Nala and pride the "Are we CRAZY?" trip... the trip home.... About This Page:

[Colexis Mom]

Great update Nala More please

[Nala]

The next morning came way too quickly as Kiara decided to start it at 5:30! I don’t know what it is about my kid, but it seems that no matter what time she goes to bed she still awakes at the crack of dawn. We were able to entertain her with the cartoon channel while Grumpy and I attempted to grab a few more winks of sleep. By 6:30 he gave up and got up and made coffee. Love having a coffee pot in the room. And free coffee too! By 7:00 Kiara had convinced Grumpy to take her for a swim and by 7:30 they were on their way to the pool. I stayed behind and decided to get ready for the day. Once again I couldn’t resist opening the slider to the balcony and taking a look at the world around me. I left the door open as I headed to the bathroom to get ready.

Now I have had a lot of wildlife find its way into my room at WDW (lizards, tree frogs, large bugs) but what I saw standing in the middle of our room when I came out of the bathroom was a first for me. A large black bird had made his way into our room on a quest for crumbs. I don’t know who was more surprised, me or the bird when we encountered each other. He made a few nasty noises at me, flew out the door, perched on the balcony , made a few more nasty noises and flew away. I found myself laughing at how bold the bird was and shut the door.

I left the room around 8:15 and headed to the pool. I walked past Roaring Forks and was going to stop for coffee for Grumpy and I but the line was huge. I headed on out to the pool and found the two of them the only ones in it. Well, except for these.


Grumpy and Kiara had been enjoying the quiet pool time and she was fascinated by the little ducks and the momma who would swim right up to both of them. Grumpy had also been talking to the CM who was tending the pool and was helping her place towels around the edge so the babies could get out. They were so small they couldn’t make the jump up the three inch ledge to get out without assistance. We were able to talk Kiara into getting out and going to a park and just as we were leaving the pool the momma duck decided it was time to get her little ones out too. They were just too cute waddling and chirping along behind her. And I was so fascinated watching them I didn’t get a picture. As we watched the ducks walk by Kiara also noticed a little rabbit on the other side of the sidewalk sitting right next to where we were standing. It had been quite the morning for wildlife spotting. And we hadn’t even been to the AK yet!

As we past Roaring Forks I noticed the line had died down a bit and I sent Kiara and Grumpy to the room while I got us coffee. I grabbed Kiara a chocolate milk and passed on all the other breakfast offerings for her. I knew she was way too wound up to eat and also knew I had packed things for her to eat in the room. I got back to the room and forced Kiara to eat a breakfast bar and drink her milk while Grumpy got ready. I then got Kiara dressed. And here is where I pat myself on the back for wardrobe planning. A few days before our trip I made a visit to the Disney store. They had all kinds of cute little things for Kiara on sale and I picked her up a little Ariel sun dress and a matching swim suit. Knowing from past visits to Epcot, it was a sure bet that Kiara would want to get wet in the fountains. I put her swimsuit on and put the sun dress over it. Perfect! Easy to take off when she wanted to get wet. By 9:00 we were out the door.

We made our way to the bus stop just in time to see an Epcot bus that looked like it was ready to pull away. Grumpy waved to the driver and he was kind enough to wait for us. The bus had very few people on it and we thanked the driver for waiting. When we boarded the bus the driver stated “Ready to go to the AK?” Huh? He then laughed and said “Just kidding, you are on the Epcot bus”. We all laughed and found our seats and after a stop at the GF made our way to Epcot.

The lines at the gate were not too long and we headed straight for stroller rental. The line here was a few people deep and Kiara wasted no time jumping into her theme park restroom exploration quest. (for anyone who has not read a previous TR of mine, Kiara has an obsession with public restrooms and tries to use this to get out of lines of rides she is unsure of) Grumpy sent me on with Kiara to the restrooms while he got the stroller. He met us there and we were on our way to explore Futureworld.

