The One With the Snacks From Around the World

  Orlando, Florida, United States
Sunday, August 19, 2007

The Beach Club resort

I was up at 10:00 this morning and I was exhausted but I couldn't fall back asleep. These long trips really take their toll on a person's sleep cycle! The house sounded quiet so I got up to see where everyone was. Mike was unsurprisingly still sleeping, but I was surprised to see that mom and dad were also still sleeping. Usually they were up and out shopping by the time I got up. I guess the trip was taking a toll on them, too. Oreo looked very ridiculously cute snuggled up in their bed. I went back into my room and worked on my trip report notes and made my bed before mom got up at 10:15. I brought the laptop into my room and went online for a while. Dad was up soon after and he and mom got ready quickly and decided to go for breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then go shopping. I was gonna go with them but it takes me forever to get ready and I just didn't feel like bothering right then.

Looking across the beach to the Boardwalk

Mom and dad left at 11:00 and I took a shower at 11:30. While I got ready in my room I watched a "Lindsey Lohan: Train Wreck" special on VH1 and it was just as entertaining as it sounds, haha! Then I wrote a long, detailed letter to the Better Business Bureau about Loyalty Homes. I always say I'm going to write letters and reviews of bad companies but I never bother. This time, though, I had to. They had taken advantage of us so badly and almost ruined a long and expensive vacation that I had been planning for over a year. They weren't getting away with it. After writing my letter I blew my hair and read some of "The Devil Wears Prada." Mom and dad were home by 1:30 and I still wasn't finished getting ready. I was in my robe and I hadn't straightened my hair yet. Yes, I straightened my hair for a day at a theme park in the heat. With it being so hot out it was the only way to keep my hair straight! Anyway, mom and dad had gone for breakfast at Cracker Barrel and said it was delicious. Then they had gone to Walmart and a few gift shops along 192, buying a few Disney pens and two really cute Spongebob sponges for my little cousin Alison to play with in the bath. They also got me a cute princess nightlight which I didn't think I'd ever use but it was a nice gesture, and a cute pair of white princess gloves for the winter.

The Beach Club resort

After organizing my souvenirs a little bit I finally finished getting ready. I straightened my hair and got dressed and then mom, dad and I had some Gouda cheese and crackers for lunch. I woke Mike up at 2:00 since today was going to be our last day at the parks. It was a very bittersweet day. I couldn't believe that it was already our last day in the Disney parks. I had been looking forward to this vacation for a year and I'd been having the absolute best time, and the whole vacation had really flown by even faster than our vacations normally do. I was so upset to be going home soon! However, we were going to Epcot today and it's my absolute favorite theme park and I couldn't wait to spend the day there.

The Beach Club resort

Mike got up just to complain that he didn't want to go to Epcot. What?! Who wouldn't want to go to Epcot?! It's not that he just didn't want to go to Epcot, but he didn't want to go to any park. He was being a pain and he wanted to just stay home and eat chips and watch the Yankee game. I was so annoyed with him and really didn't understand how anyone could pick TV over Disney World. This is always a problem I have. Mike loves the parks, but he isn't in love with Disney like I am. He'd have fun at any theme park with good rides, whether it was Disney or not. I always get mad at him for complaining and this time was no different. However, then I thought about what it would have been like to spend three weeks at a time for three years in a row at Video Game Land or Playstation World (Dad and Mike are huge video game fans) and I was more than understanding of where he was coming from. He puts up with my Disney obsession year after year, so I really couldn't blame him for not wanting to go back to the parks. Plus we were just going to be walking around the World Showcase today so he wouldn't be missing any of the crazy rides he loves.

England

We spent the next hour packing. Yes, packing. It was horrible! Packing to leave for a vacation is one of the most fun things to do, but packing to go back home is just depressing. Mom packed up most of hers, dad's and Mike's stuff while I just organized my stuff on the other twin bed in my room and watched The Pick-Up Artist on VH1, a show I became completely obsessed with this past summer. And no, I'm not embarrassed to admit it. It was a great show! Haha! At 3:10 mom and dad walked Oreo and we finally left for Epcot at 3:30. It was a quick ride and we again parked at the Beach Club. I know that you're not supposed to park at the resorts to go to the theme parks but we got there so late that the parking attendant never even gave us a parking pass so it wasn't a big deal. I love the Beach Club and it's a really nice, short walk from the resort through the International Gateway. It's also so much easier to leave at the end of the day that we'll definitely be parking here for all of our future Epcot visits. We walked around the Beach Club for a while and just took in the atmosphere. This is definitely one of my favorite resorts. It's both quaint and modern at the same time, and absolutely gorgeous.

