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Old 6 Apr 19, 06:05 PM  
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berniegroves
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Team Groves are Florida Bound! October 2017 Day 4

Day 4:
Monday 9th October 2017
Epcot

We were up at 7 today. Miley got ready really nicely. But my notes say “Grayson being a terror!”
This was a recurring theme for us in the mornings. It transpired that whilst Phil and Sarah were there Grayson was so excited he wasn’t able to focus enough in the mornings to get ready. This would lead to nagging from us and then a tantrum from Grayson. Oh the joy!
Once Phil and Sarah went home after ten days it all stopped. He’d still be his usual cheeky self but without the added drama!

Phil and Sarah were going to the same park as us today but we’re travelling separately as we had different things booked.

Miley all ready for the day.


So today we were finally dressed and out at 8. I’d wanted to leave earlier as we were heading to Epcot and we’d been hoping to make an early dash to Frozen Ever After.
So you can imagine how overjoyed I was when we got stuck in traffic by championsgate!
The kids did colouring in the car to entertain themselves.


We pulled into the Epcot carpark at 8.35.


The carpark was almost empty so I felt hopeful maybe it wouldn’t be too busy. But the tapstiles were rammed! Lots of people were arriving via the monorail.

Unfortunately we chose the wrong lane getting in. We didn’t know why our line was taking so long until we got near the front and realised that our line was sharing one tapstile with the line next to us! Where as all the other lines had a tapstile each.
I’m not sure how that mistake was made and I don’t know why it wasn’t rectified by the cast members as it resulted in some ridiculous behaviour.
A Middle aged couple were in the line next to us and had been waiting the same length of time as us. But the woman decided she had to get ahead of us. When we neared the front she stepped across and stood in front of our stroller. But there was no space as the person in front had a large rucksack. So she ended up leaving backwards over the top of our stroller as she had literally squeezed herself into a non existent space!
She looked over at her husband and he said ‘what on Earth are you doing?’ And she said she wasn’t going to lose their place in line. He shook his head and said ‘really?’ And then gestured to our two kids in the stroller that she was leaning over.
I got the feeling he was kind of baffled why she would go to such lengths to get into the park when we would all be getting in regardless!
He refused to join her in front of us and stayed where they had originally been. But when we reached the front she had his ticket so he had no choice but to step around us and go in with her. He apologised as he went by, and I smiled and said it was fine. But I was really annoyed with his wife!
I was even more annoyed that when we got into the park a few minutes later they had stopped just inside and were looking at the park map and having a drink. So clearly they weren’t in a rush.

I’ll never understand the need to get ahead of people ‘just because’

It was now 9am and we walked around to World Showcase, we reached it at 9.05 and by then the queue for Frozen Ever After was back to Mexico! So that was off the cards for today.

We decided to go and see Anna and Elsa instead as Miley had her Elsa dress on and the queue was only ten minutes.

The theming inside the queue was very cute and the line moved quickly.

We met Anna first and she was very good, super bubbly and enthusiastic. Both Miley and Grayson loved meeting her.






Elsa was next. It was a nice enough meet and greet, she commented on Mileys dress and said she must have ice powers as well.



It was all going fine until Grayson went in for a cuddle at the end. He’s only short and the cut in elsas dress is very high! So when he put his arms out one of them went straight through the cut in her skirt and on to her legs! Poor Elsa had a bit of a shock! Grayson had no idea what he had done at all. Lol!




We had three fast passes booked today and also a lunch ADR.
The first fastpass was living with the land. This was a new experience for us as it’s not something we’d done before. As we were about to board the boat we saw Phil and Sarah a few lines back in the queue.

We all enjoyed this and thought it was a nice way to spend some time relaxing. It was interesting to see everything.
It isn’t our favourite attraction but we would definitely do it again.

When we got off we waited at the gates for Phil and Sarah as the kids wanted to say hi.


It was now time for our next fastpass which was the Nemo ride. We took the short walk over there and got in line. This type of ride always seems to please the kids and I like the cute seashell cars we sit in (I’m easily pleased!). The song at the end of this gets stuck in my head for days afterwards!
When we came off here it was 11.20. Our lunch was booked for 11.50 at SAN angel inn. So we decided to start walking around that way but taking a pit stop in MouseGear.

We loved it in here. I could have spent a fortune! Grayson liked the ‘make your own lightsaber’ stand. Sorry kid - not happening!


He also fell in love with the giant plushies! Again - not happening!



They found some toy sets that they liked and wanted to buy with their spending money but Miley could not decide which one she wanted. So we said we’d come back later. We left the shop and Miley became very agitated and started to get upset. I think she panicked that this was her last chance to get one of these sets (which it absolutely wasn’t as they were everywhere!)
She promised us she knew which one she wanted now and Grayson already knew what he wanted. So Simon took her back in the shop to buy them.
I stayed outside with Grayson and he asked me to take some photos of him. Here are a selection - we ended up with about 30! He’s such a little character!








