Oh my, well, looks like I have been slacking a bit on this TR. Nothing since 2/29? Shame Amy, shame.
So, without further ado ~ on with the continuation of Day 2 ~ EPCOT!
We left Animal Kingdom and lucked out with a very short bus wait. Got to EPCOT in about 20 minutes time.
One for brerrabbit1
And Stitch fans...all one or two of you
Our first stop was Spaceship Earth. Figment and I were in the same vehicle, but I was in front and she was in back, so I was able to fulfill Lars’ request to ride SE in German for him.
Next up was Living with the Land ~ Figment had to stop and have a snack so I went on without her this time around.
Love the little sand snowman in the greenhouse
One of the CMs working in the greenhouse. Don’t know why, but it is always more fun for me when there are people in the attraction. Reminds me of the good work they do there I guess.
Snake gourds ~ anyone ever taste one of these?
After the Land, we stopped by Journey into Your blah-ish Imagination. Although I always seem to find something to take a picture of ~ like the man in the moon!
We stopped in the gift shop so Figment could ooo and ahh over the merchandise. Sadly she didn’t find a new t-shirt she liked, but she did get two new Figment magnets for the fridge.
One day, I suppose I will have to buy her one of these larger Figment plushes. But for now, she is content hugging them in the store.
Love seeing the monorail glide by
Figment took a little siesta outside while I took a quick trip on the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
This was a relatively new sign when we were there.
Love the addition of the original three caballeros. So glad I had seen the little news blurb about them returning to the attraction so I could pay extra attention to them
Took a quick photo of a performer in China as we passed through
Always have to take a minute to admire the train set up in Germany
Plant decorations for the holidays. They are growing on me after seeing them all these years, but they are still not my favorite
We had arrived at our dinner destination ~ Via Napoli. When they called us for the reservation they called for Amy Smelly. He asked if he had said it correctly so I gently corrected him to Shelley and explained Smelly meant I was stinky. The other CM chuckled quietly while the one who had called my name incorrectly turned beet red and apologized. Mom’s comment as we were being seated was “Italian boys are cute.” Yes Mom, they are, even if they call you stinky.
We had a really nice table, but the seafood smell was very strong (Figment is allergic) so we asked if it would be possible to be seated outside. We lamented we would have to leave our server, Pietro, behind as he had been quite kind in those few minutes we had been at his table. Not sure if that affected the fact that he was also our server outside or not, but I felt sort of bad as he must have had to run back and forth a little extra having us outside and his normal section inside.
Mom inside
Mom outside ~ a much happier camper
Me outside ~ a happy face, anticipating the delicious Zeppole di Caterina ~ mmmm!
Our Caprese appetizer. I tried not to calculate how many balls of fresh mozzarella and tomatoes I could buy for the price of this one appetizer
Our shared individual Margherita pizza ~ I don’t know how one person manages to eat an entire one of these!
And now I’m going to do a wonderful trick for you. Ja, a wunderbar trick. We’re going to make the pizza all... disappear!
And now, with dinner all complete there was only one thing to do...order dessert. Which we came to find out, they don’t. Offer. During. The holidays!!
Which led to this face ~ and the subsequent cancellation of our second reservation at Via Napoli later in the trip. We enjoy the food, but the zeppole is truly our reason for eating here! As a final kick in the pants, they don’t accept the Disney Visa for a discount at dinner. Sigh
So tummies full, but not quite as happy as they could have been, we set off for the American Adventure. I asked to be sure, but found out that the Disney Chase lounge is only open during the Food and Wine Festival. Shucks. I would have loved to see the view from up there.
Such a beautiful rotunda in the American Pavilion
My favorite Spirits of America statues
We saw just a few minutes of the Candlelight Processional as it was just finishing up as we were exiting the American Adventure ~ Joe Morton was the narrator this evening according to online sources.
We settled in between Canada and the United Kingdom with a 40 min wait before Illuminations. There was a very chatty New Yorker there with his Mom so I didn’t have a chance to fully enjoy the preshow music.
Since we were both still tired from traveling the day before, we went ahead and started exiting with everyone else once the show ended as opposed to our normal, wait until the crowds disperse a bit method. Love the goodnight messages that scroll across SE on the way out.
Of course, we always have to stop and enjoy the fiber optic lights in Innoventions plaza on the way out. I’d love to be able to have these at my home one day!
A few obligatory SE at night shots ~ I’d love to have one of these at my home too
Fun plant shadows on way out to bus stop
We got out to the bus stop at 10:20. After we figured out we were in the wrong line
we made it back to the resort in a fairly decent amount of time. It was only 11 so we were able to grab a quick refill of our mugs at the QS. Arrived back in our room to find out our luggage hadn’t quite made the transfer yet, so I called about that.
Here are a few pics of the room
And with that, I will finish up Day 2 of the (slightly) belated trip report
More to follow...although no promises on when