Thursday, October 21st
On Thursday, we slept in and hung around the house a bit in the morning to rest. I hit the grocery store for some food and drinks for our drive home on Saturday, and then we headed over to Epcot for more F&W.
The first thing we did when we arrived was to ride the golf ball. On our last trip I somehow ended up riding the darn thing with the language set to German, so this time I let my daughter program it for me. It is a much better ride when you can understand it, although Im not a fan of Judi Dench as narrator. She sounds too much like Christiane Amanpour, who I cant stand. But still, I wasnt a fan of Cronkite either. I think the ride would be better narrated by Gary Sinise. Id believe him. I dont gain much hope for the future of the human race from Damn Judi Dench.
Anyways, afterward we grabbed FPs for Soarin and then rode Captain EO. Being a child of the 80s, and having seen it back then, I thought Id enjoy it. Well, I suppose I enjoyed it a little, just to remember how bad it was. Kind of like how Im curious to know what waterboarding feels like. Id like to find out, very very briefly, and then be able to walk away and go about my day. But we were there, so we sat through it. And got a chuckle or two out of it. Like when the queen is supposedly beautified and it turns out to be Anjelica Huston. Who thought that was a good idea? She looked better covered in snakes.
Ok, so we were batting a thousand. It was time to do what men do when the going gets tough. They go eat. So off to the WS we went. And here is where my brilliant plan was put into motion. Remember how our first foray into Food & Wine turned into Food & Whine? It was too hard sharing items between all 6 of us. In particular, DD14 and DD13 wanted to try everything
and they have adult appetites. I couldnt blame them for wanting to try things, but it wasnt working. So, I get them their own wristband gift card and loaded it with enough money for them to try some things on their own. And we sent them on their way, with plans to meet back at Soarin at our fastpass time.
Brilliant! It was SO much more enjoyable for all parties. My two older girls are extremely responsible, they stuck together, managed their time well, still got to ride Test Track and they enjoyed some delicacies. The rest of us ate our way from Canada to Germany.
Here is a shot of the roses along walkway.
Our first stop was Canada. Having never dined at Le Cellier, I was interested in trying the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup. And what better to wash cheese down with than a Moosehead!
Next up was England. Fish and chips and a Bass.
DD10 of course had to pose for the standard phonebooth shot.
We then wandered over to France.
And then I tried another item I love
the Spicy Tuna Roll from Japan.
We stopped at America to get some kid food for DD4 and DD10, and watched a little of the drum and fife corps.
Then we went to Germany so I could get one of these.
Yep, thats the Nurnberger Sausage in a Pretzel Roll, made famous in a very disturbing photo by TCD some time back. Notice how appetizing it looks just sitting on its plate. It was quite good. And Im glad I gave it a chance. I had vowed to NEVER try one after seeing TCDs picture.
We then started to leave the German pavilion, and who should we see??
Yes, you guessed it.
It was none other than
the Octo-Ho herself. My dear Ms. White!
Woo hoo! And the line wasnt even that long. So we headed toward the end of it. And it see her motion to the CM manning the line like this.
She was pleading with the CM to close the line! At least thats the way it looks to me. Doesnt it look like shes saying pssst! That creep is coming! Close the line! Puh-LEASSSEEE!
And wouldnt you know it
but as we approached the end of the line, the CM made the pronouncement I have heard so many times now I could repeat it in my sleep. Im sorry, but Snow White is going to be taking a break soon. Please come back later. GRRRRR!!!!!!
I couldnt believe it. Clearly, I am done playing this thing on the up and up. I try to play by the rules. I get in line like everyone else, but the deck is stacked against me. Why is she hating on me so?!?
I need a better plan. And I am a patient man. Some day. Some how.
After that public humiliation, I needed to duck inside somewhere and collect my thoughts. So we rode the Maelstrom. And tried on silly Viking hats.
And then it was time to get back to the Land for our Soarin fastpasses. Our girls were waiting there for us when we arrived, and we all rode it together. And then we left the park.
We saw the Tron monorail on our way to the parking lot. That is always cool.
On the way back to the house, we stopped at one of the tacky giftshops along 192. This one was particularly eyecatching
and it didnt hurt that it was next door to a Dunkin Donuts.
Didnt buy anything, as it was all crap. But it did inspire us to spend the evening shopping for even higher priced crap
.at Downtown Disney.
I cant go to WDW this time of year without stopping by Earl of Sandwich for the Holiday Sandwich. I love that thing! Turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce and mayo. Yum!
One thing to remember when going to EoS. While they dont take the Disney discount cards (TiW or AP), they DO give a AAA discount of 15%. Those are real savings!
We walked around DTD for a while, hitting some of the shops, but we didnt buy anything. Feeling too cheap I guess. But we enjoyed ourselves.
At that point, I had a major sweet tooth. Ghirardelli is right there, but the last time we got ice cream there I was very disappointed in the serving sizes for what they charge. The sundae dish looks big, but the glass is about an inch thick so there is only like one scoop in there for $7! So, we got in the car and drove to the Beach Club to hit Beaches and Cream.
We decided not to get a table and get the kitchen sink this time. It was such as nice evening, we got ice cream from the window and grabbed a table outside.
Its Not Cindy and I each got hot fudge sundaes.
I forget what the kids ordered, but 3 out of 4 of them were very happy. One didnt care for hers. And when you are raising 4 girls and get a 75% approval rating on anything, you run with it.
And that was it for our day. We ran ourselves through the mill again, and everyone was tired. But no one more so than DD4.
Scary, huh?
Next up
our final day, including Please Dont Let Them Sing To Me.
