This is how we spent the 8th of April!Getting some sun and sand! It is hard to describe the incredible feeling you get lying in the sun after so many months of being cold! I know a lot of you can agree!! We went to Cocoa Beach, looked around Ron Jon (Ashley picked out all the things she'd like to buy!), then went to tan and swim for a bit. It was in the high 20s -low 30s (Celsius) while we were in Orlando and sooooooo lovely! I can't believe we swam in the Atlantic Ocean in the first week of April!
I got a little too much sun though and ended up totally burnt somewhat rosey!
The next day April 9th (Happy Birthday Jenn Pye!) we hung out with my friend Doug and his buddy Kyle. We went to a UCF baseball game!! It was super HOT and I was burnt so it was good when we found a little shade to hide in. A few of Doug's other friends were there too so it was nice to meet more friends.
Go Knights!
After the game we decided to go mini-golfing...and I got to feed these guys! Good ol' hot dog on a stick.
They kept moving really suddenly and it freaked me out. Mini-golf was Congo themed and super fun. We had to do a scavenger hunt while we were golfing and we didn't quite find them all but got to do the scratch and win anyways! We only really won 5 or 10% off a t-shirt so it wasn't that big of a deal. We had dinner at Chili's afterwards. The sunburn caught up with us and we were way too tired to go out. Went home and watched Weeds with Oscar and Kristin though. Fun day :) Sunday April 10th Ashley and I met up with two people arriving with her to Disney that she had chatted with on WDWIP. Emily is from the UK (F&B) and Diego is from Mexico (Merch!) and so we picked them up from their hotel on I-Drive and went to IKEA! It was fun to look around and see all the pretty things. I would love an IKEA kitchen...one day ;)
After IKEA we went for lunch at Panera Bread and drove past the housing complexes to show Emily and Diego where they were going to be living!! Then we went and got them all set up with cell phones before going home to get ready for a night out at Howl at the Moon!
Nick, Me and Ashley
Ashley and I switched friend's houses and stayed with Nick, who is a chef in the kitchen at Le Cellier. We all went to Howl at the Moon! I was so excited because we use to go to Howl every Sunday when I was a cast member. One of the main reasons we loved it was because the drinks were 3 for 1, and buckets were $18!! Now the drinks are only 2 for 1 and a bucket was $27!! Ridiculous! It is a fun duelling piano bar, and they sing hilarious made up songs as well as requests! It's super fun, but they need to bring back the 3 for 1s.
Ashley, Gonzalo, Me and Oscar
Monday April 10th was the day I had been waiting for! Nick, Ashley and I headed to EPCOT!! I obviously had known for a while that we were going to go, and was excited, but as we arrived it really hit me that it had been 9 months since I had been in 'my park' and I couldn't wait to get inside!
Ahhhh! I had butterflies!! Yup, I'm a little dorky...but I loveeee it!
These 3 use to live in the Canada Pavilion..now Bambi has his own Butterfly Garden
At least I wasn't excited about the engagement ring replicas! Yay Royals
After riding Spaceship Earth (yay!) and venturing through the butterfly garden we went to Canada and saw Linda (the f&b manager) and Francis (the assignor)! It was so so nice :) Familiar faces are so great after long absences. We also bought a couple Mooseheads from the Canadian Popcorn/Beer Cart! It was exciting using my ID in the pavilion as I was underage during my first program! Then we headed over to the UK to see Yelitza!! We caught up a bit and then made plans to meet later as we were again hoping houses and staying at Yelitza's!
We travelled to France and they had some great Beauty and the Beast flowers! My favourite ;)
They also had this guy!! HOLY! He is doing a hand stand on top of a jumbo champagne bottle on top of a huge stack of chairs! He also held his body straight out parallel to the ground which I found insanely impressive! I never stopped to watch before, but now I will again for sure.
We also got to see the Japanese drummers!
and the Koi pond! Fun!! No saki though, I've learned my lesson. Well, Ashley said no... :) hehehe
I <3 Jessica Rabbit!
I'd never seen these chocolates before. They had a bunch including a super cute Pinocchio box.
I love Duffy. Nick is not a fan. I don't think Ashley cares either way...Duffy opinions?
Group shot...those were everyone's cups not just mine!
I wanted to do this to Clodagh.
We went to Germany to check everything out and started talking to a cast member named Susannah. She was super nice and we were talking about Christmas and this guy with a big white beard came up and said he couldn't help but notice we were talking about him. He told us all about why and how things are done at the North Pole...for a very long time. Ashley and Nick backed away slowly and then tried to get me to leave too but I felt bad, for both just leaving and for Susannah and so eventually cut in well enough to say goodbye to "Santa" and write Susannah a guest service fanatic card - patience is a big virtue at Disney!
Mulan and I had a great conversation about her friendship with Giselle and how they like riding horses together. I like when the characters talk to you about random things like this. Good show! We also watched the movie in China which I had never done before! It was really pretty and I'd like to see it again.
We had a great stop in the Mexico Pavilion's tequila shop. We sat beside a hilarious lady and her husband who kept telling us about all the trips she goes on with her girlfriends and leaves her husband at home. Guests are so funny.
The End.
Well sort of. It was the end of our day at Epcot and we headed out for dinner at a yummy Mexican restaurant. Then we grabbed our car and headed to Yelitza's for some television and girl chat before bed.
Tuesday April 12th was Ashley's Cultural Representative Program start date!! We woke up, had breakies (Nutella...YUM!) and then Ash took me to the airport for my 12:45pm flight! I got through security really fast which was nice. My flight was to Montreal and I watched the King's Speech and slept. It was a really good movie!! If you haven't seen it you probably should - there is a reason they won Oscars! After a jaunt through customs, getting my bag, delivering my bag, and going through security again I boarded my next flight from Montreal to Vancouver. I finally got to the skytrain outside of YVR around 10 and arrived home to meet my niece around 1115pm! It was a long day! But Clodagh is gorgeous and wonderful and so tiny and incredible. She slept all nuzzled up in my neck :) Perfect.
