We had to get up early to take Aunt Joyce to the bus station. Her bus was scheduled to depart at 8:00 am. We didn’t get a lot of sleep after the long, tiring day at EPCOT. We got Aunt Joyce to the bus station without any problems and said goodbye to her. She had a great time and still couldn’t believe she was there with us.
Mom, Melinda, and I at EPCOT
Our plans for the day were to start out in EPCOT, but first we stopped back at Pop Century and had breakfast in the room. After we had some food in our tummies we headed out for EPCOT. It felt like we had never left! LOL First up was taking Mom on the Seas with Nemo and Friends. It was Melinda’s turn to ride with Mom which meant I had a clam mobile all to myself. It was actually kind of lonesome. LOL Since Mom wasn’t with us the day before when we took photos with the sharks at Bruce’s Sub House we had Mom pose for a photo with each of the sharks. After that we perused the gift shop a bit. I bought a stuffed Dory with some money that Aunt Joyce had given me. Every time I see Dory I will think of Aunt Joyce. :) Mom bought some really pretty earrings with her birthday gift card.
As we were leaving we stopped for some photos with the Finding Nemo character statues out front. I wanted a photo with my stuffed Dory and the Dory statue since she is my favorite Finding Nemo character. Melinda often tells me I’m a lot like Dory . . . can‘t remember diddly! LOL
Dory and Marlin
Before going to World Showcase we wanted to get a few pictures of the Test Track exit area and the sign since we didn’t take our cameras with us when we went on the ride. Once that was accomplished we decided to tour the world again, this time though we were on the hunt for pressed pennies.
Since we had a lunch reservation in China at 1:00 pm we decided to start in Canada. I was able to answer all the trivia questions but one! YAY me! That Canadian culture class I took back in college paid off! LOL I got a little certificate, which was neat. Melinda found a cute little stuffed Moose dressed as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to go with her Mountie bear she got in Toronto in 2000.
Canada!
Though we were all kind of disturbed that in Canada they kept playing an instrumental version of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot. It didn’t make much sense why they would be playing a song about a shipwreck. I know Gordon Lightfoot is Canadian, but he had lots of other songs that probably would make more sense. It was just odd to us. I doubt anyone else even knew what song it was. Since we are from Michigan we are familar with the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald. It was just an odd choice of songs to play. For more information on the Edmund Fitzgerald see this November 2008 post.
So after we had enough of visiting our neighbor to the north we explored the United Kingdom. At the store where the pressed pennies are located I had set the Ziploc bag full of pennies and quarters down without shutting it tight and when Melinda picked it up it spilt ALL OVER the floor! Oy! Totally embarrassing. The cast members helped us pick it all up, but it was quite the scene. We quickly got our pressed pennies and left.
Me trying on a hat
Next we stopped at the International Gateway to get more pressed pennies, specifically a Mulan pressed penny. While there Melinda purchased a pin, but wouldn’t let me see what she was buying until after we left when she gave it to me. It was a Test Track pin. She gave it to me for being brave and riding it this trip.
Next on our tour around the world was France. We were bummed to find their pressed penny machine was out of order. We didn’t stay too long in France.
France
Our next stops were Japan, Italy, Morocco, and America but like France we took some photos and collected our pressed pennies, but didn’t really spend too much time.
Morocco
Japan
Italy
The day before we hadn’t really had a chance to look at the miniature train in Germany so we took quite a few photos and watched the trains some. Then we explored some more of the shops that we didn’t have a chance to go to the night before like the toy store.
Germany
By this time it was getting close to our reservation time so we headed for China. When we got to China we still had about 20 minutes before we had to check in for our reservation so we wandered around the one shop, where we found lots of really neat things to purchase. We each got a little silk coin purse. I got a panda necklace that came in this cute little panda shaped box. Mom bought a set of really cute porcelain dolls. There were so many cute things in that shop. We had to leave before we spent more money!
