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Old 10 Aug 19, 10:19 AM  
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#USAnumber3- Helen&Andy Nov 18 - Day 6: My birthday! Crystal Palace, MK & Epcot

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Day 6: My 40th! Crystal Palace, Magic Kingdom & Epcot


Welcome back to my trip report.

Things that are 40:
  • Squares on a Monopoly board
  • The number of thieves in Arabian Nights
  • Length of the great flood
  • Half my average working week
  • The number of winks in a nap
Oh, and THIS person:



Due to the time difference, I woke up to some lovely messages from friends and family, some more polite than others. It didn’t take long to open my presents and cards – mainly because Andy had neglected to pack the cards which had arrived for me before we came away (I didn’t think this was my job but apparently it was….). It didn’t matter though. I opened my gift from Andy (a watch, which wasn’t a surprise as I had been in on the selection, purchase and sizing some weeks before) and a lovely present “from the cats” which was membership of our local theatre, meaning we get early access to tickets going on sale and – critically – a discount at the bar.

Today we were off to the Magic Kingdom. I’d thought long and hard about where I wanted to spend my birthday (and Hollywood Studios nearly won out…) but then figured it didn’t really matter what we did on the actual day given that any day in WDW is like a birthday anyway. I think it is easy to put too much pressure on ourselves to have a good birthday on these holidays but when you’re in the most magical place on earth, trying to add extra magic feels tricky and maybe even a bit greedy. Andy had said time and time again that he thought we should do one of the tours on this day (perhaps thinking of the Starlight Safari we had done for his 40th the previous year) but I am on the fence about tours, and was just happy to potter around rather than have a specific experience.



However, the first specific experience of the day wasn’t really a good one. We waited about 40 minutes for a bus to the Magic Kingdom and I was getting more and more stressed as no-one seemed to know what was going on. I was concerned as we had an 09:30 reservation at the Crystal Palace and by 09:00 we still weren’t on a bus.

Andy was all for legging it through Epcot to get to the monorail and do it that way again but a) I didn’t want to be a sweaty and irritable mess <that early> on my birthday, and b) there didn’t seem any point as there was still no way we would have made the meal reservation, even with the 15 minute buffer. I started thinking about Ubers but again, they drop off at the TTC and we still would have had to make it to the park and through the big security area, so it didn’t seem like a better option.
Finally, a bus arrived and was filling up and up and up and up and of course there were several mobility scooters by that point which meant that fewer people in the main queue were able to get on. We got right to the front of the queue (and I say queue in the loosest possible sense as many people who had been waiting less time than us had managed to push on ahead of us) and the driver went to close the bus doors…which resulted in me having a bit of a whine at the poor bus marshal, along the lines of “it is my birthday and I have been waiting here for ages but you have let everyone on this bus ahead of us and the only thing I want is to have breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and there is a very real danger that I am going to cry if you don’t let us get on this bus”. Luckily he checked with the driver, who agreed he could squeeze two more on the bus and we were on.

It usually happens at least once or twice a trip where the bus service lets you down and you spend the ride in panic wondering whether you’re going to miss your hard won meal reservation or not. Either way, we needn’t have worried as we got to the park by 09:30 and were only a few minutes late checking in at the podium at the Crystal Palace. I don’t know if we would have been so lucky had we been made to wait for another bus.



Turns out they kept us waiting for ages anyway. We must have sat on the benches outside for a solid half hour, watching everyone else get called before us. I think we were getting a bit twitchy as we could see from the salmon streaming past us that Magic Kingdom was shaping up to be really busy and the longer we spent waiting for a meal, the less time we could spend, well, in queues for rides. This is why the dining plan aggravates us sometimes, you just can’t know in advance how long you’re going to spend on one meal.



Eventually we were called, and shown to our table. I have very vague memories of a meal at the Crystal Palace in the mid-90s…my memory is pretty good (judging by the fact I am writing this report nine months after the event, with only my photos to go on) but it doesn’t stretch back as far as remembering a meal I ate in 1993, oddly.









There’s no two ways about it; the buffet at Crystal Palace is a dream for people with a sweet tooth. I’m not really that way inclined as I far prefer savoury stuff, but if you can’t beat them, join them… so my first plate was the famed Pooh’s Puffed French Toast. With some fruit, cos, you know, diet, hahaha.



