Double the fun : East & West coast Disney & Universal parks - UPDATED 1/14 About This Page:

[Big Sister]

DAY 17: Thursday, 25 November 2010

Thanksgiving Day

I got up at 11.20am, eager to start the day . I was particularly excited about today, as my first full pay in three fortnights would be in my savings account , and I was eager to get my internet banking sorted (ie. bills payed), so I could stop thinking about that unfortunate bit of reality for the rest of the holiday. (For a portion of our trip, I had to take leave without pay as I didn't have enough recreation leave accrued, which in turn, affected my income )

Before Nest re-injured his back last night, the plan for today was to go to Downtown Disney and catch a movie after Keith had warned us the night before about the expected Thanksgiving Day crowds . While waiting for Nest to wake up and see what he felt he was physically capable of doing for the day, I made alternative plans to do my internet banking at the Contemporary's business centre, before moving onto Epcot and tackling it in a more positive frame of mind with no unrealistic goals while there, to prevent myself from getting flustered, disappointed and irritable, in case Nest said he was bedridden.

Nest got up at 1pm, much to my relief, as it felt as if my stomach was beginning to eat itself, I was that hungry! With Nest's approval, I walked over to Everything Pop and got us both the Thanksgiving special the food court was putting on from 12 noon till 10pm. Our meals consisted of carved roast turkey with gravy, corn bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, sautéed green beans, a dinner roll, and a little container of cranberry sauce on the side. For dessert, Nest had apple pie, and I had pumpkin pie with cream (which Nest jokingly nicked a spoonful of.) I bought bottles of water to go with it, as nothing else seemed quite right. It was such a delicious meal, which we ate while watching courtroom reality TV.

I was thrilled to hear that Nest felt mobile enough to accompany me to Downtown Disney after lunch! I consulted my diary for the due dates of my bills, and found I could postpone my planned stop at the Contemporary's business centre, and head straight for Downtown instead - woo hoo! Not knowing the screening times of the movies, we set off at 3.15pm once both of us had gotten ready, hoping that we'd be in time for a screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.

The bus to Downtown Disney wasn't crowded. In my excitement at finally being out and about, I accidently had us get off at the first Downtown Disney bus stop instead of the second one , so we had a bit of a walk to get to the cinema. This was the first time Nest and I had been to a cinema in America, and were impressed that it had 24 screens, six of which were showing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 in close succession!! What luck! Our screening of the 4.30pm session was shown in a big cinema, which was very similar to the preferential cinemas in the theatre back at home. We found the tickets to be cheap, which was exciting in itself. We paid just $10.50 each to get in, where-as back home, a ticket costs $17.50 each We probably spent the "savings" on snacks though, with Nest getting a strawberry ice block, a packet of Skittles, and a large Diet Coke, while I got a Haagen Daas ice cream bar (vanilla ice cream covered in chocolate with almonds through it), a small bag of popcorn, and a large Coke.

We sat in the very back row (how cool is that?! ), and settled back to be entertained in an uncrowded environment. The ads preceding the movie weren't annoying as the ones back home. There was a don't add your own soundtrack, which featured mobile phones and a crying baby. I only say that, as when the baby started crying, I thought someone had actually brought one into the cinema itself, which would've wrecked everything, and began complaining to Nest about it ... before realising I had been tricked

I always look forward to the previews of upcoming movies, but none of the ones shown on this occasion, caught my interest ... at the time. I remember the animation, Rio, being one of the previews, as well as Cowboys and Indians starring Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig. (I have since seen Cowboys and Indians, and really enjoyed it! )

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 was quite good, but a far cry from the wonderful innocence and magic of the first ever Harry Potter movie. And even though I knew it was a two parter, I wasn't annoyed when it ended where it did. I'm glad it didn't leave me busting with impatience for the second and last installment of the series, as a year is just too long to wait for something you're terribly excited about. Nest wasn't as favourable with his review as I was, as he had read the book before seeing the movie, and found that it differed quite a bit. I heard him quietly disapproving of the dancing scene to himself during the movie, and so badly wanted to laugh out loud as a result Thankfully, other people in the cinema found the scene humourous, allowing me to laugh out loud after all

