Sunday, September 18 - Epcot
The day began bright and early arriving at our local airport just after 6 for our 8 a.m. flight to Orlando (MCO). Getting an early flight to Disney is the best because not only do you get to Disney early but the airport isn't busy with those early flights. This means getting through security was pretty easy and without stress. We boarded our flight around 7:30 and we were on our way and up in the air shortly after 8. Flight was just over 2 hours and we were downstairs waiting for the Magical Express to our resort before 11:00.
We had to wait a bit for our Magical Express as my father needed a lift for his wheelchair. Boarding the Magical Express is always the best when you get there, however we all know what its called when you're leaving the World. We arrived at our resort around noon and by the time we got there our room was ready.
After arriving at Caribbean Beach, we picked up my dad's motorized wheelchair that we rented for the week and we then waited for the internal bus to get to our room. As I stated in my resort review we were on the opposite end of the resort in Trinidad South. We checked out our room and after a long morning and part of the afternoon it was time to finally head to Epcot. After a short 10 minute drive on the Bus we arrived and vacation in the happiest place on Earth could begin.
We arrived at Epcot and it was already around 1:30 and we were starving. I didn't have a FastPass until after 3 for Soarin' so we had some time to head over to start tasting foods from the Food & Wine Festival. Now as you know last November when for my short trip I raved about the food I got to try at Epcot's International Food & Wine Festival. One of the amazing dishes last year returned in the loaded Mac & Cheese at the Farm Fresh marketplace. New to this year's festival at the booth was the Chicken & Dumplings with Mushrooms & Spinach, both were excellent. Also returning this year at the Hawaii marketplace was the Kalua Pork Slider. Now I am a pretty picky eater so I got it with just the pork and not pineapple chutney or the spicy mayonnaise. Once again it was absolutely delicious.
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| Loaded Mac & Cheese and the Chicken & Dumplings from Farm Fresh |
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| Kalua Pork Slider from Hawaii |
After eating the slider, we started heading over to The Land pavilion to try out Soarin'. First, though my dad wanted to try the Empanada from Patagonia. He loved it, but overall I thought it was just ok. Making it over to the Land is where one minor problem began. My Dad's wheelchair was showing it was low on power. Now as I have previously stated in my other trip reports, my dad needs the wheelchair due to him being paralyzed on his right side, so unfortunately while his wheelchair was charging he was stuck. So my mother and I regrettably went onto Soarin' without him.
Spoiler Alert:
Soarin' Around the World is simply amazing and is just as good if not better then the first. However, there is one complaint, some of the scenes including the Eiffel Tower and Taj Mahal scenes are CGI'd in. Overall, though smells are amazing there and its the same music from Soarin'. Of course it was great to see Patrick as well, I'm not sure how I would feel about it if he wasn't back in the pre-show. Overall, very well done and I can't wait to go back to ride it again.
After we rode Soarin' my dad's chair was said to be charged (more on that later) so we headed back over to Spaceship Earth for our next FastPass. It was time to thank the Phoenicians as they say. It was then time to head over to Italy for our reservation at Via Napoli. Via Napoli in my opinion is the best pizza on property at Disney World. Now we had free dining but since two of our reservations later in the week were using two credits, we decided we would pay for Dinner tonight ourselves.
They had a special pizza that had authentic Italian Bufalo mozzarella and their signature tomato sauce. We got the large which was a whopping $42 for 8 slices and a personal pepperoni pizza. The pizza although expensive was very good. I really can't complain because I've never had a bad meal at Via Napoli.
After dinner this is when the day turned as we were heading into the America Pavilion my father's chair was getting low on power again. We headed into Chase Lounge to get some charge so we could make it back to the front of the park to get back to the resort. My mother then called Buena Vista Scooter Rental where we rented from to see if we could get another chair. After we got it charged we did in fact make it back to the resort and thankfully my mother was able to get another chair to be delivered the next morning.
We got to our room where I logged on to my computer and called into the MouseLife podcast to record live from my room on how the first day went. After we headed over to Old Port Royale for our mugs. My mother and I made it back to the room just in time as the rain came down just as we got back. It was time to turn in and get some rest for our first full day in the parks.
Day 2 - Hollywood Studios:
As I said we were getting a new chair this morning so after breakfast we returned the chair to the Custom House. While we were returning the chair, my mom got a call from Buena Vista that they would deliver the chair right to our room. So that would be the end of that story you would think however I'll leave you on a cliffhanger that the story isn't just over yet and you'll find out the end of this one in part 2.
So after that bit of delay it was time to head over to Hollywood Studios. Let me just tell you how excited as I would finally be seeing all the new Star Wars stuff at the park including Launch Bay which I hadn't seen on my last trip.
First up after arriving at the Studios, we headed towards Toy Story Mania and the Pixar Place for our first FastPass. However, we still had some time before it so we headed into One Man's Dream first. I would love if they kept One Man's Dream because it is such a great place dedicated to Walt but I fear it will be gone for Toy Story Land. After we headed over to Toy Story Mania where I did just ok with a score of 98.800. Although, that is pretty good for me as I'm not as good on Toy Story Mania as I am on Space Ranger Spin at the Magic Kingdom.
Before lunch we headed over to the Great Movie Ride. Another classic attraction that I ride every time I go. For lunch we headed over to The Commissary for some lunch, I had the Angus Bacon and Cheese Burger with fries and the Darth Vader chocolate peanut butter cupcake. Last time we were here I had the steak but I didn't want anything big due to us eating at the Brown Derby for dinner.
After lunch, it was time to head over to Launch Bay where I fell in love and didn't want to leave. I am a huge Star Wars fan, so this place is like a dream to me. Over there I of course met Chewbacca and Kylo Ren which were both amazing meet & greets. Here are some photos of Launch Bay and of my meet & greets.
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| Why yes Chewie, we are home! |
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| Kylo doesn't scare me. |
After my experience at Launch Bay it was time to head over to Tower of Terror and our next FastPass. This was a special experience as this 4 year old boy in front of us was getting to ride it for the first time ever with his grandfather. He was so awesome because he loved it and wasn't scared at all. Tower of Terror is one of my favorite rides in Hollywood Studios so thumbs up to this kid, I hope it becomes of his favorites too.
We had a while before our next FastPass at Star Tours so we headed over to the Muppets area. While I didn't go onto Muppets this time (sad face) I did get to meet Olaf and capture some photos of the area that will soon become Star Wars Land/Toy Story Land and some photos of the soon to opened Pizza Rizzo.
It was then time to ride Star Tours and I was finally able to see the Episode VII scene which was quite amazing. Ever since they updated this to Star Tours: The Adventure Continues I've never had the same scene. I had thought that my day of Star Wars wasn't over as we were heading over the Brown Derby for dinner but the sky was darkening. I was hoping that it would pass while were at dinner.
This was our first time at the Brown Derby, all these times visiting we never went. It was worth it this time as dinner was so good. I had the charred filet of beef, my father had the roasted rack of lamb, and my mother had the pan seared black grouper. Everything was amazing. While we were in dinner it started pouring buckets however.
By the time we got out of dinner of course it was still raining. It was still almost 2 hours away from the fireworks so there was hope. We waited inside until there was no hope and it was decided that we come back the next night for Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular. The rain just didn't let up and we decided to head back to the resort. I'm not sure what time the rain stopped but it was lighter once we got back to the resort but picked up again shortly after.
This ends the first two days of my trip, next week for part 2 you will hear about our first day at the Magic Kingdom and my trip to Animal Kingdom for the amazing nighttime experiences in the park.
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