It's all about the mouse - 10th August 2018 day 10 Epcot breakfast at Akershus

[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

We were supposed to be having a lie in this morning, but unfortunately I forgot to un-set my fitbit alarm, fortunately I did manage to snooze for another hour or so. The phone wake up call had been set for 8am and we all got ready and out the door by 8.50am.

We were on our way to Epcot.

We had a plan to do all things Frozen this morning.

Kate was ready to meet Anna and Elsa in her special Frozen T shirt. Plus she had her one of her special hair bows that Alicia gave me (Smithlane on the Dibb).

We arrived at the park around 9.30am. Dave did the bag check and we gave him instructions to meet as at the Baymax meet and greet. It was a really short line and we were worried about Dave not getting there in time as he had the autograph book, but then Kate remembered that of course Baymax doesn’t sign.

Look at the size of those hands - of course he doesn't sign!

We then made our way around to Anna and Elsa and again there was a really short wait, there was only one family in front of us.

I really like the summerhouse meet and greet. We’ve always had fun with these two in the past. Today was another fun little meet. Elsa asked Kate if she got her T shirt from Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post, Kate said Yes. Elsa then said that everything is always on sale there, even the chocolate and she asked Kate what her favourite type of chocolate was. Kate told her milk and Elsa said that hers was white because it looks like the snow. Elsa also said that Anna thinks this is not really chocolate but that she’s crazy.

Anna asked Kate if she drew her T shirt herself and she said that Olaf did all the ceiling painting in the summerhouse.

It was just a lovely interaction and they were both great at getting a conversation going and making you feel at ease.

After the meet and greet we went round to use our first FP of the day on the Frozen ride. Kate got in the boat first and then me.

I am on the ride, you can just about see the Belle ears.

We got off at about 10.15am and did what everyone must do and look at all the souvenirs. Of course the kids tried on some hats.

We tried to check in early for our breakfast reservation at Akershus, this was supposed to be at 10.45 and so we were too early to check in.

This was our one and only breakfast ADR of the holiday. It was a late breakfast though booked for 10.45am as I prefer to do rides at park opening when it’s quiet and feel like it’s wasted time if we’re sitting in a restaurant.

We wandered back towards Mexico to have a look around there, but that was opening until 11am. So we ended up going back to Norway and faffed around there. We checked in 10 minutes early and ended up probably waiting the full 10 minutes until our allotted time before being called in to get the photo with Belle.

For drinks Max had chocolate milk.

Both Dave and myself went for the Mimosa, this was lovely. Kate had apple juice.

Some fantastic buffet plates again from Max. A piece of orange and a (half eaten) croissant.

Dave’s first plate, lots of little donut holes.

Kate made herself cream cheese and salmon bagels.

My first plate. The croissant wasn’t all that great really, the meats and salmon were both nice and so was the slice of cake.

No princesses yet, but that’s ok as we were pretty hungry so happy to wait.

Then our cooked breakfast platter turned up. The potato and cheese was delicious. As there were only 4 sausages we asked for a plate with more meat.

Max’s second plate – looks a bit more like a whole plate of food.

This is Max’s third plate from the buffet and we’re back to the minimalist look. Still no princesses had appeared.

Cinderella was the first to our table.

Kate’s second plate, more salmon and cream cheese bagels.

Then the server appeared with two more plates of hot food and an apology that it had taken so long for this to be brought out to us. It had been 13 minutes since the first hot plate had been delivered and we had asked for more sausage, so it certainly hadn’t been a long time. All we had actually asked for was some more sausages and we all felt a bit intimidated really about the idea of eating all this food.

Obviously we didn’t manage it.

Aurora was up next.

Ariel quickly followed.

Then Snow White with the squeakiest voice ever. She was very chatty and Max could barely control himself, he found it hilarious, she was a great Snow.

Kate decided she was hungry again, she came back with 2 slices of meat.

Max then found a second wind.

They had started to clear the breakfast buffet at this point to get it ready for lunch, but Kate wanted a breakfast pudding so went up for her final plate.

4 TS credits used. It was a lovely breakfast and kept us going all day long.

We slowly waddled back towards Mexico and went on the Three Caballeros ride.

Then the kids played around with the Coco picture screen in the entrance.

The clouds were coming over fast and we decided to try and get out of the World Showcase before the heavens opened up but unfortunately we only made to the bridge and we were huddled under a tree trying to not get too wet.

It didn’t take too long for the rain to pass and we went over to the Nemo ride. I sat with Max.

Dave with Kate.

After that we looked around the aquarium. I asked the kids if they wanted to do Turtle Talk with Crush but they didn’t fancy it. I don’t understand this as they love the Laughter Floor in MK and this is basically the same set up isn’t it?

