Don’t go to the mall: Christmas in Disney, Day 5

We made it up for rope drop today! Well, “we” being CP and me. We grabbed some energy bars for breakfast and were out the door by 8:10, and were at Epcot by 8:30. The crowd at the turnstiles was small, and we ended up 2nd in line. Unlike our last trip, there was no morning show before rope drop, and we were let in before 9am for a much more civilized power walk to Soarin’. We made it onto the first ride of the day, and ended up in Row 1 without asking. Soarin’, if you ask me, needs a good restoration – the film is dirty, and it detracts from the experience of flying when you see giant pieces of dust on the screen. Still fun, though, and we grabbed FastPasses with a return time of 10:05-11:05. This gave us time to walk to Test Track, which had zero wait and allowed us to ride together (we

MINE.

normally ride single rider to save time). With time to kill before our Soarin’ FP return, we headed to the Seas pavilion to visit the Nemo seagulls, and then we popped into the aquarium to see the fish. It was hard to concentrate on the tanks with so many kids running and screaming, so we headed back to the Land pavilion and rode Livin’ with the Land, a ride we like about once every three trips or so.

Too many beans for breakfast?

We made it back to Soarin’ at 10:08 a.m. The FastPass line was still about 20 minutes, good but not great. Having accomplished all we wanted to, we headed back to OKW to round up my grandparents for a Starbucks run. The Starbucks run turned into a shoe run, since my grandfather’s shoes were literally falling apart. We killed two birds with one stone by going to the Orlando Premium Outlets, where we had coffee and pastry before doing some shopping.

Here’s a tip: don’t go to the Premium Outlets on a weekend. Good lord it was crazy. Hard to find a parking spot, hard to get around, hard to think in all the noise. On the plus side, my GF found shoes; I found some yoga pants at the Lululemon outlet; and we ended up finding some surprisingly good deals at the Disney outlet. Our best score was the softest T-shirt you’ll ever find, and it sported Mr. Met to boot – our favorite mascot! We also bought CP’s parents some delicious chocolate from the Italy pavilion in Epcot, I got a new sleep shirt (a XXXL men’s Mickey shirt, very soft and 10 bucks), and my grandmother found some Christmas presents for my mom and aunt.

Satisfied, we headed back to OKW. I did some Sudoku on the porch overlooking the golf course, and then CP and I took afternoon siestas. Around 5pm, CP and I decided to head out to the Animal Kingdom, a park we particularly love at night. We took photos and a quick ride on EE (row 11, pretty good).

Evening on the mountain.

We walked through Dinoland, which was overrun with Pop Warner kids set free after their afternoon practice. Not in the mood to deal with hoards of tweens, we headed back to the car and over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to see the decorations. Reminded again how much I really love AKL, although the decorations there were actually more impressive in pictures as opposed to in person. We browsed the gift shop (best on property? I think maybe.), had a snack of chicken corn chowder at the Mara, drank some soda, and debated whether or not we wanted to keep our late dinner reservation at the Rose & Crown pub. On the plus side, I was hopeful for a waterside seat for IllumiNations. On the downside, we were tired, not terribly hungry, and a little on the fence about the R&C.

Somehow the AKL tree looks better in photos than in person...

We decide to head back to Epcot and see how we feel. We again park close enough to walk in, and head right to Spaceship Earth, which stops on us not once but three times. Then it’s off to Club Cool for my beloved Mezzo Mix, where we decided on a whim to keep the ADR for Rose & Crown. On our way we browse the stores in Canada (which had very cute Christmas ornaments), and head to the U.K. to check in for our ADR a bit early. I ask for outdoor seating, and am told it’s going to be an “incredibly” long wait. Not feeling sold on the ADR anyway, I confirm that’s fine, thinking we’ll just bail if the wait is too long. I kid you not, our buzzer went off less than ten minutes later, which was good since we had been sitting on a bench with a very rude man obsessed with giving his fish and chips a seat on the bench. (Really.)

As we’re being shown to our table, the hostess asks us if we like fireworks – something I take as a good sign. I reply that IllumiNations is my absolute favorite show, and I tell her that I used to watch it all the time when I worked at Epcot on the College Program (which is true). She smiles and tells us we’ll like the table she has for us, which is a two-top right by the water. Next to us on one side is a delightful table of international college program participants who work at the Rose & Crown; on the other, a less-than-delightful table of screaming children and racial stereotype-making adults. Odd.

For a drink I chose the English Rose, and CP had a Cider & Black. We split a cheese plate, which was very good, and then CP ordered the vegetable curry and I the Sunday roast. Let’s just say if we come back to the R&C it won’t be for the entrees. CP’s curry was kind of bland, and my food was lukewarm if not cold. The sides were good (especially the potatoes), but the meat was stringy and fatty. Luckily dessert saved the meal; while CP’s trifle was underwhelming, my sticky toffee pudding was hot, sweet, and amazing. We finished the night with Bailey’s and coffee while watching the show, and we did in fact have a terrific view:

I can feel my hair melting off now!

We could feel the heat from the globe, and at points I had to cover my ears because the fireworks were so loud and close. We let the crowds disperse before we head out, and then we headed back to OKW for wine and sleep.

A few other shots from our Epcot evening: