Monday, August 25, 2008

Disney World Journal - Day Three



Tuesday morning we had a reservation for “breakfast” at Chef Mickey’s, but it was not until 11:20am, so we started our early day with orange juice, peanut butter crackers and bananas. When we finally got going we caught a bus to MK. We only had about 30 minutes to spend before we needed to head to the Contemporary; we wanted to be early for our reservation in case we could be seated early. We pretty much wandered through the shops on Main Street for half an hour before heading out. We found the monorail tracks in order to go straight to the Contemporary; we wanted to be sure and use all three of the resort transportation methods during our trip (bus, boat, monorail). The monorail goes directly to the Contemporary (before hitting up the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian) and we got there close to an hour before our reservation time. I had heard that most restaurants will seat you early if you arrive early. That may be true, but apparently Chef Mickey’s was booked to the teeth because we actually got seated a few minutes after our reservation! We would have been a little perturbed except that Chef Mickey’s is SO WONDERFUL! We were immediately greeted with the most wonderful smells and sights. The hostess showed us to our table where we received place mats that said “It’s my special day!” with the “autographs” of all of the major characters. We got to keep them – so cute! We went to the breakfast buffet and found loads of fresh fruit, omelets, breakfast pizza (YUM), biscuits, gravy, Mickey waffles, bacon, sausage and so much more! Everything was delicious and we could have as much as wanted! Plus towards the end of our meal they brought out cupcakes with candles to everyone celebrating their “special day” (including an adorable little Asian girl next to us having her 2nd birthday) and the characters paraded around singing for us to CELEBRATE! We got pictures with several characters (which I will upload later) and had a blast.

We decided to head back to our room for a while before heading to Epcot. Originally the plan was to return to MK to do the rides we had missed, but it was very warm that morning and we wanted to give it time to cool down outside. We got our wish (oh, Disney Magic). After a short nap we went outside to find perfect weather. It was sunny, but there was a nice breeze to keep it cool. We caught a bus to Epcot and began our ‘World Tour’.


We visited a few things in Future World before heading on our international walkabout. We started off in Ellen’s Energy Adventure, which was interesting. Neither of us knew what to expect, but whenever Brad thought he was bored something cool happened. We went form a little theater into a bigger theater with seats that seemed mobile. Sure enough, we ended up going for a little ride through time with Ellen and Bill Nye the Science Guy. A good time was had.


When we emerged the weather was perfect. I think it may have sprinkled while we were in the Universe of Energy (the movie/ride takes close to 45 minutes), so it was nice and cool. We started our World Showcase trip with Mexico. Now, as Texans, we had promised ourselves (and my mother) that we would not eat in Mexico, because we can get good Mexican food anytime. The thing is we were hungry and it smelled SO GOOD!!! We started out in the exhibit, where they have a cute miniature street market and a little boat ride for the Three Caballeros. When we got outside again we went straight for the Cantina de San Angel. We split a combination platter with a beef taco, a chicken taco and some sort of fried cheese…thing. It was great, plus we got to wander around with a hot, fresh churro.



The next country we found was China. The first thing we saw were all of the kiosks for souvenirs and such in the street. I found one that was selling all different kinds of puppets, and I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks – there were Linda and Johnny! Remember the puppet show I did for GE, where we went to the Texas Children’s Hospital? Well we named our two lead characters Linda and Johnny, and their dopplegangers were looking at me from this puppet cart! It was so funny I had to take a picture. We went into the Chinese theater they had set up and watched a quick film about Chinese culture, then and now. We were in a round room with eight large screens all around the wall. It was truly beautiful.



We continued to wander. Not all of the countries had significance, but Germany was certainly fun. First we went into the WeinKeller. It was a beautiful wine cellar that sold German wines. Did you know that 80% of Germany’s wines are white? That works for me, as I am inexperienced with red. They were selling some by the glass. I asked if I could sample one of the reislings and the woman behind the counter said that I couldn’t, but then she changed her mind since I had on my Just Married button (seriously, that button is the best souvenir and it was free!). Then we went out into the street again and stood in line so Brad could get a dark German ale. We got a souvenir glass (it was the German flag on it) and a free pretzel – yea, honeymoon buttons!
We wandered through France and Italy, but by this time we were getting tired. We headed for the English pub, the Rose and Crown Pub, to get a beer and find a seat for Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. This fireworks/pyrotechnics show is AMAZING! It was beautiful, and it is well told as a story.



After the show we got our Extra Magic Hour bracelets so that we could stay later. We went to Honey I Shrunk the Audience, which may have been a mistake. I think those kinds of things are fun, but Brad does not seem to agree. Oh well. After that we were tired (and a tiny bit cranky) so we headed home for sleep and a drink.



We were amazed how tired and sore we were after only two plus days!

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