Then we went over to Mission Space as Dave and me had been keen to try out the green Earth mission as this is a new mission for us. There was lots of fumbling around trying to decide who was going to get what job. Kate was the commander, Dave was the navigator, I was the engineer and Max was the pilot.

The kids decided they prefer the orange more intense mission, but I liked this slightly gentler version.

We then popped into Mouse Gear to have a look around. I ended up buying a key ring which I am still using today.

The cast member behind the counter complimented my Minnie ears and said the roses were beautiful. She asked where I’d got them from so I explained they were homemade, but not by me and I told her a friend made them for me...Kate was a bit cross with me as this is not exactly the truth but at the time this seemed a simpler explanation than, well there is this internet forum called the Dibb that I’m a member of where people talk about Disney holiday planning and stuff and the other people on there are all really kind and this one lady said that she’d made herself some Minnie ears and had also made another pair and that she would give them away to someone if anyone wanted them and she gave them to me… like I said 'a friend made them for me' was a lot simpler!

We decided to head back to the resort and as we were walking past all the little plaques at the front of the park Kate managed to spot Steffi from Krispysmore on you tube (not the actual real live Steffi, but her little plaque). It was quite by chance as we were not looking through them all and were just wandering out when Kate pointed to the side and said there’s Steffi and sure enough it was.

While we were waiting for the bus we decided to try and book up a 4th FP for later and one popped up for Soarin so we grabbed that and we were hopeful it would be a better experience than our awful C3 last time.

On the way back to the room I took a few photos of the resort, it really was beautiful, but for some reason it hadn't wowed us like CBR had.

Our room was the bottom ride corner room.

Mousekeeping had already been which was a bonus as we wanted to laze around for a bit. They had left Daisy riding on Figment.

We lazed around the room for an hour or so and then I went to the main pool with the kids in the afternoon while Dave had a nap. It was quite drizzly and the pool was closed when we first arrived, so we filled up our resort mugs and went to reception to get them to put the $200 onto our room as credit (or to pay off some of what we had charged to the room!). By the time we’d done this they were opening the pool up. It was still a bit drizzly but the kids didn’t mind as this meant the pool was really quiet.

The kids played quite a few pool games, hoop toss where the kids stood in the pool as targets and the lifeguards had to throw the hoops onto their arms.

Then there was a name that song game. They both got a little rubber duck for joining in.

I huddled under an umbrella while the kids had fun. I had my own fun with a Turtle Crawl cocktail.

Dave must have known I’d order a drink as just as I was finishing he appeared and so we both had a Rum Swizzle cocktail.

We left the pool around 5pm and showered as we were back in Epcot for the evening. We went straight to Soarin to use our FP and were hoping to get B1, we ended up with A1.

Row 1 is better than either 2 or 3 so this was good it was still a bendy Eiffel Tower though.

We wanted to have a look around the World Showcase but the other way, turning right and not left! We started in Canada. It ended up not being much fun though and turned into a race through the country’s as the kids were hungry (in fairness we hadn’t eaten since the breakfast at Akershus).

I wanted to go to the Japanese QS for dinner Max was holding out for a burger or nuggets from the USA QS.

We had a side of Edamame, which were really good.

Dave had chicken teriyaki and rice with a green tea colada.

Kate had sushi with a coke. I had sushi with a strawberry banana cocktail.

We loved the sushi and it was a lovely light dinner. 3 QS credits and 1 snack used.

Max had nuggets and fries from USA.

I had the inspired idea of ordering a Buffalo Trace Bourbon frozen coke cocktail as the drink with the meal (for me and Dave to share!) and then ordered a coke (for Max) as a snack credit.

So Max's dinner was 1 QS and 1 snack, I wish I had been this inspired earlier in the trip as we had failed to use the snacks and had been buying cocktails.

We watched the Guardian’s of the Galaxy show for a while.

Max pointed out Starlord and the green lady, the songs were fun and we ended up staying until the end of the show.

We wandered around to Italy and took a few photos as we do every year.

There was photopass out here too.

Then we went and had a look in the shops in Italy.

Then onwards to Germany as there was only one place I wanted to go for pudding.

Karamel Kuche!

Kate had a large bag of caramel popcorn, which lasted for a couple of days.

Max had a chocolate cookie with caramel on.

I had a caramel smore which was ok, but I was expecting the caramel to be soft and it was quite hard and pretty chewy. I don’t think I’d have this again.

Dave a salted caramel cake.

He really liked this, so that's what I'll get next time!

4 snack credits used. Again we would have loved to have come back and yet we didn’t find the time.

After that Illuminations was just starting, but we went back to the resort as we wanted an early night because tomorrow is the day of the 4 park challenge and we had an early wake up call.

When we got back to the room we had another voicemail message. I loved getting these welcome home messages. This one was telling us about a 1 hour guided experience at the Hospitality House to learn about the first DVC resort.

