Saratoga Dreaming Oct / Nov 2016: Day 7 - Stroll(er)ing around the World

[bambikate]

Day 7: Stroll(er)ing around the World

Hotel day, Epcot F&W festival and Teppan Edo

We had a lovely lie in until about 8:40am then breakfast in our room. The girls played for a while, I tidied up a bit (I still didn't know those two drawers under the TV opened at this point so it was difficult to keep the room tidy with four of us!)

We got showered and then I got a Facebook message from Stew and he said that he, Jo and Isabella would be ready to meet up at about 10:30 after they had had a bite to eat in DS. It had been nice to just hang around in the hotel room for a change and we hoped it would recharge our batteries enough for us to stay up and watch Illuminations tonight

It was about 10:25 a.m so we made our way down to the little play park area which is where we had arranged to meet the Sears.

The girls had a little play and we saw Stew, Jo and Isabella walking towards us. We all greeted each other and shook hands and the girls started playing straight away whilst we chatted.

The girls were playing hide and seek (often in the the same three locations…) and talking to each other through the little speakers in the castle.







We were chatting away like we were old friends and time absolutely flew by as we had loads in common. Before we knew it we had been chatting for an hour and we all had to get going to wherever our respective Disney itineraries’ told us to be (in our case, Epcot!)

We all said that it would be great to meet up again and that we would message each other to arrange firm plans but the general plan was that it would be in Disney Springs tomorrow evening.

We bid each other farewell (but not before a quick selfie - pics or it didn't happen!)



We made the short walk to the bus stop in Congress Park and a bus arrived pretty much straight away to take us to Epcot. We planned on visiting lots of countries and to try lots of yummy treats at the food and wine festival.

As we got off the bus we noticed the car park was pretty full. So full in fact that cars were parking here on the grass!



It was then that we realised it was going to be crazily busy. Now, we had been to F&W when it was busy before but this was something else!

One major flaw to my plan? It was Saturday! You know how when you’re off at Christmas and all the days start to blend together and you have no idea what day of the week it is? It’s the same for us on holiday, I literally couldn’t have told you what day of the week it was until I looked on my calendar.

I also didn’t choose the day very wisely on my Disney spreadsheets which I had been working on for goodness knows how long. Dear oh dear! Even though this was my tenth trip looks like I’m still an amateur!



We didn't want to feel we were dragging the girls around and wanted them to have a bit more of a relaxed day so we agreed we would hire strollers just for today. We were going to get a double but they sat in it to try it out and I could already hear the bickering and whinging that would have inevitably happened as it was a bit of a squash, so, as two strollers were actually cheaper ($30) (yes, I know you can probably buy one for less than that in Walmart!) that seemed like the winning choice.

A quick spaceship earth selfie



Photobombed by my husband



The girls were really excited about being in prams for the rest of the day!



As we approached World Showcase we started to get a feel for how busy it was even more. Lines were stretched from one country to another and you could hardly move. Oh dear… what have we done?

We pondered what might make things more enjoyable and agreed a margarita would do the trick. With the absence of the frozen margarita stand (miss you <3 xx) we headed inside the Mexico Pavillion to visit La Cava del Tequila (after about five minutes trying to find a spot to park the strollers!)

We presumed that as it was a little off the beaten track it wouldn’t be as busy as the food booths… we thought wrong! The queue went all the way from the entrance to La Cava to where the kidcot colouring station was and it didn’t seem to be moving.

The girls did a bit of colouring while we discussed whether it was worth spending all of our afternoon queueing for two drinks. (probably a slight exaggeration)





A lady spoke to us and asked what the queue was for, we told her, she was a local and she said she had never seen it this busy before!

We decided to forego the margs and moved on to the next country in search of an alternative grown up beverage…

We thought we would try the Chinese F&W booths but these were equally as busy, the girls were saying they were getting hungry so we decided to just go to the Lotus Blossom cafe and get our favourite Orange Chicken. I know it’s not quite F&W but we thought we may be able to shuffle round a couple of plans later in the holiday to fit more food in on a not-so-crazily-busy day.

The girls had a Sprite and we had a Yeungling and Tsingtao which went down very nicely.



