The AP adventure - THREAD 7 COMPLETE! About This Page:

[chezp]

This is the seventh thread of this trip report.

If you are new to it, you may want to read the previous threads, which can be found
here: Thread 1
here: Thread 2
here: Thread 3
here: Thread 4
here: Thread 5
and here: Thread 6

[chezp]

Thursday 23 December – part four: the candy man strikes again and “how are we going to fit this all in?”

As we were waiting for the boat back to the Beach Club (one had just left as we came out of the park – again typical of our whole trip! ), we encountered a young boy called Alex, who was with his dad. He must have been about three or four and his dad was going back to the Boardwalk for a nap and was hoping that Alex would follow suit. Alex was very inquisitive and you should have seen his face when he saw someone else in the queue waiting a Mickey bar! His eyes nearly came of his head and he just stared and stared at her…

When Mark saw this, he decided to offer him some of our British chocolate, which we just happened to be carrying with us (well, you never know when you might need to have some… ) Alex was hooked, so we gave his dad some more for him.

Unfortunately, on the boat on the way back, Alex got really tired and saw another woman eating chocolate. That was it, he wanted some, but his dad was having none of it. Welcome to a full blown tantrum! His dad tried to take him off the boat at the Swan and Dolphin, but as soon as they got off, Alex wanted to get back on again and then the tantrum started again. He was still screaming when we got off the boat at the Yacht and Beach Club stop. And why? Because he couldn’t have any more chocolate – and who had started him on the chocolate? Mark! I kept telling him that he was responsible for that whole tantrum!

I managed the walk back to the Beach Club lobby, but just took it really slowly and carefully. When we got there, we found out that our room was ready and we had room 531, so I collected my flowers that front desk had had all day (I hope they enjoyed them – I know I did! ) and we headed for our room.

We were helped by Gwyn, possibly the best bell services person we’ve ever come across. She was just full of conversation. She reckoned our heaviest suitcase was about 50 lbs and it was then (with her help ) that we took the decision that maybe we should get ourselves another suitcase just to be on the safe side with the weight limits. After all, we had received a lot of presents from our fellow PassPorters during our stay and despite the fact that we’d given a lot out, the weight hadn’t really reduced that much.

That decision taken, it was back to Target, where we found a four piece luggage set for $39.99 – excellent value and we could use a new tote bag for the parks and a new piece of carry on luggage, so that worked out well for us. We also got some Christmas decorations, one of those Christmas trees made of baubles (balls to you guys I think – no offence meant! ). I was amazed to find them on sale, as I had seen them all over Disney, but didn’t think they’d be available at stores. We have nothing like that at home and I was really taken with them. The only decision was whether to get the red one or the multi-coloured one and eventually we settled on the multi-coloured one.

Then it was back to the room and, of course, the new Christmas tree went out on display immediately, along with the various bottles of wine we’d bought at Publix on the way, having stopping there after Super Target. Well, the bottles didn’t really go on display – they went straight in the fridge to be consumed at a later time and date. I still can not get over the range of White Zinfandel that you guys have over here. Things are getting better at home and we can now at least buy it at home – and even pick from a couple of varieties, but we don’t have shelves of it and versions with exotic fruit, strawberry or sangria – and having tried the sangria version, it’s very nice.

I rested my ankle for a while, it was holding out OK, but was still a little sore, so I figured the rest would do it good. We waited until about 6.00 before we left, as we had a Priority Seating at Akerhaus at 7.00, or so I thought. More of that in a moment…

We walked into Epcot and headed for Spaceship Earth, stopping to get some photos on the way. Trust me, working without flash wherever you can is the way to go:


Looking towards the Land and Imagination pavilions. I don’t know if you can make it out – but there’s a monorail in the right of the shot



Next: a return to Norway after a two year wait!

[jakenjess]

I love your nighttime pictures!! Looking forward to more!

[LizardCop]

Great Pictures!!! Glad the ankle is feeling a little better....

[BritDisFan]

Great update Cheryl, glad you stocked up on your favourite wine . The nightime shots are fab >

Karen

[Luv2plan]

Hope you ankle holds up!! The photos are fantastic, as usual!

[katspjs]

Great night pics! I'm a big fan of zinfadel - it's by drink of choice in the summer. Looking forward to your trip to Norway!

[MegglesMom]

Wow, Mark's a trouble maker, huh? Great Epcot pics!