MouseFan88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2014
Day Three, Part Two: "Baboff"
A bit of background here is probably good. My girlie E is absolutely obsessed with most things Frozen, and especially Kristoff. About 2 months ago I happened upon a gently used set of Frozen figurines (that accidentally also came with Snow White's prince that Jeff thought was Prince Philip, and so named it Philip and once I corrected him it was too late, so he's now Philip forever ...) - and that boy Kristoff goes EVERYWHERE with her. His head has popped off thanks to drops over tile a couple of times, and we quickly super-glue it back on to avoid devastation. He comes in the car with us, he goes shopping with us, he sits on the table while E eats her meals, and she asks for him first thing out of the crib every day. So she was pretty disappointed in the lack of all things Kristoff in the parks, but I knew today we'd at least see her main man on FEA! (She pronounces Kristoff "Baboff", thus our title for this chapter)
First, we followed up our character spot fun by heading over to the Seas. The ride was a walk-on, so we did that and then dumped out and used our FP+ for Turtle Talk with Crush (which also wasn't necessary). I think the adults definitely enjoy this one more than the kiddos, but E has seen Finding Nemo/Finding Dory a fair number of times, so she enjoyed seeing some familiar faces and gamely joined in saying "Duuuuuuude!" whenever possible. After that, we spent a significant amount of time viewing the tanks. I don't find that those photograph well, so I'll just show this one photo to show that we were there
Double bonus - we had spent so much time indoors this morning that we didn't even have to apply sunscreen until we were ready to leave the Seas. As a family of really pale folk, this meant a lot to us. Once that was completed, we headed to the World Showcase - this is normally my favorite part of Disney. I'm a big traveller, and I love taking a relaxing stroll all the way around the lagoon. Plus, it was our first ever F+W festival. We're big foodies too. So what could go wrong? (insert ominous music). But first ...
She was more excited than she looks, I promise. But she was also tired and it was approximately 762 degrees outside. It was rough. We all enjoyed the ride, although it's interesting that even on the ride you only see Kristoff once. I mean, I seem to remember that even Sven was there at least twice. Show the guy some love! We exited the ride and visited our favorite giant troll friend, who E decided needed a high five.
And we made our way over to Anna and Elsa's abode. We figured this meet would be a huge hit, but it went a little bit off the rails. First, we met with Elsa, but E could see Anna just a few feet away and spent the whole time asking for "Anna"
Side note - am I the only one that thinks all of the Elsas look awful? I have yet to see an Elsa I appreciate. Maybe it's the wig...
So, we eventually finally make it over to Anna, and E starts interrogating her about Kristoff. Now, she doesn't put more than two words together at a time yet since she's just 19 months old, but it was pretty easy to catch her drift. Once I explained to Anna that "Baboff" meant "Kristoff" even she figured out that E wanted to know where he was. Photographic evidence of interrogation:
Anna pleasantly explained that Kristoff was very busy with his job as the official ice deliverer of Arendelle, and so unfortunately was currently on the North Mountain. E obviously decided that wasn't an acceptable answer.
At this point, E was wiped. We put her in the stroller, headed clockwise (the only way to do the WS, IMO) and she was out before we hit China. Now, this is where today got a little sad for me. I knew that the best time to try to call airlines and reservations in order to not disrupt "family" time was do call while E napped. Original plan was for Jeff and I to do the leisurely WS stroll and discover all the fun hidden quiet spots, but that all went out the window. It was hot and humid and sunny, so the best way to keep E asleep was to head straight to the fountain courtyard in Morocco and ... circle.
I eventually spent almost 2 hours on the phone with Southwest as we walked and E napped, and all they would do for me was move our cancelled Sunday afternoon flight to a Monday evening flight that they admitted would probably also get cancelled. But they claimed they could do nothing else. Argh. This will be continued later this night and the next morning ...
Eventually E woke up and we kept walking, and then I got off the phone and was admittedly hot, hungry, and cranky! Only one way to solve that mood issue - F+W festival! It was soooo hot this day I decided I would forgo the alcoholic portion of F+W. I really wanted to at least try some of the hard ciders being offered, but I was already so thirsty and sweaty, I just couldn't get myself to commit.
Before the trip, I had made a spreadsheet of all of the food options available at the festival, along with their prices and where they were located. I rated each one on a scale of 1-5 based on how much I wanted to try it, and Jeff did too. We compiled those, figured out some options that would make us all happy, and had a strategy for which booths to hit
Like any good trip reporter, I diligently took pictures of all of our dishes. But ... it was so hot and muggy this day, the food was *not* visually appetizing, so I don't think I'll share the pictures here. Thankfully, it still tasted amazing! At this first stop, we all shared the Filet from the Canada booth and the Venison Loin from the New Zealand booth. The Filet was melt-in-your-mouth delicious and perfectly cooked. Obviously over-priced for the portion, but that's what you get at F+W. Jeff and I have been to New Zealand before, so we're familiar with their cooking and especially their love of venison, and so this dish was somewhat nostalgic for us. It was so yummy, and we both liked the kumara puree.
After roasting in the heat and eating some hot food dishes, it was time to cool down. What better place to cool down than Mexico, right? Ha. We knew this would be a good break because of the cool and darkness, and because it has a boat ride, and we all know now how much E loves any Disney boat ride. Bonus - this boat ride has fake fireworks near the end, so I thought she would especially like it. We've arrived!
We completed our Gran Fiesta Tour and then put off returning into the heat by joking around at the various souvenir stalls
I really wanted to get a giant sombrero for E, but how in the world would you actually get one of those home with you?!
