Sue's April 2009 WDW - Day 3 of 4
- From: "Sue/WDW1972" <wdw1972@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:48:09 -0700 (PDT)
DAY 3 – Sunday 4/26/09
Who: Sue (50), DVC member
Plan: Downtown Disney, Stormalong Bay, Biergarten, Epcot
Actual: After another good night’s sleep I woke with the alarm at
5:15 this morning. Even though my studio is across from the
elevators, it’s actually at the start of a hallway and there’s not
been any noise. It’s also a dedicated studio, so there’s no risk of
noise from vacationers who don’t seem to realize the resort isn’t
their private home out in the woods somewhere <g>.
I got cleaned up some, made a cup of cappuccino, and headed out. I
needed an updated paper with the park hours so I stopped in the
lobby. After yesterday, I was taken aback to find a child or 2
running around and adults standing at the front desk!! Have these
people not heard of express checkout?? There were 2 groups at the
counter and no cast member in site, so I made the executive decision
to try later rather than waste time standing there.
I went outside and decided instead of walking around Crescent Lake I’d
just sit on a swing. I grabbed a towel from Stormalong Bay to wipe
off any moisture, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been yesterday. I
sat on the swing while I drank the cappuccino, and later went back
inside to the lobby. This time it was deserted & peaceful, lol! A
cast member was at the counter and gave me the park hours I’d
requested. I went back up to the studio, washed out my mug, took a
shower and got dressed for the day. Afterwards I hung out online and
spent some time on the porch. Last night I went out a few times but
there was a large group who’d gathered their chairs together and they
were extremely loud. With the door closed I couldn’t hear them, but
when I’d go outside their noise was just too annoying. Evidently they
didn’t see the building behind them either – that would have been a
clue there were other people around!
At 7:45 I decided to drive over to Downtown Disney. I knew nothing
would be open yet, but I planned to wander around until Earl of
Sandwich opened at 8:30. At 8 I was supposed to call SB to wake him
up, since he has an early game today & then gets to leave lovely
Trenton. But, he was up early and called me as I was leaving the
studio.
The drive to Downtown Disney took just over 15 minutes with the
lights, and I parked in the lot at the end near Earl of Sandwich
(behind the toy store). I had time to kill, so I wandered through the
Marketplace and then through Pleasure Island. I was shocked to see
the Comedy Warehouse sign had been removed from the front of the
building (although it’s still up on the side).
Exiting Pleasure Island, I could see the balloon for Characters in
Flight on my left. What used to be guest services here by the West
Side is now the ticket booth for Characters in Flight. I don’t know
if guest services moved elsewhere, as I didn’t spend much time in this
area. The balloon ride opens at 10:30 and only costs $16/adult and
$10/child (9 & under). I want to do it at some point, but 10:30 isn’t
really a good time for me – perhaps some afternoon next trip.
I wandered back to the Marketplace and Earl of Sandwich. I had about
10 minutes before they opened (at 8:30), so I sat at a table outside.
There was a duck waiting at the door, so I evidently wasn’t the first
to arrive. I was the first paying customer, though <g>. I ordered a
caprese sandwich and got a small yogurt parfait for tomorrow. The
yogurt thing is really small – too small really. They do have larger
ones now, but I didn’t want that much this time. While I was waiting
I remembered how good their brownies are and went back up to buy one.
I took the food and some water outside and ate half the sandwich and
part of the brownie. By then I only had about 5 minutes to wait for
Goofy’s Candy Co to open at 9 so I sat on a bench over there. At 9 I
went inside and ordered my rice krispie thing with milk chocolate,
mini m&m’s and butterfinger. I miss the reese’s peanut butter cups
they used to have there – those were the best! I also got a
marshmallow thingy and a tin of Goofy mints for SB. This was
definitely a pig-out morning as I had bags of junk food, lol!
