Disney World 2022 day 9, August 10- Beer of Foo-mpah

This day (and the final one) we demonstrated the true reason any of us left a Park a little bit early or slept in on any other day. It was in order to have earlier mornings and fuller days near the end! This was especially since we completed this trip in the two oldest Parks. 

We’re traditional!
 
Anabelle had a fantastic idea for a “Danceworks Around the World” moment during her trip reconnaissance (That’s my girl!) First, the other dancers, and then the rest of us all jumped on the bandwagon for it immediately. The Fantasia side of the pool at our resort had giant brooms all along it. The Fantasia 2000 side was themed to “The Tin Soldier.” (Hence the constant “Shosty” on the bus rides home.)
 
There were Tin Soldiers as each column, with a giant statue of the ballerina in the center. Also, there was a giant, horrifyingly accurate, statue of the Jack in the Box a ways down from her, which we unfortunately needed to walk under to reach Herbie’s butt every day. 

Yes, one of the Tin Soldiers was missing a leg to represent the hero of the tale. Sadly, the Jack in the Box was between him and the Ballerina. I understand this represents the plot of the story, but since these statues do not move, (THANK ALL THE GODS OF DISNEY in the case of the Jack in the Box) it means the two loves are separated for eternity.
That is wrong I say! Wrong!
 
Before I distract myself yet again…The Danceworks picture. 

There was no way we could have pulled off focusing on both us and the statue in the dark, as I demonstrated trying to take a picture of Anabelle a couple of nights before. Therefore, we had to pick a morning to attempt the shot. We didn’t want to risk any of the “first day in each Park” arrivals, and we knew the last day would be more than busy enough. Since several of us took random bursts of sanity the other “second day in each Park” days, this had to be the one.
 
We all donned a Danceworks shirt, and met in front of the statue well before our usual gather on the bench time. Rosa started to set a timer on her phone’s camera, when a family came by more than willing to take the photo for us. Once that was completed quickly and effectively, we all changed rapidly - either in our nearby rooms, or on the fly- and met back on our bench in time to make the EPCOT bus stop a half hour before the Extra Magic Hour Half Hour rope drop.
 
It wasn’t even a little bit of a fiasco this time!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!
 
We checked in, with our usual security shenanigan-agains, and walked through Future World, into World Showcase and directly around to Norway before “Backwards in a boat” could begin breaking down the Frozen ride with any regularity. It was the first time any of us had done the attraction without FastPass since the transformation. We enjoyed seeing the new (to us) pretty stuff on line, along with a few references to the Maelstrom. 

The ride was a lot of fun and either I get more used to the uncanny valley projection faces or they keep tweaking them over time. (Possibly both.) I tried to take pictures (Again.) but because it is dark, and they are all moving projections, none of them came out. (Again.)

Traditions are important for us traditional folks. 

While on line we discussed, given the clumping of some must see characters over on the right side of the Showcase, planning to knock a bunch out first thing in the morning, allowing more leisurely strolling for the official EPCOT Death March.
 
Jeff’s Disney World Philosophy:
World Showcase characters can be a pain in the caboose for several reasons.
A) Most of them are face characters, limiting the time they are available.
B) All of them stop showing up shortly after lunch, to clear the way for the drunken mobs.
C) World Showcase is spread out, meaning if we happened to be in a country’s pavilion and missed a character, we’d likely be far away by the time they returned.
The current trip added on the following issue:
D) Given the lack of Princess Meals, this was the only way to see some of them.
 
We looked a little bit in the Norway store and started to execute the face characters meeting plan.
 
Kim realized how much she loved the Frozen ride, and knew she’d never get another chance with this reduced line length. She went on a second time with Dave and Morgan, or maybe it was Veronica? I was pretty heat stroked and delirious from exertions by this point in the week.

(An eventual check of the PhotoPass pictures confirmed it was only Kim and Dave that went. At the time, we did make sure Morgan and Veronica were with us…
“Unlike a previous trip where you all left me in the Imagination, store.” – Veronica.
We can be taught, and we weren’t THAT heat stroked.)
 
The rest of us walked over to England for the first of the characters.
No, we do not have a piratical “He who falls behind is left behind,” code. However, the way the character comings and goings were timed, if we missed one, the rest would fall like dominoes. Their locations were dense enough to keep us generally close to each other for the bouncing back and forth between them.
 
We passed a great many Earning my Ears people in training as we walked over to England…and everywhere else in the Parks. I believe they were quickly filling in all the staff shortages we’d read about.
Except in the area of cheese removal.
 