An English red telephone booth!

It was another nice walk through the International Gateway and we were in the park by 4:00, after the people in front of us at the turnstiles had more trouble with the finger scans. I can't say enough how much I hate those finger scans. UGH! Anyway, today was going to be our day to finish up the World Showcase, see as many shows as we could, and snack our way around the countries. That's my favorite thing to do at Disney! We headed into the United Kingdom first and the World Showcase players were out. We only caught a quick glimpse of the show as we walked by, but there were a bunch of grown men dancing around like ballerinas so I'd imagine it was a very entertaining show! We walked around and took in the sights, stopping to take a traditional picture in a phone booth.

In England

Then we went into the Toy Soldier to look around. They really didn't have anything good but we considered getting some Beatles stuff for my Aunt Debbie since she's a huge Beatles fan. We decided against it though, and headed into the perfume store where mom and I got some samples of Burberry perfume. I got a bottle of Burberry Baby Touch here in 2005, and later that year I got the Burberry Touch perfume at a Macy's at home. Then we went into the tea store and I really wanted to get some authentic British vanilla tea since that's my favorite, but we couldn't find any that was decaffeinated so we moved on. I have problems with caffeine; it always makes my heart go crazy. Oh well. We headed back outside and made our way over to Canada, admiring the view across the lagoon. It was another gorgeous day - it was around eighty degrees with a nice breeze. The weather the past few days had been great, and the view across the lagoon was beautiful.

Me in Canada

When we got to Canada we took some pictures by the totem poles. Canada is one of my favorite World Showcase pavilions. It may not be as exotic as, say... Morocco, but it's absolutely beautiful. It really is a gorgeous little hideaway in Epcot. We took some pictures outside before heading into Northwest Mercantile to look around. They had some really cute wildlife magnets on sale. They were originally $5 but they were on sale for $2 so mom got two of them - one of them has three cartoon bears that says "Bear Naked" and one has different animals hugging and says "Environmentally Friendly." They're really cute. There was one family ahead of us on line to pay and they were French Canadian. I loved hearing them speak to the cashier in French. I took French for seven years and it's such a gorgeous language, and I couldn't help but break out some of my own French, greeting the cast member with a "Merci!" And that's where my French conversation ended, haha!

Mom and dad in Canada

After doing some shopping we went to walk around the back of the Canadian pavilion. I love the waterfall here, it's so pretty. I love that part of the World showcase, it really is absolutely gorgeous. Canada's definitely one of my favorite pavilions. We took some pictures by the waterfall and by the Victoria Falls Garden before continuing on. After walking around and looking in the stores, we headed over to Mexico, one of my very favorite pavilions in the World Showcase. I like it just a little bit more than Canada and Morocco. We went inside and it's just absolutely gorgeous in there! It was a little smaller than I had remembered, but I'm always amazed at how realistic everything looks. We had priority seating's planned here both this year and in 2005, and both years we skipped them. Both years we also were in Mexico after our supposed priority seating and mom said that she was glad we didn't eat there because it's so dark. So no more priority seating's for Mexico, even though we all love Mexican food.

The end of El Rio del Tiempo

We went over to the Grand Fiesta Tour since this was new for us. I'd loved El Rio del Tiempo and I just hoped that the new ride would be as good. Every time we were in Mexico in 2005 there hadn't been any line at all so we were very surprised to see a pretty long line for the Tour. UGH, I hate renovations! We got on line and saw the cute family from SpectroMagic, the one that mom and dad had let stand in front of them. I love seeing random people more than once around the parks! We said hi and were on the ride in no time. The line was only ten-minutes long. The ride was cute, but it wasn't anywhere near as good as the original. Yes, a lot of the ride was the same, but they got rid of the part where it looks like you're in a marketplace and the vendors are haggling with you to buy something. That was the best part! I also didn't like how "Disney" it was. Yes, we were at Disney, but one of my favorite things about the World Showcase is how authentic it is. You really feel like you're in each country and I loved how El Rio del Tiempo was strictly about Mexico, its people and its culture. The Grand Fiesta Tour was all about the Three Caballeros and the actual country of Mexico took a backseat. I just didn't like it that much, but it was still cute and I loved the fireworks at the end, which we got to see a lot of since the boats got backed up for a good ten minutes and were all connected as we made our way back to the dock.