I went right back to BCV and hit the lights right as it took just
under 15 minutes to get back. I walked quickly up to the studio, put
the food away, changed my shoes, and was out the door by 9:30. I
walked to Epcot, went to Soarin’ and was leaving that pavilion at
9:45!! Where else can you stay that you can get from your room all
the way through Epcot with a Soarin’ fastpass in your pocket in only
15 minutes???? Have I mentioned I LOVE this resort?? LOL
I sat on a bench in Innoventions, since I was only here to see Mary’s
show. Missy was working with her, and did the pre-show. She looks
like she’s slimmed down, and really looks good – meanwhile I was
painfully aware of my junk food shopping binge an hour ago <g>. The
show was cute, and most of the audience got to participate since it
was a small crowd. I hung out with Mary & Missy after the show –
evidently last week the shows were packed (spring break). It was
great seeing Mary – hopefully we’ll have more time next trip.
At 10:30 the next show was set to begin, so I left the park and went
up to the studio to get changed into my swimsuit (and an oh-so-lovely
baseball cap..ugh). Since I didn’t remember to bring my floating
noodle thing, and it was somewhat late I just went down to the quiet
pool. I had a couple magazines and I’d brought the book Cruise
Confidential (thanks, Lisa) which is supposed to be behind-the-scenes
working on a cruise ship.
I was out there until about 12:40. People came & went, but it was
never busy. Someone had left a towel on the chair next to me, and
when I left I put it in the dirty towel bin. There was a man in the
pool wearing a black speedo-type swimsuit. His belly hung over it, so
he was hardly the poster child for speedo – oh my! I saw my neighbor
come out to his porch, and he wasn’t smoking. It was fairly
comfortable out there, thanks to the breeze – but I still needed
another shower.
I went up to the studio, took another shower, and listened to the
first hour of SB’s game. Shortly after 2 I walked back over to Epcot
and went to Soarin’. I picked up a fastpass for later (6:42 pm) and
then used my fastpass from this morning. I was quite a ways back in
the hallway when a cast member came looking for a party of 1. I
raised my hand and he told everyone to please stand against the wall
(to let me through). Everyone except for one clueless man did – his
poor wife was trying to yank him out of the way, lol! I ended up in
the 2nd row in the center section, which I was happy with.
After Soarin’ I left the Land pavilion and walked out to Future
World. I arrived at Germany about 3pm and stood in line to check in
for my 3:10 reservation. A woman with 2 kids came after me and looked
like she was going to step ahead of me but I didn’t let that happen.
I checked in, got my beeper and went to sit inside in the air
conditioning.
This was my first time inside Biergarten, and I was surprised it was
so small. It’s cute, and looks like a German village. The tables are
arranged on 4 levels, and I was on the 3rd. When the beeper went off,
I learned I was being seated with the woman with the 2 young kids. Oh
joy. Yes, I know this is Disney and there are kids everywhere and I
should have figured I’d be seated with kids but I was hoping for
grownups. The mother & I sat across from each other and her 2 kids
were in the 2 seats next to her. They seated the next party with us –
mother, talkative teen girl and young daughter. They sat at the other
end of the table. There was no interaction between the groups at all,
which was disappointing.
The mother was from Romania, and I did speak to her – but she was busy
taking care of her kids so I just ate my meal, got my check and left.
The show started about 5 minutes after we were seated, and that was
nice. They played German songs and used different instruments. The
buffet wasn’t that impressive. They did have pretzel rolls and the
little sausages at the Food & Wine Festival! There was an ordinary
looking green salad, cucumber salad, tomato salad, cold meatballs,
macaroni salad, sausages, rolls, roasted chicken, pork schnitzel, warm
meatballs, roast turkey, salmon, and I don’t remember what else. I
basically made a sausage in pretzel roll sandwich & ate that along
with a couple bites of pork schnitzel, piece of cucumber, piece of
tomato & a roll. I should have stuck with the chicken, I think, lol!
The dessert buffet consisted of fresh cut fruit, chocolate mousse
cake, Bavarian cheesecake, apple strudel, blueberry crumble, vanilla
pudding & some fruit thing in a cup. I ate a piece of apple strudel
(Food & Wine Festival size), Bavarian cheesecake & part of the
chocolate mousse cake. The strudel was good, the cheesecake was
disappointing because it was so fluffy and the chocolate was just ok.