We were the first(ish…heat stroke) on line to meet Alice on the far edge of the England Pavilion. Kim and whomever she Frozened with arrived shortly before Alice did and they were able to join us for PhotoPass ninja time. 

So it was kind of a fiasco, but somehow it worked out anyway.
 

Alice came out to visit us and she was kind of spaced out.
And somewhat nasty to be honest.
That was…an encounter that was.
 
When we recovered from Wondering-why-she-was-so-pissy Land we fractured on the way to France, with Kim still ranting about Alice’s behavior. This rant is likely still in progress. (And rightly so.)
 
Anabelle, wearing her Donald accoutrements, ran down to the International Gateway to meet Daisy in her cute chef outfit. (I really don’t need to point out a Daisy outfit was “cute” do I?)

Daisy was taken aback by the Little Fanny Pack Donald and him on Anabelle’s ears. Their poses were filled with adorableness and excitement.
 

Kim’s family went to see Aurora. They got a good one! The princess immediately caught on how all of Kim’s kids are named after her movie.
(Aurora, Veronica Rose and Morgan Philip for those who missed all of our previous, character packed Disney adventures.)
 
Rosa and I went over to wait for Belle’s first appearance in the only place she still wears THE BLUE DRESS!!! GASP!
 
Grandma was playing safety at this point, I think.
 
Anabelle caught up with us before Belle came out. Kim and Veronica were a little behind, but it was Morgan’s turn to need a rest room stop at an inopportune moment. (We should really Grid that too, since all of us have them on a regular basis... 

Especially after eating at Tony’s.)
 
Belle came out by being led from the bushes between France and Morocco by the little girl who got there just after us.
Because being a little kid rightfully earns bonus magic sometimes.
Awwwwwwwwwww!
 
Rosa and I took some sweet pictures together with her.
Awwwwwwwwwwww!

That’s pictures with Belle, not the Little Girl we didn’t know. We are not that creepy.
 
Anabelle had been lulled into a false sense of security due to her success with Daisy and hearing of the success with Aurora. She was reminded why she usually likes meeting other princesses more.
aw. 

Belle either completely missed the fact that AnaBELLE contains her name, or had such a minor reaction we all missed it. (Upon further review, it was definitely the former.)
When asking about favorite books, she had never heard of The Picture of Dorian Gray asking first if it was part of a series, and then if it was a chapter book.
(Maybe go off script a little more when you see the person isn’t five, Belle? Just a thought?)
She also adjusted Anabelle’s autograph book from how it was given to her and signed the wrong page, leaving a space and messing up a theme. One can imagine the effect that had on one of our Grid loving gang.
 

Kim’s family regrouped to see Belle while we doubled back to England for Mary Poppins’s appearance. We passed Grandma on a bench on the way and verbally dragged her along since we know she loves the magical nanny.
 
I wasn’t sure she was coming, but Grandma reached the line just as we were going up to see Mary. Therefore, we physically dragged her in for a photo, where she was suddenly transformed into a small child.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!

Having successfully completed all desired characters on this side of World Showcase, we began the Official EPCOT Death March.
 
So it was kind of a fiasco, but somehow it worked out anyway.
 
Jeff’s Disney World Philosophy
Yes, we had already walked all the way around World Showcase… twice in fact. Nevertheless, the Official EPCOT Death March is the one where everyone wanders at their own pace, doing sightseeing and shopping in each land. Ideally, this should be done on the first EPCOT day when more energy (or, in fact, ANY energy) is available. Unfortunately, the first EPCOT day was Saturday, which required the focus being on the empty Future World (I am not stopping the use of that epithet either, so there.) rather than the drunken mob filled World Showcase. Even the Where Will We Go Next Guy can only plan so much.
 
We splintered for the Death March. Morgan was with his parents. Rosa and I were together. Grandma was with us, but crossed paths with Kim’s group. Anabelle, Aurora and Veronica went on their own. Most of us came back to Canada to start the Death March proper. The three girls declared, “There is nothing in Canada.” Instead, they took advantage of the Remy line dropping to just over a half hour and jumped into the wait, staying in France. Anabelle said they would have given us time to decide if we were joining them but:
A) The line shot up to an hour again shortly after they got on.
And more importantly
B) As soon as Veronica heard the wait time dropped, she grabbed her cousin and sister by their shoulders, nearly bodily lifted them (using the strength she acquired through jujitsu, wrestling, and hauling a full sized tuba around) and pushed them across the France pavilion, towards the line yelling, “We’re going!”
 