When the movie ended I and saw what the time was, I let out a disappointed cry - we had totally missed our Thanksgiving dinner reservation at Tony's Town Square Restaurant! (I hope the audience knew this, and didn't think I was overly disappointed in the movie ending where it did ) I hadn't expected the movie to go for as long as it did, and honestly thought we'd have enough time to make our way to the restaurant afterwards, which I had spent so long in choosing from other Magic Kingdom restaurants putting on a Thanksgiving Day menu. Despite having decided earlier that day, to avoid the Magic Kingdom at all costs, we thought it would still be ok to quickly dash in for dinner, seeing as Tony's Town Square Restaurant was just inside the entrance to the park.

Seeing as making our dinner reservation was out of the question, we made the executive decision to go and see another movie And it was no contest what the movie was going to be - how can a person consider going to see any other movie, when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has a new action movie out?!! Thank goodness we went straight from seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 to buying tickets for The Rock's Faster, as it was showing in a small cinema and the seats filled up so quickly. As Nest and I had had a snack banquet during our first movie, we weren't all that hungry, so just got a packet of M&M's to share this time round in case we got an attack of the munchies, and a bottle of water each.

Faster was an absolutely awesome movie! Other people must've thought so too, as the audience burst into applause at the end, which never happens in Australian cinemas, so surprised Nest and myself. Faster was about The Rock's character going around taking revenge on the people who murdered his brother during a burglary gone wrong. It shot straight to the top of my favourite movies list starring The Rock. While Nest did enjoy this movie, he thought it wasn't as good as The Rock's Welcome to the Jungle.

We caught the bus back to the Pop Century Resort after getting out of the cinema, and went to get a spot of supper from Everything Pop on the way back to our room at 11.22pm (we couldn't believe the time!) Nest got parmigiana chicken with two slices of bread so he could make it into a sandwich, and I got a turkey ciabatta, as well as a cup of worms in dirt for dessert. While waiting to be served at the check-out, I grabbed a packet of cashews from the display nearby, to share. Beverage-wise, we stuck to water.

We watched some great shows while having supper. First up, there was the "fat free" yoghurt episode of Seinfeld, followed by a wonderful and relatable episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, involving not being able to find anything sharp enough to get into those tough plastic packages. The last show we watched before calling it a night, was the bogeyman episode of My Name is Earl. Nest and I appreciated John Carpenter's Halloween theme being played when one of the characters gingerly went to look under a bed.

Before this trip, I never understood how people decided to have park free days. Nest and I are now two of those people! We had thoroughly enjoyed our park free day.

Next entry: Our first proper visit to Epcot

[Dlandmom2]

What a fun day! I really want to visit WDW for Thanksgiving someday. I showed my daughter the picture f your meal, and she practically kissed the computer screen! She's on board!

I love that you watched Harry Potter Part 1 during your vacation! There's something so "special" about that! I watched Part 2 when I was on vacation in Hawaii last year and just loved that I was in a mostly empty theater in Hawaii! It was one of the highlights of my trip, lol!

[ilovedisney247]

I love seeing movies at the DTD movie theatre--we saw Pirates 4 there and just loved the experience!

[chezp]

Congrats on the new vacation countdown!

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you had a great day at the movies, and that Nest's back is better!

[Cam22]

Sounds like a terrific park free day!

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by Dlandmom2

What a fun day! I really want to visit WDW for Thanksgiving someday. I showed my daughter the picture f your meal, and she practically kissed the computer screen! She's on board!

