No long-haul... I'm a local now! Day 3 Epcot All Day!

[debidee]

We woke up around 7am and today it was all about Epcot, it was Jez 21st birthday so of course I made him put on his birthday pin - you don't reach this major milestone many times do you ;-)

After yesterday's busy bus we decided to take the stop closest to the apartment and this was a good result! They now have wait boards posted and it was only a few mins until one turned up! By the time we had done all the stops the bus was packed! It was going to be another busy day...

We had booked 3 FP+ for the day, Frozen adventure, living with the land and the short film experience. As you can only select one prime ride we knew it would mean queuing for Test Track and Sorin. We decided to head to Sorin 1st - they have a new sequence so we were excited for this one. It was only 9.10am and the queue was already saying 40 mins. They now have 3 concourses and we were on the ride within 25 mins. It's a fab new ride but I do mis the smells of the orange groves and pine trees - I won't spoil it by telling you the new scents!

Next up we needed some sort of breakfast snack - we just grabbed something sweet and a hot drink and waiting for our next FP

We had booked Living With The Land boatride - the queue was 60 minutes! It's normally a walk on! We got the front of the boat which was nice and sat back to enjoy the trip. It goes through a story and then greenhouses. If you get the chance to eat either in seasons or the revolving restaurant I'd highly recommend both as a lot of the food comes from Epcot and is really tasty! We also enjoy looking for hidden Mickeys on this ride

We wandered slowly over to Test Track - it was 105 minutes or 40 on single rider! Knowing we wouldn't be back this trip we opted for single rider. I'd say it was only 20 mins. The only downside of going single rider (apart from the obvious of being split up!) is you don't get the full design option on the car - you literally have a selection of 6-8 to pick from. It's fine as we had done it many times and seriously didn't think it was worth queuing for nearly 2 hours! I'm hoping crowd levels reduce from tomorrow given a lot of people are here for presidents weekend...

On the way out we looked at the new cars and posed for pictures! It's funny now living here it seemed more relevant to look Lol!

It was now a trip to try out cokes from around the world, if you haven't tried Beverley give that one a try first ;-)
I went for a pineapple Fanta and Jez had the melon one!

I'm sure if you follow me on Instagram (debi1976) you know I collect the Starbucks mugs...I need Epcot and Animal to complete my Disney collection and I'll also be stopping at City walk later this week to get the universal one. I love the purple for Epcot - it's $16.95 so slightly more than the usual ones but worth it to add to the collection!

Next up was something new on FP and it's the short animation film attraction - it's in the place of that Michael Jackson movie. As you go in there is a movie playing about Walt and his film making (very much like one mans dream at Hollywood) - you then go into the main cinema and they show 3 short animations. I'm seriously not doing this justice and it was fab! They are in 3D and really really good, I don't want to give away what they are... but if you have a spare FP slot I'd really recommend and think any Dibber would love this!

As I mentioned earlier we love to eat at seasons and it was coming up to lunchtime! Jez went for the sandwich and I had a power salad - as usual quality is brilliant and beats the fast food choices hands down!

We would normally be heading out of the parks by now for our afternoon rest! But as we are only here for the week and don't have another Epcot day we were staying until after dinner. We had the afternoon as a very slow walk around the world until our reservation in Canada at 5.45pm.
Next up was our final FP for the new Frozen ride in Norway. Of course being new the queue was up at 90 mins! Luckily we breeze straight to the front! It's a boat ride with all your favourite Frozen characters... it's a lot of fun and very well done! I'd really love to do this, Soarin and the short film ride again but it was super busy today so no chance! A good excuse to come back again later this year!

Next up it was time for a snack! I'd seen lots of dibbers recommending the Werther's store and OMG what a delightful shop this was! A lot of the items counted as snack credits with the exception of the toffee apples - they were huge!

Being very good and only selecting 1 thing (as opposed to using all remaining 20 snack credits! ) I opted for the perfect blend of good / bad. I had the most juiciest strawberry dipped in milk chocolate and drizzled in caramel... omg I could have literally eaten 20!