We were all in bed by 10pm and I don’t think it took long for us all to fall asleep.

Statistics for the day:
Credits Used – 6 snack, 4 QS and 4 TS. Tomorrow will be a good day for snacks and QS as it’s our 4 parks 1 day challenge and there is no TS ADR booked up.

Credits Remaining – 61 snack 22 QS and 20 TS. We check out of OKW on Tuesday so there is only 4 more days to use these credits up!

Parks: 1
Rides: 5
FP: 4
Characters: 8
Steps: 22,332

Tomorrow the long awaited 4 parks 1 day challenge. I was very excited about this day. The plan was to use all modes of transport and in each park we wanted to meet a character, use a fast pass, ride a headliner, get a photopass and eat something. Phew, just thinking about it is tiring.

[Dutchdisneyfan]

What a lovely day!

[MrsSilverStar]

Ah, so nice to see Aurora’s crazy neck again that must be a trick of the light! I enjoyed seeing all the princess autographs, very cute how different they are.

I drooled a little bit when you got to Karamel Kuche, can’t wait to try some lovely snacks there.

Sounds like this was a lovely, chilled day before the big challenge. Looking forward to reading all about it.

[Hel22]

Abby Thank you for your trip report, I eagerly anticipate you posting each new instalment 😀
Our next trip is at beginning of April and your reports are really adding to our excitement. I've picked up loads of tips! Can't wait for the four park challenge report.

[Palm trees]

What a fab day, looking forward to reading more of your report, the four park challenge should be fun!

[caitlinsmummy]

at Max's face on Frozen Ever After, he's definitely keeping up his no smile!

You've got to try the hats on.

I'd say Turtle Talk with Crush is similar to the Laugh Floor too, however, I do think it is aimed more towards the little ones than Laugh Floor.

The snacks from Karamel Kuche look lovely, I could so eat one of those right now.

Another fab day and good that the rain didn't affect it too much xx

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by Dutchdisneyfan

What a lovely day!

See more...

It was really laid back for us, I was trying to have an easy going day before the 4 parks challenge.

Originally Posted by MrsSilverStar

Ah, so nice to see Aurora’s crazy neck again that must be a trick of the light! I enjoyed seeing all the princess autographs, very cute how different they are.

I drooled a little bit when you got to Karamel Kuche, can’t wait to try some lovely snacks there.

Sounds like this was a lovely, chilled day before the big challenge. Looking forward to reading all about it.

See more...

Each time I see that photo I snigger, I'm such a child! But boy does she have a giraffe neck.

We have to make time to go back to Karamel Kuche, there was so much to choose from. Hopefully I'll make a better choice next time.

I wish we'd watched illuminations one more time, especially now it's going, but I wanted the early night and to be out of the park before everyone else so we didn't stay.

Originally Posted by Hel22

Abby Thank you for your trip report, I eagerly anticipate you posting each new instalment 😀
Our next trip is at beginning of April and your reports are really adding to our excitement. I've picked up loads of tips! Can't wait for the four park challenge report.

See more...

That's lovely, I'm glad you are enjoying it. Your countdown is ticking away then, less than a 100 days is always a good feeling. I should be finished with the report by the time you go, at least I'm aiming to have finished by then. I love reading other people's trip reports, as I'm really nosy and I agree with you it's a fab way to get ideas and tips.

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by Palm trees

What a fab day, looking forward to reading more of your report, the four park challenge should be fun!

See more...

It was a great day, tiring but worth doing. It will be a long read.

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

at Max's face on Frozen Ever After, he's definitely keeping up his no smile!

You've got to try the hats on.

I'd say Turtle Talk with Crush is similar to the Laugh Floor too, however, I do think it is aimed more towards the little ones than Laugh Floor.

The snacks from Karamel Kuche look lovely, I could so eat one of those right now.

Another fab day and good that the rain didn't affect it too much xx

See more...

His face is perfect on Frozen, you can tell he really loves that movie! This is the boy who once sang Do you want to build a snowman on the bus on the way home from HS, as it was late at night it was a packed bus and it was fairly quiet, when he finished he got a round of applause!

The rain was fine, it meant the kids had the run of the pool. It was sort of a fine drizzle, which we've never really had in Florida before. I managed 2 cocktails so I was happy enough.

[caitlinsmummy]

Oh that is so cute! I hope you filmed it. Sounds like such a lovely memory to have.

Obviously we've only been twice but the rains always been all or nothing 😂 and cocktails are always a plus. I'm hoping to manage more next time when we aren't as busy and rushing about 😂 xx

[GezzasGem]

Oo yes agree with you on the look of that salted caramel cake! Must check out the Coco additions in Mexico - one of my favourite movies now I must say! 😊