The Beginning of an Obsession | May 2014 | Day 4 | Downtown Disney & Epcot

[axxxl]

Index

We were up and ready for 9AM this morning, despite our exciting late night the previous night. We'd pencilled in Epcot for today, but as our Via Napoli and FastPass reservations were all in the PM, we thought we'd hit Downtown Disney for some breakfast at Wolfgang Puck Express.





We took a little time to actually find Wolfgang Puck, but we got their eventually. It was really quiet when we turned up, so it made for a peaceful breakfast. At home I have porridge 99% of the time, so I indulged with the chocolate chip waffles. Lewis opted for the classic breakfast.

My waffles were really good, but I could only just about manage three sections. I wasn't expecting such a huge portion, they were served on a dinner plate! Lewis enjoyed his too, he loves a good breakfast so he was in his element here.




We'd read up on Wolfgang Puck before we went and everywhere claimed it was the best value for money quick service restaurant, and I have to agree!

Our first reservation wasn't until 3PM, so we had a browse around the shops that DTD had to offer before heading to Art of Disney for our complimentary embroidery on our wedding ears.

We had a bit of a funny experience here, I think the girl serving us had only just started and when she asked Lewis' name (for some reason all of the Americans kept spelling it "Louis") and he spelled it out, she wrote out two u's when he said w! We got there eventually though




We hopped on the bus to the Swan & Dolphin Resort and arrived around 12, and we made our way over to Epcot's International Gateway. When we got off the boat two women stopped us and asked if they could get a photo of us with our ears and badges on. Bit of a strange request but we both found it pretty flattering at the same time!




World Showcase is so beautifully picturesque. The topiaries from the Flower & Garden Festival really added to it. I wish every garden had Disney topiaries!

Continued below...

[axxxl]

It was another pretty hot day today, so after seeing the end of a performance in France we headed to Japan for an alcoholic beverage We both chose a Tokyo Sunset which contains coconut rum, peach schnapps, banana liqueur and pineapple juice. It was nice and fruity and was just what I was after. I'm not normally a big drinker (I'm lucky if I have 1 drink in 4 months) but I am partial to a cocktail or two!




I loved the shop in Japan. I didn't buy anything, but I have an appreciation for all things adorable.

We then continued our stroll around World Showcase, paying attention to all the little details. My sister was absolutely petrified of the crocodile from Peter Pan when we were little, to the point where she wouldn't even go on the Peter Pan ride at DLP. So I made sure to take photos every time he made an appearance and sent them to her that night



Living with the Land was our first FastPass, and we got on within 15 minutes. It's a really nice ride to get away from the heat for a bit, and it's really quite knowledgable too. Lewis even spotted a hidden Mickey.



There was a short queue for The Seas with Nemo and Friends when we left The Land pavilion, so we rode that before making our way back over to Italy for our 4:30 Via Napoli reservation.

Unfortunately I'd forgotten to charge my camera the night before because I was so tired and my battery was on its way out at this point. I managed to snap a few photos outside the restaurant and of our drinks, but none of the pizza!

The girl who checked us in was really surprised that we'd just gotten engaged at 21. Apparently it's very rare in Italy! I explained to her that over here there's not really an average age and that we were quite young but we'd been together for 5 years She was really lovely though.

Our sampling of Epcot's alcoholic drinks continued here I can't remember the name of my drink but you could really taste the alcohol! Lewis went for a strawberry limoncello followed by an Italian margarita recommended by our server.




We had a large half and half pizza to share here, and all I can say is WOW. Hands down best pizza I have eaten. Honestly, I could take that pizza any day of the week at any time of year. We opted for the quattro formaggi and piccante (four cheese and spicy Italian sausage). It was seriously so good and we'll be booking to go back next year.

We didn't go for a dessert here since we were planning on using a snack credit in Karamelle-Kuche in Germany after but our server brought out a little dessert as a congratulations anyway. I wish I could remember his name but he was a really nice guy, very attentive and so we left him a good tip.



We both had a cookie each from Karamelle-Kuche afterwards. That shop is heaven to me. I absolutely love Werther's Originals and kinda wish I'd got something else to take back to the room with me too!

We did a few more rides in the evening - Ellen's Energy Adventure, Nemo, Figment and had another look at the aquarium but in more detail. I also grabbed a green tea plum slush (with plum wine) from China which was lovely but I couldn't finish it as there was loads, and Lewis bought a cup of Kung Fu Punch. We were getting a bit tipsy at this point

Our main FastPass of the day was for Illuminations, so we headed over slightly early where we got chatting to a lovely American lady who'd moved down to Florida just for Disney World. She told us she comes for the fireworks every week, I'm jealous!





Illuminations was brilliant. I do think Wishes has that extra magic which sways it for me, but I loved how you could view the show from pretty much the entire park without restricted views. I know people say both shows are getting a bit dated but I can honestly say that, seeing them for the first time, I was in awe.

We headed back just after the fireworks finished to get some rest before our day at Hollywood Studios tomorrow

[kansaskitty]

Brilliant Epcot day, seriously stunning photos! What lens is this? Gorgeous! Clever girl. Via Napoli sounds great and that Karamel Kuche cookie looks delish. We missed Illuminations this time due to hubby being poorly, we last saw it in 2008! The topiary all looks fab. Thanks for writing!

[Guest]

OMG how good does that cookie look

[axxxl]

Originally Posted by kansaskitty

Brilliant Epcot day, seriously stunning photos! What lens is this? Gorgeous! Clever girl. Via Napoli sounds great and that Karamel Kuche cookie looks delish. We missed Illuminations this time due to hubby being poorly, we last saw it in 2008! The topiary all looks fab. Thanks for writing!

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It's the EF-M 22mm for the Canon EOS M

Originally Posted by Disneyrules1975

OMG how good does that cookie look

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Ohh it was so good!

[smedley]

Great Epcot day, those cookies look amazing and you've got to love a frozen alcoholic cocktail

[summersun]

great day

[scotsprincess]

Another great day

[beck_loz]

Thanks for sharing x

[Milner]

Great day.