The 40th Birthday trip, 3 years early- Just order two at a time

[Mrstenberge]

Today was going to be a long one, rope drop to fireworks, here we come!

Arriving at Epcot for Early Magic Hours, we rode Spaceship Earth before heading in the direction of Test Track-it was closed. Is it ever open first thing in the morning!?!

We walked across to the Lands Pavilion for our first trip on Living with the Land. Mum was in her element, bless her.

Then it was time for our Soarin’ Fastpass before breakfast at Garden Grill. This was one of our favourite meals on our last trip, so it was one of the first on the list for this trip.

We saw all the characters before we had even ordered a drink, it all felt very rushed. The restaurant wasn’t turning today either.

The food is served family style and we had; Chip's Sticky Bun Bake, Seasonal Fresh Fruits, Fluffy Scrambled Eggs, Hash Brown-style Potato Barrels, Thick-sliced Bacon and Sausage Links, Mickey-shaped Waffles with Warm Chocolate-Hazelnut Drizzle.

We ordered Citrus Cocktails to drink and were also given some Orange, Passion Fruit, and Guava Juice Blend. I was given a card and a cupcake from the characters.

Although the character interaction here was disappointing today, we would still recommend it as we really enjoy the food, maybe they were having an off day.

On the way out, we went on The Seas with Nemo and Friends and mum was moaning that it was too tame!

I did some pin trading before we went on Spaceship Earth with Dame Judi, she didn’t give us any pictures this time though.

Then it was around the world for us. We stopped off in Mexico first and rode Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros.

We stopped off for some Flower and Garden Festival snacks.

Firstly, from Florida Fresh, we had the Spicy Blackened Shrimp and Cheddar Cheese Grits served with Brown Gravy and Local Sweet Corn Relish. Mum nearly choked on the shrimp tail, the great banana!

We also shared a Watermelon Slushy which was very refreshing.

When we got to France, we called at L'Artisan des Glaces where mum ordered a Coco-white Chocolate Ice Cream and I ordered a Strawberries and Cream Macaron Sandwich.

At Northern Bloom, we ordered the Seared Scallops served with French Green Beans, Butter Potatoes, Brown Butter Vinaigrette and Applewood Smoked Bacon. This was way too vinegary. We also ordered the Beef Tenderloin Tips served with Mushroom Bordelaise Sauce and Whipped Potatoes with Garden Vegetables and a Maple Popcorn Shake. I used a Quick Service credit here.

Continuing our travels, we stopped at Pineapple Promenade for a Frozen Desert Violet Lemonade, yummy.

We went across to the Play Full Garden, which was lovely and peaceful. We had a nice time just sitting and watching the world go by.

We decided to catch the boat across to the other side of World Showcase, just because it was there really, and we’d never done it before, so why not.

We went to meet Anna and Elsa who had a 20 minute wait that was more like 5! Mum came with me this time, she usually just sits on a bench outside while I fangirl them! I always love this meet and greet, it’s one of my favourites, even Elsa was a good meet today, Anna is still the best though!

I managed to get an extra Fastpass for Soarin’, so we headed in that direction, unfortunately there was a storm following us!

We got to Soarin’ with not too much storm damage to us and we got the front row, we never get the front row! It does give a different view.

By the time we had left the Lands Pavilion, the storm had passed.

Tonight, we were headed to the Frozen Ever After Dessert Party, I was so excited!

It had been moved inside for inclement weather and was badly organised. In the end, we only had 45 minutes to shove a load of dessert in our faces!​

Naturally, when we finally got into the room where the dessert party was being held, there was a huge queue at the bar. We noticed that people were ordering 2 drinks at a time, so naturally, we decided that was the way forward too.

To drink, mum had a Pina Colada, Summertime Celebration Margarita, Coke and Sangria. I had Summertime Celebration Margarita, Sprite, Sangria, Pina Colada and Red Wine.

Between us we ate; Kristoff's Kransekake Almond Cookie, Wandering Oaken's Eclairons, Hans' Key Lime Tarts with Orange Glitter Glaze, Troll Rock Crispy Bon Bons, Elsa's Blue Velvet Cupcakes, Kristoff's No Sugar Added Lemon Curd with Blueberry, Olaf's Warm Double Chocolate S'mores Pudding Cake, Anna's Warm Cottage Pudding with Salted Caramel Glaze, Hand Dipped Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Duke of Weselton's Cheese Fondue—served with country bread cubes, broccoli, and grilled flatbread. Only mum got round to eating Sven's Fresh Fruits with Berries!

I was disappointed with myself that I forgot to go back and try the Freeze Fried Salted Caramel Popcorn and Grand Pabbie's Mystical Winter Spiced Snack Mix.

All too soon, it was time to go. We were given some 3D type spectacles and told we could take drinks and desserts out with us. So, I had a genius idea, the cups they give you are quite small so really you need 2, but you can’t really carry 2 and take pictures of Illuminations, so I ordered 2 and went and got a coffee cup and poured them into 1! There were other Brits on our table and they were down with my genius idea and so followed my lead. Do you think that’s what the grumpy man was referring to the other day!?!

We walked from Norway to Mexico in a crocodile fashion to the viewing point for Illuminations. We put our glasses on and the lights and fireworks looked like little snowflakes.

After the show, we were walked back to Norway, feeling like VIPs as everyone else was leaving. We rode Frozen Ever After and I thanked the Cast Members for staying late for us.

We caught the bus back to Animal Kingdom Lodge and fell into bed.

[collybird]

I forgot to say on the post for ‘yesterday’, you must show us your bags, what a tease!

We’ve never done the Frozen Dessert Party, we did do its predecessor, which was also moved inside due to the weather and was a little disappointing. I’d like to do the Frozen one but can never give up a TS dinner in Epcot to make room for it.

[Minnie Mum]

What a lovely day! Great selection of food round the world too.
Shame the dessert party was chaotic. I have been really tempted to book but feels a lot if money for the four if us 🤔

[DISNEYNIC]

I can't believe you saw all the characters at GG before you had ordered drinks! I'm glad we have an ADR for this as the food looks fab and I love Chip n Dale.

[Jockey]

Lovely day

[Mrstenberge]

Originally Posted by collybird

I forgot to say on the post for ‘yesterday’, you must show us your bags, what a tease!

We’ve never done the Frozen Dessert Party, we did do its predecessor, which was also moved inside due to the weather and was a little disappointing. I’d like to do the Frozen one but can never give up a TS dinner in Epcot to make room for it.

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I promise I’ll take some pictures and post them!

It was a shame it had moved indoors, you would think they would be more organised for it, I imagine it gets moved inside a lot, but it seemed really disorganised

[Mrstenberge]

Originally Posted by Minnie Mum

What a lovely day! Great selection of food round the world too.
Shame the dessert party was chaotic. I have been really tempted to book but feels a lot if money for the four if us 🤔

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I’m not sure it was worth the money to be honest, but that might just be because we had such a short time to enjoy it with the disorganisation

[Mrstenberge]

Originally Posted by DISNEYNIC

I can't believe you saw all the characters at GG before you had ordered drinks! I'm glad we have an ADR for this as the food looks fab and I love Chip n Dale.

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I was so disappointed that they all came so quickly! The food is fab though and I love Chip n Dale too!

[Mrstenberge]

Originally Posted by Jockey

Lovely day

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Thank you!