I love that you watched Harry Potter Part 1 during your vacation! There's something so "special" about that! I watched Part 2 when I was on vacation in Hawaii last year and just loved that I was in a mostly empty theater in Hawaii! It was one of the highlights of my trip, lol!

Yes, we certainly had a fun day, despite never having entered the parks (never though I'd be saying that!)

I hope you and your family make it to WDW for Thanksgiving one of these days, and get to parktake in a yummy roast turkey dinner! I often make the mistake of looking at my trip photos when I'm hungry, and wishing I could experience all the yummy meals and snacks all over again!

I can imagine how special it must've been for you to see the part two of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the cinema during your Hawaiian trip, especially as it was the last every Harry Potter story in the series. I've seen the link to your Hawaiian trip in your signature, and have been meaning to click on it - it's just that my personal internet time at work is extremely limited. I'd love to travel to Hawaii sometime soon, and are very interested in hearing people's own experiences about the destination.

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by ilovedisney247

I love seeing movies at the DTD movie theatre--we saw Pirates 4 there and just loved the experience!

There's something about going to the movies in a different town or country, that makes things that little more exciting, isn't there?

Pirates 4 was a good movie. My fave part was when Jack Sparrow asked his Dad if he had been to the fountain of youth, and his Dad replied, "Does this face **look** as if it has been to the fountain of youth?!"

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by chezp

Congrats on the new vacation countdown!

Thank you! I'm looking forward to having our plans set in concrete, so that we can finally have a genuine reason to get excited about things! At the moment, things are still uncertain, which is preventing the excitement from fully coming through. A trip will occur though, I know that for certain!

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Glad you had a great day at the movies, and that Nest's back is better!

Thanks! From memory, that was the last of Nest's serious back problems this holiday ... while at WDW, anyway - it started up again at Universal Orlando

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by Cam22

Sounds like a terrific park free day!

- we really enjoyed ourselves!

[Chancho]

Just found this TR and was able to complete it in two days. I am anxiously waiting for more.....sounds like you have had a wonderful time so far

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by Chancho

Just found this TR and was able to complete it in two days. I am anxiously waiting for more.....sounds like you have had a wonderful time so far

Thank you - glad to hear it! We were certainly having a lot of fun up to this point (unfortunately, there are a few super downer days to come . Looking on the positive side of things though, at least we'll know what **not** to do next time! )

I'm just about to load another entry ... before beginning work on entry number 19

[Big Sister]

DAY 18: Friday, 26 November 2010

Our first proper visit to Epcot

Nest and I started the day around late lunchtime, which must mean somewhere around 1pm (why couldn't I have just written that to begin with?!) While waiting for Nest to get ready, I wrote my Busch Gardens postcards. For today's outing, we had decided to go to Epcot. As we would have to transfer midway, no matter what form of transportation we decided to take, we thought that today would be a good a day as any, to call into the Contemporary's business centre first. We lined up to catch the bus to the Magic Kingdom, and ended up having to wait 45 minutes for a bus!! Not a good start to the day

Wanting to rely on our own steam after that massive delay, we decided to walk to the Contemporary once we were dropped off at the Magic Kingdom's bus station. It was a pleasant short walk, despite having to navigate crossing a tricky road. The opulence of the Contemporary's foyer was jaw dropping and very distracting from the reason we were there in the first place. I had no idea where the business centre was located, and luckily for us, a roaming Cast Member was able to tell this, and asked us if we needed any assistance. It was a bit of a walk from the foyer to the business centre. It was really quiet when we arrived, which was good, as that meant we didn't have to wait for an internet terminal, and I was able to pay two credit card bills and buy tickets to the World of Colour picnic at Disney's California Adventure park for the end of our trip, in no time at all.

Business all taken care of for the time being , we returned to the foyer for another dose of opulence, then made our way upstairs to catch the monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Centre, where we got off and transferred to another monorail that would deliver us to Epcot's doorstep. When we arrived at Epcot, it began to rain We only had one umbrella between us , but at least that was more than what we had had when we were caught in the storm at Taronga Zoo in Sydney at the beginning of our trip!