We then checked in for our dining reservation at Nine Dragons and were seated immediately. The restaurant looks great after the rehab. We knew what we wanted before we sat . . . honey sesame chicken! YUM! It was divine the last time Melinda and I ate there in 2007 and we both had been craving it since. This time we were not disappointed. It was heaven! The sauce was the right about of sweet. The chicken was tender and moist. The breading had just the right amount of crunch to it. We each pretty much licked our plates clean! For desert Melinda had a scoop of ginger ice cream. Mom and I split the banana cheesecake egg roll with ginger ice cream and then it was all topped off by caramel. OH MY GOODNESS! This was the best desert EVER! It was sooooooooo good! I don’t even know how to adequately describe it because it was seriously so delicious. Overall it was an awesome meal.
China
Melinda and I at Nine Dragons
Honey Sesame Chicken . . . Mmmmmmmmmmm
Banana Cheesecake Eggroll . . . Mmmm Mmmm Good!!!
Ginger Cake
With our tummies full, we decided we wanted to ride Maelstrom once more. There was not a long wait for it like the previous day, but it was just as much fun. I love when you go backwards! LOL
After that we decided to head back to Pop for a bit of a break before going to Hollywood Studios. When we got back to Pop we each took a short nap. Once we were refreshed we headed to Hollywood Studios to see Fantasmic!
The first thing we did when we got to Hollywood Studios was went to see Muppet Vision 3D. It’s not my favorite attraction, but Melinda likes it and Mom seemed to enjoy it. Though I do like the two critics.
Muppet Vision 3D
Check out the cool shades!
Since we were right across from Toy Story Pizza Planet and we were getting hungry, we decided to get dinner. By this time it was probably 5:25 pm and we weren’t aware that they were going to close at 5:30 pm. Melinda got in line while Mom and I went to find a total. We went upstairs and picked out a table and then I went back down to help Melinda with the food. As I was going to go wait in line with her, one of the Castmembers told me that they were closing and almost didn’t let me go wait with Melinda until I explained that I was going to help her carry the food back. We were the last people to get our food. We each ordered the pepperoni pizza, side salad and cookie. It was all very good, though the pepperoni was a bit spicier than I like. It was kind of nice being one of the only ones in the restaurant. It was nice and quiet.
Toy Story Pizza Planet
After dinner we wandered around the Streets of America. It was getting late so there weren’t that many people around, which was really awesome. We were able to take lots of silly and funny pictures.
Melinda and I in New York City!
Melinda going to ride the Subway
Melinda and I in San Francisco
At one point we found where the Monsters Inc characters are and even though they weren't there, we stopped for a few photos with Roz.
Poor Melinda forgot to file her paperwork! LOL
That night there were going to be two showings of Fantasmic, but we had decided to go to the later showing. On the way towards Fantasmic we stopped to see how long the line for Toy Story Mania one. It was posted as 60 minutes and it was really wrapping around so we decided not to ride it.
Fantasmic billboard
We continued on to Fantasmic where the first showing was already standing room only. While we waited we had our picture taking with the Tower of Terror in the background. It looked so cool at night all light up.
AHHHHH . . . the Tower of Terror!!!
We found a spot for Mom to wait and Melinda and I went in search of pressed pennies at the Aerosmith ride. With that mission quickly completed we went back to where Mom was waiting. Melinda wanted to go check on pressed pennies at the Tower of Terror, but I decided to stay back by the entrance of Fantasmic with Mom. We were by a popcorn cart, so I decided to purchase some for Mom. We had fun chatting with a nice lady from New Brunswick.
It was amazing how many people were waiting for the second showing of Fantasmic just minutes after the first showing started. Before they let us in, I asked a cast member which direction we should go with the wheelchair. Not long after the first show started they let us in and we began the long journey to the theater. It was a huge crush of people and a lot of time standing around. And a lot of people did not listen to the cast members that strollers should stay to the right. It wasn’t long before the second show was scheduled to start when we were allowed into the actual theater. The wheelchair seating is at the back of the theater, which made it impossible to get any decent photographs. Though by not focusing on trying to take pictures I got to sit and enjoy it. The show was amazing!!! Though the Pocahontas seemed a bit out of place, but overall it was fabulous!!! We all really enjoyed it. Though getting out of the theater wasn’t fun since the park was closed and the huge crush of people were all trying to get out. We cut through a couple of the gift shops to try to avoid the crowds. We finally found our way out and headed back to Pop.
It was a fun day. The highlights were definitely lunch at Nine Dragons and Fantasmic.