We stopped for the girls to do some colouring, browsed the shops and got some photos.











The photographer made us do this one…



Despite sharing three meals we had left a bit of room for snacking and drinking and Jo (off of Stew and Jo) said she had been recommended to try the “Tipsy ducks in love” drink in the Joy of tea stand in the China pavilion by Brett and Jo (off off Happyhaunt1000 and Tarnabanana83) so we ordered one of those to share and a curry pocket to go with it. It’s basically a mix of tea, coffee, chocolate and bourbon. Neither of us are really bourbon drinkers but it was really good together. (thanks for the recommendation, all!)







It was really yummy (I kind of want one now, actually!) and the curry pocket was delicious (or what we tried of it as the girls pretty much devoured most of it!)

Next up was Italy and guess what? Busy! There was a massive queue for Italian beer at the front but as we wandered round the corner where the kid cot stop is you could go into the little shop and they had the same beer in bottles in a little ice bucket you could buy without a queue! (Pro tip!)

We relaxed with our drinks and listened to some of the live music.





As we walked round to the American pavilion we heard the American sound machine on the stage. Their harmonies were absolutely incredible! We stopped and listened for a while then headed over for the girls to do more colouring and I had a browse in the American shop, I really wanted the cushion with all the states on it but decided to leave it in the end

The menu at the American booth sounded so good and the back line was empty (I guess people didn’t really notice it and everyone automatically queued at the front line.

despite the lack of queue we decided to leave it as with the beer and the heat we weren’t really very hungry and had an evening dinner reservation at Teppan Edo to prepare for!

We walked passed the Funnel cake hut and notice something… A PUMPKIN SPICE funnel cake? C’est whaaaat?



The time just wasn’t right for one straight away but believe me, it was duly noted and it would be making an appearance as an Illuminations snack later on the same day…

Now in Japan, we shared the pineapple breeze sake cocktail, which was very blue! I thought it was quite nice but Andy said it was too sweet.



We stayed to watch the drummers for a while, they are so awesome!



We didn't explore Japan too much as we planned to have a mooch around when we came for our meal later so carried on to Morocco.

Oooh Japanese snacks… we will see you later!



We browsed around the markets and the girls did some colouring (are you getting the idea by now…. )









A lady who had had a little too much to drink was singing a whole new world really drunkenly and loudly to her boyfriend right next to us whilst swinging and spilling her drink everywhere. Then she started hassling the poor CM who was stood outside the Jasmine and Aladdin meet and greet who had told her they weren’t accepting any more families at the moment and she was not happy about it! She stood firm and the woman eventually got the message (not before trying to go in via the exit to see them) then giving us all another lovely rendition of her favourite song!

After all that excitement we felt like it was our turn for another drink (we did hydrate the kids throughout our journey around World Showcase but its just not as well documented!)

We had the Citron slush in France to share, which was very yummy.

A whole load of duffies!


We walked passed the Brazil booth and Izzy said “Oooh they’ve got a booth with food from near us!” Puzzled, I said “which one is that, Izzy?” “Brazil!” “Do you mean Bristol, Iz?” Teeheehee. Bless her heart <3 Had to add it to the trip report as it was too cute not to mention and to bring up again and remind her in years to come :pgig

Next, we headed round to the UK to do some more colouring and listen to the live band and walked all the way to Soarin’ for our fast pass.

The fast pass line took about five minutes and we were directed to concourse B, unfortunately the middle seats weren’t working for some reason and they remained empty and stationary so we had seats to the side again but we still loved it.





We walked back to Canada after watching the jumping water in Future World and seeing some squirrels rummaging through everyones parked prams!

It was now time for our reservation at Teppan Edo so we walked back to Japan (I’m actually pretty glad we got strollers now I’m writing this up, there was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing!)

We were given a buzzer and waited on the steps.









Imogen seemed to do this every time I got my phone out to video them!



We were called in after about five minutes or so and as the tables seat 10 we were joined by two other families, Eric and his wife Leanne and their daughter, Tiger Lily who were from Texas and another couple who didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone the entire meal and therefore shall remain nameless (as we don't know their names... )

[bambikate]

We ordered a cocktail each, I had the Japanese mojito and Andy had the Tokyo Sunset.





