4th Time Lucky Day 13 Showcasing the World, Dancing Trees & Snowy Scenes

karalma · 13 Jan 22, 08:22 PM

19.12.21

I did not sleep well the previous night and I knew it was because of the lateral flow tests we had to do tomorrow. As much as we would love to stay longer on holiday we did not want to stay to self isolate and all the complications that would bring. I vowed to put it to the back of my mind and enjoy the day and I would do one of the lateral flows we had bought that night and hopefully sleep better.

Today we had decided to eat around the World during the day instead of evening as we usually do, in order to avoid the crowds. Darren preferred to stay at the villa so he was dropping us off. We drove a different way today arrived at 9.15 for a 9.30 opening. At Epcot you are held inside Future World, in front of the ball so there is not as much of a crush as there is at HS.

Soarin was at 20 minutes and TT 55 before we were even allowed in. As we walked to Soarin it went up to 40 minutes and as we arrived the CMs were creating a new line and it went up to 50 minutes. This is longer than we would normally queue for but we knew it was our last chance to ride so as we were in line we decided to stay. Fortunately it only took 25 minutes so we were really pleased we waited. We were then hoping to ride TT single rider but this line was out onto the walkway so we decided not to bother but to venture into World Showcase. For the time of morning this was quite busy.

We decided to walk clockwise when normally we walk anti clockwise. This was mainly because Gran Fiesta in Mexico was only 5 minutes and we had never been on this before. Actually we realised that we had never been in the Mexico pavilion before. How could this be our 12th visit and we were still finding things we had missed? We really liked it in here and it reminded us of the Coco film, which we’ve only watched recently.

Next was China, where I bought a couple of Christmas presents for Matt. It was here that Matt had introduced me to Bubble tea and I’ve only ever had it here and in Manchester when we visit Matt. So I had to buy one and send Matt a pic. It was delicious but they put way too much ice in it.

We had never seen Reflections of China so went to see it. I was disappointed that we had to stand. I think I would have enjoyed this but I could see Alix wasn’t impressed so when a family were leaving I asked Alix if she wanted to leave and she eagerly agreed.

From the American Holiday Table booth we bought the holiday pot pie as it was plant based and the chocolate crinkle cookie. The pot pie was nice, particularly the pastry but the filling was a little spicy. Alix said the cookie was ok but saved half for later.

We browsed the shop in Japan but unusually did not buy anything.

In Morocco we tried the Almond Spiced Cake from the Tangierne Cafe, which I enjoyed but Alix wasn’t keen.

Before we reached France we came upon L'Chaim booth where we shared the Sufganiyot and the Black and White Cookie. The sufganiyot were mini doughnuts and quite nice. Alix's reaction to the cookie was surprising as she exclaimed that it was amazing and the best thing she’d ever tasted. It tasted like plain shortbread to me.

We had had our fill at this point and weren’t sufficiently tempted by anything else, deciding to leave the rest of the booths until our return.

We browsed the shops in the UK, where Alix bought something but wouldn’t tell me what.

We had some more photopass pics taken and as all the rides now had high wait times with even Nemo and Livin With The Land being 40 minutes we decided to leave.

Darren picked us up at 2.00 and we called at McDonalds on the way back. Darren was shocked that medium fries cost $3.48 as he hadn’t noticed the price previously.

We had time for a couple of hours in the pool. We were keeping an eye on Flights of Passage as tomorrow will be our last chance to ride this. It got up to 200 minutes.

We left for the Premium Outlets on International Drive, around 5.00. Luckily we managed to avoid the rain, which seemed to be just ahead of us. We could not believe how large this place is or how we had never been here before. Alix only wanted the Disney Warehouse and Bath and Body but we seemed to keep going around in circles. There was a queue to get in Bath & Body but Alix was pleased with her purchases. I was quite stressed here as there seemed to be people everywhere. Alix said it wasn’t as busy as Magic Kingdom but it felt it to me. I think it was a combination of I don’t like shopping, we didn’t know our way around and I was worried about tomorrow's covid test.

On the way home we called at SeaWorld for a couple of hours. This was mainly for me to admire the Xmas decorations as I’d loved them here the last time we had visited. We had obviously just missed the rain again but it was very busy here. We had hoped for another ice cream but didn’t want to wait in the line. The Sea of Trees had just finished dancing and there was a large crowd coming across the bridge so we browsed the shops. Once the crowds has left we found a good spot down on the waterfront. I told Darren and Alix I woukld be fine on my own and they could go and see if any rides were operating.

I didn’t have long to wait and I just loved the dancing trees and the music.

Once finished I headed back towards the shops. I had forgotten about the snow so was delighted to see it. It was so much better than the snow at Hollywood Studios and I just stood and watched the children playing in it. It reminded me of the first time we had seen the snow at Celebration. I spotted a free seat so had a sun down and waited for Darren and Alix. I loved sitting watching the world go by in the snow and listening to the Xmas music. It was magical.

When they returned Darren and Alix had ridden Mako three times and thought it was excellent in the dark. SeaWorld had redeemed itself.

Back at the villa we decided we would all do a lateral flow test, to give us an idea of what tomorrow would bring. I was extremely nervous about this and pleased we got the results quickly with the tests we had brought. Darren had been testing the last couple of days so we were fairly confident his would be negative but we were so pleased to see that they all were. I could now sleep tonight.

ClaireNJ · 13 Jan 22, 09:24 PM

Originally Posted by karalma