Let the Magic Find You - Our October 2011 F&WF TR - Page 11 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Since the weather forecast was looking pretty bad for today, we didn’t even bother to set our alarm. I ended up waking up around 8 a.m. and it was very gloomy out and raining steadily.
Our original plan had us going to Animal Kingdom today but in the back of my head I’d been devising alternative plans due to the rain. I was sad to miss our AK plans (including lunch at Yak and Yeti) but I thought we’d do better of at Epcot or DHS.
We headed out around 9:30 a.m. and since we were both pretty hungry, we decided to pop in to see if there was any room for us to have breakfast at Kouzzina. We were told it was a 25 minute wait and figuring it would take an hour to eat, that would bring us to 11 a.m., which I thought was too much of our morning gone so we kept heading towards Epcot.
DH had a rain jacked on and I was using an umbrella. I quickly learned that this wasn’t the type of rain that an umbrella would protect me from! It was coming at me from all angles so once we were inside the International Gateway, I ducked under cover and popped on my hat and poncho. DH did the same and we were good to go. I had also brought some of those beach water shoes, which came in handy although they started to rub my heel as the day went on.
We headed over to the Land and by now it was almost 10 a.m. The FastPass return time for Soarin' was for 11-12 so it seemed like a pretty slow start to the day! We grabbed up FPs and then I had a bright idea. I have always wanted to do the Behind the Seeds Tour and this seemed like the perfect opportunity! We went over to the desk and a very nice CM helped us book the 10:30 a.m. tour. I was so excited that there was still room and that gave us just enough time to grab breakfast from Sunshine Seasons.
DH had yogurt and a croissant and I got the kids platter, which had breakfast potatoes, a link of sausage and a slice of French toast. It was very good but sorry, no pics.
It was almost time to meet our tour so we quickly packed up our rain gear and I changed into a dry pair of flip flops. There were 11 of us on the tour and our guide as Roderika (nickname Ro), a college program CM from North Carolina.
We started off in one of the back rooms where we learned about the natural alternatives to pesticides that they use – things like wasps, ladybugs, etc.
Hidden Mickey!
Ro asked for three volunteers to take vials of ladybugs to be released later in the tour. I volunteered!
Next we headed into the hydroponics greenhouse. I have to admit, I got very excited when we saw our first boat come by – it was really cool being “inside” the ride.
Ro gave us a quick primer on hydroponics, including some information on creating our own hydroponic garden at home. I think DH wants to try it in the spring.
We also got to sample the cucumbers they grown in The Land.
Here’s the tube the use to grow the “Mickey head” cucumbers.
We moved on to the eggplants, where I got to release my ladybugs.
(ooooh, a rare hidden Heather picture )
I don’t think I mentioned it, but I bought this hat the day before at DHS
Go do your job ladies!
At this point in the tour the rain was coming down so hard that we couldn’t hear Ro! It was just pounding on the greenhouse – I thought an exhaust fan or something had turned on but no, it was the rain. I was thankful to be inside!!
We moved on to learn about the peppers. She told us some interesting facts about ghost peppers, which are one of the hottest (if not the hottest) peppers in the world. She said they grow them just for show because they are too hot to eat. The CMs have to wear protective gear when they harvest them and then they are composted!
We saw the area where they grow pumpkins but there were none on the vine because they had just been harvested for the seasonal display.
Next we went into the fish room. One interesting tidbit is the shrimp you see in this picture is in isolation because he’s aggressive and will eat the baby shrimp!
Hidden Mickey!
A highlight in this section was getting to feed the tilapia. Ro warned us that they get very excited when the food comes in and we might get splashed. She wasn’t kidding! It was really cool to see them all swarm to the hand of whoever was throwing food in.
We ended the tour in the tea and spice garden where we divided into teams and had a little spice identifying contest. I won’t give it away in case anyone wants to take the tour in the future!
At the end of the tour we bid goodbye to Ro and headed over to use our Soarin’ FPs. I highly recommend this tour if you’re a fan of The Land. It was $18/pp and lasted a little over an hour.
Up next: A hop, skip and splash to DHS
Last edited by WeRDisneyFanatics; 10-24-2011 at 02:40 PM..
