Our First Visit - A February 2019 Trip Report with Disney After Hours & Festival of the Arts

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And into the regular department store part. We spent more time in this gift shop than in probably all the others put together. Not least because I have lots of friends who I'd be most likely to find souvenirs for in this one. In the end, we didn't buy all that much. Sadly, I couldn't find the sushi shaped hard candy that is frequently here. That would have been a great gift.

Five million Kit Kat flavors and this is all they can do with Oreos?

Sushi and ramen made from bricks that are like Lego but even smaller.

Also a hot dog and hamburger.

I almost bought several boxes of these but decided to just get them on Amazon later.

I never owned one of these back in the day but I can still sing the entire jingle. Why????

For the Zelda people, this is Link's master sword as an umbrella. Plus a generic katana umbrella.

DH looked at a LOT of Nintendo stuff but in the end bought nothing. The cat is what DS ended up with and the tray is mine. It made it home in one piece!

When we got back outside, they'd brought out the big drum so we stayed for a second performance that was different from the first. This was actually when we were in line for the sushi and eating it.

 

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When planning our day, I had us skipping the U.S. pavilion completely to save time. It's not exactly exotic. But we HAD to get the art photo.

I wanted to also hunt down the Amos painting -- they had assorted characters on buildings in each pavilion during the festival -- because he's one of my all-time favorites but I was getting nervous about the time. Looking at the photo metadata, it was 2:00 by then. It's really too bad they don't open until 11.

 

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Gondolas at Italy. I've been to Venice but didn't splurge on one there.

We spotted a photographer on the bridge.

But that's all the Italy we did. Onward!

 

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This photo opp was one of the most fun. They also give you a video that goes from the real things to your versions.

He declined to do the Mona Lisa one.

I love DH's ambiguous smirk.

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a nice breakfast and great time in Epcot so far! love all the pics!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

You guys look like you're having a great time hitting the WS highlights. For moving quickly, you still got to see a lot.

It was cool that two of the three were women as well. The cardio required!

Our group was all three women, which I was super excited about.

 

[kkayluvsdis]

Love this pic!

Great trip report! I read your cruise one as well. Sounds like a trip back to WDW may be in the cards!

-Kelly

 

[kkayluvsdis]

Our original lunch plan was to return here later for Spice Road Table. I also really love Middle Eastern food (lamb! eggplant! cumin! saffron!) and it's something we don't have locally. But we ended up just snacking throughout the day instead. Looking at my spreadsheet, I also forgot to find Turkish Delight.

We dined at Spiced Road Table for the first time on our most recent visit. We were fortunate enough to snag a table with a view of Illuminations. Food and service was great! We'd definitely return. Keep that one on your list for next trip!

 

[cadien]

Sounds like a nice breakfast and great time in Epcot so far! love all the pics!

It was much more relaxed than I'd expected our first character meal to be. The overall atmosphere of the room. It was much quieter than I expected too!

You guys look like you're having a great time hitting the WS highlights. For moving quickly, you still got to see a lot.

We managed to hit all our highest priorities but I could see it taking two more full days to finally see it all.

Love this pic!

Great trip report! I read your cruise one as well. Sounds like a trip back to WDW may be in the cards!

-Kelly

Thanks! We are starting to think hard about the whole Disney adult thing since DS turns 8 this month. Not a lot of time left.

We dined at Spiced Road Table for the first time on our most recent visit. We were fortunate enough to snag a table with a view of Illuminations. Food and service was great! We'd definitely return. Keep that one on your list for next trip!

If we're there during a non-festival time next time, which is likely, it's definitely still at the top of the list.

 

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Oh I forgot to mention something about our character breakfast. We had a really great waitress. Of course I can't remember her name. But definitely the best service all trip. She was super fun to talk to but also totally on the ball. When we were leaving, we passed a woman who looked official and I asked her if she was the manager. DH immediately wanted to sink into the floor but it was just for me to tell the manager how great our waitress had been. In case it helps.

 

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Really elaborate model train village on the way in to Germany. The walkway goes through the middle of it, so image about 4 times the size of what you see here.

And our only shot of Germany.

As you can tell by the sky and the dimming light, it was thinking about raining. And it got very close but never quite happened. It keep things coolish though. And it never got uncomfortably humid.

My feet were really sore at this point. Disappointing new Keens. So I sat on a bench outside of Karamell-Küche while DH and DS went in to check it out. They're bigger fans of caramel than I am. But they weren't in there five minutes. Hugely crowded. I'd had some cheese-related items in my notes to try in Germany, and some sort of peanut snack from the gift shop, but at this point we just kept going.

 

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China! One of our top priorities for World Showcase. As you've possibly already gathered...

It was time for DS and I to get in the meet and greet line, while DH went to get he and I a Tipsy Ducks In Love (Bourbon Whisky, Coffee, Black Tea, Cream and Chocolate Syrup). It's iced, so it was extra wonderful. And went down super quick. No photo I'm afraid, but it looked like an iced coffee. That line was crazy long too. We were done before he was.