Honestly, I feel like they made the right choice.
 
In Canada, as the girls pointed out, there was nothing. We passed quickly through the shops and went up to take some cute pictures of Rosa and me in front of the waterfalls at the top part. (Awwww!)

I told Kim she could get to the Kidcot station down the back from there, allowing her to finish her little passport collection.
All Ages Disney Magic! YAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Next door, we spent a little longer, because England has some of the better shops, but the band wasn’t out yet. We looked through the “Big Book of British Isles Heraldry” and learned that McGinley didn’t exist. Maybe they tore out Grandpa’s page when he converted to Italian?
 
Between countries, we passed Mary Poppins leaving her post and Aurora entering hers. We exchanged waves with them. They both stayed perfectly, spot on, in character.
YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
 

I made sure to take a photo of the Photo Spot sign, because I am hilarious.
(“No, you are a fool.” – Anabelle)
 

Rosa and I did a quick pass through of the France shops, but spent more time taking additional “Awwww!” pictures together with the Eiffel tower in the background. Rosa’s inability to spot this Eiffel Tower both in EPCOT itself and in the subsequent photos is astonishing. I believe it stems from it not being the real one.
 
We tried a Food and Wine Brazil kiosk between France and Morocco. Rosa had a Gluten Free Pão de Queijo: Brazilian cheese bread, YAAAAAY!
 
I ordered a Xingu Black, a dark beer that used to come in giant bottles from Holmes and Watson in my RPI days. Realizing it was only 10:30, I chose the five-ounce sample.
I noticed Kim and Dave were behind us on line when I heard him order one too. He got the regular size cup. Although, after he survived the liter mug in Oom-pah Land earlier on in the week, that probably counted as a sample size for him as well.
 

There were various split ups and resting moments in Morocco, because it’s pretty, and usually pretty empty. Since I was alone for a bit, and I love the character, I got the Iago PhotoPass Magic Shot.

Anabelle came up to me…to get her water bottle and then left. Alas. The three young ladies were having a fantastic time together, and posed for PhotoPass shots here and next door in Japan. 

Come to think of it, I believe all three cross meandering groups did PhotoPass pictures separately here, in Japan and in Italy.

Anabelle wearing her Giulia outfit this day unquestionably needed pictures in Italy.

 Anabelle and Aurora also had a fun time together in the Kawaii museum exhibit in Japan. (Told you.) Part of the fun was annoying Veronica by showing her how much they were enjoying themselves in there. See, Disney is really all about who you experience it with. Sometimes much to their chagrin.

 
Grandma illustrated why it is much better to do the Official EPCOT Death March earlier in the trip. She decided to walk all around World Showcase, back to the Land Pavilion, where she could sit and relax while waiting for lunch.
 
The rest of us had a different plan for resting. While we were all separate, we were also all in the vicinity of the center of World Showcase (many of us taking a backward step from Italy) in time for the opening American Adventure show. The Voices of Liberty didn’t start until the second performance This allowed time to walk around inside and notice that the Native American exhibit, which we knew was shunted into a side room, had only one display case per REGION not Tribe. Therefore, each one had all of those different cultural groups clumped together. How very American. 

When it was time to enter the theater, we were still in our separate groups. The three girls said, “Pretend you don’t know us,” establishing their time together was still in progress. They sat in the back of the theater allowing them to lean on the wall, enhancing the rest period. Kim, and ironically Morgan, claim to have seen the whole show. I’m not sure if anyone can verify that.
 
Anabelle fell asleep when she always does, after Susan B. Anthony shows up following the “Two Brothers” song I usually pass out during. Not me this time though! I was out cold as soon as the “New World Bound” song in the very first film kicked in.
The “OOOOOOOOOOOO” in “Golden Dream,” as always, was a dandy alarm clock. Veronica was the exception, as she needed to be shaken awake to leave by her two travelling companions. 

The separate but together Death March continued, with Italy pictures for those who hadn’t gotten them pre-nap.
 
The girls saw Snow White when passing Germany. (Most of us had spent far more than enough time in Germany.) Given her sub-standard frolicking at dinner, they considered going to see her. The line was huge and they decided to press on to China while deciding a course of action.
 

We all reached China at the same time, with the doors to the theater closed and Mulan due to arrive soon. The kids bantered ideas back and forth, finally deciding on seeing Mulan instead of running back to Snow’s much larger line and following that meeting with seeing the China 360 movie.
 
