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Trip Log:
This morning we were not in a hurry to get going. It was clear but cold out. Ordered breakfast from the Beach Club Marketplace and ate in the room then spent some time in the lobby of the Beach Club followed by the Yacht Club. Visited with some friends for a bit then set off for Disney Springs. Walked through the Town Center and out to the West Side. Circled back and picked up lunch at the Chicken Guy! Then walked around the Marketplace before heading back to the bus stops. The bus was slow going so disembarked at the Yacht Club and walked back to the Beach Club to drop some items off in the room. Paused to see Chip and Dale on the way. Set off for EPCOT and watched the 4:50pm performance of the Encanto show. Walked through Communicore Hall to reach the Land. Was about to get in line for Living with the Land and it went down. They cleared the queue. We waited around and were lucky it was a short closure and boarded quickly once they reopened. After seeing the Glimmering Greenhouses decided to give Soarin’ a try. Of course they had a problem and wait time doubled. Eventually we went for our flight. Decided to walk out to World Showcase strolling by Canada and United Kingdom. Stopped for a snack in France followed by Impressions de France since it was about to start when we walked by. Continued on around World Showcase Lagoon. Stopped in Japan to warm up and walk through the shops then found a spot to sit outside the American Adventure. At showtime moved up to watch the 8:15pm Candlelight. After the show my plan was to finish my World Showcase loop but I noticed waterfront viewing was open near Italy so decided to wait and watch Luminous the Symphony of Us from there. After the fireworks walked back to the International Gateway and the Beach Club to call it a night.
Thoughts & Observations:
- Today was the coldest forecasted day of the trip. Temperatures were not expected to climb much above 60. It was cold and damp when we woke up with a cutting breeze at times. So we opted to take a quiet morning at the resort instead of venturing out in the cold.
- For breakfast I mobile ordered from the Beach Club Marketplace. The order process was easier and the short walk meant our food stayed warm. The one downside to the Beach Club is there is no indoor seating for the Marketplace (the Yacht Club has a couple tables inside). The Beach Club seating is all outside which was not a good option given the temperatures this morning.
- The gingerbread carousel in the lobby this year is themed to A Christmas Carol… Mickey’s Christmas Carol. The Yacht & Beach Club team always had a detailed display and this year was inline with previous and met expectations.
- Traveling down to the Yacht Club the large gingerbread lighthouse did not return this year. The traditional train display and decorations were it this year. I would have liked to have seen more or something different. It is a nice display but dated and underwhelming at this point.
- Random factoid.. I stopped to look at the Beaches and Cream menu and wanted to compare some burger prices, here is what I found - Cosmic Rays $13.99, Connections $14.29, Yak & Yeti Local Foods $18.99, Beaches & Cream $23, Yak and Yeti $24.99.
- Decided to visit Disney Springs today in hopes of it not being insanely crowded. Even with the bus lanes the trip to and from Disney Springs feels long and like an effort to get there to me. It is better than it used to be but even the short ride from the Beach Club seemed long to me. The crowds did feel heavy especially for mid day on a Thursday. World of Disney had a lot of guests moving around. It was not wall to wall like some weekends but it was still busy. The LEGO store had a dozen or so groups in a constant queue outside. I did not wait so not sure inside.
- We picked up maps and did this years Christmas Tree stroll. This year the keepsake is an ornament vs a button, this makes a lot more sense to us. Something else we learned (and probably should have already knew) was if you want to get any of the discounts on the map you have to complete the map first. We stopped for lunch mid way and of course could not get the discount. Luckily we were able to get an equivalent one.
- Ended up at the Chicken Guy for lunch. The outdoor seating is receiving a cover and was not open today (it opened a few days later). So seating choices were limited. We lucked out and found a table inside. The process to order was a little more chaotic than usual as they were holding the line outside then you walked through the restaurant to reach the inside queue. Somehow they managed to forget one of our three entrees in the order. They quickly gave us one when we went back to the counter but you would think an order that small the odds of missing a 5 strip order would be slim.