What to do, what to do? I assumed Grumpy would want to make a direct line to MS but he declined. At my suggestion we headed straight for the Land, which was closed for rehab on our last trip. Grumpy and I are both into gardening and we were yet to do Living with the Land so I was excited to try something new. We were blessed to find the line was only five minutes long. We had only been in line for a few seconds when Kiara tried to pull her now infamous trick. When she made her announcement and started to do “the dance” I reminded her she just went and assured her this was a nice little boat ride through a garden and she would love it. Grumpy and I had to struggle with her to get her on the boat and I was a bit concerned with the first scene as it was dark. But it was a storm, which she loves, and we kept saying to her “look, it’s Storm Stories”. She did fine and we all enjoyed the ride. To those who have no interest in farming or gardening this one may be a bit boring, but Grumpy and I loved it. Those Mickey pumpkins were so cute. And some of the techniques were fascinating. Kiara enjoyed seeing the fish and baby gators too.

After we got off the ride we found our way to Soaring. I though I had read somewhere that the minimum height requirement was 48” for this one but Grumpy looked into the queue area and saw it was 38”. (or at least that is what it looked like from where we were standing) But standby was 90 minutes so we passed. I am glad we did because from what I have heard this one would probably have too many sensory experiences for Kiara to handle. Hopefully next trip we can try it. One of us will have to do it first to see if we think Kiara would like it.

So off we went leaving the land behind us. We headed to the Living Seas just in time to catch Nemo and the seaweed things. Has anyone else seen these things? They were huge, brightly colored aquatic plant looking costumes donned by CMs. Once again I failed to get a picture but they were very cool.

We decided to take a break in the area and as we did Grumpy started talking about lunch. Then he pointed to something and said “What is that?” The Coral Reef. I told Grumpy what I knew about the restaurant and we went to check out the menu. He thought this was as good of a place as any to eat at and since it was one we had never tried I was also game. I knew the aquarium would be a delight to Kiara. Grumpy stepped inside to make a PS but no one was to be found. We then walked to the F&G Festival center and found a phone. I dialed 88 (I think) and found myself in the endless queue of Disney Dining. Of course they were experiencing a large volume of calls so I gave that up and we headed back to the Coral Reef. This time someone was at the desk and I was able to secure a PS for 12:10.

We had a little over an hour to kill so we headed to the WS. I was on a quest to see and take pictures of every topiary I could find. The International Gateway had this lovely Tink on display.


And directly behind her was my favorite guy and all his friends. Pumba was my favorite.




We headed towards Mexico with a brief stop for margaritas (hey, it was noon somewhere) and then onto Norway. I had to find the troll. Not only did I find him, but I was able to get a picture of Grumpy and Kiara with him as the crowds were very light.


We didn’t want to get too far into the WS so we decided to head back towards the Coral Reef. The character caravan was just coming by so we stopped and let Kiara wave at them. We made our way back to the International Gateway and this time I found Beauty and the Beast topiaries. Like the LK these were amazing.


We made our way back to the LS by passing through the rose garden. It was in full bloom and very lovely and we also noticed Farmer Mickey’s maze. This looked so cute and we made a point to try and take Kiara through it after lunch. But for now we all had one thing on our minds. Food!


Up next……..Lunch at Coral Reef!

[luvnwdwgal]

Love the update Nala! I'll be back later to see those pictures!!!

[Annabel]

Great update I look forward to seeing your photos and hearing about your meal at the Coral Reef.

[SHEANA1226]

Great update Nala!

[Jillybean]

Great pictures! I was just totally amazed by the topiaries and yet I don't think I got one picture of them!

I cannot believe that a bird was in your room - - you just attract wildlife, Nala!

Jill

[TroianRae]

Great Update!! After finding this thread last night, I went back and read your January trip report. I was up until 2 am reading!!! Awesome trip reports!!! Keep it coming, please.

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update Nala Love all the F&G pictures

[GATechGal]

You are ONE SMART WOMAN with that wardrobe choice. She looks just ADORABLE. And the picture with the troll is priceless. She looks more frightened than the troll. We loved those ducks at WL too. But our last early morning swim, with my foot I picked up what I thought was a golf ball at the bottom of the pool and it squished. It was a duck egg. I got out after that.