I was very excited everyone wanted to see the movie without my suggesting it. I really love it, but I feel like a Where Will We Go Next Bully if I think I’m pushing for it when people don’t actually want to watch it.
 

Mulan came out. She signed the kids’ books, posed with them, and Kim talked to her about dragons, her dress, and various excuses for wearing that dress now that she clearly didn’t like in her movie. I’m not sure why one of us always puts her on the spot about the dress thing. She always has a quick and impressive answer, though.
 
Before the movie opened, Kim noticed the details on Anabelle’s “Old EPCOT” Minnie ears, leading Anabelle into yet another of her ballet augmented imitations of me:
“Ah yes, back in the day when we had Horizons, things were soooooooo much better.”
 
We all watched the China movie.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
 
By this point, we had to get back to Future World for lunch. We splintered again because Morgan got distracted in the big China store, and part of his family had to fish him out.
Honestly, who can say that hasn’t happened to them at one time or another?
 

We adopted Veronica for a change of pace in EPCOT, and we (and her and Anabelle) took some Big Ball PhotoPasses to let the others catch up. 

Anabelle and Veronica got distracted by Pooh and his net frolicking around near the Imagination bathroom again and showing him Veronica’s Little Pooh. The rest of the gang caught up more, but fell behind again, because Kim had to frolic a bit with Bathroom Pooh.
YAAAAY!

Rosa and I went into the Land first to do our final double check in and party combination explanation. Kim and company came in right behind us. She and I both asked the other where Grandma was.
 
She was waiting outside, not inside.
 
I missed that part.
 
I ran out to get her because in the tiny interval we were there, the Garden Grill had checked us in, combined our reservations and found a spot for all of us at Table 42.
 
Apparently, the Sci Fi Dine In Theater hates us.
(“The feeling is mutual.” – Anabelle and Aurora)
 
Our waiter was at the high end of Disney Happiness. We thought we’d seen him before but since I only had minimal brainpower left by that stage, I’m not sure. Nor am I sure of his name.
 
He gave us the Garden Grill breakdown, about the family style serving, how the characters came by, and which side dishes Rosa shouldn’t eat based on Gluten.
 
He also gave us two bits of Garden Grill trivia, one I knew and one I did not.
1) They are the only restaurant in all of Disney World that makes their own salad dressing.
And
2) Some food on the table always comes from the greenhouse in the Land Pavilion, but specifics vary.
 
I’m not sure which one I knew, and which one I didn’t.
Or if it was both…or neither.
I was very tired.
 

Dale came first, and very methodically signed each book. Then his normal playfulness returned and he hugged all the kids. Rosa had brought her Rescue Rangers shirt again for lunch (because we all do shirt swaps like that) and Dale was super excited to see it. He also loved Anabelle’s Chip and Dale earrings. (Do not mock her Extended Outfit Grid, there are reasons planned for and reactions caused by everything.)
 

Pluto came by for a bunch of fun as well. It’s always entertaining watching him have to balance the books on his nose to sign them. His giant head not only blocks his own view, but also tends to hide the people he’s hugging or otherwise interacting with.
 
The food came somewhere between these meetings. The beef was as good as always. The turkey, which was normally fantastic as well, was replaced by barbecue chicken, which was…chicken. The vegetables and sides were as tasty as usual, but everything on the whole trip seemed more salty than past visits. Granted, none of us cook with any salt, so EVERYTHING we eat out tastes salty. However, including taking that into account, and taking into account that we were all sweating out the salt content of the Dead Sea every day, things still tasted saltier than previous Disney trips.
 

Mickey came by when Pluto was at our table, and waited patiently. After seeing all the photo ninja work with Pluto, the kids only really wanted one picture with Mickey since we’d met him multiple times. He worked hard to pose and adjust the kids for that one. It was nowhere near Mickimald levels but it was kind of a mess- especially when he tried to get Anabelle to take a selfie of everyone when four people at the table were taking pictures of the group.
 

Chip came next, and saw Rosa’s shirt immediately, becoming full of cheer.
He signed every single book with a flourish and flair.
YAAAAY!

Then he took forever goofing around, getting the kids organized for pictures, fixing their hair and so forth. He went over to stand by and hug Rosa and Kim at the table ends.

Anabelle was trying to eat at this point, but due to her earrings I guess, he grabbed her hand and walked her up to the other level, to lean over and look down at our table. 

At first, we tried to get out of the way, until Anabelle finally realized he went to position himself behind the three of us on the bench that weren’t in any pictures with him.
 