Nest and I hadn't had anything to eat all day , so we made our way to the nearest eatery once in the park, which happened to be the Electric Umbrella. Unfortunately, the Electric Umbrella wasn't serving anything we fancied , so we navigated ourselves to the Sunshine Seasons Food Court. What a super fantastic place the Sunshine Seasons Food Court turned out to be!! It lifted our spirits ten-fold , as there were just so many delicious meals to choose from, and there was ample seating. There were so many delicious meals to choose from, that it took ages for us to make a decision . From memory, I got my choice down to two counters - the Chinese counter offering all my favourite Chinese dishes, and the bakery counter offering overstuffed sandwiches with delicious flavour combinations. And don't get me started on the irresistible sweets on offer for dessert!

After very long deliberations, Nest and I decided on Chinese for lunch . The decision making didn't stop there though, as once it came our turn to be served, we didn't realise we'd have to make a snap decision as to which three dishes ended up on our plate! Not wanting to hold up the line, Nest went first, which gave me a few extra precious seconds in which to make my mind up as to what I wanted. Nest went with sweet & sour chicken, egg noodles, and stir fried vegies, while I opted for ginger mongolian beef, egg noodles and stir fried vegies. Not wanting to leave the delicious looking bakery counter out, we chose an individual key lime pie each for dessert. Trays ladened by that stage, we were at the drinks refrigerator getting a choccie milk for Nest and bottled water for us both, when a delicious fruit and cheese box caught our eye (it contained a selection of delicious looking cubed cheese, wedges of Edam, giant strawberries, and a bunch of red grapes.) Not being able to leave it behind, we simply had to make room on one of our trays for it I believe it was my tray it ended up on, as when we got to the soda station to get my main drink (a Sprite), Nest had to do the honours, as there was no way I could juggle my tray and operate the controls at the same time - I'm not the world's most co-ordinated person!

We got a table in the middle of the dining area, and began operation chow down We were so happy being in such an exciting place, and eating such yummy food The building we were in was at least three stories tall, yet there was no floor area over the dining level, so you could look right up while eating, and see a pretty display of four differently patterned hot air balloons surrounding a large globe of the world. On a closer look at the patterns on the hot air balloons, I believe each one represents a particular season. From the autumn balloon, hung a mobile of leaves, from the winter balloon, hung a mobile of snowflakes, the spring balloon had a mobile of butterflies, and the summer balloon was being followed by a flock of birds.

Part of the ceiling was made up of glass windows, letting in natural light, which is always nice when you're indoors. On this particular day, there wasn't much natural light available due to it being overcast and rainy, so most of the light source came from strategically placed light fittings.

Nest and I spent the good part of an hour over lunch. Despite entering the Sunshine Seasons Food Court absolutely ravenous, we weren't quite able to finish off all the cheese (we thought it would be nice if we left some for Mickey ), and left totally stuffed ... which should come as no surprise! Over lunch, I noticed that our receipt offered 20% off in particular stores, so afterwards, we made our way to Mouse Gear. There was soooooooo much stuff in this store that I wanted to buy, but for some reason I refrained from doing so, and just came out with a Tramp dog soft toy for a lady at work (she had given me cash to do so, on learning my travel destination), two magic face washers for myself, a Christmas pin for Nest, and three cute little teddies (which turned out to be fridge magnets - ) for our bros back home - I chose a original Mickey for Kib, Goofy for Johnny, and a Fantasia Mickey for Byron. Thanks to my 20% off voucher, I saved $10.53! I could go and see another movie with that, and still have three cents leftover! On checking my receipt to see how much I had saved with my discount, I was shocked when I saw the time stamp - it was 5.23pm, despite it feeling as if we had only just started our day! Perhaps that was the real reason there wasn't much natural light in the Sunshine Seasons Food Court for - not purely because of the overcast clouds, but because the sun had already started to go down!!