I was really looking forward to either just scallops or the steak and scallop combo I had last time but they had changed the menu and now the scallops (Hotate) were not available on their own anymore and the combos were an additional $16 on top of the meal price so I just stuck with the steak as we were already paying out of pocket and the steak was still a yummy choice.

Our chef, Hiroshi was hilarious and he kept doing tricks like trying to throw prawn tails and catch them in his hat but every time he missed he would say “windy!” as an excuse for missing then he would try again… “windy!” This went on for a while and he eventually caught one and his response? “windy! ” this was met by rapturous applause from the whole table. The girls were in hysterics every time he missed and a prawn tail bounced off his head or flew across the room.

Here’s a short snippet of the action…



Everything is cooked to order to your tastes and it was all really good. Especially the yum yum sauce.









The food was really nice but as we have done this restaurant so many times we have decided to have a break from it next year to try somewhere new. We would still highly recommend if you’ve got it booked though. A great, memorable experience and good food.

Andy and Eric chatted about where each of them were from and how many times they’d been to Disney, Tiger Lily was getting pretty tired so they had the rest of their meal boxed up and we said goodbye. We didn’t leave too far behind them as we decided to forego the dessert.

Sparkling sake in hand



Next, we really wanted to check out the Kawaii exhibit, it’s very small but fascinating and there was some really cool and unusual art there. Check it out if you are there!













The girls love Japanese snacks and drinks and picked up some hello panda, some new chopsticks, some Ramune soda in different flavours than they have had before (the ones with the marbles in), some Pocky and a Japanese keyring. We spent a little while browsing the shop







Then we walked round to the USA and Italy pavilions to pick up some drinks and the pumpkin spice funnel cake to watch Illuminations with.

It wasn’t that busy by now, all the food booths were closed and we managed to get a spot without much trouble.

Waiting for it to start



The show was fantastic, it always is. It’s all of our favourites. I cried (no surprises there!) The girls tucked in to their Japanese snacks and drinks and we had some of the funnel cake.















It was as yummy as regular funnel cake but as it’s not available as a snack credit and it’s basically a cinnamon and sugar dusted funnel cake, which I later found out you could get at HS for a snack credit, sooooo…. I’d personally go for one of those next time, or just stick with a PSL

We walked back and got a couple of photos on the way out, stopping by the light up floor area and the girls had a little play on the way.







We dropped the strollers off at the stroller rental place at the entrance, hopped on the bus and got into bed after a wonderful day.

Tomorrow: Animal Kingdom, Sanaa and Disney Springs

[sarahc]

Loving your report! Made a mental note to take DS in to see all the Pokemon themed merchandise: he's a huge fan! 😊

[Manyin]

I've been reading all your trip reports over the last couple days, they are a great read. Thank you for sharing

[Loopylooloo]

Lovely day, albeit a bit busy, all the food and drink looks yummy, and I love illuminations too, so pretty.

Your epcot ears are fabulous!

[scottishvixen]

You're certainly racing through your days! Great to read.

Your girls are also adorable and such a perfect mix of both you and your DH

[ely3857]

You certainly managed to make the best of a very crowded day.

Yesterday Zoey (5) asked what colour her stroller was gonna be in Aug. Eer sorry kiddo, not happening (unless it proves too much but they'll be six and seven by Aug so we'll at least try to walk!)

[mick]

A lovely day but Epcot looked very busy
Glad you managed to do so much

Joan

[vics18]

Aw seems like the 3 girls had fun playing! Cute pictures.

You definitely made the most of a very busy day - adapt and overcome! Haha. Seems like the strollers did their job at keeping the kids going til Illuminations too. When you think how tired your legs and feet get from all the walking, imagine the toll it must take on tiny legs and feet!

I love looking round Japan, well all the countries really but Japan is particularly interesting! The food always looks so good at Tepan Edo, we'd love to try it but I have to admit that being seated with other people makes me feel a bit nervous! Pathetic I know

[globedust]

Love your reports. My baby girl is only 4 months but reading about what your girls get up to, I cannot wait to take her as she grows up!