It's all about the mouse - 8th August 2018 day 8 BB and Epcot

[Goldia]

Welcome to the It’s all about the mouse trip report. We are a family of four and this is our 4th trip to Orlando. I'm Abby, my DH is Dave and our children are Max (13) and Kate (11). This trip is all WDW and we stay inside the Disney bubble for the entirety of our holiday.

If you haven't read the previous day it can be found here

Today was another water park day - Blizzard Beach. I woke about 7am this morning. The alarm was set for 7.45am. The others slowly got ready and we headed out for the bus stop. We arrived at the bus stop at 8.50am and the next bus was due at 8.57am. The bus arrived pretty much bang on time.

Planning fail here...

As you will have seen I made these little green cards for every day of our trip. There was a summary of the day on one side and then details on the other of rides, shows or food I didn’t want to miss and so they were helpful reminders of things I wanted us to do.

The plans were not stuck in stone and we didn't make it to Epcot until later in the afternoon so missed the 2 character meets.

Now the observant among you will have spotted the TOTAL PLANNING FAIL! If not, then here it is.

I know the buses don't go direct to water parks anymore (don't even get me started on that!) and somehow my brain had convinced itself that we needed to via Disney Springs for both TL and BB so I had planned for us to eat breakfast at Wolfgang Puck. I have no idea what I was thinking you don’t catch the bus for Blizzard Beach from Disney Springs you catch it from AK! Fortunately I realised this error on the planning front BEFORE we set out for the bus this morning and we did get on the right bus.

When we got to AK we had a 10 minute wait to catch the BB bus.

We arrived at AK a little before rope drop and watched the first person go down Summit Plummet.

We found some sun beds. Max and Dave went off to try Summit Plummet but in the end tried out Slush Gusher instead… trying to build up the nerve I think. None of us have ever done it. I’ve not had any desire to ride Summit Plummet . Max and Dave did go up there on our first trip. According to Dave, Max did end up sitting on the ride but couldn’t go through with it so in the end they had to walk down the stairs past all the other people waiting. There may have been a bit of ribbing from the people waiting in line. So, each trip Max says he is going to go down and each trip he doesn't quite make it. This year was no exception.

We decided we would start off with some smaller slides so that Max could build his courage up...we went around to the purple slopes and did the Downhill Double Dipper and the Toboggan Racers. I don’t really like the on your belly facing forward rides, once was enough for me on these.

Next up was the family raft ride which I did really enjoy. Then we went on the lazy river for a bit.

We tried out the slides in the red slopes area and then went back in the lazy river before having an early lunch, due to the ADR for dinner being at 5.30pm. We shared a pepperoni flatbread with a Pina Colava drink and Chicken strips with fries and a Sangria from Lottawotta Lodge.

We also had Loaded beef nachos and a coke from Frostbite Freddies.

The nachos were really tasty we did love these.

Plus of course we had some water.

Another great meal for sharing as the flat bread easily split four ways. The nachos were huge and we enjoyed picking at those too. 3 QS credits used for lunch.

Kate spotted this little lizard while we were eating lunch.

Dave, Max and Kate had about 20 minutes in the wave pool before we all went on the ski lift. I was with Max and I absolutely hated this the whole way. I don’t really like heights and the bar across us felt very flimsy. I had to have my eyes closed for much of the climb as I was starting to get a dizzy.

I needed to have a bit of rest, so we went around the lazy river until it was time to go back to the resort and get changed to go to Epcot.

We were looking forward to this as we hadn’t really seen the World Showcase yet and we hadn’t been to Epcot in the evening at all.

There were lots of buses with the Ant-Man and Wasp overlay.

We decided that we should get off the bus on the way back from BB and walk up to Hospitality House so we could buy an ice cream each from the gift shop at OKW. We weren’t hungry and we had an early dinner lined up but let’s face it those snack credits were not going to eat themselves.

These were 4 snack credits, even the massive tub of ice cream which is the normal size!

Kate went for the Mickey bar. Dave had the chocolate crunch bar. I had the butterfinger bar as I love peanut butter. Of course Max went for the whole tub of ice cream.

We ate these on the walk back to the hotel room. We did tell Max that we had a freezer so he didn't have to eat all of his, no surprises, but he ate it all! And, he wasn't sick, yay.

After scoffing our ice creams we all got ourselves ready for the evening pretty quickly. There were 3 buses coming up the road. Max ran for the bus stop. The first bus was Disney Springs, the second was MK and then the third bus was Epcot. The bus waited for me which is kind as I didn’t want to run.

