I'll see if i can get it right the first time this trip!

We're usually pretty good about finding it, but ... mornings. Hopefully you'll have better luck finding it than we did!

I noticed you and your sister's long-sleeved shirts. I'm debating now on whether or not to wear short sleeves or long sleeves to the parks. Were you comfortable in the long-sleeved shirt and jeans?

I'm the wrong person to ask, because I wear long sleeves until the temperature hits triple digits.
That said - the weather while we were there was fine for light long sleeves, but it also probably would have been fine with short sleeves. We were fine in long sleeves (I was actually a little chilly one night), but if you're more comfortable in short sleeves, short sleeves could work too.

I love The Seas, too! And last time I went, the manatees were there (so cute!), but the dolphins weren't. I asked a CM where they were, and she said they overslept - I just looked at her like, c'mon, you're talking to an adult and I want the truth, but she wouldn't give me any more info.

I hate when CMs won't give you an answer! I know they're not allowed to say "I don't know," but seriously ... you have to have some answer that doesn't sound like you're trying to placate a 3 year old!

I'm kinda with you about Figment. Journey into Imagination isn't on my list for this trip. Test Track is, and I'll do single rider for a shorter wait (hopefully). So fun!

I hope the single rider line is short! They had wait times for single rider posted when we were there, but I didn't even look because we knew we wanted to ride together. The only bad part about single rider is that I think you don't get to design the car ... but I'd rather have a shorter wait and not design a car than wait forever and design the car.

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Enjoying reading your report! My sister and her family (including my 3 crazy nephews) were got there around the same time you left and we leave very soon!

 

[MonsterWDWmom]

What a great day 1!

I am glad you arrived without any problems and were able to visit Epcot, it is such a nice way to start the vacation going to the park right away

I did Test Track in september and I liked how you designed your own car it was really cool. That is funny the women thought it was over she must of been pleasantly surprised.

 

[SarahDisney]

Enjoying reading your report! My sister and her family (including my 3 crazy nephews) were got there around the same time you left and we leave very soon!

Hi! Thanks for reading along!
Your trip is coming up so soon! December must be a great time to visit ... with the park all decorated for Christmas (and the weather should be decent, too!)

What a great day 1!

I am glad you arrived without any problems and were able to visit Epcot, it is such a nice way to start the vacation going to the park right away

I did Test Track in september and I liked how you designed your own car it was really cool. That is funny the women thought it was over she must of been pleasantly surprised.

Hi! Thanks for reading along!
I really like the whole "design a car" part of Test Track - it adds a little extra "interactive" to the ride. The woman was very pleasantly surprised - she didn't know what she was getting herself into, but she enjoyed it!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

I'm here, too!!!

 

[jordansmama]

Joining in! Loving your recap so far!

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm here, too!!!

Hi Ann! Thanks for stopping by and reading!

Joining in! Loving your recap so far!

Hi! Nice to see a fellow NYer here (even if you're from Staten Island). Thanks for stopping by and joining in, and I'm glad you're enjoying!

 

[SarahDisney]

Day 1: Monday, November 3rd
Part 2: We’re Trying to Catch a Princess!

(Short introductory note: you learn in this update that sometimes I'm terrible at being in pictures ... and generally not too much better at taking them ... but the pictures exist and they're memories, so that's all that really matters)

When you last saw me, we had just gotten off of Test Track. Next stop? Eating some free chocolate. At the Ghirardelli exhibit in the Food and Wine Festival Center.

Side note – my hair looks really nice in this picture. I wish it looked that nice all the time

Seriously, this is essentially the highlight of the Food & Wine festival for us … free chocolate (probably because it’s one of the few things there that we can eat … and because we like free).

And while we were eating our free chocolate, we looked at some chocolate sculptures:

Pictures aren’t so great … my camera doesn’t take great pictures through glass.

Once we had gotten our sample chocolate and “$1 off sundae” coupons (twice), we headed over to the Land pavilion for our trip to California on

I Photoshopped my backpack out of this one (it used to be on the ground, in the place that looks very Photoshopped) … but I didn’t have the patience to try to Photoshop the hair out of my face

We thought we had FP+, but weren’t quite sure if it would work. This was the moment of truth.
Just a short explanation for any of you who didn’t read my PTR (or who don’t remember what I’m talking about): After having massive issues with my FP+ and MDE, and not liking how I was treated by tech support on a few occasions, I complained to guest relations, who gifted me with a 4th FP+ for my Epcot day and one other day (I chose MK day … you’ll see why when I get to it). I was told it could be used for any attraction at any time – and it would work just like I had a regular FP+ for that attraction at that time. Now it was time to test that.