Did I mention we were tired?
 
The waiter said we could have any combination of extra food we wanted because this was Florida and there were no rules, “Just ask our governor.”
Hee hee.
 
A chipmunk came by again, and Uncle Dave said, “Hi Dale!”
AND HE WAS RIGHT!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!
 
Uncle Dave is one of us now.
 
Dale waved to him, gave Rosa’s shirt a hand heart, and did explosion fist bumps with the kids.
 
Following this fun, since hand motions were involved, the kids decided out of the blue it was a good time to insult me for my lack of Hand Jive ability once again.
(“It is always a good time for that.” – Anabelle)
 
Pluto walked by again, and did a little dance. Then he made “yummy in my tummy” motions and acknowledged the kids’ Mouse ears.
 
So- the food went downhill a tad. The character interactions and constant return visits keep this place near the top of our list.
Morgan fell asleep at the table again. He has definitely inherited Kim’s “pass out as soon as movement stops” gene. He wasn’t alone this time, Grandma fell asleep sitting down as well. (Rosa had grabbed a quick table side power nap between the characters and food, and therefore it went unnoticed to most.)
 
Chip came by, hugged Rosa, giggled a bit at the sleeping pair (as did we all) and fist bumped everyone else.
 
The second wave character parade concluded with Mickey. He waved at everyone and excitedly pointed out kids’ ears as well.
 
The waiter asked if we were able to score spots on the Guardians coaster. When we answered in the negative, he said, “Oh, that’s fine, it’s not that good.” Followed by an obvious “I’m saying that so you don’t feel bad” eye roll. He was happy to hear we made it onto Rise of the Resistance. That, he claimed, is the best attraction Disney ever did. He said he felt it hearkens back to the immersive glory days of the Seventies and Eighties. I heartily agree, but I didn’t dwell on it too much, or Anabelle would have started her “Back in My Day Horizons Ballet” to mock me some more.
 
The waiter was fun but slow. We did have a great many other silly character drive-byes to fill the time. Remember what I said about characters vanishing from World Showcase in the afternoon? Well that vanishing point was rapidly approaching. Rosa, who decided her batteries were making her choose between EPCOT this night and early Magic Kingdom the next morning was going to leave shortly after this late lunch. She brought Anabelle into Mexico to bid farewell to Mariachi Donald.
 
On the way, they saw Minnie in her gazebo at the bottom of World Showcase. Her line stretched almost all the way to the Magic Kingdom. Therefore, they continued on.
 
I was checking on everyone’s plans before leaving to join my family, but when I heard Uncle Dave say he might be wearing Auntie Kim’s shorts, it confused me a moment and delayed my exit.
 
Grandma and the rest of the gang went over to the Living Seas.
YAAAAAY! FISH!!!! 

I got to my family when they were close to the front of the line, missing some drama. There was a family in front of them including a mother kvetching and griping about the line length the whole time. (Note- this line was in no way long by any Disney standard.) Finally, she stormed her clan off to go elsewhere, prompting the people behind Rosa (who through shared hardship now became Instant Disney Friends) to say, “I guess they’ll go inconvenience someone else now.”
 
Anabelle was dressed as Giulia, not in her head to toe Donald ensemble. However, Donald was on her EPCOT ears in Mariachi form, and the ever present little version was clamped onto her fanny pack.
 

Donald noticed her accessories, blew her kisses, walked over to the line, escorted her to the photo spot, and generally fawned over her. I think the magic of this moment due to the exclusivity of Little Donald outweighed her being unable to find him a little friend because she thought the others were all ugly. Donald found out we were leaving the next day and mimed that she had to pinky swear that she would return as soon as possible. He also inquired why she had no Donald pins on her lanyard and she explained Donald pins are keepers and live on the boards back home. This made him ecstatic.
 
Again, outstanding non-verbal communication here. It is rare one sees this level of pantomime ability in an ethnic hat wearing waterfowl. 

There were more hugs, blown kisses and Donald escorted her out of his area…after first pretending he was going to leave with her.
 
Since it was next door, and is pretty much “our ride” we entered the pyramid to go on the Three Caballeros Grand Fiesta Tour one last time together.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
 
When finished, Anabelle found a Chip and Dale pin on that country’s board and traded for it immediately. We bid farewell to Rosa, who exercised her burst of sanity by working her way out of the Park to get everything (and her energy levels) ready for early rising on the final Magic Kingdom day. There’s a good chance she stopped for a PhotoPass or two on the way out. She does that.
 
