Tag Archives: october trip

Nerds in Epcot, or: October, Day 4

Posted on by

0

Sunday dawned hot and sunny, not that we were up to see it – neither one of us was up before 10am today, having stayed out late the night before.  After a quick coffee/hot chocolate infusion and some trail mix eaten on the run, we grabbed a bus to Epcot and proceeded immediately to the Land pavillion to secure Fast Passes for Soarin’.  Metaphorical running of the bulls over with, we meandered over to the Mexico pavillion, and made our way through to Norway, where we stopped for a sweet almond pretzel and a quick rest in the shade.  We then proceeded to walk and shop, photographing some of the more interesting (or daresay ridiculous) things that caught our eye, paying special attention to the Steiff bears in Germany and the mesmerizing selection of chocolates in Italy.

Even the banners in the tiny German train village are correctly themed...and this is why I love Disney.

We ended up in the Mitsukoshi department store in Japan, our first of many trips this week to scope the wares and see what would inevitably end up in our suitcase when we went home.  CP is a dedicated Totoro fan, and we were saddened to see that Totoro merchandise wasn’t particularly well-represented.

O Canada!

With hunger settling in we headed to Morocco and snagged some felafel pitas and Casa beer from the Food and Wine stand.    Afterward we browsed the Moroccan shops, but were driven out of the pavilion by a screaming naked baby running about.  After walking through the France pavilion, we exited through the International Gateway and headed toward the Beach Club for a break and some dessert at Beaches and Cream. The restaurant itself was packed, so we settled for take-away sundaes and ate next to Stormalong Bay.  The verdict of this much-heralded treat spot? Meh.  Part of the problem is that my order was incorrectly filled, but the ice cream wasn’t all that good and I’ve certainly had better for less money.  After browsing the Beach Club (and enjoying its air conditioning) we headed back to finish our tour of the World Showcase, browsing through the United Kingdom, and stopping to take pictures of ourselves (and helping others with their pictures) in Canada.

Continue reading →

October Extravaganza: Day 3

Posted on by

0

Saturday morning, October 9th, was yet another beautiful sunny morning in Central Florida. We both got up around 7:45, went to the Mara for hot chocolate/coffee and some cereal. Today we were at the bus stop by 9:10a.m., easily caught a bus, and in a matter of minutes were at the gates to the Animal Kingdom.

Oh hai, Everest!

Walking briskly to beat the slowpokes and picture-takers, we arrived at Expedition Everest, which boasted only a 10 minute wait. After riding together we entered the single rider line and walked right back on, securing Fast Passes for later.

With Expedition Everest behind us, we leisurely walked toward the Africa section of the park, and took the train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch, an area I admit we visited because of…the petting zoo. Yes, I am twelve! Or maybe four. In any case, we both were eager to see some goats and such.

As a bonus we watched some veterinarians perform an ingrown toe surgery on a tiny, tiny bird.    We petted some goats. We did some learnin’ about nature.  We saw some sheep.  This is the stuff of exhilarating trip reports!

My idea of a good time...the petting zoo.

Anyway, soon we were back on the train, a bit peckish and in need of a decent cup of coffee after a couple days of nothing but Nescafe.  While heading through Asia, we ran into Devine, who really is mesmerizing to watch.  Eventually we ended up at the Royal Anandapur Tea Company where we each had chai and a muffin/cinnamon roll.  We sat and ate in this tiny hut overlooking the water, and once finished headed back to Expedition Everest to ride again with our Fast Passes.  By this time the lines were long enough to preclude even another run-through via the single rider line, so we headed out of the park, browsing the shops as we went. A quick bus ride and we were back at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

How hot must Devine be under all those leaves?!

Continue reading →

10 Days in October: Day 2

Posted on by

0

Good morning, Florida!

Against the advice of all pundits we slept in this morning – after all, we had endured a lengthy travel day and a late check-in. We’d survive.

First on the agenda this morning was a trip to the lobby to get the park tickets we’d purchased through Undercover Tourist added to our room keys.  Then it was off to the Mara, the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s quick-service food location.  We purchased refillable mugs, made a concoction of coffee and hot chocolate (about the only way to suffer through the Nescafe that Disney sadly insists upon selling throughout WDW), and grabbed a couple muffins to eat while we got dressed.  By 9:30, it was off to the bus stop.

Hello, soul-crushing bus line!

This is the point at which we want to cue the sound of a record scratch. All feelings of first-day giddiness came to a screeching halt upon seeing the bus line. Isn’t this supposed to be the low season, I thought?  We joined the masses and felt a surge of hope when the Magic Kingdom bus pulled up, but those good feelings were quickly dashed by the line-cutters and those who legitimately had waited longer than us who then piled on and quickly filled the bus. Eventually we squeezed onto the second Magic Kingdom bus – does know one know what “move back” means? It’s really easy to tell that most people don’t use buses regularly outside of their Disney vacations – commuter etiquette was not in play this October morning.

In any case, we finally got moving and were let off outside the Magic Kingdom by 10:45 a.m. So, our first Disney morning wasn’t off to the quickest of starts, but hey, we were finally there, right?

Continue reading →

Our 10-day October Extravaganza: Day 1

Posted on by

0

Ah, departure day. The BEST day of vacation.

Our departure day was on a Thursday, so CP and I both took the day off from work, as our travel plans were a bit convoluted. Door-to-door, our travel would take almost a full day.

Sound crazy? Well, it is, a bit. Where we live in Connecticut you have a few options for flying:

a)Fly out of Hartford (BDL), which is 1. sometimes very expensive 2. offers far fewer nonstop flights and 3. at the time had no JetBlue service (my favorite airline – somehow having a tv to watch during takeoff and landing distracts me from the thought of plummeting five miles out of the sky).

b) Fly out of JFK or LGA, which would mean either taking the MetroNorth commuter train to Grand Central, and then taking either a shuttle or a loooong subway/AirTrain ride to the airport. Conversely, we could take  an overpriced shuttle from where we live to either airport.

c) Fly out of Newark airport. To get to EWR, take aforementioned expensive shuttle, or take Amtrak directly to the airport.

We chose option “C.” Sort of. JetBlue flights out of Newark were cheap and nonstop.  Amtrak fare was pretty reasonable, although we had to make a brief stop at Penn Station in NYC to change trains. For our return trip, however, fares TO Newark were ridiculous, so we decided to fly back into LGA and take a shuttle home. That is until JetBlue canceled our flight and rebooked us on one that left several hours earlier, thereby eliminating day 10 of our 10-day extravaganza. With one call to JetBlue, I rebooked us, for free, on a flight that left Orlando at the same time as our original flight, except it arrived at JFK. I even found a not-too-ridiculously priced shuttle home. Sold.

Continue reading →