Mariache Cobre playing in Mexico

When we got off the ride Mariachi Cobre was playing so we watched them for a while. We like to see them on every trip since they're some of the best entertainment in the World Showcase. The music's so festive and fun! Then we took some pictures with the sombreros since you just have to do that in Mexico, and of course we looked in Arribas Brothers. That's definitely my favorite store at Disney. We also looked in the jewelry store and everything was colorful and gorgeous but we didn't buy anything. Then we headed out and over to Norway, another favorite pavilion of mine. Are you noticing a trend here? I really do absolutely love the World Showcase! We looked around outside and took some pictures before going into the Stave Church to see the Viking's Exhibit. I wish it was bigger because I'm absolutely fascinated by the history and legend of the Vikings. Unfortunately the exhibit was really small and we only spent a few minutes taking it in, taking some pictures and reading the plaques about each featured Viking.

A statue of Grete Waitz in Norway

After learning a little about Vikings we made our way over to my favorite attraction in the World Showcase - Maelstrom. It's such a fun, unique ride with an actual adventurous spirit. Who knew a ride could have a spirit, and an adventurous one at that?! Good stuff. We headed over there and the line was longer than we'd ever seen it - a half hour! What?! I know it was a Saturday afternoon in the summer but we'd never seen the lines so long before. We didn't notice any big crowds out in the pavilions or at the restaurants but the rides were pretty backed up. We didn't mind, though, so we got on line and prepared to wait. At least all of the guy cast member's in Norway were ridiculously cute, haha!

The end of Maelstrom

The line was slow moving but wound up not being that bad. It was around twenty-five minutes long and we talked and took in the sites on the line while we waited. We wound up seeing the family from SpectroMagic again which was cool! We all got a good laugh out of that until we finally made our way up to the Viking ships and got on the ride. I love this ride! It's so unique and always a lot of fun. It romanticizes Norway in a way that makes it seem so mythical and mysterious, and it's one of the countries in the World Showcase that I'd love to visit in real life. Of course I'd love to visit all of them but I'd go to Norway in a heartbeat. The ride was shorter than I had remembered but still great. The best part is right in the beginning when the lights are shining down on you as you go up the lift hill. It's all very Twilight Zone, haha!

The fishing village at the end of Maelstrom

After the ride, the door to get into the movie was closed so we had to wait around for a few minutes. I went to take a picture of mom and dad when the cast member in there said she could take a picture of the three of us. That was nice of her! The picture came out horrible but it was still a nice gesture. Anyway, once the doors opened we walked through the movie. I always like seeing it but no one else wanted to so that was that. We walked through the stores in Norway and went over to the Kringla Bakeri og Kafé to start our little "cuisine around the world" adventure. Let the snacking begin! Norway has the best pastries ever. Seriously. We always have to get something... or two. The area was pretty crowded so we picked out what we wanted and I went out to save a table while mom and dad waited on line. I wish they had more indoor seating because it smelled so good in there! There were tons of little birds running around while I saved the table and they were ridiculously cute. I used to have a bird so I've always had a soft spot for them.

Our sweet pretzel and lefse

Mom and dad met me outside after five minutes with our snacks - a sweet pretzel and lefse. The sweet pretzel was a pretzel covered in icing and it was absolutely delicious! Really, really good and a staple of our stops in Norway. The lefse was something new and it was also good. Traditional lefse is potatoes and butter rolled up in thin dough, but this one didn't have any potatoes. It was just thin dough rolled up with cinnamon butter inside. It was good but slightly weird. There was just so much butter that you could really taste it, and I normally love butter but there was just a whole lot of it. It was still delicious, though, and I'd get it again. I think. Mom and dad both loved the sweet pretzel but mom didn't like the lefse so dad and I each had one since the order came with two.