[MAria R]

Just catching back up, great updates. Can't wait to see what you think of Coral Reef, that's one I have been debating about trying.

[DawnDenise]

Another great update!! Looking forward to hearing about how yuo enjoyed Coral Reef.

[jakenjess]

Great update! Looking forward to more!

[lauren-roxy]

Great update Nala and more wonderful pictures!!! I bet those baby ducks were so cute!! Can't wait to read more!!

[Nala]

We walked into the Coral Reef right at the stroke of noon and had no wait for a table. I was very excited to see Kiara’s reaction to the aquarium and she did not disappoint me. Our table was four back from the aquarium and on the far left, but since the restaurant is set up on tiers our view was perfect. At first view Kiara did not realize what was in front of her but then a few fish went by and she was immediately drawn in. And when a small shark came by she squealed and screamed “BRUCE”! It was clear to Grumpy and I that even if we hated the food, this would be a big hit for us simply for her reaction. Our waiter was upon us in record time to tell us about the specials and take our drink order. When he came back we were more than ready to order. Grumpy selected the lunch special of soup, a fish fillet on garlic mashed potatoes and cheesecake for desert. I went for the jumbo shrimp on a bed of vegetables in a tomato basil sauce and Kiara ordered the pizza. While the kids menu had a fish offering, it was a grilled fillet and not deep fried as Kiara prefers so we didn’t want to take a chance and went for the pizza. Plus, I thought $9 was a bit much for a kids meal that she may not eat a bit of! But had I known she would have torn into Grumpy’s fillet like she did it would have been money well spent.

While we waited for our meal we enjoyed watching the view in front of us. (and once again my efforts with the camera failed) The aquarium really kept Kiara entertained. She was fascinated by the fish and sharks and rays that came into view. And when she saw a sea turtle she went wild with joy. Grumpy was served his soup, the lobster bisque, and after three bites he stated it was really wonderful but too rich for him. But not for me! I gladly helped him finish it off. Our entrees came and I was thrilled with mine. I had four HUGE shrimp on my plate on top of a bed of zucchini and other garden delights in a wonderful sauce. Grumpy on the other hand took one look at his lunch and after the waiter left the table busted out laughing. His plate contained a very small fish fillet on a very small scoop of potatoes. Between his laughter he was able to get out something that sounded like “it’s smaller than lunch at Le Cellier”. (for anyone who didn’t read the January report of our trip, Grumpy had a very small lunch at Le Cellier and it became the standing joke of our last trip)

OK, so at this point I am starting to think I married Fred Flintstone. This is a man who thinks a meal should be a brontosaurs leg and a bushel of potatoes on the side. I attempted to explain the concept of fine cuisine having the focus on quality not quantity but I think it fell on deaf ears. I made a mental note to take this man to buffets with lots of ribs on future trips. He also thought the fish was strong (but he likes the Beverly????) but the sauce around it was very good. I took a bite and decided he was flat out nuts. I hate strong fish with a passion but found this one to be very mild and very good. And what he didn’t eat Kiara had no problem putting a huge dent in. She loved it!

Desert came, but only for Grumpy as I was way too full to order it. He was served a tropical fruit cheesecake with a mandarin orange sauce. He offered me a bite and I only took a small one and it was really wonderful. It was so good I would have gladly eaten the whole thing but refrained so he could enjoy it. And enjoy it he did. This was his favorite part of the meal. We all enjoyed our meal here. It was someplace we had never been, had a wonderful setting and the food was very good too. I am very glad Grumpy decided to eat here and would love to try it again sometime.

We left the Coral Reef and decided to make our way to the WS and start from Canada. And Grumpy was joking about getting fish and chips in the UK! We made our way to the WS through the rose garden and when we got to Farmer Mickey’s Maze we quickly realized it had turned into Farmer Mickey’s Zoo. The area was packed and we decided to pass. So off to Canada we went. I wasted no time finding the topiaries and taking pictures. The first ones we found were Bambi, Thumper and Flower.

Time was short so we pushed on to the UK where I found Pooh and friends.