Bag check was nice and quick and we went to the Land and used our Soarin FP. This was a bit rubbish really as we had row C3. So, we had dangly legs and we were over to the right where all the buildings are leaning. I've really got to ask for B1 so that we don't get the distorted view. I don't see how FOP can be so great and yet Soarin so poor. Is there a bad spot to sit on FOP and we just were really lucky? If not then why can't Disney sort out Soarin?

The kids don’t understand how I am fine with Soarin and don't get vertigo here yet I don’t like the ski lift…I can't explain it either!

Garden Grill for dinner (which we love). We had a wait of about 2 minutes to be seated after checking in at the podium. We were taken to a booth, which is definitely my preference.

I love the rotation of this restaurant and looking into the scenes from Living with the Land.

I love the characters meeting Farmer Mickey, Chip and Dale and of course Pluto.

I love the all you care to eat buffet style without actually having to get up and go to the buffet.

I love the atmosphere! Can I say it any more plainly how much I like this restaurant?

This is the sight that greets you at the table.

Well the Hidden Mickey is there, my children and husband won't be waiting for you (probably).

I had the Citrus Freeze cocktail. This was another restaurant where our server (Jay) asked if we wanted to have a soft drink too, I had a diet coke.

Dave had a glass of red wine and ice tea.

The kids had a coke and a chocolate milk for Max (yes I know we're brilliant parents, a whole tub of ice cream followed by bottomless chocolate milk).

When you arrive at your table you are brought the bread and salad courses pretty promptly.

The rolls are warm and soft the butter is honey whipped. The salad is fresh and tasty, it had olives and nice dressing.

Mickey was the first up to our table.

The platter has changed since we last ate here. It used to have sausage we didn’t get any sausage today.

We all enjoyed the meat and stuffing, the mash was the usual tasty mash.

You also get a plate of mac and cheese with fries, I think these used to be sweet potato fries, when I posted the dining report others agreed that we used to get sweet potato fries. So, I don't think I'm making it up.

The kids don't eat mac and cheese so it was down to me and Dave to try and soldier through that, we had about a third of it between us.

Chip was next up. He was followed promptly by Dale.

Then Pluto appeared.

We asked for extra turkey and beef, which we probably (definitiely) didn't need.

We were offered extra of everything else, but we couldn't manage anymore.

The kids like to admire the view and test out the rotation.

I like to think this isn't irritating for others eating at the restaurant as the booth obscures everything.

It feels like you are dining alone, also somehow it's much less noisy in here than other restaurants.

Dessert is a strawberry shortcake and we also all got sugar cookies.

Again we were offered extra pudding which we declined.

Mickey popped back for a final goodbye.

From all the you tube vlogs I've seen this wall apparently has a hidden mickey, but I really can't spot it!

It really is a great restaurant. I keep wondering if we should try out the breakfast option as I've seen people rave about the cinnamon roll in a skillet. It does look great in the photos. That's another idea for next time. 4 TS credits spent here.

After dinner we were all so stuffed that we needed a slow ride. We went on Living with the Land!

I’m the only one that enjoys this really, the kids suffered it.

Then we used our Spaceship Earth FP, which only had a 5 minute wait anyway! Nevermind. I rode with Kate and Max rode with Dave. The photos on here did not come out very well at all and you could barely see our faces in the adventure at the end which is the kids favourite part.

Max and Kate played around on the games. They love the sweeping game.

Kate had been keen to spend some of her money and had decided that she was going to buy a Figment pillow pet. So we went over to Figment, but the ride and the shop closes in the evening. We decided to try out Mouse Gear and we got lucky!

She was a very happy girl, no she did NOT want it delivered to the resort she wanted Figment with her.

We wandered over to World Showcase and stopped off at the Choza Margarita stand. I had a Fiesta Margarita, Dave had a classic Margarita. I have not got photos of this. Oops. We looked around the pavilion but didn’t go on the ride as we were nursing our drinks.

On to Norway we used the Frozen toilets and looked around in the shops. Doesn't everyone have their spots where they have to have a photo. We have tried to get photos of the kids with the Troll in Norway on all our trips.

This is from 2014, Max in a silly hat (hold that thought for later, it seems some things don't change).

Max didn't want to have his photo with the troll this year though, so it's just Kate!

We moved on to China.

World Showcase was very quiet this evening.

It looked like a storm was coming in.

Then next up of course is Germany and we looked around all the shops there.

The Magic Kingdom crystal model is $40,000. The Belle rose is just $300.