In the Lotus Blossom Cafe

After our snack in Norway we made our way over to China. Yes, China's another one of my favorite World Showcase pavilions. I love the store there! Since we had already been to China, though, we just went right over to the Lotus Blossom Café. We wanted to get an order of egg rolls, which came with two of them. I didn't see them on the menu but we had gotten them in 2005 and I couldn't see the restaurant getting rid of them. I asked the cast member at the counter if they still had the egg rolls and he didn't understand a word I was saying. He kept asking me if I wanted an order of fried rice. Um, no. He didn't speak any English which was weird considering cast members working in the World Showcase can usually speak their native language and English, but it wasn't a big deal. He eventually understood that we wanted an order of egg rolls and mom and dad paid while I went to get a table on the right side of the seating area.

Mom in the Lotus Blossom Cafe

It was outdoors but there was a nice breeze and it was only around eighty degrees out. Perfect! It was a gorgeous day and the seating area of the Lotus Blossom Café is huge and really pretty. The lights were low and warm and everything was decorated in reds and oranges. It was really beautiful and actually pretty peaceful since there wasn't anyone in there. Mom and dad met me in no time and the egg rolls were good! They weren't as good as I remembered them being in 2005 but they were definitely tasty. Would I get them again? Probably not, just because we have much better egg rolls at Chinese restaurants here in the city. I'd definitely be willing to try something else, though.

Germany

After our second snack of the day we made our way over to Germany. We had already been to Germany but I wanted to get some chocolate. A friend of mine all through elementary school was first generation German and she would go visit family in Germany every year and bring me back the best chocolate ever. I wanted to get some German chocolate to bring home and I had seen it in one of the stores the other day, so we headed inside and looked around. I finally found the chocolate and a single small candy bar was $4.50. What?! There was no way I was giving Disney that much money for a tiny candy bar, and the only even tinier candy squares that they had for fifty cents were dark chocolate which I wasn't in the mood for. So much for my German chocolate!

Dad in the American Adventure

One of our top priorities for today was to catch the American Adventure, so we made our way over to America and were in the pre-show room by 5:45 for the 5:50 show. We sat around and waited with a bunch of people while a four-year old, out of control kid ran around screaming and drooling on everything. He was literally throwing himself on the floor, putting his mouth on the floor, and just drooling all over everything while his mom stood there and smiled. It was gross and weird and people need to learn that their kid screaming and drooling all over everything isn't as cute to other people as it may be to them. UGH. The whole situation was weird, though, because the mom was really, really young and she went and sat on top of some people on a bench. There was maybe an inch of room on the bench and she just squeezed her way on to it, sitting half on some random strangers lap. Where do these people come from?!

Statues in the American Adventure

I was hoping Voices of Liberty would be there but all of their shows were done for the day. Back in 2001 when I went to Disney with school, it had been mandatory for all the groups to meet to see the Voices of Liberty and then the American Adventure, and the singing had been beautiful. We haven't been able to catch their show since so that'll definitely be a must-do on our next trip. After ten minutes we were brought all the way around the building to the theater. I had forgotten just how big and beautiful the building was and I loved getting to see so much of it. The theater itself is also gorgeous! The theater was pretty empty so everyone was able to sit where they wanted, and we got a seat to the left of center stage. They announced the featured family and they were from Brooklyn! I wanted to ask them what part of Brooklyn they were from but I forgot to at the end of the show. A lot of people clapped when they announced Brooklyn, though, so there must have been a lot of New Yorkers in the audience!

The amazing video montage always makes me cry

The show started soon after and it really is a great one; definitely one of my favorites at Disney. I have to admit that the beginning was just a tad bit slow. I love American history but the narration and the pictures in the beginning of the American Adventure just don't bring to mind much excitement. The rest of the show was much better, though. I love the videos, animatronics, music... all of it. The best part, however, is definitely the montage at the end. I taped the entire thing while mom and I cried and cried and cried. I always get choked up right in the beginning when they show Lucille Ball since my grandma always reminded me of Lucy and she passed away four years ago, and my mom, grandma and I were always huge fans of I Love Lucy. Then mom and I especially lost it when we saw that they had added footage from September 11th. Being in the city on that day and having lost several good family friends who were firefighters and died saving people on that horrible day, it's still such a raw point for us as I'm sure it is for so many other people. The entire montage was so moving and patriotic and amazing. It's worth sitting through the entire show just to see the montage.

