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Old 27 Mar 19, 07:41 PM  
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miss_mouse
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Mountains, Zombies & Disney Roadtrip - Day 11 - Epcot & Beaches & Cream & We Change Rooms

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US ROADTRIP – TENNESEE – ALABAMA – GEORGIA & FLORIDA
Day 11 – 16th July Thursday – Epcot & Beaches & Cream & We finally change rooms at The Grove Resort







Just to start, I'm Lisa - the planner and reporter. Ade is my hubby and he's our driver and there's Hollie who turns 19 on this trip and Louis is 16.


Up and ready early today as we wanted to get to Epcot for opening and get on Frozen for the first time.

I really wanted to ride it last year but the kids weren’t fussed, so this year I was making it a priority.



8.20am and all ready to go.

Wearing my new ears that I’d bought in Magic Kingdom the other night and the first pair or real Disney ears that I’ve owned that are actually comfy!



A few minutes behind schedule and we were pulling up here at 8.45am.
For some crazy reason others had the same idea as us to arrive for opening!



Lovely blue skies this morning. So welcomed.

After having visited always before in the Spring or October, we really missed the blue skies in the Summer.

It was busy going in and we couldn’t find the Pass Holder entrance.
We wandered through to Norway to get straight on Frozen.
As soon as we were in the park it felt lovely and quiet.
It’s such a big park so everyone can spread out.



We walked in and reminisced staying at Beach Club in 2017 and just popping in to Epcot.
We all agreed that having stayed so close had really made us bond with this park and gain a new love for it.
Hollie said this was the most ‘Disney’ that she’s felt during this trip so far.
We also said that queues seemed less than when we’d visited the last 2 weeks of August the year before.



9.21am and we were heading in to Frozen.
It said a 10 min standby wait, but we walked straight on.

Considering the kids weren’t bothered, we all came off smiling.
Everyone loved this ride and we actually got wetter than on Splash Mountain which we didn’t expect.
Loved it and it’s become a family favourite.
If you watch our YouTube video of this day, you can see the family review. (channel is Lollipop Box Club)
Hollie managed to get a pressed penny when we got off.

As World Showcase doesn’t open until 11am, it’s all closed off except for Norway and France for breakfast, so we came off of Frozen and had to make a right turn to walk towards the entrance of the park and get to France via Canada and the UK.
We’d planned to have breakfast in the French Quick Serve.
This is one of our favourite things to do in Epcot.



Stopping off in Canada for a pic.



And then stopping off just before the Rose & Crown in the UK at this Joffrey’s Coffee Stand.
Another favourite of our’s.



The donuts are huge and really squidgy.
They are on par with the Simpsons donuts in Universal.



Louis opted for a donut over something from France.



And Ade and I went for a latte.
Joffrey’s does the best lattes in Orlando!



And opposite the coffee stand you can sit on the bench under the shade of the trees facing World Showcase.
Does life really get any better than this?

We wandered over the little bridge into France and there was a photopass photographer.





The photographer thought they were a couple!



One of the reasons we love coming here for breakfast is because of how quiet this area is first thing.



There’s a good selection of breakfast treats here.
We love the fresh baguettes.
Proper bread, butter, cheese and ham….feels like home.

Hollie had a mini lemon meringue.





We always feel so happy sat here.





Soarin’ was our first fast pass, so we took a slow stroll back.

We have this ongoing family joke here.



Last year, Hollie spotted Martin Short on this board in Canada. (we know him from Santa Claus 3).

She got excited and said that she’d recognised him by his face.
This just cracked us all up so much.
How else would you recognise someone from a photo?
So ever since we always joke and pretend to get really excited that it’s Martin Short. And someone always has to ask ‘‘But how did you recognise him?’’ and the answer is always ‘‘By his face!’’.
Hollie gets annoyed by us all the time but we find it so funny!

Louis did ask this time though if he actually works there.
Really Louis? 365 days a year?



We then encountered another funny moment that stayed with us for the trip.

We used the loos in Canada.
Whilst waiting for Ade a big white bird was nearby pecking for food.
A small fat kid around 5 years old ran after it and scared it off. The Mum then came at the kid shouting, dragged him off and hit him.

You just don’t see stuff like that anymore (took me right back to being a kid! ).

It just looked so funny and just made us laugh (whilst feeling sorry for the bird).

That scene was also rein acted a few times over the next couple of weeks (keep that in mind…there’s another story to come ).





Thank you for your blue skies today!




Soarin’ was fun.
Then we headed downstairs to the Living with the Land boat ride.



I felt a bit bummed as I’d hoped for the back seat of the boat as I was doing my video for my YouTube channel you get a much better view at the back.
But an old lady travelling alone got the whole back seat to herself.
I was even more bummed when…..



……she then slept throughout the whole ride.
What a waste of a good seat!

We did laugh though!



We came out of The Land and I managed to change our Nemo fast pass for a little sooner and it still gave us time to look around the aquarium first.



I love this photo!



We love the manatees.



Anyone else make their kids pose for a photo every trip?!

There was a big wall telling you how to avoid getting bitten by a shark.



Hollie was in serious trouble!



Nemo next.
Love this!
Could never imagine coming to Orlando and not riding this one.