As we had a very big day trip to go on the following day, we decided to just walk around taking photos and looking at all the different world pavilions, and not to go on any rides, to prevent further injury to Nest's back - there was definitely no way I wanted Nest to miss out on any further excursions! I started by taking a photo of Nest outside the Land pavilion, where the Sunshine Seasons Food Court's located, so we'd remember our way back on future visits. (FYI - he likes to pull funny faces in most photos I try to take of him )

Nearby, were beautiful examples of Disney landscaping (our landscape architect bro would've been impressed!), which really complemented the nearby waterway, the bottom of which was covered in money - thousands of wishes must've been made in that one spot alone by countless numbers of guests!

There were also wonderful photo opportunities of Spaceship Earth from where we were standing - I got some shots with it framed by green foliage and pink blossoms, and other shots with it framed by beautiful blue, purple and silver Christmas trees.

By the time we made our way to the park's big Christmas tree, it was getting noticeably dark, but that was ok, because the coloured fairy lights stood out more. On top of the tree, was an golden-winged angel in a flowing white gown, holding a glittery globe of the world.

Having briefly covered the Future World West section of the park, photograph wise, we then set out for the wider climes of the World Showcase. Before tackling such an expedition though, we refueled with fresh bottles of water from the African Outpost, and someone miraculously had room for a chocolate cone after having such a big lunch only just recently (... as much as I love chocolate, that person wasn't me!)

Much to my excitement, the first pavilion we came to, was the Mexican pavilion . I couldn't wait to show Nest how beautiful it was inside. As I wasn't in a whirlwind of a hurry like I was on my previous solo visit, I was able to take in the exhibits at a much more relaxed pace, before entering the main part of the pavilion. The exhibits were very brightly coloured and interesting, illustrating various aspects of the Mexican culture, such as the Day of the Dead, animals, angels and saints. The eternally evening marketplace didn't fail to disappoint. As we wouldn't be experiencing the Three Caballeros on this visit due to Nest's back, we took a relaxed stroll around the marketplace, taking in all the exciting points of interest, such as the specialised Mexican sweets, brightly coloured Mexican styled clothes, not to mention the world famous giant sombreros. I thought the Donald Duck soft toys dressed up in Mexican outfits were really cute, and the boot-shaped shot glasses in the crystal store caught my eye as perfect gifts for two of our bros, Kib and Johnny, back home.

Next door to the Mexican pavilion, was the Norwegian pavilion, but having said that, I can only remember us entering a shop, and not seeing any exhibitions or displays. Perhaps the cultural part to this pavilion, was the film following the Maelstrom ride, which we would experience at a later date. Immediately inside the entrance to the store, was a perfume section, and we were inundated with the scent on entering. Luckily, I thought it was quite nice, but I'm not sure what Nest thought of it. Past the girly perfume section, were shelves of trolls, cute little gnomes on rocks, and Norwegian sweets. Like in the Mexican pavilion, I wanted to go crazy buying gifts and souvenirs, but a little voice in the back of my head was telling me to refrain from doing so (and for good reason too, it turns out, but more on that much later!)

The Chinese pavilion was up next. There was a Chinese styled light post illuminating the walkway to the area. If we kept on straight ahead, we would've reached the entrance to a beautiful looking tall circular building done in the well known Chinese architect style, which housed the Reflections of China circle-vision 360 degree film, which Nest and I unfortunately never got to experience. Instead, we veered off to our left, and entered the shop, which was in a more rectangular shaped building done in the same Chinese architectural style as the nearby theatre. The store was full of so many interesting objects for sale. I allowed myself to purchase a tiny good luck kitten charm with miniature bells attached, and a hand-held Chinese paper fan for my favourite colleague back at work, as she always likes to have one at her disposal. I spent quite some time trying to choose the prettiest one. Our brother Johnny loves practicing greetings and accents from different countries, so when it was my turn to be served at the counter once I had chosen what I wanted to buy (much to Nest's relief - apparently I was taking too long ), I kicked myself for the rest of the night when I said, "Hello!", and the Cast Member replied, "Ne how!" Johnny would've been so disappointed in me if he had've been there!