So we went, we lined up our MagicBands to the readers … and it all worked as it should. Yay! So we went on the FP+ line, and we had to wait a bit (as was our experience last year), so we took the time to work on our character bingo cards (which ended up being better in conception than in actual use – we ended up mostly filling them out on Friday afternoon once we were back in NY) and test each other on some trivia.

Finally we got in to the theater, sat down, buckled in, were lifted up into the air, and the show started. And a cast member announced something to the extent of “no recording allowed, turn off your recording devices.” This continued to happen throughout the show. Holy inconsiderate, Batman! (I know, Batman is DC, not Marvel, and therefore not owned by Disney … too bad) Seriously, I will never understand why people feel a need to break the rules. And yes, I understand that it could have been a language barrier issue, but … if nobody else around you is recording and the CM keeps announcing something, how hard is it to realize that maybe you shouldn’t be recording?

After Soarin’ we sat down for lunch – we nabbed a table at Sunshine Seasons, grabbed some mustard and forks, and ate the lunch we brought with us – tuna packets and popcorners.
Once our lunch break was over, I popped back into MouseGears for another attempt at seeing the Pandora charms. This time I was actually able to see them, but I didn’t actually get a chance to look super close and handle them (at least not right away). I wasn’t prepared to buy one at that point, so we left, and I said I’d think about it and consider going back at the end of the day if I decided to buy a charm.

Our next stop was Epcot Character Spot, where we had a FP+ to visit some friends…

You may notice in this picture … I don’t so much always look at the camera

Me and Goofy discussing orange shirts

And that was the end of Future World for us. Before we crossed over into World Showcase, we took a picture by a Food and Wine logo & topiary:

After consulting our Times Guide, we saw that Belle was greeting guests, but would be stopping soon (or so we thought), and we really wanted to see her, so we hustled over to France. It would have been much easier had there not been so many people in our way … hurry up, people, we’re trying to catch a princess!

We got to Belle’s greeting area and the CM told us that she was leaving and would be back at 6:20. So we decided to go over to Morocco to see Aladdin and Jasmine.
The line for Aladdin and Jasmine was longer than we were willing to wait, so we decided to go back to France to wait for Belle. But before we left Morocco (/as we were walking back to France), I snapped some pictures:

I also took this time to snap a nice picture of the view across World Showcase Lagoon:

We went back to Belle’s line, and finally, it was time to meet her and have a nice little chat about books and reading …

Belle was very impressed that we spoke French (or could at least say “bonjour”). I told her that I wish I could read in French, but all I’ve ever read was a little bit of Harry Potter (it was high school French, and our teacher was trying to get us interested in class) … she said that she heard those are good stories. Overall, it was a nice chat about reading, books, libraries, and Beast’s Castle (she recommended the gray stuff … I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I couldn’t have it).

The only problem with Belle was that she violated one of our core principles for the trip (see the title of this TR). It seemed to be a recurring issue … we had the same problem with the princess we went to see next …

Next on our agenda was Mexico.
First up: saying hola to Donald:

Next up: Best boat ride in Epcot (IMO – but in defense of the only other boat ride I can think of in Epcot, I haven’t done Living with the Land in almost 15 years.)

(someone was a little bit too lazy/cranky/hungry to take off the backpack for this picture … but I got my snack right afterwards, so it’s all good)

From the line:

One last Mexico picture …

I could have sworn I had a picture of the outside of the pavilion, but I guess it didn’t come out very well, because I can’t find it on my computer. And I’m at 25 pictures anyway, so I’ll stop now.

Coming next … acrobatics, music, FOOD, fireworks, and more!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Very nice update. I'm thinking that it was a bit chilly so the princesses had to wear their capes. Or maybe it was to irritate you....... They really should have had more consideration!! That's too bad about the repeated announcement at Soarin! Wow, you couldn't even sit and enjoy it without constant interruption. I would have been upset as that's one of my favorite rides! Besides, you can always watch the entire thing on YouTube, there's no need to record it!

 

[KatMark]

Sounds like a good time at Epcot. I had NO idea they gave out free chocolate at the Festival Center. I am really angry I missed that.

I am glad the extra FP+ worked on Soarin'. I hate when people disobey the rules and it ruins it for the others.

Great pictures with the princesses. I'm guessing it was a little chilly that night and why they had the capes on? I do have to say that in the past the princesses looked a LOT more like the princesses in the movies than they do now.