This stuff is like crack. It doesn’t resemble French toast at all – It is essentially a doughnut. Like the old school ones you get at the fair, not the bonkers millennial Instagrammable doughnuts that are going the way of those crazy freakshakes that were all the rage a year or two ago. SO delicious. If sweet, deep fried dough rolled in sugar and covered with syrup is your thing. Yes.

I was less keen on the fabled breakfast lasagne. I know, revoke my Dibb membership now. But to me it tasted like…banana trifle. I don’t really like the consistency of cake anyway, so this was probably never going to be a winner for me I am afraid. There was just something a bit…school dinnery about it. The other thing on the plate was a guava pastry. I’d eaten one of these at the California Grill brunch the other day and really liked it.



So far, so sweet. After that, I felt like I needed something savoury, so went in for a plate of, well, what you see here. The thing that looks like rice pudding was some kind of hash brown/dauphinoise potato hybrid and it was alright – nothing special. Standard Disney bacon, and the is-it-or-isn’t-it egg too.




My third plate (remember, we hadn’t eaten in nearly 24 hours, so the mammoth burger of yesterday was long forgotten) was another helping of the puffed French toast. Honestly, I am considering booking Crystal Palace again on our next trip so that I can sample this again.



I don’t have any pictures of Andy’s plates I am afraid, but I am sure it would have been more of the same. There were some potato wedge type things and corned beef hash (I think) on the savoury counter and I know he said he enjoyed those.

Andy also took this opportunity to phone his dad, as it was his 70th birthday that day. Same day as mine, born exactly 30 years apart. What are the odds? Expensive day for Andy.



During this mega calorie-fest, the characters had been making their way round. They were good fun – non intimidating and very cuddly. They also spent a fair amount of time with us so certainly this would be a good character experience for little ones. The girl on the next table definitely thought so as I took this pic of her grabbing Eeyore’s ass. The ass of an ass. Ass-ception.



Here are the photos of our typically awkward character interactions. We are getting better at it, kind of…





















Stuffed like the French toast, we paid the bill (two dining plan credits plus tip) and headed back out into the sunshine. This trip seemed to be two extremes food-wise, between missing meals altogether and absolutely pigging out at buffets, our metabolisms were probably in a wold of confusion. I say pigging out, what we managed to put away was a mere drop in the ocean of some of the plates we saw at some of these meals. Not judging, more respecting – there are certain people who clearly have the knack at rinsing every drop of value out of a buffet, but I don’t think that’s us.


Our first fast pass of the day had started (Haunted Mansion) but we weren’t in a rush to get there, so we took the long stroll all the way round the park, trying to make the breakfast go down. I used to hate it when the family insisted on a walk after a roast dinner, when all I wanted to do was read a book or watch TV, but I have to say, it was the only thing that helped us on this trip! So we walked past the purple wall…






….through Tomorrowland…





….via a green wall (this was new)…



…and up and through Fantasyland.



We stopped in at Memento Mori first, where I was once again annoyed that I hadn’t bought the Haunted Mansion PJ bottoms last year, and they still only had XS sizes in stock this year. After all those doughnuts? Not a hope. We also spotted a Christmas tree decoration which was the three Grim Grinning Ghosts in a doom buggy, but Andy persuaded me not to buy it then and there and to “come back for it later” – so we all know how that ends, don’t we? Can’t believe I fell for that AGAIN. Next year, I swear I will ignore him (don’t be mean at the back there…) and just buy the damn things then and there when they are in front of me.



Haunted Mansion next. I even managed to get a photo of the velvet rope griffin things for once – shows how slow the queue was moving – I do love these and still have the key ring version on my work bag today.














After declining to join the happy haunts – we may be 40 but we’re not quite ready yet – we decided it was time for some air con and a nice sit down. The lure of walking about had clearly worn off, so we headed over to Philharmagic.



Wait times were clearly building as It’s A Small World was up to 40 minutes already. Good grief, it was only about midday.







We were through Philharmagic relatively quickly though and then it was time for our second fast pass of the day, Big Thunder Mountain. It was so busy around Frontierland, as you can tell from these photos….