Mom with our funnel cake and fried ice cream

After the American Adventure we decided that we needed some more snacks! Mom and dad both love funnel cakes and fried ice cream and they had both been delicious here earlier in the week so we decided to get some more. We passed the Liberty Inn and it smelled kind of weird in there - sour, like ketchup or something. I wanted to sit outside so I told dad to get a table while mom and I ran into the bathroom to the left of the Liberty Inn. When we got out of there, though, dad had gotten our funnel cake and fried ice cream and was sitting inside. The sun was going down and it looked absolutely gorgeous reflecting off of the World Showcase lagoon, and it was nice and cool outside so it would have been great to sit out there, but it wasn't a big deal. As always, the funnel cake was delicious! We've gotten funnel cake at lots of different places and this was some of the best. I didn't try the fried ice cream but mom and dad both said it was really good.

By the Tin Toys exhibit in Japan

Next we headed back into Japan. China and Japan have the absolute coolest stores. They have so many fun, exotic and unique things to look at and choose from. We had already spent a good amount of time in there though, and I had already bought my Bonsai tree, so we just went right over to the Sake bar. Mom and Mike had really loved that Sake. Dad said it was alright and I didn't like it, but mom wanted to get some more to bring home. They had a big bottle of the same dry Sake that we had gotten last time, but mom opted for the same two small bottles instead. She then got three more for family members - one for my Grandpa who's a self-proclaimed booze connoisseur (haha!), one for my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Ted, and one for my Uncle Marc and Aunt Tanya. We had a whole lot of Sake!

Les Chefs de France in France

Then we made our way over to France for our last stop of the night. I had heard tons of good things about the Boulangerie Patisserie and had decided before we even left for Florida that I had to get a ham and cheese croissant. We went over to the bakery and the line was HUGE. It was absolutely humongous and snaked around the entire pavilion. We decided to wait since we didn't have anything else to do, so mom and dad got on line while I went to get a table in the little seating area in the wine cellar. There was only one empty table and it was filthy and gross. Is it really that hard for people to clean up after themselves?! I didn't have anything to use to clean the table off and I didn't want to go get napkins and risk losing the table, so I just stood near the table and waited. It was really gross.

The French bakery seating area

A few minutes later a family got up after actually cleaning off their table, so I moved over there. I relaxed and just took in the atmosphere. It was an gorgeous area, despite the crowds. The KIDCOT stop was right there and it was so cute to watch the French cast members help little kids stamp and color their masks. Five minutes later mom met me and wiped off the table with a wipe, and then went back to meet dad on line. It was a long, long line!

Mom with her ham and cheese croissant

Mom and dad were finally back ten minutes later. Mike had told them that he wanted us to bring him home a sandwich, but the only sandwiches they had in the Boulangerie Patisserie had been laying out all day and were hard, so we decided to stop somewhere afterward to get him a sandwich. The ham and cheese croissants were pretty good! They weren't as good as I had hoped they would be, though. I had heard such good reviews that I guess my expectations were just too high, because they weren't the best. They were still good, though. I wouldn't get it again since I don't eat ham anymore, but even if I did I don't think I'd get it again. I'd probably just get a plain croissant. Mom and dad has also gotten me a bottle of water and themselves a diet Coke, so it was a nice little way to end the night.

Mom and dad in France

After cleaning off the table like considerate, clean civilians, we walked around France a little more. We really just looked at the fountain and took some pictures by the big structures that have French posters all over them. It was very bittersweet. It was great being in Epcot and taking in the atmosphere and just taking it easy and relaxing and enjoying everything, but it was also our last few minutes in a Disney park for this trip. I hate when the end of a trip sneaks up on you like that! This is also when I started to panic. I had planned this trip for a year and it was quickly coming to an end; once we got home school would start in a week and I had a ridiculously busy schedule... and I still had $15 sitting in my pocket! We slowly made our way out to the International Gateway and went into the store over there. I was hoping to find the little Epcot sculpture with Spaceship Earth and the other Epcot landmarks. I looked and looked and looked but they didn't have it, so I picked out the next best thing - the Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot! I love Epcot and love learning as much about it as I can, so it was a good book to have. Plus it was only $10! Mom also got a cute Magic Towel with all of the characters for $4.

