The Bare Necessities - Day 9 Thursday 8th August 2019 Blizzard Beach and Epcot

[Goldia]

Day 9 Blizzard Beach and Epcot Thursday 8th August 2019

Welcome to The Bare Necessities Trip Report. I’m Abby and I went to Orlando at the end of July 2019 with my husband David, our children Max (14) and Kate (12). We’ve been to Orlando before But this trip was different as we had my parents Jac and Tom with us, they will be referred to as Mum and Dad or Grandma and Grandad throughout the report. I was so excited to take them with us as this was their first time to WDW.

Day 9

In the plans for today was Blizzard Beach and then the afternoon and evening would be at Epcot. We had our FP booked from 4pm with a plan of getting to the park sometime around 4.30pm.

I was really looking forward to this as we had only had the morning at Epcot on day 2 where we met up with Walt4it and his family, which was 7 days ago now and then the hour when we toured World Showcase after eating the Kitchen Sink.

This was our first evening at Epcot and given that Illuminations was going away in September I wanted to make the most of seeing it. We had a dinner booked up at Biergarten, another first for us and just our 2nd buffet of the trip (also our last buffet so the last chance to see some of Max’s special plates).

Another lie in today as the alarm was set for 8am. In the end we were all awake before the alarm and so it wasn’t a chore to get up. We were out the door just before 9am and grabbed a few towels from the pool before heading to the bus stop. It was a pain as the screens were not showing any wait times for BB and I wondered if it would be a long wait, perhaps we had just missed a bus.

But in the end we only waited a short time as a bus appeared after just a few minutes at 9.11am.

We arrived at BB well before the official opening time of 10am.

We were in through the magic band scanners and to the roped off pathways by 9.30 so we had some breakfast.

Mum had a box of grapes and a yoghurt. Kate, Max and me had a pretzel with cheese. These were not the best pretzels I’ve ever eaten and I ended up ditching half of mine, plus I wasn’t that hungry. Dave had a muffin. For drinks Dad had an orange juice, the kids both had cokes and Dave and me went for coffees, the coffees weren’t that great either. Still, that’s how you blow 11 snack credits in one go!

We found somewhere to put our bags, there were lots of sunbeds available. It’s not a park I know as well as the others as we usually end up going to TL a couple of times each year as we prefer that to BB so I think we’ve only ever been once each trip.

Max said he wanted to try out Summit Plummet so him and Dave went up to do that while we waited at the bottom. Except in the end they changed their minds and went down Slush Gusher instead. He's still never made it down Summit Plummet, maybe next year?

We then went over to the family raft ride, Teamboat Springs, all 6 of us were able to go in the one raft which was fun.

We had our photo taken at the bottom of the raft ride and got a cool Sebastian magic shot, but I don't like sharing photos of myself in my swimsuit .

We then went around to the red slopes and did the slide with the rubber ring. We went round 3 times as there are two enclosed slides and an open one. So far all the rides had been walk-ons with no wait at all.

Next up was Downhill double dipper. This is where you sit side by side and race each other. We had to wait a little for this, but only around 10 minutes There is a timer at the end of the ride and we were all hoping to be the fastest. It turned out to be both Dad and Dave tied with 6.11 seconds. Dad went shooting right to the end of the pool and crashed into the mats at the end. I don’t think he enjoyed that so much, but we all found it pretty funny. I had a time of 6.37. Mum was the slowest at 7.48 seconds.

We decided it was now time to change the pace and we went on the lazy river all the way around the park.

The kids had fun in the wave pool while the grown ups chilled out for a bit.

When the kids came back I went over to the ski patrol area with them, which is the kids play area.

The both lined up.

But, as Max is over the age of 12 he was turned aside, he was gutted to not be able to go on this.

Kate went on and made it all the way to the other side.

Max then joined her on the little slide and they had a race.

By now we were feeling hungry. Most of the lunch came from Lottawatta Lodge, but Kate likes the fully loaded nachos and I like the Margarita’s they do over there so I sent Dave and Kate off for 2 portions of Nachos with 2 margarita’s while I sorted out the rest of the order for everyone else.