Miley came out of the shop a very happy girl which was nice to see. She had bought the Rapunsel playset and Grayson had chosen the Anna play set.
We walked around to the Mexico pavilion which is where San Angel Inn is located, overlooking the ride at the back of the pavilion.

I love the setting of this restaurant and think the atmosphere is lovely. Both the kids love Mexican food so we thought this would be a nice choice for all of us.




We were very lucky and were sat at a table right next to the water so we could see the boats from the ride going around.
We ordered our food and then the kids opened their new playsets to keep them entertained.


Whilst I really liked the restaurant and the food. There really wasn’t much space in here. The tables were really squeezed in and I think because it’s dark it makes it harder to manoeuvre around. So it was a bit tricky at times.
Simon had tacos and I had enchiladas, both kids had chicken tenders and then we had a bowl of tortilla chips to share. All the food was good and Miley and Grayson shared mine and Simons so that they got to try everything.




Whilst this wasn’t my favourite restaurant of the holiday, we did really like it and we’d definitely eat here again. Although I don’t think it would be as enjoyable at a table further away from the water. Maybe that’s just me.

We wandered back through the Mexican pavilion and came back out into the sunshine. Wow! That sunshine is a shock to the senses when you’ve been inside the darkened Mexico pavilion for so long. It must be so strange to work in there all day and then come outside after hours in the dark.

Our last fastpass of the day was Soarin. This was again a new experience for us all as we’d never done it before.



I don’t know if I ever explained that before we had kids Simon and i had visited Florida numerous times but hadn’t ever done Epcot. I’d been to Epcot once years ago when I was 19 and it just didn’t grab me. Simon read about it when we were going on our trips and nothing ever jumped out at him so we focused on the other parks.
Then when we brought the kids in 2016 they were too small for the big rides so we did the family friendly stuff and mainly visited characters. Hence us never having done Soarin.

I really had no idea what to expect and so I was feeling a bit anxious. I’m not good with the unknown and so the queuing system was stressing me out as I couldn’t tell where we were going etc. I hid my worry about this as I knew Miley was feeling exactly the same as she also worries and struggles with the unknown. I reassured her and we distracted both the kids by talking to them about other things.

When we entered into the main room we were very lucky as we got the front/top row. So there were no feet dangling in front of us.

Oh my goodness! I LOVE this ride. How amazing!
It literally took my breath away and I just wanted to go straight back on it. I can certainly see why it’s so popular.
It is definitely now one of my very favourite rides!
Simon really enjoyed it, as did Grayson. But I think Miley found it to be a bit too much in terms of sensory overload.
I’m really hoping she’ll be willing to give it another go on our next trip as she’ll be older and she’ll know what to expect.
Thinking about it now is really making me want to ride again. For me I thought it was pure magic!

After this we made our way out of the park and headed back to the villa. We left the park at 1.30.
I do love that the carpark for Epcot is so close by and so easily accessible!

We were back at the villa by 2.15 and were going to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing.


We all got in the swimming pool at 3pm and Phil and Sarah joined us as well. The kids had a fantastic time with four grownups at their disposal for swimming pool fun! There was a lot of jumping in and splashing and races and just plain being silly!
Again we loved the outlook from the villa and the weather was just so perfect!
We stayed in the pool until 4.30 and still had to drag the kids out!

At around 5.30 we left the villa and drove up to the 192 for dinner at Joe’s Crab Shack.
We’ve always had good meals here, although it’s always SO quiet I have no idea how they stay in business!
We were given a booth which is always good with the kids.
The kids both had pizza, Phil and Simon had shrimp and Sarah and I had the crab burger.



It was all really tasty and everyone enjoyed their food.
We decided to go all out and order a dessert as well. I love their puddings so just couldn’t resist.
Simon had key lime pie, I had a Crabby Apple Crumble and the kids had an build your own ice-cream sandwich.




Again these were all lovely. I’d probably go as far to say that they were some of our favourite desserts of the holiday. The kids loved the ice-cream sandwich dessert and it was only a couple of dollars so was a bargain.
And my crabby apple crumble was amazing! I want some right now!

Whilst we were eating someone was going around making balloon animals etc. They made Miley a dog which she loved and a sword for Grayson! Just what we wanted; a crazy 3 year old with a balloon sword at dinner time!



We finished up and left the restaurant at 7.15. Phil was a good sport and was pretending to sword fight with Grayson.


Sarah and Phil decided to go back to Epcot to do some of the things they missed during the day.
We headed home with the kids to get them to bed.
After a busy day they were asleep by 8.30.
Simon did some work and I watched a few episodes of a show called The Fosters which I found on Netflix. I was in bed by 10pm. Rock and roll!

Edited at 07:38 PM.
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Old 6 May 19, 08:36 PM  
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Lisa29
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Old 22 May 19, 04:39 PM  
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Originally Posted by Lisa29 View Post
Another great day.x
Thanks so much for reading
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