Taken while in line:

 

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Mulan was as in character as Ariel. Well not necessarily like the character but was never at a loss for things to say to each kid. Or even parent. She keyed onto DS's dragon shirt right away (which he'd already happened to own), and showed him the dragon embroidered on her sash. She also complemented me on my "armor."

 

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I had trouble figuring out how to watch the Reflections of China Circle-Vision film.

This is the room you first walk into. Disney's official photo. The lighting was much dimmer when we were there so we missed realizing how colorful it is.

The only place to go is a room to the left just past that second statue. Because all those double doors look like a way out. So we went into the second room, which turned out to be an exhibit on Disneyland Shanghai. It was neat to see how they made things recognizable but still different.

CM uniforms for Pirates of the Caribbean:

Chinese zodiac

 

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Then we went back out to the lobby and sat on a bench with a bunch of other people because DH had figured out the system. At the scheduled time, the doors all opened and we went into the theater. We'd seen Circle Visions elsewhere so DS knew what to expect. This one was really cool. I've been lobbying DH for a trip to China in the next couple years. It wasn't really on my radar until I read some trip reports on the Adventures By Disney forum. They have such a great itinerary for kids. Acrobats. Baby pandas. The Great Wall. Martial arts. Gumdrop Mountains. But no way on those prices. It's like $9,000/person. For something like 11 days but still. Part of the mark-up on Adventures By Disney is the fact they book you in 4-star hotels and we don't need that. I have found other family-oriented tour companies that do the same itinerary but for less than half the price, and after watching the movie, DH was sold. So we'll see.

Finding the restrooms was some work for us too. They're in the back of the counter service restaurant, Lotus Blossom Cafe. That was absolutely packed with cheerleaders.

Because it was looking like rain, they moved the acrobats into that same building, so we went back in there for that performance. They have to cut out several routines when they're indoors but it was still really impressive.

 

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I did make an executive decision to skip both the Kidcot stations and that Perry the Platypus thing. I can't remember the name of the cartoon he was from but we've never watched it. DS wasn't at all bored with what we were doing, and it would have taken even more time.

Next was Norway. DS and I went into the gift shop while DH hunted down his own restroom. So he missed out on joining in this photo op:

Spiffy mugs.

One of my grandmother's parents immigrated here from Denmark and DH's father's side is super duper Swedish. DH's actual name is Gustaf and our last name is super Scandinavian. So we're both used to the whole Nordic look. Oh and fully half of North Dakota is of Norwegian ancestry.

We spent a decent amount of time in the Stave Church Gallery. DH and I just glanced around but DS decided to thoroughly read every display. They're on Thor, Loki, Odin, and Freya, which of course he's seen in all the Marvel films.

Upon leaving, we ran into some wandering Vikings. They communicated like cavemen rather than trying to speak Norwegian or something. They tried to trade a rock for I think DS's sunglasses. They were fun.

 

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We had DS do this photo on the way to Mexico.

He had no idea what it was at the time, but after we got back, he happened to watch a cartoon biography of Frida Khalo and now loves the photo. (If you're familiar with that crazy popular series of Who Was... books for early elementary school, there's now a tv show version on Netflix and it just got nominated for a daytime Emmy.)

The Mexico pavilion was important to me because I'm of the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights generation. Which means I grew up watching The Three Caballeros. I didn't take any photos inside but we all enjoyed it. DS has watched them already too. I'd marked down a couple tasty sounding margaritas, which is a favorite drink of DH's and one I'm finally developing a taste for, but the inside of the pyramid made DH feel claustrophobic so we moved on. We didn't spend any time looking at the Coco-inspired displays because we still haven't gotten around to watching it.

 

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Instead of margaritas, we backtracked to China. I don't remember what DH was after but we got DS a Crystal Mooncake with Fruit Filling and garnished with Toasted Coconut. Disney Tourist Blog's photo.

Super pretty and actually a decent size. It was questionable whether DS would actually enjoy eating it, so we wouldn't have risked $10, but it was fine as a snack credit. The texture of the outer 'cake' was very gummy but not unpleasantly so. The fruit filling was hard to identify. It was like some sort of tutti frutti blend. We both liked it as a novelty.

I had the Kung Fu Punch - Vodka, Triple Sec, Mango Syrup, Orange Juice, and Soda Water. I'll try anything mango.

We also checked out the sugar art. He wasn't making anything at the time but the finished pieces were impressive.

 

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Then back through Mexico and down into the main Festival of the Arts area.

3-d chalk drawing

I detoured us over a bridge and over by Test Track. DH and DS snagged a random bench and just trusted that I was getting something good, while I got in line at Taste Track.

Hoorah for snack credits!

The Croissant Doughnut - Tossed in cinnamon sugar and the Lobster Bacon Macaroni & Cheese - Served in a warm bread cone. The paintbrush churros looked very fun but I only like them when they're really fresh and wasn't willing to take that chance. We were all very happy with what we tried.

 

[foxyroxy40]

Did you lose your pins at Disney? If so call their lost and found most people are honest there and turn stuff in! If so then they ship them to you.