Then it started raining. Max tried a few hats on.

I tried to take a photo of the lightning but I couldn’t manage to get a photo.

The announcer kept saying that because of adverse weather conditions Illuminations was delayed.

It was 9pm and the rain had eased off so we went back to China and just managed to buy 2 Tipsy Ducks in Love while waiting for Illuminations.

This drink is something that has been on my list to try for a while and you may have spotted it noted on my plan for the day. I'm glad we tried it, but it was very creamy and a bit too sickly really, so it won't be something we return to.

By now it was 9.17 pm and the kids wanted to go really as they were tired, so we started walking towards the exit.

The rain was easing off and the announcer said Illuminations was going to start in 5 minutes.

We walked to Mexico and the rain started again…so we stood under the shelter of the Mexican QS. There were hardly any people there, but the view wasn’t great for Illuminations it started raining pretty heavily and so we couldn’t stand near the edge or we’d get wet. The kids just sat at a table and didn’t bother watching. It wasn’t the best of experiences. Now that they’ve announced Illuminations will be replaced I’m really keen to see it again properly next year! It’s a brilliant show and I really love it.

After Illuminations we made our way out of the park, still raining, fortunately the bus turned up pretty quickly.

Kate tried out her new purchase!

And that's it for another day.

I can't quite believe it but we're halfway through the trip now. It's a funny feeling the tipping point and it's really hard not to do the countdown in reverse. Still, we had some days that I was very excited for...day 11 was our 4 parks 1 day challenge, day 12 we had the Cali Grill brunch, day 14 was the move to POR and the surprise reveal that we had a Princess Royal room, so still lots of excitement to come.

Statistics for the day:

Credits Used - 4 snack, 3 QS and 4 TS. I have no more words to describe our epic failure at eating snacks.
Credits Remaining - 73 snack 30 QS and 28 TS.
Parks: 2
Rides: 3
FP: 3
Characters: 4
Steps: 17,078 (not counting water park steps)

Tomorrow a few firsts for us we try to get to MK to watch the new castle welcome show, we meet the characters in the Big Top, our first trip to Wilderness Lodge for dinner plus we manage to fit in 3 boat rides.

[caitlinsmummy]

At least you realised your planning fail before you left, shame about the missed Wolfgang breakfast though.

At least Max is building up the courage for Summit Plummet, one year he'll make it I remember doing it at 15 and I loved it ... definitely wouldn't do it now though

Garden Grill looks fab, definitely one for the list, I've seen a fair few people really rate this restaurant. Glad you had a fab time.

Wow World Showcase looks so quiet, how lucky were you, it's a shame about the weather though.

Another fab day and I'm so glad you didn't let the rain ruin it xx

[Palm trees]

We're planning a visit to the water Park on our next trip, it'll be the first time we've done so. I've got NO intention of going on the chairlift though, I'd be waaay out of my comfort zone! Sounds like you had a great day though.

[MrsSilverStar]

Garden Grill is definitely on my list for when we go THIS YEAR! Sorry, just a little excited that it's getting closer Glad to read a good review but we probably will do breakfast, cinnamon rolls are my favourite.

No way will I be doing Summit Plummet though! I've done a similar ride before and it was hideous, once was definitely enough, so I'm with Max on this one!

I think Illuminations will be all wrapped up by the time we go in Oct, fingers crossed the stand-in show will still be good

hope you've had a lovely Christmas. Happy New Year!

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

At least you realised your planning fail before you left, shame about the missed Wolfgang breakfast though.

At least Max is building up the courage for Summit Plummet, one year he'll make it I remember doing it at 15 and I loved it ... definitely wouldn't do it now though

Garden Grill looks fab, definitely one for the list, I've seen a fair few people really rate this restaurant. Glad you had a fab time.

Wow World Showcase looks so quiet, how lucky were you, it's a shame about the weather though.

Another fab day and I'm so glad you didn't let the rain ruin it xx

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It was a pain about Disney Springs, we never did manage to get to Wolfgang Puck Express and it is supposed to be a great QS, there's always next time though.

World Showcase is one of the best places to be in the rain I think. The cast members in the shops don't care that you're just hanging out because it's raining and it doesn't matter if you've got no intention of buying anything. It was fun to just be silly and look at all the Crystal stuff on sale knowing we could never afford it.

Happy New Year!

Originally Posted by Palm trees

We're planning a visit to the water Park on our next trip, it'll be the first time we've done so. I've got NO intention of going on the chairlift though, I'd be waaay out of my comfort zone! Sounds like you had a great day though.