They seemed to be taking ages, but then our queue was also moving slowly. So, I sent Max over to check how they were getting on. It turns out Kate had abandoned Dave as she had wanted to have a go at some of the quiz games with the cast members. She answered a question correctly and so won a rubber duck. She was pretty proud of herself. There were clues like ‘I’m short for my size and I help a grown man face his fears on the seven seas and I occasionally shave his beard’ Of course she knew this was Smee from Peter Pan. Then Max got in on the rubber duck action (they are not competitive at all!) his question was ‘He’s a bit of a hot-head’ Max did not get this clue, but Kate did and whispered the answer to him…Hades. The cast members were pretty impressed with this and he also got a round of high 5s.

Back to the food.

Dave and me shared one of the margaritas and Mum and Dad shared one, this wasn't quite my plan. They were good though, they were the frozen marg's and they had started to melt by the time I finished getting the other meals. This was not a bad thing though as I would prefer the drink straight than as a frozen slushy.

Mum had a vegan pizza with a sangria.

Dad had a burger and fries also with sangria. Neither of them particularly rated the sangria, it didn't look too great...

I can also confirm this is not good at all and should be avoided at all costs, in fact even if there was no other alternative I would take water instead of drinking this.

Max had chicken tenders and a frozen Bacardi and coke as the drink (for me, not him). Dave had the white flatbread which he liked and a frozen Jack and coke.

We liked these frozen cocktails, but to be perfectly honest we struggled to tell which was the Bacardi and which was the Jack Daniels! 6 QS credits used for lunch.

We also got a few cups of water and the kids both had shakes as snack credits, one peppermint and one ski salt (which was a salted caramel). They loved their shakes.

And here are the yummy nachos that Kate and me had.

After lunch we went back to the sun beds and it was a bit drizzly, no surprise that there was some rain! The kids went back to the wave pool while we sheltered under the umbrella. In the end we left at around 2pm. The bus was pretty quick turning up after 10 minutes and it dropped off at FQ first before heading to Riverside.

We were back in the room by 2.45pm. Dave thought housekeeping had forgotten to top up the shower gel in the bathroom so I phoned up and asked for a refill, but then it turns out they had done it, it just needed a couple of pumps for the gel to come out. So, I made him phone back to say he’d made a mistake and cancel the request. We made it a quick shower and change and agreed to meet at the bus stop at 4pm.

There was a bus in 7 minutes and when we arrived we jumped straight on Spaceship Earth as our FP was open.

Max and Grandad.

Once again I was with Dave and once again his face didn’t register in the photo this time I had a lovely male friend on my underwater adventure.

Kate and Grandma.

The kids popped into Club Cool for some refreshments while Mum went into Starbucks for some iced water. But she couldn’t find it, so Max took her back in and helped her locate the water!

We stopped off to see Baymax as his line was really short.

Then we hopped over to Joy and Sadness, this seemed like a great idea as there were only about 6 groups in front of us, but oh my word this queue lasted ages.

I think they must have gone for a break as there was about 20 minutes when nothing happened and a few people left the line. We considered leaving, but as we’d committed ourselves we stayed put, I wish we’d gone to be honest as while the meet and greet was fun it wasn’t worth the 45 minute wait.

I think this was our longest wait of the trip and I was thanking my lucky stars that we hadn’t had any long waits as we were not enjoying hanging around here.

We then went over to Mission: Space just before our FP ran out and also just before the rain started as the clouds were looking ominous.

We decided to try out the orange mission as Mum and Dad had enjoyed the green mission and felt like they could cope.

The kids went with mum and dad and organised them into the roles.

Dave and me were by ourselves so we both had to do two parts. This was fun as I never get to be the pilot or commander as Max and Kate pick these.

We know went over to World Showcase as we had the Frozen FP before our dinner. Kate had decided she wanted to make it look like she had no head in the ride photo…I’m not sure why but in the end it didn’t really work and she was disappointed with the photo. It just looked like she was dosing off and falling asleep.