Since she was very sad over Rosa heading out, and her farewell moments with Donald, Anabelle asked if we could see Anna and Elsa now since they were next door with almost no line, rather than attempting to return later.
 
We got on line and right in front of us was the kvetching family from the Donald line. Therefore, the other people they’d be inconveniencing was us. Living up to this promise, they took an excessive amount of time with the Arendelle ladies. This time was not spent in an interactive way (which would have been 100% forgivable), but more in an unprepared, ignoring everyone around you, setting up and leaving kind of way.
 
The automatic PhotoPass thing worked!
HUZZAH!!!
Therefore we ended up with a large number of random pictures.
Not NINETY-SEVEN, of them however.
 
Elsa was…
Tiny.

She had heels on and Anabelle was still a good head taller than she was. Elsa brought up desserts and seemed sad when Anabelle said she wasn’t a fan of chocolate. They both agreed that everyone liked chocolate covered strawberries, though.
It is possible Anabelle agreed to this because she was much more looking forward to seeing Queen Anna, as they were in their Frozen 2 garb.
 

With the new Queen (here, not in MGM, go figure) Anabelle had a braid comparison discussion, and talked about how having Elsa use frost keeps them in tighter. They also brought up each other’s summer outfits.
 
Anabelle’s spirits were lifted in a way only Disney Royalty can, and we went back into Future World to meet the rest of the family.
 
Hey, guess what is right on the border of World Showcase in Future World?
IMAGINATION WITH FIGMENT!!!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!
 
I tried to take a good Figment picture to send to Rosa and determined it was impossible.
At least it was impossible for me.
Alas.

Grandma was going to follow Rosa’s example, both to build up her energy, and pack to make as much time as possible for the last Magic Kingdom visit. Because the McGinley’s were in EPCOT a torrential rain blast came out of a clear sky as we left the store after the ride.
 
It let up quickly, and we tried and failed to find Rosa’s “Hidden Mickey” room.
 

Kim’s family went into World Showcase to experience the Mexico ride and Norway meeting we had just returned from, but with a normal sized Elsa. (She must have had a growth spurt between our visits.) Dave's Disneyness is coming along nicely. He has developed non-beer related traditions there, including always getting a photo with Elsa.

This plan continued the trend of us doing the same stuff even when separated by varied sanity bursts. We are a close Disney family. 

Just as I was about to walk away from the jumping fountains, Anabelle thought she found the Hidden Mickey room.
 
She did, but she didn’t.
 
What she found was the Disney Visa Photo room. We met Mickey AND Goofy.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!
 

They were both very excited about Anabelle’s ears. Luckily, I was behind her, as she can’t see the back of her own head and didn’t realize Goofy was on them as well.

Mickey seemed on the short side, and Anabelle was close to PTMD (Post Traumatic Mickimald Disorder) but his interactions were far gentler. We had a great time being silly with them. Before our exit, we were treated to another fantastic bit of mime. Goofy became excited about my bright colored camouflage sneakers, and pretended he couldn’t see them.
 
Considering with his nose, I didn’t think he could see anyone’s feet, making it a doubly impressive observation.
 
So it was kind of a fiasco, but somehow it worked out anyway.
 
Anabelle then wanted to go to the Living Seas. Well, she wanted to go to the Seas With Nemo. Whereas I wanted to go to the Living Seas, and the World of Motion, and Horizons, but that ship has long since sailed. (Cue Anabelle’s ballet performance.)
 
The ride is cute anyway. Anabelle was sad there were no dolphins, until three came out as she walked up to the glass.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
 

Her position sitting there on the ledge leaning on the glass reminded me of Kim in her youth on a family trip with our parents. That is- except for the fact that Kim fell fast asleep in that position. See, Morgan does take after her.
 
We went in the big room together, but she stayed more on the Dolphin side, and I went back and forth to see some fish. In a moment of aquatic Disney Magic, I scored a picture of a Shark AND a Turtle in the hidden Mickey at the bottom of the tank. YAAAY! 

With the construction forcing us back through the center of Future World, we went on the Big Ball again, because it was right there!!!!
YAAAY!
Sadly, there was no image of us at the end to e-mail to Rosa.
Alas.
 
The old gigantic and awesome EPCOT store, Mousegear had closed as part of the updates. We tried the new big store where Communicore used to be.
Fine…where Innoventions used to be.
(But Communicore was more fun.
Is Anabelle dancing yet?)
 
The new store…
Was kind of crap to be honest.
 