We came off and it really felt like there was a storm coming.
It was getting overcast and the wind was picking up.

We had an ADR for Beaches & Cream at 1.50pm so we were hoping it would stay dry for a little longer.

We decided to get the car and drive to the Beach Club so we could make a quick exit after we’d eaten.

We walked through Mouse Gear on the way out.
We were told that we could all collect complementary pass holder magnets here which we did.
Plus Louis bought a Tshirt.

It started thundering on the walk to the car and was now very grey.
Farewell blue skies!






We parked up at The Beach Club with 25 minutes to spare.
So we had a lovely leisurely stroll taking in our favourite Disney resort.
Although it stank of cigars out the front entrance!

The pool area was all closed outside Beaches and Cream due to the storm coming so it was very quiet.





We got seated quite quickly and were really pleased to get given a booth for the first time.





Hollie had a Mud Fudge Slide.



I always go for my favourite, chili cheese fries.


Cont...
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Edited at 07:52 PM.
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Old 27 Mar 19, 07:41 PM  
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Cont...


[

Ade loves the Club Sandwiches here with watermelon on the side. (you can have fries if you prefer).

And Louis had a cheeseburger and fries.



Not bad!
Service is always so cheerful and genuine here. We love it!
We are so sad that it’s closed for a big refurb this year and won’t be open during our trip.

We left and went for a look around the Beach Club store.
Louis bought a Mickey Mouse mug and almost Disney monopoly.

We now drove back to The Grove Resort and really hoped that our new condo would be ready.
If you read from the start of this trippie, we’d been booked in to the wrong condo when we arrived. We’d booked a superior with lake and Disney firework view. 4 days later we were finally able to move.
We got back around 3pm and the new condo wasn’t ready which was really disappointing.
We’d packed everything up so we just had to wait now.
Over 2 hours later and a storm we finally got the call.
Bell services came to our room and helped us with all our luggage as we were in a completely different section of the resort and up 2 levels.

This area of the resort was so much better.
Despite being older it actually felt like a hotel.
The corridor’s had signage telling you where to go, they were cleaner and the walls had artwork on.
As did the condo.
There were no big empty walls. We had artwork, mirrors, fittings to hang towels, light fittings that worked and it was a much better and a cleaner finish overall.
We could really see how the previous tower had been rushed to get people in but wasn’t really quite ready for guests.
And this was the view that we’d paid extra for.



There is a full tour of the condo on my YouTube channel.


It was laughable now how we were told on arrival by that awful receptionist how none of the rooms had a fireworks view.
We could clearly see (although this is zoomed in for the photo)



Everest, Tower of Terror, the work going on over by Coronado Springs.



Epcot – Spaceship Earth & the Swan & Dolphin.

And we could even just make out the castle at night.

We were so much happier!
Still not happy though at how we were treated and lied to when we arrived.
We now unpacked again and properly moved in.



Something that I did on this trip, I left the sun & bug spray along with a bowl for magic bands and sunglasses near the door so we could grab and go each time. This worked really well.


One thing it does lack is somewhere to leave your shoes when you walk in. So I solved that problem….



…by placing the shoes on the arty framework next to the door and named it ‘Sh’art’.
Genius!

Once unpacked we drove to Target for a quick shop and nose.
Always love a Target shop.
When we got back Ade and I went down to the lobby food area and ordered pizza to have it delivered to our room to coincide with the fireworks.
We also asked to speak to the manager, Stephen, who we’d been dealing with to say ‘Thank you’.



$12 for a large pizza, no extra delivery charge and it was so good.



And we watched all the Disney fireworks from the balcony.
Perfect end to the day.
We were so much happier here.
And this condo was so much quicker and easier to get down to the lobby, the store/food area and the pools.

Thanks so much for reading.
Typhoon Lagoon tomorrow with the rest of Florida and maybe Georgia and Tennessee too!
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Edited at 07:48 PM.
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Old 27 Mar 19, 09:35 PM  
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Great view from your room 👍
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Old 28 Mar 19, 09:27 AM  
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Originally Posted by Cinderella View Post
Great view from your room 👍
Thank you.
Yes, we were so so happy
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Old 23 Apr 19, 11:15 AM  
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How do you find July? We’ve done April/May and last year end of August with the kids which we actually preferred as it seems quieter. How my son starts secondary this year and his school break up earlier in July which we could use advantage of price wise for flights.
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Old 28 Apr 19, 07:41 AM  
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A lovely chilled morning, I love those kind of mornings.
Glad you got the room sorted - that’s definitely a firework view!
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Old 2 May 19, 08:11 PM  
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A great day, absolutely love Epcot and the weather looked lovely in the morning.
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Old 27 Jun 19, 09:55 PM  
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Lovely day at Epcot, and your food at Beaches & Cream looks so good, especially the chocolate sundae.

Glad you finally got moved, fab view from your new condo.
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Old 28 Jun 19, 10:39 PM  
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Lovely report! I’m very excited about staying so near to Epcot next year now - it was my favourite park 30 years ago, and it looks like I’ll still love it in 2020!

Hope Beaches and Cream is just as amazing when it re-opens too. Really keen to eat here while we’re staying in Beach Club.
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