We had to hotfoot around to Germany to check in for dinner, we were about 15 minutes late, but this was fine the cast members were lovely and didn't tell me off. I decided I wasn’t going to tell the others that this was a shared table dining experience.

Dave and Dad were the unlucky ones who got the end of our table. There was an American couple seated at the end of our table about 5 minutes after we sat down. They were friendly and said that Biergarten was their favourite WDW restaurant. They were really pleased to be sat with us as they’ve never been sat with anyone from the UK before. They said they come about once a month to Epcot as they live around 70 miles away.

I’m afraid I didn’t enjoy this meal as much as I hoped and I doubt that we will go back. Our server wasn’t brilliant and almost non existent clearing dirty plates which I’ve not had a problem with in other buffet restaurants, plus I’m just not sure the communal dining is for us really.

The entertainment was great though, the band were fantastic and Max even joined in with dancing! We really enjoyed this part of it.

The kids had cokes, they like their glasses.

Mum had wine, it wasn’t good.

I had a pink grapefruit beer which was really good.

You can only get the half liter glasses, the full litre is not available on the dining plan which was a bit annoying. Dad had a wheat beer and Dave a Becks.

This was our last buffet meal of the trip, so make the most of some of these wonderful examples of how NOT to load up your plate.

The kids tried to out do each other here with the plates. Max's first was him trying to recreate the cheese plate from Tuskers last year, he hadn't realised he had 2 pieces of butter and 1 piece of cheese

Kate was more sensible.

I had some lovely salads and brought some rolls back for the table.

For his second plate Max decided to make himself a hot dog.

Then they both went a bit silly. Kate's are the two plates with gherkin ones, Max the two with cheese cubes!

They did like the schnitzel though and went back a few times for that.

I only had the one starter plate and one main course plate.

The fish was really nice as was the asparagus, the others said the carved meat was good but I just didn't fancy it.

Here are Dave's main course plates.

Max's last savoury plate.

Now for kids desserts. Kate went for a cookie.

I said she should have got a plate, she said it's just one cookie, but I said it doesn't matter she still should have got a plate.

Max clearly wasn't done with the cheese and popped a chunk on top of his cookie and brownie.

I tried the apple strudel this was really good.

Dad explained what custard is to the Americans on our table and how we would usually have strudel with custard.

I then decided that I really needed to try out the Black Forrest as Colette would be really cross if I didn't try it. It was worth it.

Dave also had strudel. More dessert plates.

One last piece of cheese.

Sorry for the very dark photos, I had the flash turned off as it seemed more polite and less intrusive for the other people at our table, but it was very dark in the restaurant. Plus it seems like lots of the photos are blurry.

The entertainment started up again and the man with the bells played some songs from The Sound of Music which we liked.

I'm glad we tried out Biergarten, but it's not one that I feel in a rush to repeat. Although that's probably a good thing as there are so many that I'd love to go back to and many that we've never been to yet.

We were in the restaurant over an hour and a half as we came out just after 8.30pm. We had a quick look at the model village and the trains going round.

Onwards to Italy.

Then we settled to watch Illuminations. This is a spot that I like as it’s normally quiet and the views are pretty good.

This was true today, but unfortunately the speaker near us kept cutting out and while we could still hear the music from other speakers it was very distracting to have it go off and then on again and off and on… I did not enjoy this experience and I was a bit unhappy as I like illuminations and wanted to have a good time watching it.

I had already planned for our last WDW evening to be at Epcot so we could watch it again and I was now deciding where we would watch it from and it wasn’t going to be Germany.

On the way out the kids wanted to have a look around Mousegeer. They love this shop, they were largely window shopping, but it was still fun.

We slowly made our way to the bus stop and the wait wasn’t too long again, we seemed to have turned a corner with the buses.

Lots of fun today again at the water park and lots of chill time too for us. Then a lovely evening at Epcot. A shame about the long wait for Joy and Sadness as that was tiresome and not really worth it for the 30 seconds they were with us. While I didn’t love the buffet at Biergarten it was good to try out the different options and have something a little out of the ordinary (not steak!). The others all enjoyed the food, it was just me and I liked it I just didn’t love it. Then I was a bit cross really that Illuminations had been spoiled by the sound cutting out, but we had another chance to watch it.