Reason: fix picture
Sounds like a productive, if rainy, morning! I loved the Behind the Seeds tour when we went on it in December 2008. Ours lasted almost 2 hours, I think it depends on your group and how many questions you have to ask. We also were able to take Jonathon on it as well, one of the few tours you can take young children on. Our tour was in the evening so we got to see some of the plants open up as the sun went down, pretty cool. Sorry you did not get into Kouzzina, they have a wonderful breakfast menu. Love, love, love the Hat! So adorable!
for all the info on the tour as we keep saying we're going to do this one and we really must! What a great way to enjoy the park on a very rainy day, too!
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Sounds like a productive, if rainy, morning! I loved the Behind the Seeds tour when we went on it in December 2008. Ours lasted almost 2 hours, I think it depends on your group and how many questions you have to ask. We also were able to take Jonathon on it as well, one of the few tours you can take young children on. Our tour was in the evening so we got to see some of the plants open up as the sun went down, pretty cool. Sorry you did not get into Kouzzina, they have a wonderful breakfast menu. Love, love, love the Hat! So adorable!
Cool - I didn't realize you'd done this tour too! Our group was pretty quiet with the questions so that probably kept us on the shorter side. Hope to get back to Kouzzina for breakfast another time!
Quote:
Originally Posted by truenancy
That tour sounds cool - and it's a great idea on a rainy day!
Agreed!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Principessa_di_Fata
Sounds like great rainy day so far! I really want to do the Behind the Seeds tour... it sounds like something mom would highly enjoy!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
for all the info on the tour as we keep saying we're going to do this one and we really must! What a great way to enjoy the park on a very rainy day, too!
I hope you both get to do the tour soon!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What a great way to spend a rainy morning! We did the Behind the Seeds tour a few years ago and really enjoyed it.
Definitely! In fact, when they went around for intros at the start of the tour, one of the questions was why did you decide to take the tour and most people said, "seemed like a good way to spend a rainy morning"!
First off, I’ll apologize for the lack of photos in this update – it was raining so bad that I mostly kept my camera in the back pack. On to the update…
As we headed toward the International Gateway, the F&WF booths were now open. The rain had continued to be steady so I expected that the booths would be pretty empty. Boy was I wrong! The lines were the longest I had seen - seemed like the weather hadn’t deterred the crowds at all.
We headed over to the Friendship Boat dock and the line was pretty long. As a boat came in the CM announced that it would be only stopping at the Dolphin and DHS, which was perfect for us because we were heading to DHS. The majority of people in front of us were waiting for the other Epcot resorts so we were able to scoot to the front of the line and get right on the boat.
Once at DHS we decided to see if there was any chance of FPs for TSMM. No luck here, they were all sold out for the day and the standby line was 80 minutes, which is too long for us. We headed up to ToT instead and picked up FPs there.
We definitely wanted to try the drawing class again so that’s where we headed. This time we were early enough to make it in the holding area, which meant we were guaranteed a desk. In no time at all we were being seated and we had the same instructor as yesterday! Today’s character was Jiminy Cricket. I think I got the hang of it by now and my drawing came out better than my attempt at Alien the day before.
Once class was dismissed our FPs for ToT were ripe so we headed over. We headed up the FP “lane” walking at a normal pace. All of a sudden I hear someone behind us say loudly, “passing you without ponchos!” and two guests with their adult daughter go running by us really fast and tagged my shoulder. This irked me for a couple of reasons 1) I think it’s kinda rude to pass someone in line who isn’t stopped and 2) it was pouring out and that walkway was slippery – they could’ve knocked someone over in their attempt to rush.
Once we got inside the bellhop told us ponchos must come off before going in the library so we went ahead and packed those away. It was kind of cool riding this in the pouring rain (just like the weather in the preshow movie). Added to the gloom and creep factor for sure!
Our tummies were starting to rumble at this point so we headed off in search of some lunch. We stopped at the ABC Commissary but nothing on the menu appealed to us so on a whim I said to DH, “let’s see if Sci Fi can fit us in.” I figured this was a really long shot at best but it couldn’t hurt to ask. We got in line at the check in desk and I overheard the couple in front of us saying they didn’t have an ADR and the CM said it was a 20 minute wait. When we checked in they told us a 25 minute wait, which was fine by us! We were happy to be inside and dry, and we figured by the time we trekked to anywhere else we would have wasted 25 minutes anyway. Well as luck would have it, no more than five minutes later the same CM that checked us in called our name to be seated. Awesome!!!
We were hitchhikers in the back of a family of four. We got to check out the new menu that was recently introduced. I was sad to see the beef and blue salad, which I’ve enjoyed a few times in the past, gone from the menu. I opted instead for the new veggie burger and DH ordered the Rueben.
