If you are as tired of reading my posts about our Disney trip as I am of writing them, I appreciate you muddling through anyway. Our trip already seems like such a long time away, but that's probably because of all the things I've fit into the last week getting ready for Thanksgiving. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying all the planning and the preparation, but it does make our fun trip seem like a long, long time ago. So bear with me for just 2 more posts and then it'll be back to my regular riveting posts.
We started our first morning at Epcot at the
PRINCESS CHARACTER BREAKFAST. Both the books I read went on and on about how great the Princess breakfast in
CINDERELLA'S CASTLE was. It might be amazing, but it was also absolutely impossible to get a reservation for the week we were there. (It was probably due to the fact that we didn't make plans early enough. It fills up
fast!) So we settled for the Princess breakfast at Epcot. I was really worried we'd be disappointed, but we weren't in the least! It was, by far, Phoebe's favorite experience on our trip.
When I heard from more than one friend that most little girls wear a Disney Princess dress, I waved my magic wand and bibbity-bobbity-booed a dress just like
BELLE'S (because that's the one Phoebe wanted).
Let me tell you, I almost needed my own fairy godmother to help me get this little dress finished in time. I was cutting it pretty close! We even spent a day going to our local costume jewelry store to let Phoebe pick out a tiara and necklace.
We got to snap a few pictures before we wandered down to the dining hall at our reservation time. Eli wasn't all that excited about the breakfast, but he was being a good sport.
I know Disney is famous for it's attention to detail, but it didn't really hit me until we were on our way to the breakfast. (Maybe my perfectionist expectations are just a little high, but it took several days for this to sink in!). They had three ladies wiping the dew off the handrails before the park opened.
The dew on the handrails! Because we were there early, all the vendors were getting set up for the day. As Phoebe glided along in her carriage (you might call it a Sit N' Stand stroller), all the vendors greeted her with "Good Morning, Princess" and tipped their hats...two of them even bowed! She was on cloud nine.
Here is Phoebe with her very own Prince Charming.
As part of the package, you receive a professional photo with one of the princesses. Turns out, it was Belle!
While Phoebe's dress wasn't near as ornate as Belle's, she looked beautiful all the same.
Even Belle commented that she hadn't seen another "little Belle" with a prettier dress. Now I know that the actresses that play these princesses are hired for their sincerity and acting abilities, but it made me feel good anyway.
For our actual professional photo, I made Eli get in the picture, too. He wasn't too thrilled, but once Belle saw his Jedi Training Camp shirt and learned he'd been to Padawan school, she told him he must be brave and strong to do that. He started perking up after that.
You're shown to your table, invited to have pastries from the buffet and wait while all the princesses come by to meet and greet you. I have to throw in here that this meal was my favorite of all the meals we ate at Disney. It might have something to do with the fact that it was our only table service meal or that it was breakfast (my very favorite meal of the day) or that by the time we ate, I was starving. There were several pastries to choose from along with fruit and cheese and smoked salmon and some kind of pickled fish. The very best thing was the bagel with dill cream cheese. I'm still dreaming about it! They also bring a plate of bacon, sausages, eggs, and some kind of potato casserole. It was all yummy. My little princess ate 6 pieces of bacon, I think!
First, we met Snow White.
Somewhere in here there was a "Princess Processional" around the dining hall. You found the princess closest to you and took her hand along with all the other little girls near you and walked around while all the other patrons looked on and ooohed and ahhed over the little girls. It was great fun, but my pictures of that didn't turn out. Something to do with all the moms and grandmothers trying to get pictures of their own children.
Then Cinderella.
She also told Eli that he must be very brave to be a Padawan and he was handsome, too, like her Prince Charming.
Earning her a picture with Padawan Eli.
Sleeping Beauty was next.
She told Eli that he could probably defeat the dragon like her Prince Phillip because he must be strong to be a Padawan. It got a picture, too.
And a hug!