Statistics
Steps 15,968
Attractions 3 not counting the water park slides

Coming Soon
Next up tomorrow we had a lazy start to the day with time chilling out at the pool before taking the boat to Disney Springs for shopping, lunch, cocktails and Ghiradelli. In the evening we head into HS to catch the Star Wars fireworks.

[MrsSilverStar]

Having now been myself, I’m even more impressed at how chilled your days seem, even when you’re packing lots in. We’ve been back over a week and I’m still exhausted 😄 (I will start a report soon, honest!)

Fab day at the water park. Shame the evening didn’t go quite as well as you’d have liked but still sounds fun and good job you had another chance to see Illuminations.

I always enjoy Max’s buffet plates, even if he is doing it for our entertainment now! I also like cheese so I can understand the many, many cubes!

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by MrsSilverStar

Having now been myself, I’m even more impressed at how chilled your days seem, even when you’re packing lots in. We’ve been back over a week and I’m still exhausted 😄 (I will start a report soon, honest!)

Fab day at the water park. Shame the evening didn’t go quite as well as you’d have liked but still sounds fun and good job you had another chance to see Illuminations.

I always enjoy Max’s buffet plates, even if he is doing it for our entertainment now! I also like cheese so I can understand the many, many cubes!

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I bet you're still tired, it's exhausting going to wdw. I'm so pleased you are planning on doing a trip report. I'm keen to find out how Heath got on with the rides and to see what you loved and what you didn't. I hope Epcot wasn't ruined by all the construction. It's a beautiful park and we like wandering the world showcase at night, especially when it's as empty as it was on this day. It was perfect after dinner to wander through Italy and take our photos.

I was really sad at the time about illuminations as the music is just so much a part of the show. Still we did get to see it one last time. I hope the interim show was fun, it looks good on the you tube videos I've seen.

[MrsSilverStar]

Originally Posted by Goldia

I bet you're still tired, it's exhausting going to wdw. I'm so pleased you are planning on doing a trip report. I'm keen to find out how Heath got on with the rides and to see what you loved and what you didn't. I hope Epcot wasn't ruined by all the construction. It's a beautiful park and we like wandering the world showcase at night, especially when it's as empty as it was on this day. It was perfect after dinner to wander through Italy and take our photos.

I was really sad at the time about illuminations as the music is just so much a part of the show. Still we did get to see it one last time. I hope the interim show was fun, it looks good on the you tube videos I've seen.

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But have you tried wandering around it while Food and Wine is on? *shudder* It was still lovely but I suspect you had a much more enjoyable time with it being nice and empty!
I’ve taken lots of notes and I really enjoyed doing my DLP one...will hopefully get started next week.

[caitlinsmummy]

Oh no, such a shame they didn't make it down. I remember I went on it when I was 15, it was fab but not something I wanted to repeat as I ended up with bikini bottoms in places I know they could go

We have a Wet N Wild near us and I compared it to the 'Kamakaze' ride, just on a bigger scale

You have nothing to worry about in a swimsuit Abby, but I completely understand where your coming from so I can't say anything, big hugs.

Well done Kate and Max, I'm no good with riddles at all

at Kates attempt of looking beheaded haha. Kid's do the strangest things don't they!

Such a shame about Biergarten, but at least you tried. Absolutely loving Max and Kate's plates, so glad Max didn't disappoint

Another lovely day xx

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by MrsSilverStar

But have you tried wandering around it while Food and Wine is on? *shudder* It was still lovely but I suspect you had a much more enjoyable time with it being nice and empty!
I’ve taken lots of notes and I really enjoyed doing my DLP one...will hopefully get started next week.

See more...

Oh no I hadn't thought of that I bet it was rammed.