Jeff’s Disney World Philosophy:
I feel like I’m pointing out a large number of negative things on this day. However, the overall Awesome and Happy Disney stuff, including just BEING in Disney, overwhelmed it all by a large margin. I try to balance that with the fact that complaining can be funny.
 
We forgot the cooling towels this day. Rosa draped the wet washcloth she had been using over my neck when she left. I kind of forgot about that too. I think it fell off of me somewhere around here, or shortly before.
 
Maybe it made it back to the All Star Movies.
Then again, given their record with Aurora’s sunglasses, Dave’s hat and Rosa’s water bottle, maybe not.
 
We met up with the rest of the family here…
And made plans to split up again to get randomized dinners in World Showcase.
 
Thus, the fourth and final EPCOT Death March began for those of us left.
 
Kim’s family, having enjoyed it before – back on the Park hopping night I famously became a soulless thing - went straight to Japan and ordered dinner. Japan is close enough to the center that the trip that there and back counts as a full Death March regardless of what direction everyone chose.
 
Anabelle and I went in different directions. She started at Canada, and I started at Mexico like a normal person. Honestly, I should just go back to having tacos when we do this form of meal selection. That lagoon side counter service place probably has the best mix of healthy, filling and tasty. 

On Anabelle’s Death March, she passed our waitress from Tony’s enjoying an ENORMOUS glass of beer as her way of taking full advantage of the Food and Wine festival. Anabelle got the Falafel from the Tangerine Café booth in Morocco as planned from the menu list. She was carrying the Yucca fries she got from near Test Track before she started the Death March. On her way to Japan, she passed a girl in an Ariel dress on the side of the path doing “Downward Facing Dog” who said, “Thank you ma’am,” when Anabelle avoided a collision.
Some interactions make Instant Disney Friends…others are plain puzzling.
 
After agonizing over what to have, I went to China.
Anabelle- “Oh, let me guess, you got Chinese. *deadpan* I am shocked. *Pause*
You are so boring.”
 
I was at least going to get something different this time and asked if there were bean sprouts in the fried rice. The Cast Member checked and said, “No, are you allergic?” I replied, “No, I just hate them, and they’re impossible to pull out.”
 
Then I ordered the Orange Chicken Grandma and I always get there, confusing the heck out of her. I also was FINALLY able to try the Foo Beer.
 
I carried my food all packaged up to Japan, but drank the beer as I strolled along in order to assimilate into the foreign culture of the Food and Wine Festival Drunken Mob.
 
I understand the name now. It was a typical, light Asian beer, with a sharp, bitter aftertaste that hits hard and makes you go.
“Foo.”
 
I am DEFINITELY having tacos next time.
 

We met at the outside seating area for the Japan counter service. The afternoon humidity spike was one of the most powerful all week. While Dave and I were irrigating the ground under the table, I got a text from Kim. It read, “The bathroom is air conditioned. I am not coming out.”
 
Oops, I guess I did point out how hot it was quite often after all. In my defense, it was freakishly hot.
 
While we were all eating, Morgan asked, “What’s better a Top Hat or Jaws the movie?” It took a very long time, and an increasingly bizarre series of questions and answers to ascertain any context. He was playing a game on his phone and had just unlocked a choice of new headgear for his hot dog, a Shark Hat or a normal one. I don’t pretend to understand new mobile games.
 
To highlight the humidity induced insanity further, the kids got into a discussion about direction of travel, and decided in order to cover every aspect possible, once we left where we had dinner we should travel “Nouth-Weast.”
 
The kids, mostly on their own, realized if we got all of our luggage stowed really early, we could make Extra Magic Hour Half Hour on the subsequent and final day. Due to them not being available every day in every Park before, this opportunity was a brand new one. I brought the possibility up to Kim and Dave (alone) and they weren’t sure they could pull it off. We talked about them attempting it, and our plan (Rosa, Anabelle and I) to do it. They said they would try, and catch up with us if they were later.
 
Rosa texted us she made some pin trades for Anabelle at the hotel. Everyone gets into the magic!
YAAAAAAAY!!
 
I put the manly Fairy backpack on, and received criticism from all the kids asking about how I could possibly not feel how twisted the straps were every time I wore one. At least they weren’t giving me Hand Jive grief or calling me a horse. Progress is progress.
 
We left Japan, in the middle of Disney World, and spied a huge group of little kids getting excited over a squirrel. Nature is captivating. No wonder they built Animal Kingdom.
 