Overall, I didn’t get my money’s worth – I would have been better off
with the pretzel roll sausage & apple strudel from the Food & Wine
Festival instead of paying $20 for basically that today. Add to it
the unimpressive table mates, and I don’t plan to return. Oh – the
teen girl was one of those people who talks LOUD. We were at opposite
ends of the table and I clearly heard every single word she spoke!
When I got outside and stopped in the wine store and got a glass to
take with me. Inside I’d stuck with ice water and drank most of 2
mugs I was so thirsty! I found a shady bench in Italy so I sat there
with my wine for a while. When I got up people were already in line
for the next Blue Notes concert, which was a whole hour away yet! I
continued walking and went back to Future World. I stopped before
Spaceship Earth to talk with SB before he got on the bus to return to
CT with the team. They won 11-3 or something like that – good for us,
not so good for the Yankees’ team. <g>
After I was off the phone I rode Spaceship Earth with basically no
wait at all. I think I snoozed through part of it, but that’s ok – I
don’t mind relaxing on an attraction I’ll ride many times in the
future. Afterwards I went over to Test Track and was surprised to see
the fastpass return line was all the way out the door! I used the
single rider line and was let right into the preshow room, but those
people were backed up leaving the room. We stood there quite a while
before we started moving. This ride is fun, but it’s not worth a long
wait – I think standby was 90 minutes, lol!
I browsed through Mouse Gear a bit, then went back to World Showcase
starting with Mexico. I got another glass of wine in Germany and then
walked over to the USA and joined the line for the next concert. In a
few minutes they let us in and I got a seat in the 4th row which was
pretty good. The concert started about 20 minutes later. Once
criticism I have is each show seemed to be the same songs, in the same
order. I’m used to the performers mixing the shows up a bit – doing
their BIG songs in every show, but putting different 2nd tier songs
into each show. Once again they dragged out that Sharon Page person.
She actually reminds me of my former boss, in terms of her appearance,
hairstyle, body type & raspy voice. Nora is a dark-skinned caucasion
but could pass for this woman’s sister! I just don’t like her voice
at all, or the whole diva attitude.
After the concert I finished walking through the countries and left
via the International Gateway. The line for the boat was huge – I
can’t believe so many people are so lazy, when the resorts are an easy
walk away. I walked, and beat the boat by a wide margin. I thought
about stopping by Boardwalk Villas to check out Rich’s party balcony
(but he’s not there this week) but ended up only going halfway before
turning around and walking to BCV.
Back in the studio I talked to SB then heated up the leftover goat
cheese from Spooles the other night. I updated the report & checked
email during Amazing Race, and then at 9 took my mug of cappuccino
outside to walk around and then sit on a swing on the beach for a
bit. Illuminations had just started so I watched that for a bit and
then walked back and sat on a swing on the beach. Some company was
having a dinner thing on the beach and they had a DJ playing music for
people to dance. It was a pretty big event, but the food portion was
over with.
I sat there enjoying their music, and thought it stunk that they
displaced the nightly movie on the beach. I guess the hundreds of
guest rooms paying $400/night would just have to watch the movie on
the beach indoors tonight (not good). Oh well, that’s not my issue
since I don’t use that amenity <g>. It was really nice sitting out
there tonight, and it’s one of my favorite free things to do here.
I went back inside a little before 10 and got to work on today’s
photos. I talked to SB one last time, then finished up & posted the
report. I was hungry for some reason, so I snacked on part of the
marshmallow thingy. Hopefully the sugar rush won’t interfere with
sleeping!
Today was another wonderful day – I just love being here! Biergarten
was the single less-than-stellar moment, but I’m glad I tried it to
see what it’s like. I can’t believe I’ve been here 3 days already and
I’ve only been to Epcot, lol! Tomorrow morning I’ll go to Animal
Kingdom so I can say I did something other than Epcot <g>.
The photos are at:
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=827261240800076767/l=751651016/g=5159584/cobrandOid=1000143/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
Sue/WDW1972
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