At this point, our time in the World Showcase had come to a close. It definitely wasn't relaxing, but E had a great time. If/when we get to go back in a few years, hopefully a hurricane won't be bearing down on us, and I'll be able to enjoy it more
A bit of background here is probably good. My girlie E is absolutely obsessed with most things Frozen, and especially Kristoff. About 2 months ago I happened upon a gently used set of Frozen figurines (that accidentally also came with Snow White's prince that Jeff thought was Prince Philip, and so named it Philip and once I corrected him it was too late, so he's now Philip forever ...) - and that boy Kristoff goes EVERYWHERE with her. His head has popped off thanks to drops over tile a couple of times, and we quickly super-glue it back on to avoid devastation. He comes in the car with us, he goes shopping with us, he sits on the table while E eats her meals, and she asks for him first thing out of the crib every day. So she was pretty disappointed in the lack of all things Kristoff in the parks, but I knew today we'd at least see her main man on FEA! (She pronounces Kristoff "Baboff", thus our title for this chapter)
First, we followed up our character spot fun by heading over to the Seas. The ride was a walk-on, so we did that and then dumped out and used our FP+ for Turtle Talk with Crush (which also wasn't necessary). I think the adults definitely enjoy this one more than the kiddos, but E has seen Finding Nemo/Finding Dory a fair number of times, so she enjoyed seeing some familiar faces and gamely joined in saying "Duuuuuuude!" whenever possible. After that, we spent a significant amount of time viewing the tanks. I don't find that those photograph well, so I'll just show this one photo to show that we were there
Double bonus - we had spent so much time indoors this morning that we didn't even have to apply sunscreen until we were ready to leave the Seas. As a family of really pale folk, this meant a lot to us. Once that was completed, we headed to the World Showcase - this is normally my favorite part of Disney. I'm a big traveller, and I love taking a relaxing stroll all the way around the lagoon. Plus, it was our first ever F+W festival. We're big foodies too. So what could go wrong? (insert ominous music). But first ...
She was more excited than she looks, I promise. But she was also tired and it was approximately 762 degrees outside. It was rough. We all enjoyed the ride, although it's interesting that even on the ride you only see Kristoff once. I mean, I seem to remember that even Sven was there at least twice. Show the guy some love! We exited the ride and visited our favorite giant troll friend, who E decided needed a high five.
And we made our way over to Anna and Elsa's abode. We figured this meet would be a huge hit, but it went a little bit off the rails. First, we met with Elsa, but E could see Anna just a few feet away and spent the whole time asking for "Anna"
Side note - am I the only one that thinks all of the Elsas look awful? I have yet to see an Elsa I appreciate. Maybe it's the wig...
So, we eventually finally make it over to Anna, and E starts interrogating her about Kristoff. Now, she doesn't put more than two words together at a time yet since she's just 19 months old, but it was pretty easy to catch her drift. Once I explained to Anna that "Baboff" meant "Kristoff" even she figured out that E wanted to know where he was. Photographic evidence of interrogation:
Anna pleasantly explained that Kristoff was very busy with his job as the official ice deliverer of Arendelle, and so unfortunately was currently on the North Mountain. E obviously decided that wasn't an acceptable answer.
At this point, E was wiped. We put her in the stroller, headed clockwise (the only way to do the WS, IMO) and she was out before we hit China. Now, this is where today got a little sad for me. I knew that the best time to try to call airlines and reservations in order to not disrupt "family" time was do call while E napped. Original plan was for Jeff and I to do the leisurely WS stroll and discover all the fun hidden quiet spots, but that all went out the window. It was hot and humid and sunny, so the best way to keep E asleep was to head straight to the fountain courtyard in Morocco and ... circle.
I eventually spent almost 2 hours on the phone with Southwest as we walked and E napped, and all they would do for me was move our cancelled Sunday afternoon flight to a Monday evening flight that they admitted would probably also get cancelled. But they claimed they could do nothing else. Argh. This will be continued later this night and the next morning ...
Eventually E woke up and we kept walking, and then I got off the phone and was admittedly hot, hungry, and cranky! Only one way to solve that mood issue - F+W festival! It was soooo hot this day I decided I would forgo the alcoholic portion of F+W. I really wanted to at least try some of the hard ciders being offered, but I was already so thirsty and sweaty, I just couldn't get myself to commit.
Before the trip, I had made a spreadsheet of all of the food options available at the festival, along with their prices and where they were located. I rated each one on a scale of 1-5 based on how much I wanted to try it, and Jeff did too. We compiled those, figured out some options that would make us all happy, and had a strategy for which booths to hit
Like any good trip reporter, I diligently took pictures of all of our dishes. But ... it was so hot and muggy this day, the food was *not* visually appetizing, so I don't think I'll share the pictures here. Thankfully, it still tasted amazing! At this first stop, we all shared the Filet from the Canada booth and the Venison Loin from the New Zealand booth. The Filet was melt-in-your-mouth delicious and perfectly cooked. Obviously over-priced for the portion, but that's what you get at F+W. Jeff and I have been to New Zealand before, so we're familiar with their cooking and especially their love of venison, and so this dish was somewhat nostalgic for us. It was so yummy, and we both liked the kumara puree.
After roasting in the heat and eating some hot food dishes, it was time to cool down. What better place to cool down than Mexico, right? Ha. We knew this would be a good break because of the cool and darkness, and because it has a boat ride, and we all know now how much E loves any Disney boat ride. Bonus - this boat ride has fake fireworks near the end, so I thought she would especially like it. We've arrived!
We completed our Gran Fiesta Tour and then put off returning into the heat by joking around at the various souvenir stalls
I really wanted to get a giant sombrero for E, but how in the world would you actually get one of those home with you?!
At this point, our time in the World Showcase had come to a close. It definitely wasn't relaxing, but E had a great time. If/when we get to go back in a few years, hopefully a hurricane won't be bearing down on us, and I'll be able to enjoy it more