Anabelle had an extremely wise observation while re-entering Future World.
Anabelle’s Disney World Philosophy:
“After flying the Falcon…Mission Space has lost its shine.”
 
We went on the Big Ball again, because YAAAAAAAAAAY! BIG BALL!

The Omni-mover slowed down by the woman in the computer room. Anabelle maintains, “She has murdered guests” and urged the ride to keep going. Dave maintained his sanity profile and left us about here. (The woman didn’t eat him, we saw him the next morning…unless he was replaced with an Animatronic. bum Bum BUUUUM!!!!)

Anabelle amended her previous philosophizing, stating Mission Space is still fun with crazy people.
THAT’S US!
 
Veronica wanted to go on the Orange line, because she is extra crazy.
Kim went with her, because she is also extra crazy.
 
I went with the other three kids.
The Horizons symbol had been removed from the big wheel you pass on the line (really fast for the green one). HOW DARE THEY!? 

Morgan kept swapping from number to number during the briefing trying to guess where he was supposed to be for the job he wanted. (Veronica did the same on the Orange Line.)
When we went into the ready room, they left us in there.
Alone.
For a VEEEERY Long time.
 
Aurora started playing hopscotch on all the numbered spots that filled the room for multiple flight crews since we were the only ones waiting there. Morgan was running around and singing. Anabelle was mumbling to herself, and I was tempted to put on one of the space suits.
 
Finally, a Cast Member, Koda, let us in. (That was her name, although I do not believe she was a bear. Reflecting back on it, I know I read that if a Cast Member forgets their badge, they need to assume the name on the tag they borrow for the day. Perhaps….
She was a bear?)
Koda let us into the ship for an orbital passage of nonstop silliness. 
 
This trip was well outside the range of the normal insanity when my family is on this attraction. It included the usual antics of: screaming like a nut, pushing all the buttons all of the time, and making other weird noises. However, besides combining them all, there was a final twist. At the end where we needed to steer with the joysticks, when it said something about pulling to the left, Anabelle sang the entire “Cha Cha Slide.”
 
Uncultured swine that I am, I didn’t notice until the rest of my shipmates let go of the ship’s steering controls for the, “Everybody clap your hands,” part.
 
The ride ended as the Park officially closed. Kim was getting Morgan some pennies near the exit of the post ride store, but we knew the Harmonious fireworks were going to start soon. I took Anabelle to allow us to get away from their noise and tried to get over to where the busses were.
 
Thanks to the construction, I led her the opposite direction I wanted to and ended up under the Nova Corps spaceship by the Guardians ride.
We have to admit, that was pretty cool. (YAAY!)
 
By the time Anabelle and I reached the Bus, Kim and her kids were already on line and we all met up and rode home together.
 
So it was kind of a fiasco, but somehow it worked out anyway.
 
Back in the room, we gave Rosa a debriefing of the day. We also learned from Grandma that the cheese was finally gone.
YAAAAAAAAAY!
Not only that but she had a visit from the Guest Experience Manager and got a decent discount on the cheese infested room.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!
 
I did the last mug run of the trip.
Alas.
Anabelle wanted a Sprite in unity with Rosa.
 
I did notice that the first night we arrived there was French Vanilla creamer. Anabelle asked for her Hot Chocolate to have 4 regular creamers and one of those. For the rest of the trip, they had Hazelnut creamer instead, which she hates. We love the place, but we still have awful timing for many of the little things.
 
I did a quick stop in the store for cough drops for my relapsed family…
And the little Matchbox Sized Star Tours vehicle, because after passing it repeatedly on each of ten days we were there, my willpower was more shot than its usual own definition of “need” levels.
 
We cleaned up, packed everything we could, and checked in for our flight.
 

I had amassed a gang of Park maps that were battered to a wrinkled pile due to use. Good sense prevailed for a change. Since Rosa and Anabelle both grabbed and stored ones in uncrumpled shape, I threw my bedraggled pile away in the room, instead of bringing them home to throw away like on all previous Disney visits. The Grid used for the trip (the only one, so…bonus points!) was, yet again, reduced to fragmented tatters. That I kept, because…
It’s The Grid.

How much good sense can I be expected to have at one time?
Unless of course, it’s “horse sense.”
Oh good gravy, they’ve got me doing it now!
 
In protest of the loss of our favorite Disney TV Host, we let Rosa keep watching her “gross medical feet issues” show. (Many of those feet looked like what happened to mine by the end of this vacation.)
 
We refused to watch the new “Must Do Disney.”
We miss and love you Stacey!
 
26920 steps 10.4 miles

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