Splash Mountain was down, which was annoying as it was to be our third fast pass of the day. When a ride goes down that you have a Fast Pass for, you’re allowed to use it on any other ride in MK (except 7DMT, I think) Therefore, this was the Fast Pass line for Big Thunder, stretching way back onto the concourse. I’ve never seen it this busy; I don’t even think they needed to bust out additional ropes during Thanksgiving, and this ride is always mobbed.







The queue took forever, and there is no shade at all until you get in the main building, so we were absolutely melting. It felt like the slow moving queue up the hill was akin to doing the Stairmaster in a fur coat.





We rode the wildest ride in the wilderness and headed back out into the mob. Looking back at the photos I cannot for the life of me remember what we chose to use our replacement Splash Mountain fast pass for, as I don’t have any photos of it.





Next up has us at The Little Mermaid, which was fine, but we wouldn’t ever fast pass that - especially not on my birthday – so I have no idea what happened to the third one!















After we had checked in with Ariel and chums, we decided to use a snack credit and get a drink from the Cheshire Café.



I went for a frozen lemonade slushie thing (very nice indeed) which promptly gave me brainfreeze, and Andy had a more sensible bottle of water.



We had a quick look at the ride wait times and nothing we wanted to do was under 60 minutes. It’s A Small World, which is my benchmark for these things as it has probably the fastest loading capacity in the park, was at 90 minutes and fast passes were few and far between. It was a Tuesday! What was going on?



We were both a bit sweaty and decided there was no point pounding around being annoyed that we couldn’t ride anything, so we took a look at the wait times for Epcot and promptly scored a fast pass for Soarin’ for a couple of hours’ time. Decision made, we reluctantly called it a day on the Magic Kingdom and headed out of the park.



First though – what a great birthday gift – we stopped at the loos outside the park by Guest Services, and there was no-one in them! Best day ever!





We advanced to the monorail and I don’t think we had long to wait.







We always get confused here though and never know if we’re going to end up at the right destination.





I amused myself by taking photos of the construction work, and, inexplicably, my ear, as I was wearing my new Mickey earrings that had been purchased last night. You’re welcome.





Continued below...

Edited at 02:51 PM.
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Old 10 Aug 19, 10:19 AM  
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I love coming into Epcot by monorail – seeing it from above ground, coupled with the voiceover narrative is really cool and reminds me of the original plan for the park. I am really excited to see what is in store for the park in the coming years (it badly needs an update) but I do like that little whiff of nostalgia too.





We disembarked and had a quick photo at the entrance, probably not one of our best. It was about 14:30 at this point and was really, really hot and humid. Having an early November birthday means fireworks, bonfires and wrapping up warm – it felt really alien to be hot and bothered.





Our Soarin’ fast pass wasn’t for a little while, so we headed into the Festival Centre – more for a desire for air con than any particular reason. We’d seen the beer stand there the other day when we were drinking those vile mimosas, so decided we would try a couple of the flights while we cooled down a bit.





Flight 1 was dark ales and stouts and not up my alley at all. Flight 2 was lighter beers, I really enjoyed the lemongrass one, and so I polished off most of Flight 2, leaving Andy to take one for the team and contend with the others. Birthday privilege, innit.





It was now time for our fast pass, and we made our way over to The Land to ride Soarin’.





We were on the far right concourse, so the views were pretty bendy. Next to us were a group of cast members on a day off, who were complaining about where they were sitting. They grabbed the ride attendant and said they wanted to be moved to the centre deck, but the ride was about to start so they were told no, but to stay in their seats after the ride and they would be moved to the centre section for the next ride, so they could have another go without queuing. Humph! I felt like trying to blag that we were in their party too but thought better of it. Also, I know I say this every time but does anyone else’s heart stop as you go up (and down), thinking you’re going to clonk your toes on the barrier by the screen? Just me?

We looked to see what other rides were available, but it was slim pickings as Epcot was also pretty busy – it was the last week of the Food & Wine festival and I guess some of the marathon runners were still around too. We weren’t ravenous but realised the opportunity to sample some of the Food & Wine offerings was running out, so we embarked on a pretty sticky saunter around the World Showcase. Bit different to when we did this during the Festival of the Holidays last year and it absolutely poured down on us.