Mom and I in France

While on line to pay there was a group of women ahead of us. We heard them talking and found out they were from Jersey and we started talking. They were from Hackensack and the 25 year-old girl worked at ABC in the city. She was on a weekend trip with her mom, little sister, her little sister's babysitter and her boyfriend's mom and they were staying at the Yacht Club. She said that she got a 50% discount on the hotel for working at ABC and a 35% merchandise discount. That's insane! My dad also gets the same perks at Universal but that 50% discount at the Disney hotels is a really good deal. My dad used to work at ABC so they talked about that a little bit. My dad had hated ABC. Disney's a great place to vacation but ABC's not a company you'd want to work for. They screw people over left and right and treat their employees horribly. He's much, much happier at NBC (as are Mike and I - there's nothing better than hanging out at SNL and Conan rehearsals!) but those Disney discounts would have been awesome!

Leaving France

When we were done paying, we slowly made our way out of the park and through the International Gateway. Again, it was very bittersweet. My goal for this trip was to make the most of every minute and to have as much fun as possible, so I was determined to do so. However, knowing that we wouldn't be going to another park that trip was really depressing, especially when I again thought about how school was starting in a week and my schedule was so hectic. UGH. I tried not to think about it and I enjoyed the gorgeous night and the beautiful view of the Epcot waterways. When we got back to the Beach Club they were again playing a movie on the beach, which is definitely something I'd love to take part in on our next trip. We went into the resort and ran to the bathroom before making our way out to the car by 9:00. Bye Beach Club, I looooveee you! Haha!

The International Gateway

We made our way off of Disney property and I was upset but I couldn't be too sad - we'd be back the next day! It may have been our last day in the parks but we still had a full day of fun ahead of us. Good times! Mike was still waiting for his sandwich so we went over to a shopping center near the house and parked in front of the same Dairy Queen that we had gone to a few times throughout the trip. Then we walked over to Subway and the line was huge! There was only one kid making sandwiches and there were a bunch of people waiting in there. Dad and I waited on line while mom ran over to Publix to see if the deli was still open but it wasn't, so we all just waited. It wasn't too bad, though. They were playing two Sean Kingston songs over and over - Beautiful Girls and Me Love, and I loved both songs this past summer. I think I only like Me Love because they sample D'yer Mak'er by Led Zeppelin and that's one of my favorite Zeppelin songs!

Back at the Beach Club Resort

Anyway, twenty minutes later we finally got to the front of the line and got Mike's sandwich. We'd only had Subway once before and it was a long time ago, when my Uncle Ted had gotten us all sandwiches for a Subway Series game (go Yankees!). They'd been alright but we hadn't gotten them since, and we always thought of Subway as being pretty gross. Everything looked good, though! It was clean in there and everything was fresh and the sandwich looked delicious. I wouldn't eat it now since becoming a vegetarian, but Mike's turkey, ham and American sub was actually really good. And the kid making the sandwiches was ridiculously cute which is always fun, haha! It was so crowded in there and he was doing a really good job with everyone's food. He changed his gloves after making each sandwich which I though was cool. We left him a good tip.

Then we went into Dairy Queen to get some ice cream. Our four snacks throughout the day hadn't been enough. Hey, it was our second-to-last night of vacation and we needed to get all our snacking in before we went back home because we eat healthy at home! I got a Brownie Explosion with two little brownies in chocolate and vanilla ice cream with hot fudge, mom got a Heath Blizzard and dad got a Strawberry Cheesequake Blizzard. By the time we got out of there it was 10:00 and we were able to see Wishes from 192. It was so cool! We were back at the house by 10:05 and Mike ate his sandwich and loved it. We all had our ice cream and just hung out. When we were all done with our late-night snacks we played California Rummy and I won! Then mom and dad went to bed while Mike played a game in his room, and I organized my stuff in my room. I got a lot of my clothes and souvenirs together and ready to pack the next day while I watched SNL and the Chelsea Handler show on E. Then I read some of my new Epcot book before falling asleep by 2:30.