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Yes definitely give it a miss! I've done it before on our first trip and Dave did ask me if I was sure I wanted to do it, I think I must have blotted it from my mind as I said to him it didn't look too bad and I'd be fine...I'll have to remember that I really don't like it.

Happy New Year!

Originally Posted by MrsSilverStar

Garden Grill is definitely on my list for when we go THIS YEAR! Sorry, just a little excited that it's getting closer Glad to read a good review but we probably will do breakfast, cinnamon rolls are my favourite.

No way will I be doing Summit Plummet though! I've done a similar ride before and it was hideous, once was definitely enough, so I'm with Max on this one!

I think Illuminations will be all wrapped up by the time we go in Oct, fingers crossed the stand-in show will still be good

hope you've had a lovely Christmas. Happy New Year!

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Hey, you're going to Disneyworld this year, Wow! I'd love to try breakfast at garden grill one day, but I just love the dinner too much.

We're all in agreement with Max he just tortures himself with the idea that he should do it and then can't quite pluck up the courage to actually do it.

It's a shame you won't get to see Illuminations, I hope that whatever is planned to replace it ends up being just as good.

Happy New Year! Have an absolutely magical 2019 Tara, I really hope your trip to WDW this year is amazing and all three of you have the best time.

[Pumba75]

Sorry I'm very behind! Been trying to have a mega catch up. Looks and sounds like you had another wonderful day.

Mmmm I now fancy a citrus freeze cocktail. Still never tried tipsy ducks in love.

M x

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by Pumba75

Sorry I'm very behind! Been trying to have a mega catch up. Looks and sounds like you had another wonderful day.

Mmmm I now fancy a citrus freeze cocktail. Still never tried tipsy ducks in love.

M x

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I'm not sure I'd bother again with the Tipsy Ducks, but the citrus freeze was lovely. I hope you enjoyed catching up. It's actually quite nice sometimes when there are a lot of days to read and it becomes a bit of a binge.

[i love jack]

Sounds like a great day
I thought about trying the tipsy ducks in love but didn’t fancy it once I read the description but the fiesta margarita was very nice!

[smithlane]

Great day Abby! We’ve never been to BB but there is not a chance in hell you’d get me on that ski lift, one of the many reasons I won’t go skiing 😬
I don’t blame Max for not wanting to try Summit Plummet, it looks horrendous. Maybe one year he’ll surprise you all and do it!
I do love the lazy river though 😉
Lovely evening in Epcot but a shame about the rain. That dinner looked really yummy, might have to add Garden Grill to the list for when we go back to Florida.
I LOVE those cuckoo clocks in Germany! I have always wanted one, do they have Disney characters on?
Can’t believe you’re halfway through but still lots of fun to come!

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by i love jack

Sounds like a great day
I thought about trying the tipsy ducks in love but didn’t fancy it once I read the description but the fiesta margarita was very nice!

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Yes shame the drink wasn't actually that great. You're right the fiesta margarita is a much better choice. It was a far more relaxed day with the water park and then a slow wander around 4 of the World Showcase countries.

Originally Posted by smithlane

Great day Abby! We’ve never been to BB but there is not a chance in hell you’d get me on that ski lift, one of the many reasons I won’t go skiing 😬
I don’t blame Max for not wanting to try Summit Plummet, it looks horrendous. Maybe one year he’ll surprise you all and do it!
I do love the lazy river though 😉
Lovely evening in Epcot but a shame about the rain. That dinner looked really yummy, might have to add Garden Grill to the list for when we go back to Florida.
I LOVE those cuckoo clocks in Germany! I have always wanted one, do they have Disney characters on?
Can’t believe you’re halfway through but still lots of fun to come!

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I don't really know what I was thinking with the chairlift. I knew I wouldn't like it, plus it's a 3 seater so the others could have all riden together and been fine it's not like one of them would have had to ride alone.

The lazy river is the best. TL is the better water park I think, but still it was fun to go back to BB. Poor Max is punishing himself with the idea that he should do summit plummet. I guess he'll do it sometime.

The rain wasn't too bad as it made for a very quiet world showcase, plus we had fun looking at all the souvenirs. I can't remember if there are Disney characters on the clocks, I'll have to check when we go back.

It was a pain that Illuminations kept getting delayed though. We'd had a chance to watch it earlier in the trip but didn't bother and on this night I was really wishing we'd already seen it so we could just make the most of mooching about and not have to keep hoping they would start the show.

I do love garden grill, I hope you make it there sometime.