The first stand we came to was Coastal Eats, where I picked up the festival passport book, and got my mitts on something I had been wanting to try – it was a shrimp “dip” with spinach, cheesy cream sauce and sooo much garlic.



Happy birthday to me! It was hard going as was pretty rich and I was pouring with sweat (gross) but oh so delicious. Andy didn’t have anything as he doesn’t like shellfish, so he had to put up with me emitting garlic for the rest of the day. Hehe.



Controversially, we opted to walk counter clockwise around the lake. Mainly because I had looked at some of the booth menus ahead of time and realised that the Canada one was great and so we wanted to try that early on before we got too full.



We used a quick service meal credit on the fillet mignon with mushroom risotto, the cheddar cheese soup, and a Moosehead Radler beer.



We shared the fillet and the beer, and I got stuck into the soup – it has bacon in it, so is a no for Andy but a big fat yes for me. This was just a miniature version of one of my favourite meals on property. 10/10.





We had a stroll through “England-land” but didn’t want to stop and sample any of our regional delights, especially we saw someone throwing up here, so went and had a nice sit in the area between there and France.





We saw a lizard!



I think we must have sat here watching the world go by and enjoying the view of the lake for quite some time as looking at the time on my photos, it was about 17:30 and we had already been in Epcot for about three hours. Time really does fly when you’re having fun. The sun was starting to go down, but it was still really hot…



On the move again, we bypassed Morocco (scene of the worst cocktail I have ever tasted - last year) and I queued up for the Brazil booth as there was a dish I really wanted to try – the pork belly with black beans and salsa. There was a little seating area next to the booth, so we parked up again and watched the miniature train set for a bit (Chris Peachey would be proud).



This dish was really delicious. Pork belly can go either way, but this was perfectly cooked, really tender, not too fatty and with a nice crackling top. I think I ended up leaving a fair few of the beans as it was a generous portion and I was being greedy rather than hungry so there wasn’t a lot of room left in my stomach. Really enjoyed it! Andy just watched, on account of it being pork.



He did make up for it though, with this wagyu slider and (I think) crispy onions. The jalapeno side thing looks pretty paltry, doesn’t it? I have no recollection of where this was from, and you all know my opinion on sliders, so this clearly wasn’t overly memorable.



We grabbed a couple of beers from Block & Hans and immediately ran into a huge mob.



The Eat to the Beat show was just about to start, and tonight it was Boyz II Men. Not bad for a free concert. However, people had clearly been queuing for hours to get into the America Gardens open air theatre and we had no intention of doing that.



Instead, we found a nice patch of wall to perch on, finished our beers, bought some more, and repeated that a few times, while listening to the show. The sound quality was actually great, and it made me realise how – unwittingly – many Boyz II Men songs I actually know. I do admit to having a bit of a soft spot for End of the Road as it reminds me of being 13 and having to decide between two boys at school – ohhhh the anguish….haha.



Those of you who read my pre-trip report will know I had a fair amount of stress trying to decide what to do on my birthday evening. I’d been back and forth over meal bookings, Disney Springs options, park options etc, cancelling everything bar the breakfast we had, as I just couldn’t settle. Well, it turns out I made the right choice by just planning nothing and seeing where the day took us. In that moment, full of food, reeking of garlic, pretty tipsy, sitting on a wall listening to music that took me back to my teenage years, I honestly couldn’t have been more content.



After the concert finished, the America area was really busy, so we escaped into the shop for a while. Andy amused me with a special birthday #USAnumber1



…and I purchased this top - which I have painful memories of queuing to buy as there was only one person working and I was busting for the loo – Andy was already long gone into the gents.







Time for more booze and I queued up at the Italy booth as I wanted to try the frozen limoncello slush, while Andy went next door to Germany to get a grapefruit beer. As it had been so hot, there was a problem with the slushie maker and it wasn’t getting cold enough to freeze, but I had waited for a while in line so ended up ordering it anyway. Let’s just say this wasn’t one of the finest drinks I had on the holiday.



Seems it did the trick though, as the next thing I have on my phone is a solid four minute video of three gentlemen in lederhosen banging drumsticks against ladders and paint pots to the background of some very perky accordion music, interspersed with cuckoo clock noises…. I’ll save you the video but here’s a screenshot.



