August Trip Report: Disney Day 5

Cast:
Us
Jen
Joe
H - Just turned 2 in June

Our friends
Kelsey
John
J - Turned 2 in March

My parents
John
Mary

This morning we woke up feeling a little sad. It would be our last day in the parks with Kelsey, John and J as their flight was the next morning. This whole trip had started from a conversation Kelsey and I had had years ago about needing to go to Disney World together because she felt like my trips were more fun than her trips and she wanted me to not only plan hers (which I'd done for her last trip), but be there to execute it...we hadn't intended for it to be several years later, but life got in the way, I got married, we both got pregnant and then we wanted to wait until the kids were at least this age before we went. It was really great to be able to finally get our Disney trip together..and to be able to share it with our kids.

Breakfast was muffins in the room that we had picked up the night before at Mara. At the bus stop we hopped the bus to Epcot and made our way towards the Land Pavilion. We got there a little early for our planned first stop, so we darted into the Circle of Life movie because it was just about to start. Slightly heavy handed message though it is, I actually enjoy this video and H really enjoyed seeing Simba. After it was over we head over to check in for Kelsey’s surprise. She loves gardening and after seeing pictures from our last trip she was excited to check out the Land and had been disappointed on her last trip that it was not open.

As a treat for Kelsey, I got the whole group of us tickets to the Behind the Seeds tour. Joe and I had done it on our last visit and found it utterly fascinating. Our guide was relatively new, but earnest and excited about what he was doing, which was fun. Walking through the greenhouses and getting to see up close and personal the things that you would see (and some things you can’t really see) on the Living with the Land boat ride and being able to ask questions and get a deeper level of information is really neat.

Even pushing the kids through the tour in the double stroller they let us use to go through the greenhouses and trying to keep them entertained, I still found the tour great and the rest of the group seemed to enjoy it, too. The tour lasts a little over an hour and we had fastpasses for Soarin’ immediately afterwards. J was getting tired, and Kelsey and John decided to pass on the ride and keep H as well so that my parents, Joe and I could all go together. After our flight over California (I’m happy to have had another flight over California since I don’t know if we’ll get back again before they switch to the new video) we met back up with Kelsey, John and the kids (both of whom were sleeping!) and got some lunch from the Sunshine Seasons. Joe and I each had absolutely delicious tuna salads.

After lunch, Kelsey was excited to share Figment with J because Figment had been her favorite character when she was young. We all loved our ride (although H did not enjoy the couple of moments where the lights went completely out) and the kids spent a good amount of time playing in the area after the ride. H loves water and my father was looking forward to seeing him with the jumping fountains outside Imagination. They spent a while playing with the circle fountain that has the water drops jump up trying to catch water drops. It was very fun to watch.

Nemo was next up, so we walked back towards the Living Seas for our ride under the water. We spent some time in the aquarium checking out the manatee, dolphin and various other tanks. I love aquariums, a lot, and H has definitely inherited that love. This was our third aquarium in a week and he was just as excited to look at things as he was at the first two. We had fastpasses for Turtle Talk so we hung out with Crush before making our way to the World Showcase.

No trip is complete without a stop at Club Cool. Most of the flavors were new to us, although of course there was the Beverly. I did miss the MezzoMix, it is a favorite of mine, but we all really enjoyed the Fanta Pineapple from Greece and the Fanta Melon from Thailand.

We had time before our dinner reservations so we made our way clockwise around the World Showcase. We stopped in Mexico when we came upon Mariachi Cobre playing. H enjoyed listening and dancing and using the maracas that the dancer let him play. My parents, Joe, H and I stayed for the remainder of the set (and Joe and I sipped some frozen margaritas as long as we were in Mexico and stopped right across from the stand). Kelsey, John and J stayed and danced for a while and then moved on when J needed a break in some air conditioning. We took H’s picture with the band after their set and he was so fascinated by the guitarist’s guitar that we could barely get him to look at our camera. Our boy definitely loves music.

We met back up with Kelsey, John and J in Norway and window shopped for a little while. I love Frozen, but I do not think all things need to be Frozen. I was a little sad with how much of this store is now taken up with Frozen themed items.

Our dinner time was rapidly approaching, so we head off to Morocco. Although I love them all, and would probably say “one of my favorite pavilions” for the vast majority of them, Morocco is my favorite pavilion in the World Showcase. I just love the way it looks, sounds and smells. I love shopping in the stores, and I absolutely *love* eating here. The three or four other times I have eaten at Restaurant Marrakesh there were maybe three or four other tables filled...granted I have only ever eaten there for lunch prior to this trip….when we checked in for our ADR there was a wait, and several other tables waiting as well. Once we were seated, it was easy to see that the restaurant was packed (and noisy). Dinner was amazing. Joe and I split the goat cheese appetizer and Joe had the lamb shank and I had the Couscous M'Rouzia, which was unique and delicious.

After dinner Kelsey, John and J head back to the hotel and my parents, Joe, H and I staked out a spot for Illuminations. We ended up just to the side of the Rose and Crown’s outdoor seating area and had a pretty decent view. After it was over we head back to the buses. There were extra magic hours at Epcot that night, so maybe that’s why we got lucky with the buses, but we had just a short wait and were able to get on the first bus that came. Poor Kelsey, John and J had only gotten back to the hotel about 10 minutes before us, despite having separated from us about 8:30.

Next up: Animal Kingdom and La Nouba