Ariel came over just as we were finishing breakfast. When Phoebe saw she was heading to our area, she swallowed her food (almost whole I would guess), wiped her face and wouldn't touch another bite until she'd met Ariel (again). She didn't want to be caught with food in her mouth! By this time, all the other princesses had stroked his ego enough, that Eli jumped right up when Ariel came over.
I think during the busy season there are more princesses making an appearance at the breakfast. Phoebe didn't mind, though, because her favorites were there and she didn't know any better. Even Eli said he'd had fun!
It was a good thing that Phoebe had her breakfast because after that there wasn't too much at Epcot that she loved...or even liked. The Nemo ride was too dark and loud. The Imagination ride was too unexpected. Living With the Land was too "rainy".
She did like tasting the different Cokes, though.
I didn't get too many more pictures of Eli that morning because he was too busy running around riding rides with Brad. His very favorite ride, Test Track, was at Epcot. After I bribed him with $2 to ride it (he was scared to ride it at first), he ended up riding it 2 more times! It's a ride in a test car where you are the crash test dummy.
After an afternoon nap, we went back that night to do the evening stuff at Epcot because they are the only park in the off-season that stays open till 9pm and has fireworks every night.
It was then that we got to see Sleeping Beauty again.
And Belle.
Then Jasmine and Aladdin.
Somewhere along the way, Phoebe got a princess kiss on her cheek.
That night we watched the Illuminations firework show. Phoebe got scared, as usual, but Eli loved it and he spent the entire 20 minute show hugging me and putting his arms around me and generally just overflowing with the excitement and the beauty of the fireworks. I just loved it! Although I need to remember this little trait when he starts wanting to take dates to see the fireworks on July 4th.
On our way out, Eli really wanted to ride Test Track with me. The rides weren't closed yet so we went to use our FastPasses from earlier in the day. When we got to the ticket-taker, she said we had to have a special "Extra Hours" park ticket. We didn't have those and Eli was so crushed he started to tear up. His pathetic little face played on her heartstrings apparently because she let us through to ride it one more time before we left. She's going to have to toughen up to work at Disney!
I didn't take too many pictures of Epcot when we went back for a few hours on Saturday morning. Brad and Eli set off for Test Track to ride it
4 times in a row while Phoebe and I did the Finding Nemo ride and Turtle Talk with Crush.
After having drag Phoebe into the ride the first day while she was yelling, "GET ME OUT OF HERE!", she was all over it the second time. She even got chosen to ask a question of Crush at the Turtle Talk. She asked how many babies turtles had. I even learned something. Sea turtles crawl up on land to lay their eggs (I already knew that) and the temperature of the sand determines the gender of the turtle. If the sand is cold, the turtles are boys. If the sand is hot, the turtles are girls.
Basically at Epcot, Brad and Eli rode rides (like Maelstrom in Norway), while Phoebe and I met princesses. Brad took this picture on his phone.
I think Mulan was one of my personal favorites because of the way she interacted with Phoebe.
All the princesses were sweet, but some of them (like Ariel and Mulan) were especially good with Phoebe.
And she left her a kiss!
Snow White again.
I did (finally) get to ride Soarin' with Eli and it was great! Here's Eli before we "took off".
I wished we had been able to do more at the Food and Wine Festival that was going on while we were there. It was a smorgasborg of international foods that smelled wonderful as walked through all the different lands. Other than the breakfast, we only ate at quick service places. We ate at the quick service place in China one night (pretty good and a nice break from burgers) and the quick service restaurant in Mexico (the beef tacos were yummy). We had ice cream sandwiches (again) and big, hot pretzels, too. I also snacked on a chocolate crepe while we watched the fireworks. I think the food was my favorite part of Epcot!
Epcot was the most different of the Disney parks, I think. It has a completely different feel from the rides to the food to the scenery. I think this quote sums it up best.
"EPCOT will be an experimental prototype community of tomorrow that will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise."- Walt Disney