We carried on pottering around World Showcase and eventually found ourselves back by the International Gateway.





Andy decided he hadn’t quite had his fix of sweet stuff that day, so finished the evening with a dessert from the Ireland booth which was chocolate and Guinness cake with Baileys custard. A hard no from me, but it was gone in seconds, most of it round Andy’s chops.



This is my last photo from the day, so we must have called time at this point. It was 20:45 and Illuminations wasn’t til 22:00 so we decided not to bother, and rolled off out of Epcot and walked the short distance back to the Beach Club.

So, there we have it. A fairly eclectic mix of birthday fun. This is definitely a day I look back on with fondness. Given that we’ve spent the past couple of years attending/declining loads of 40th birthday parties and events, Andy and I deliberately wanted to come away for our respective “big” birthday as we can’t stand the stress and pressure of birthday parties. We don’t want people to feel obligated to turn out/spend money on us, or to have a sad little do where everyone leaves at 7pm to get back to the kids, so getting away for a “big” birthday and just having fun together with, good food, and a load of interesting grog was definitely the one for me.



I hope you’ll join us tomorrow where we (shock horror) have a pool day, and return to Epcot for a smashing dinner... which can now be found here

Edited at 01:03 PM.
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Old 10 Aug 19, 12:08 PM  
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Fab day and loved the CP breakfast!
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Old 10 Aug 19, 02:56 PM  
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Ooooh that French toast is so good , isn’t it? You’re totally right, it is more like a donut!

Shame MK was so busy! Didn’t they know it was your special birthday? Tsk.

Your 16% battery gives me the actual fear! 😱

Hahaha love that Chris got a mention he does love those trains!

End of the road is a belter! Love your childhood memory of it too hahahahaha!

I’m so glad you enjoyed your birthday evening, it sounded very chill and just lovely!

Next please! Xxx
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Old 10 Aug 19, 09:48 PM  
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Originally Posted by scouse_minx View Post
Fab day and loved the CP breakfast!
Thank you. It was definitely great fun - we’d happily do breakfast there again.
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Old 10 Aug 19, 09:50 PM  
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Originally Posted by Redrach1903 View Post
Ooooh that French toast is so good , isn’t it? You’re totally right, it is more like a donut!

Shame MK was so busy! Didn’t they know it was your special birthday? Tsk.

Your 16% battery gives me the actual fear! 😱

Hahaha love that Chris got a mention he does love those trains!

End of the road is a belter! Love your childhood memory of it too hahahahaha!

I’m so glad you enjoyed your birthday evening, it sounded very chill and just lovely!

Next please! Xxx
Well, I like to think it was busy as everyone was coming out to celebrate with me. Ha.

Did I have 16% battery? Not sure why, I had my Anker charger with me at all times, fret not!

Hoping to post Day 7 tomorrow. They’ll be coming thick and fast now x
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Old 11 Aug 19, 06:46 AM  
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Originally Posted by HelenJNT View Post
Thank you. It was definitely great fun - we’d happily do breakfast there again.
I’m solo this trip so I’m debating doing CP or wondering if that’ll just be weird!

Loved the Cowboy hat for USANumberOne
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Old 11 Aug 19, 12:29 PM  
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Originally Posted by scouse_minx View Post
I’m solo this trip so I’m debating doing CP or wondering if that’ll just be weird!

Loved the Cowboy hat for USANumberOne
I think it would be a good one to do solo as long as you could get a cast member to take photos. Buffets are probably the best on a solo trip as you can get up and wander to get the food so wouldn't feel so self-conscious, maybe?
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Old 11 Aug 19, 07:00 PM  
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Originally Posted by HelenJNT View Post
I think it would be a good one to do solo as long as you could get a cast member to take photos. Buffets are probably the best on a solo trip as you can get up and wander to get the food so wouldn't feel so self-conscious, maybe?
That’s what I thought plus these are my favourite characters - speaking ones freak me out a little

And yes, good idea to ask a CM! Plus I could do some selfies too I think I’m gonna go for it - thank you
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Old 11 Aug 19, 07:10 PM  
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We have Crystal Palace booked - looking forward to that french toast 👍
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