Disney Challenge Day 12: Favourite Villain Song
This was my original thought, especially with that Hitler-esque scene with the Hyenas all marching past Scarm however...
The following song gives you chills. It is so creepy, he doesn't even think he's horribly evil! Hellfire from the Hunchback of Notre Dame sang by Frollo. Even when I meet him as a character at the parks it creeps me out
as you can see from these two photos taken over a year apart...
At Mickey's Not So Scary (except for Frollo) Halloween Party 2009
I didn't want to touch his hand and was SO uncomfortable. Disneyland October 2010
Disney Challenge Day 13: Least Favourite Song
This is actually really hard. I can't think of my absolute least favourite song, as I clearly don't listen to it very often. My dislike of bugs could make a difference, but I'm going to say this one :
Disney Challenge Day 14: Favourite Kiss
This was a choice between a kiss that created fireworks, a kiss that changed two frogs into people, a kiss that you aren't completely expecting and two kisses, one that woke up one lady and one that woke up an entire country. These two take the cake for me:
Disney Challenge Day 15: First Movie I Saw
I don't know the answer to this. I tried to ask my parents but they weren't sure either. They said we use to watch The Little Mermaid a lot, and I use to watch the Lion King on repeat, and of course Beauty and the Beast. I'll see if there is anything in my babybook... Sorry!
Disney Challenge Day 16: Favourite Classic
Fantasia
Lady & the Tramp
Peter Pan
I love all of these. Jungle Book is pretty high up there as well except for how scary the end is with the Tiger and fire! Fun Fantasia Fact: I never knew there was a Ave Maria scene until 2008. I always got so scared by the Night on Bald Mountain scene with the devil that we turned it off when that started and I just believed it was the end. I was watching a television special about Disney and they showed a clip of this people walking through a forest from Fantasia and I thought to myself No way, that's not in that movie! I finally sucked it up, put in Fantasia, and watched the whole Night on Bald Mountain scene (and it still freaked me out!) and then finally got to see the Ave Maria scene..and it was beautiful.
Disney Challenge Day 17: Least Favourite Classic
I don't have anything against Dumbo himself. The reason this is my least favourite is because I just feel so sad and embarrassed for Dumbo the whole time it makes it hard to watch. I know the moral of Dumbo is to overcome adversity and 'fly high,' however it just makes me too sad to see him seperated from his Mummy and then made fun of so harshly.
Check out this article (click here) to read about a perhaps new pavilion in the World Showcase at Epcot! The Brazilian invasion will be 12 months a year instead of just during the summer! There are always rumours circulating about new pavilions, and it's rarely true, but it's always nice to hear them discussing something new. With all the incredible improvements going on at the West Coast parks (click here to read/see an update) it would be fantastic to see a little love in Epcot. I know there is the huge Fantasyland expansion at Magic Kingdom, but the World Showcase has pretty much been the same since 1982.
I shall finish my road trip updates later today!!
ALSO....
If you are in the Orlando Area and a fan of Pixar this may be of interest:
Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida wraps up the Epcot® International Flower & Garden Festival May 13 – 15 with a celebration of Pixar’s 25th anniversary. It’s a great opportunity for guests to immerse themselves in the world of Pixar films and their characters.
Guests will find topiary based on their favorite Pixar Characters throughout Epcot®.
Special Pixar Meet and Greets
And the Pixar fun will continue throughout World Showcase, where characters from Toy Story, Ratatouille and A Bug’s Life wait to greet guests in three areas of Epcot:
Future World
Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story at Mission: SPACE
Mater from Cars and Cars 2 at Test Track
Living Coral Stiltwalkers at The Seas with Nemo and Friends and Crush at Turtle Talk with Crush
World Showcase
Woody, Jessie and Bullseye from Toy Story at the American Adventure
Flick, Atta, Gypsy Moth and stilt walking Slim from A Bug’s Life at the Art of Living Garden
Remy and Emile from Ratatouille at France
World Showplace
Mr. & Mrs. Incredible and FroZone from The Incredibles
Lotso from Toy Story 3
Mike, Sully, Boo and Smitty from Monster’s Inc.
Carl, Russell and Dug from Up
Pixar Celebration Headquarters
World Showplace (located between the Canada and United Kingdom pavilion), will serve as the celebration headquarters. Inside, families can enjoy meet and greets with characters from The Incredibles, Toy Story 3, Monsters, Inc. and Up, and browse a photo gallery that calls out some of Pixar’s best Easter Eggs from past films. There also will be an art gallery that displays the creative work that went in to Pixar films.
Speaker Series
A special speaker series featuring talks by Oscar®-nominated Pixar producer Jonas Rivera, Oscar®-winning composer composer Michael Giacchino and Cars Franchise Guardian Jay Ward will also take place at World Showplace.
Daily Speaker Series Schedule
Noon: Jay Ward
2:00 PM: Jonas Rivera
4:00 PM: Michael Giacchino
6:00 PM: Special Presentation by Jay Ward, Jonas Rivera and Michael Giacchino
Jonas Rivera
Michael Giacchino
Jay Ward
Activities
Kids also can play the Cars 2 Race Around World Showcase game, by picking up a booklet with clues that send them on a journey to specific World Showcase pavilions, where they’ll receive more clues, and receive a reward at the end.
The special experiences are included with Epcot admission.
Definitely check this event out!! I will be in Orlando at the time however don't have park tickets until August! Ahh! So close and can't get in? It's heartbreaking! I've heard good things come to those who wait...patience? Yah, I don't have those :)
