Slinky Dog, Toy Story Midway Mania and Reflections of Earth

Sorry for the delay but here is the penultimate “holiday” post.

To be honest, I can’t remember much about day 8. I know it was Tuesday and I know we went to Hollywood Studios for what was supposed to be a quick trip to go on the new Slinky Dog ride, Toy Story Midway Mania and Rockin’ Roller Coaster. With the wait times, we couldn’t get any fastpasses, I think we were in there for about 3 hours.

I remember what we did in the morning now … mini golf, again! This time we tried the winter course at Winter Summerland.

After Hollywood Studios, we decided to walk to Epcot rather than wait in the long queue for the boat. It only took about 25-30 minutes to walk and it was a lovely stroll.

We didn’t really have a plan for Epcot except the Man wanted to see the American Adventure show so we went to see what time the next show was. As it happened we had 45 minutes to wait so, as there was a quick service restaurant next door we decided to have something to eat and then go into the show. Obviously I’m not American but I love the attractions which teach me a little bit about the history of the US, even if it is probably very biased.

After the American Adventure we went over to Test Track for a return time. While we were waiting the Boy and I went shopping. I wanted a 2018 decoration for my tree and a 2018 pin (I’m still looking for the pin). Then it was back to Test Track for a ride in the dark – awesome!

Finally, we ended the night with Reflections of Earth.

 

Epcot, Studios and a Surprise

 

After waking up at silly o’clock and enjoying the sunrise, our first full day started with breakfast at the Garden Grill in Epcot. I love the character interaction at the Garden Grill but, until this trip, we had only had the option for dinner. Breakfast was great!

 

The interaction with the characters was great.  They are all brilliant with Adam.  I don’t know why it’s as if they can sense that his speech isn’t great and he needs extra time.  We saw each of the characters a few times and they probably weren’t the same people in the costumes each time.  One of the Chips was fab.  He came up behind Adam and waited until Adam turned around.  When Adam turned, Chip took hold of his hands and started stroking them.  It was brilliant!

After breakfast, we went on Soarin’.  Well, it’s in the same building so it would have been rude not to, right?  We then went to the Seas and rode the ride before going around the aquarium.  We went over to Test Track to get a return time and then went to find the DVC Member Lounge to get a drink while we waited.  After Test Track, we went for a walk around the world to go on the new (to us) Frozen ride.  It is the same track as the previous ride in Norway but with the Frozen characters.  As is usually the way, if anyone is going to get wet it will be me.  I got wet!  Fortunately, it was very warm outside so I dried off quickly.

As UK visitors with a 14-day ultimate pass get Disney’s Memory Maker for free, we stopped off to get a few photos in some of the countries.  As it was our anniversary celebration, the Man and I got a couple with just the two of us.

After we had finished everything that we wanted to do on our first visit to Epcot we went on the boat to Hollywood Studios.  We only wanted to go on two rides here, Rockin’ Roller Coaster and Toy Story Mania.  Unfortunately, the queues for both were long so we were probably longer in the park than we originally intended.  That’s OK, we used some of our waiting time to go through One Man’s Dream.  Of course, I beat the Man and Adam at Toy Story Mania.  In fact, my score beat both of theirs added together!  I can’t say the same for the Buzz Lightyear ride in the Magic Kingdom which we went on later in the week, though.

After we finished the 2 attractions we really wanted to do in Hollywood Studios, we went back to the resort on the bus.  When we got back to the room there was a tray with a note on it telling us to look in the fridge.  This is what we found!  This is one of the many little (and not so little) things that Disney do that make us go back again and again.  After all, with little touches like these, why wouldn’t we?

So, that is the end of our first full day at Disney World.  Day 2 will be along next week, I hope!  If you missed the post about our travel day, just go back one post ;).

Daily Prompt: The Satisfaction of a List

This is my first Daily Prompt post for a while, in fact I think the last one was in January, but I am trying to get myself back in to the swing of blogging as I have actually been missing it. Today’s prompt was to make a list and as I have a challenge on my 101 in 1001 list to make a list of my top 10 (I think) things to do in each of the Parks at Disney World, I thought I’d get a head start on that.

 

So, here we go with my top 10 things to do at Epcot:

1. Take a ride on Test Track.
2. Take a ride on Soarin’ – this is one of my top 10 rides at Disney World. I find it relaxing and exhilarating at the same time. Look out for the golf ball as you go over the golf course 😉
3. Go around the World – take your time and make sure to speak to the cast members in each country. You can find out all sorts of information.
4. Have dinner at the Garden Grill. This is a character dinner with Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. We have eaten here on our last 2 trips to Disney World and enjoyed it both times. In fact, on our last trip my step-daughter asked Dale if he’d like to come home with us and he said he would but had to stay to work. My step-daughter then asked that if her Dad could do his job would he like to come back with us? Dale said yes but the training of Dad didn’t go very well so Dale had to stay. It was very funny though and made a lot of the other diners smile too. I also danced with Pluto 🙂
5. Learn about the history of communication in the Epcot ball, narrated by Dame Judi Dench.
6. Visit Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore in the UK. They are my favourite characters so I’m not going to give them a miss.
7. If you are there at Christmas, go and see the Candlelight Processional to hear the Christmas story.
8. In the Land Pavillion, take a ride around Living with the Land to discover what they can do with different plants to help them grow in harsh environments.
9. Go and see the manatees in the Seas Pavillion and while you are there go and have a chat withCrush too.
10. Last, but by no means least, go and learn about energy with Ellen De Generes.