By now it was warming up a bit, it's been super cloudy today and rain is forecast tomorrow (I guess that means shopping then! )

Next up was America - I love to listen to the classic singers at the start and I love even more to catch a 10 minute nap in the warm cinema to recharge my batteries!

As I am typing this up it appears we ate rather a lot today lol! As now we shared a huge donut and I had a ice coffee and Jez had a Coke! Well we gotta use up these credits!

All rested and snacked out we arrive in Japan and I could literally spend hours in here. If you haven't done the pearl thingy (I can't remember what it's officially called!) that is a lot of fun and you get to obviously keep the pearl you pick and can have it set in jewellery.
I was drawn to the Kimmidoll section. They had 3 sizes, the smallest being a king ring at $9.95. The next size a small figure at $12.95 and then a larger doll at $24.95. Each one had a meaning and they are all so beautiful! I decided I wanted a keyring...

In the end after looking and reading most of the details I settled on 'Hotaru' meaning Passion - my spirit had purpose and potential. By following your dreams with enthusiasm and devotion, you live the power of my spirit. May your passion bring the success you seek and give a sense of purpose to each day.
She is beautiful and the words resonate - I do believe in the words of Walt himself - anything is possible if you believe!

Here is the mug and shot glass from yesterday!

Nearly around the world and we arrive in Canada and watch the 360 movie, we are thinking of going for the weekend in a few months so this was a nice introduction! Seems rude not too as it's only a couple of hours away now!

We were booked into Le Cellier at 5.45pm and it was now nearly 5pm, they let us sit early which was great as by now we were both starting to flag... we are not used to full days in the park!

To start they bring round yummy bread!

It's truly outstanding here and worth the 2 dining credits each, the bill would have been $150 and tbh I do think this is worth it. Jez had the cheddar soup to start, I was getting full already on bread (probably the earlier snacks didn't help! ) we both then had the rib eye steak. Jez had birthday chocolate moose and I had the cheese which was delicious!
Another recommendation - it's quite difficult to get in here, I couldn't book online but got a reservation when I called and said it was Jez birthday - might be worth trying if you can't get a table online

We were well and truly done for the day! So hopped on the bus and back for a nice soak in my big bath! It's now just about 8pm, I'm ready to watch Chip and Jo 'Fixer Upper' then off to land of the zzzzzz
Tomorrow we are off to Hollywood and then MoM (maybe for a special purchase! ) and then I'm hitting the outlet! Until then... thanks for reading Debs xxx

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New Photo Added by debidee - 22 Feb 17 1:16 AM.

[pretty71]

You need all those sweet treats when spending the whole day in the parks 😉

Lovely way to spend a birthday and glad the meal was good, looked yummy... enjoy the shopping today.
Angela xx

[codym]

Another lovely day
Oh MaM, I'm excited to see what your special purchase will be! Tiffanys maybe!?

[JoJo88]

Happy Birthday Jez! Great day in Epcot x

[miss_mouse]

I woke up hoping you'd posted

That was a long park day!

Can't believe you hadn't been in Karamel Juche before. I love the apple and strawberry filled Wethersfield originals. You can pick them up in Target sometimes too.

Speaking of Target, thanks for trying again to find that mug. Obviously wasn't meant to be but thanks for looking ..

Dinner looked good.
I hope Jez (auto correct just changed that to Jezebel)
Had a lovely birthday. Happy belated from us xx

Mondo? Are we allowed to ask why?

Wishing you a great time in HS xxx

[closeder]

Great day, well done lasting all day, love both mugs, looking forward to your visit to the Mall!

[disneylover]

Happy 21st Jez! What a perfect day. Even managing to watch my chip in the evening! Can't wait for you to do some serious shopping now!

[Loopylooloo]

I have a mug fetish too! My husband is already complaining we have too many in the cupboard, and I have warned him there will be many more soon after our trip! love the ones you chose Debs.

The film shorts sounds good, and am so excited for the frozen ride! Your report is really getting me in the mood. Looks like Jez had a fabulous birthday!

[emmabanana]

Happy Birthday Jez, another great day, I'm looking forward to your shopping day tomorrow! X