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

Oh no, such a shame they didn't make it down. I remember I went on it when I was 15, it was fab but not something I wanted to repeat as I ended up with bikini bottoms in places I know they could go

We have a Wet N Wild near us and I compared it to the 'Kamakaze' ride, just on a bigger scale

You have nothing to worry about in a swimsuit Abby, but I completely understand where your coming from so I can't say anything, big hugs.

Well done Kate and Max, I'm no good with riddles at all

at Kates attempt of looking beheaded haha. Kid's do the strangest things don't they!

Such a shame about Biergarten, but at least you tried. Absolutely loving Max and Kate's plates, so glad Max didn't disappoint

Another lovely day xx

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I've never plucked up the courage to do summit plummet it looks horrid to me. I bet it would the biggest wedgie in the world. Ouch.

I'm not sure what Kate was thinking with the headless idea, it was funny!

I'm glad we went to Biergarten, you can get stuck in going to your favourites and it is good to try out new places. The food wasn't bad, it just didn't wow me I suppose. Perhaps if it wasn't communal dining then we'd give it another try. I guess I'm just not that sociable!

[smithlane]

Overall a great day Abby.
We’ve never been to BB but it’s sounds a fun water park. I love the group raft rides oh and the lazy river. I could spend all day on that!
Loving the look of those frozen cocktails too, just what you need on a hot day.
The Baymax meet and greet photo is great, he is so big and cuddly!
Ah the return of the buffet plates, brilliant! Max must burn loads of calories constantly going up and down to the food 😂
A shame you didn’t love Biergarten but at least you’ve given it a go, there are so many more WDW restaurants to try. Although you must have made a fair dent in them now 😂

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by smithlane

Overall a great day Abby.
We’ve never been to BB but it’s sounds a fun water park. I love the group raft rides oh and the lazy river. I could spend all day on that!
Loving the look of those frozen cocktails too, just what you need on a hot day.
The Baymax meet and greet photo is great, he is so big and cuddly!
Ah the return of the buffet plates, brilliant! Max must burn loads of calories constantly going up and down to the food 😂
A shame you didn’t love Biergarten but at least you’ve given it a go, there are so many more WDW restaurants to try. Although you must have made a fair dent in them now 😂

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I hadn't realised you'd not been to BB before. It's fun, but typhoon is better. The group raft rides are my favourite too, so much fun.

Yes the frozen cocktails were delicious. Definitely ones to have again.

You would think we'd eaten at most of the restaurants but I doubt we've eaten at even a quarter of them. I'll have to count it up. The problem is we keep going back to favourites so that doesn't help the total score at all!

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Oh no I hadn't thought of that I bet it was rammed.



I've never plucked up the courage to do summit plummet it looks horrid to me. I bet it would the biggest wedgie in the world. Ouch.

I'm not sure what Kate was thinking with the headless idea, it was funny!

I'm glad we went to Biergarten, you can get stuck in going to your favourites and it is good to try out new places. The food wasn't bad, it just didn't wow me I suppose. Perhaps if it wasn't communal dining then we'd give it another try. I guess I'm just not that sociable!

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I was young definitely not something I'd try now I don't think ... really losing my bottle the older I'm getting! It's scary haha.

I showed Thomas and he thought it was hilarious and declared he's going to do the same I'm hoping he forgets by the time we go haha.

I know what you mean, I'm not sociable either so I really don't think it would be good for us, plus we're all too picky for the food I'd say x

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

I was young definitely not something I'd try now I don't think ... really losing my bottle the older I'm getting! It's scary haha.

I showed Thomas and he thought it was hilarious and declared he's going to do the same I'm hoping he forgets by the time we go haha.

I know what you mean, I'm not sociable either so I really don't think it would be good for us, plus we're all too picky for the food I'd say x

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I've done humunga kowabunga at typhoon but I don't really like body slides and so that puts me off of summit plummet. When we went to volcano bay I did the drop slides there and wished I hadn't really. I'm a bit of a baby and don't like going under water. If I'm on a raft or in a ring thingy then I'm fine, I'm not a fan of the forward facing slides where you race each other on mats either really. The kids will do all of that with glee and are really good in the water. Maybe one day they will do summit plummet.