And we took a moment to enjoy the gardens in the UK. They are always our favorite in January and were even more beautiful this trip. How much the world changes with the seasons. There were no topiaries on display in France so we pushed on to Morocco. Again in this pavilion there were no topiaries on display but we decided to take a closer look to find Jasmine. Sadly she was no where to be found which I know disappointed Kiara terribly. As we left Morocco we did see Aladdin and the Genie but the line was huge so
we elected to pass. We did stop between Morocco and Japan to take a short break. The heat was getting to all of us and Kiara wasted no time taking matters into her own hands and cooling herself off. She pulled her dress off and grabbed the full water bottle I had been carrying around and began to pour it over her head. Within minutes of her doing this Grumpy took the bottle from her and began squirting her with it. We both laughed at her squealing with delight and while we got a few strange looks, most people smiled as they walked by us. But the only thing that mattered to us was Kiara was having a ball and had found a way to cool down in the heat of the day. I was very glad I put that swim suit on her!

After Kiara cooled off we pushed on to Japan. I took a moment to admire the musical water garden there. This thing was very cool and I would love to have one in our backyard. I think it was low on water as it was moving very slow and lost some of its effect, but still the concept was very interesting. We also took a few minutes to admire the bonsai trees on display.

We passed through the American Pavilion just as the drum and fife corps was making an appearance and I felt a tad bit guilty rushing by them. We walked past Italy and as we did I noticed lots of beautiful blooms in the courtyard. But unfortunately we had limited time and couldn’t stop to admire them.

Germany was the next stop and one Grumpy was looking forward to seeing. He loves the miniature train display there and we enjoyed seeing how much it had changed since we saw it in January. All of the little house were decorated in spring colors and we thought it was very cool that even this little area was decked out for the F&G festival.

We made our way to China where I was delighted by the panda topiaries.


Grumpy was already moving ahead of me due to the fact that Kiara was getting a bit cranky. Once I got my shots in China we bolted out of the WS and went straight to the fountains outside the International Gateway. The heat was really getting to her and she wasted no time jumping into the water to play. And since she had already disrobed in Morocco she was ready to go when we stopped the stroller. And did she ever have a blast playing here!

We let her play for about fifteen minutes and then forced her out of the water. The fountains had not curbed her desire to be in water like we hoped. She no sooner hit the stroller and began to beg to go swimming. I lost count of the times the child said “Go to room and go swimming?” But before we left Epcot there was one more thing I wanted to do. And I really wanted to do it with her. Minnie’s butterfly garden. Kiara loves butterflies and this was something I thought she would enjoy. As we made our way to the butterfly garden I spotted more topiaries. And this one was just so cute.


And then I found Snow White and the seven dwarfs.


The only thing I wish I had done with this shot is have my Grumpy standing next to THE Grumpy.


We made our way to Minnie’s butterfly garden and Grumpy found a bench to sit on at the end of the walkway to the garden. He decided to wait for Kiara and I there but she refused to get out of the stroller. I asked her if she wanted to see all kinds of butterflies and she responded with “No, go swimming”. I made several attempts and each was met with the same response. I finally grew tired of the exchange, chalked it up as a lost cause and headed to the garden alone. Oh, how I wished she had been with me. This was really a wonderful display. Hundreds, maybe thousands of butterflies were flitting by everywhere inside. And the Minnie topiary was adorable. If Kiara had been with me I would have spent more time but I felt a bit guilty making her wait any longer.


How cute is the little hidden Mickey on her dress?
When I came out I showed her the pictures I had taken and she looked at me and said “go swim now?” OK kid, I get the hint.

We made our way out of Epcot and I sent Grumpy and Kiara ahead of me so I could take a few final shots.

I said goodbye to Epcot and this wonderful festival and hustled to catch up with my pride. Our wait for a bus was short and we were on our way back to the WL.


Up next….. some pool time and an evening at my second home, Ft Wilderness.

[DawnDenise]

Wonderful pics of the topiaries and the pic of the butterfly!! Great update and looking forward to more!!