The veggie burger was tasty and big – I ended up taking off the top bun and eating it with a knife and fork. Next time I’d ask for extra balsamic drizzle as that was really delish but not enough of it! The sweet potato fries were tasty and a nice change from regular fries. DH said the Reuben was good. Since it was after 3:30 p.m. by the time we were done eating, we decided to forgo dessert.
At this point we decided to head back to the hotel and start the sad task of packing. We got in the line for the Friendship Boat, which was just pulling up. The CM loading the boat was great – he did a great job of getting as many people as possible on the boat. The line looked so long that I thought for sure we’d have to wait for the next boat but we made it.
We opted to get off at the Dolphin (first stop) and walk over to the Boardwalk. On the trip over, we started talking about our dinner plans - Via Napoli in less than four hours. We decided that we wanted to go for something a little bit lighter and sushi sounded like a good idea. We stopped at the concierge desk and cancelled VN and picked up a later ADR at Tokyo Dining.
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Oh my! You didn't go to VN either. What a shame, first you miss the Belgium Waffle and now you miss the ricotta cheese fritters with that delicious chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Well, you do know that this means you MUST return to the F&WF in 2012. LOL
They were really devine!
Your burger at Sci Fi looked really good, perhaps we will give lunch a try there next time. I am sorry it is such a soggy day for you. Looking forward to your Epcot finale.
Sorry about the rain! Sounds like a great meal at Sci-Fi! Sorry it's all coming to an end!
Me too - these four-nighters really go by too fast!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
It can't nearly be over already : - the veggie burger at the Sci-Fi Diner sounds wonderful. And I love your Jiminy Cricket!
Quote:
Originally Posted by debrabrown
Thumbs up for JIminy - nice job!
The “Mickey head” cucumbers have got to be the coolest thing ever!
Thank you both!
Quote:
Originally Posted by taylan1
Oh my! You didn't go to VN either. What a shame, first you miss the Belgium Waffle and now you miss the ricotta cheese fritters with that delicious chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Well, you do know that this means you MUST return to the F&WF in 2012. LOL
They were really devine!
Your burger at Sci Fi looked really good, perhaps we will give lunch a try there next time. I am sorry it is such a soggy day for you. Looking forward to your Epcot finale.
Posting that picture was just a little mean - you know how much I wanted those Zeppolis!Hehe! I know, I was sad to miss it but we were feeling so full at that point that Italian felt too heavy somehow! But yes, now I have a reason to go back!
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The tour sounds like a great way to beat the rain! Sorry about the rude people in line at ToT. I don't understand people sometimes. You're all going to be able to ride the ride, no need to rush! Lunch at Sci-Fi looked really good
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but I thought we’d do better of at Epcot or DHS.
It was coming at me from all angles so once we were inside the International Gateway, I ducked under cover and popped on my hat and poncho. DH did the same and we were good to go. I had also brought some of those beach water shoes, which came in handy although they started to rub my heel as the day went on.
I have always wanted to do the Behind the Seeds Tour and this seemed like the perfect opportunity! We went over to the desk and a very nice CM helped us book the 10:30 a.m. tour. I was so excited that there was still room and that gave us just enough time to grab breakfast from Sunshine Seasons.
)
It was just pounding on the greenhouse – I thought an exhaust fan or something had turned on but no, it was the rain. I was thankful to be inside!!
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Our tour was in the evening so we got to see some of the plants open up as the sun went down, pretty cool. 
Sorry you did not get into Kouzzina, they have a wonderful breakfast menu. Love, love, love the Hat! So adorable! 
,
for all the info on the tour as we keep saying we're going to do this one and we really must! 
PassPorter Guide Author
Great pictures! 
. This irked me for a couple of reasons 1) I think it’s kinda rude to pass someone in line who isn’t stopped and 2) it was pouring out and that walkway was slippery – they could’ve knocked someone over in their attempt to rush. 
. We got in the line for the Friendship Boat, which was just pulling up. The CM loading the boat was great – he did a great job of getting as many people as possible on the boat. The line looked so long that I thought for sure we’d have to wait for the next boat but we made it
.
And I love your Jiminy Cricket! 
Deb
Hehe! I know, I was sad to miss it but we were feeling so full at that point that Italian felt too heavy somehow! But yes, now I have a reason to go back!
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