The last pavilion for the night, was the German one. It was such a pretty area! I loved the cottage-style architecture, which was beautifully illuminated by styled streetlights and silver fairy lights woven in amongst pine tree cuttings and red Christmas poinsettia flowers. There was also a fabulous water feature in the middle of the square.

Out of all the pavilions we had visited this night, this was the most populated. It was probably due to it being right on dinnertime (7pm.) Despite the crowds, Nest and I were still able to look through most of the stores. Nest and I made a mental note to come back at a later date (hopefully when it was less crowded!), and buy Johnny a mini beer stein (it was less than an inch tall!!), telling him that it was his new daily beer limit (The line to make purchases in this particular store, was probably too long, which is why we decided to come back for it later.) One of the stores we went into, was called Glas Und Porzellan, which was full of beautiful Christmas decorations. We spent so long in there (probably because of me going through everything with a fine tooth comb, I loved everything so much!), and I came out the proud owner of a box of carefully packed Christmas pickle decorations of all different shapes and sizes!! I've known of the German Christmas pickle tradition for quite some time, and thought it to be fantastic, as to me, focusing so much attention on a pickle is quite random. I was so excited when I came across a tree in the store, decorated with nothing but Christmas pickles On learning that I was an international customer, the Cast Member who served me, wrapped the pickles and balsa wood box they came in, with extra padding, so it would survive the flight home, which I thought was really nice of her. The Caramel Kitchen was absolutely packed, so we could only look through the window and dream of what delights were inside. We could smell the absolutely delicious smell of caramel from where we stood, and it made my mouth water with anticipation of all those sweet sweet delights If only we could've gotten to them!

Unfortunately, Nest's back had begun playing up by this stage and he needed to sit down , so exploring the seven remaining pavilions would have to wait for a later date. On our way out of Epcot to catch the bus back to the Pop Century Resort, we passed the sparkly walkway I had passed myself on my solo visit, plus some illuminated dancing light fountains, which were a new experience for both of us.

Getting a seat on the bus did Nest the world of good, as he spent ages in the games arcade once back at the Pop Century Resort .

BUSTED!

It was impossible to get him to come out for ages , so I walked around the foyer of our hotel, taking in all the fantastic exhibits showcasing popular culture throughout the decades, which is something I absolutely love.

Once I had achieved that, I went back into the games arcade, where Nest had become obsessed with the Big Bass Wheel. I had missed him landing the marker on the 100 tokens square, which he was trying to achieve once again when I had reappeared. (The more tickets you win while playing the games, means the more toys and other items you can swap them for at the counter before you leave.) Quite a queue had formed for this machine after a while, so Nest reluctantly moved on eventually.

As I'm not much of a fan of arcade games (only because I'm not all that good at them - ), I amused myself by taking photos of Nest playing them. Having said that, I was excited to find an Operation game ... but got buzzed out on my first attempt (Told you I was uncoordinated!)

I eventually pried Nest from the games arcade at 11.04pm - luckily he was and the food court was to close soon, otherwise he probably would've slept in the arcade if he could've

Nest had his usual chicken parmigiana with apple juice, and I had a delicious cheesesteak wrap with fries and a Coke.

While eating supper, we watched the masseuse episode of Seinfeld, the Seinfeld reunion (part 1) episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, My Name is Earl, and lastly, Jay Leno. After that, I worked on my journal for a bit, before calling it a night

Next entry: Big Cat Rescue, Tampa

[Colexis Mom]

Sorry for the rough start, but sounds like a great day! Love the pictures from Epcot and your resort!