- Our transportation experience back was terrible. As we rounded the corner we saw the Beach Club bus pulling away. A Riviera Bus pulled in and we thought about taking that then the Sky Liner but decided that would probably be as long as just waiting. The next Beach Club bus showed up in under 10 minutes so our decision was looking good. There was a scooter to load so the driver took them inside and after over 5 minutes was ready to start boarding when another scooter showed up. About the same time a second Beach Club bus showed up. Instead of boarding and getting out of the way they started to load the second scooter. The second bus stopped for a minute or so then just pulled away vs taking some of the now long line of guests waiting. After quite a while we finally boarded. The bus filled up and everyone jammed in leaving about a half dozen guests at the stop. It was almost 20 minutes total to load the bus. We opted to disembark at the Yacht Club vs waiting for them to unload a scooter.. as did 3/4ths the bus. Everyone wanted off at this point.
- Stopped by the room to drop off some things and get warmer clothes for the evening. While walking back crossed paths with Chip N Dale who were on the walkway to the Beach Club Villas. There was one family there with a small child.. maybe around 3. The parents kept encouraging her to visit the chipmunks and she did not want to. With the mother in tow she did pause for a picture and as soon as it was snapped before her mother could even stand up and say thank you she ran toward the beach club instantly.. like she was shot out of a canon. The father said that is the fastest he had ever seen her run.
- Stopped by Communicore Plaza and caught a performance of ¡Celebración Encanto! This sing along/dance along show features the music of Encanto, a half dozen dancers and Mirabel. The show was less than impressive to me. The operational logistics of the staging meant the cast members spent a lot of time trying to move the audience out of the way. The temporary umbrellas that are in place because there is no shade make the sightlines challenging and not great. The kids that participated and their families seemed to have a fun time but compared to the Encanto or Coco shows at Disneyland this was really lacking and not a great effort by Disney. Considering this was a brand new venue created for shows the Plaza seemed poorly designed and utilized too. For example the techs had a console off on the side in what looked to be a temporary area. Why was there not a proper control booth built into the project? Why is there no shade? Why is the stage small and awkward? So many questions that make the area feel half baked. To top it off the Joyful group has their own temporary stage set up on the opposite side of the plaza with its own temporary control booth set up. This stage has another problem of afternoon shows you are looking into the setting sun.
- Living with the Land Glimmering Greenhouses has returned and is as popular as ever. As soon as the sun sets the wait time spikes and stays constant throughout the evening. We decided to pay a visit and when we got there the attraction was down and they were emptying the queue. We waited around a bit to see if it was close to opening and saw boats moving again. A queue was forming in the walkway and cast members kept saying there was no queue and to check back later. We watched and as soon as they opened joined the mob and entered the queue. Turned out to be a short wait for us so the gamble to wait around paid off. The ride itself was fun as usual. I stick with my suggestion from previous years.. the attraction needs some holiday music.
- Got in line for Soarin’ and promptly a cast member announced they were having problems. A large number of guests started to leave so we kept moving up. They made a second announcement and more guests left. We could see the exit walkway and it was quiet. We finally saw guests leaving and then we started to flow rather quickly into a queue and into theater. So in the end it paid off to wait it out. The new edit to the Paris scene to mitigate the curved Eiffel tower looked much better than the original. The finale now features an updated fly over of EPCOT. I miss the fountain but at least it is accurate now.
- Decided to stop by France for a snack from Les Halles Boulangerie & Patisserie and the queue was out the door and wrapping back in another door. So ended up skipping it as that was a good 45 min wait probably.
- This evening watched the Candlelight with guest narrator Brendan Fraser. He did a much better job and a more traditional reading.
- As I walked around World Showcase I noticed the area near Italy was open for regular guest viewing this evening so I decided to go against my better judgement and wait out there for Luminous. The wind was blowing straight out of the north so I was hoping most of the smoke would blow to my left over the America Adventure and not into me. It did mean a cold and breezy wait though. The view of the show from here is great though and my assumption was mostly correct. A few times some smoke did blow through but it was not that bad.
Pedometer Information for the day:
| Steps |
20,554 |
| Miles |
9.41 |
| Walking Time |
3:23 |
| Total Time |
14:00 |
Full picture and video sets coming soon...
Addition Blog Picture Posts from today:
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