Dec 12 - Epcot Escapades

I really should create a shortcut to begin my entries..."Today we had an early start". This time we had a 0805 breakfast appointment with the Princesses at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. The food was good and plentiful but dare I say the Princesses were prettier at Cinderella's Royal Table...However, it was still a great way to start the day at the then sunny Norway, even with the obligatory "park pass left behind at hotel" prior to breakfast. Fortunately, thanks to my super pre-Disney training, I managed to complete what appeared to be an almost daily cross country sprint to get to breakfast on time.

Akershus

Norway

The attraction that we went into next was the Circle of Life back at Future World. It was nice to be able to do something with everyone at the same time so I enjoyed it. We then split up with some going to the Epcot Character Spot whilst the others went on a ride. I can't remember which one due to the traumatic event which was about to occur. Sharon and I were allocated the task of getting fastpasses for mission space. The "men" have it all sorted as to maximise the use of the rider swap in combination with utilising our big numbers, so I just follow. A rendezvous point at Innoventions East was made. This was when had our first lost child. One second she was there, and the next she disappeared. PANIC!!! Worse still, it wasn't our own child that we lost! We also had 2 babies and the 2 older boys, so we had to employ a divide and conquer strategy. After combing our immediate surrounds, Sharon sprinted for Guest relations. I assigned the boys to stand at observable watch posts in case Annelise wanders past whilst I stood with the 2 babies in their strollers. It was a saving grace that both stayed asleep throughout the whole drama. The child was thankfully found at Mission space waiting at the ice-cream shop not too long after. The wrist bands were instituted immediately following the reunion of the group.

We walked over to Mission Space. As Ethel had to leave soon for her flight home, Mal and I watched the little ones to give Jason and Ethel a chance to go on a ride together. Malcolm headed towards guest relations looking for Elliot's lost camera while I stayed with the children to watch a drum performance on the streets. Then the winds changed, along with a sudden downpour. We ran (well, as fast as one could run with a stroller and a 3 year old) to the nearest shelter. We left our ponchos and raincoats at the resort! The weather turned cold and stayed cold. Showers would come on and off for the rest of day.

We had a mediocre lunch at Electric umbrella. We farewelled Ethel and the rest of the Kohs returned to the resort. The rest of us headed for The Seas With Nemo and Friends, followed by Turtle Talk with Crush. Turtle Talk was amazing. Crush was so hilarious! It was my favourite attraction at Epcot to date. The men attempted to put Sam and Jonah down for a nap whilst Sharon and I toured in Spaceship Earth to the dulcet tones of Dame Judi Dench. On account of the men's failure, we then swapped. Sharon and I headed for the World Showcase in search of yummy treats to use up some snack credits, becoming photo whores in the process, stopping at every single photopass photographer we came across. What snack to have was a difficult choice. We settled for Germany's Karamelle-Küche and persisted through the horrendous lines. One could not move an inch inside the shop. We walked out with a chocolate caramel cupcake, Wurther's chewy caramel, and some caramel popcorn for the upcoming candlelight processional. The babies, unfortunately, have managed to stay awake despite the LONG walk hence we proceeded with the messy business of sharing the desserts with the young ones.

It was near impossible to co-ordinate all three children to "hang" out of Bruce quickly. This was the best of our poor efforts. If you squint really hard, you might be able to see Jonah.

My favourite attraction!

So close to buying one of these...

Nemo and friends

For my non Disney friends... Spaceship Earth is the "ball"

Wanna come on a holiday in our world anyone?

Maelstrom was up next. We had come full circle back to Norway. The Kimmunicator that Sharon and I had picked up was all in vain. We did not manage to complete one single assignment. Sigh...It was time to meet up with the rest at Coral Reef for dinner. Malcolm and I have decided that we need to develop an allergy of some sort, perhaps to brussel sprouts, so we can speak to the chef at every meal. As Sharon and Kwan chatted away to the chef, we ordered the Land and Sea appetiser which consisted of grilled shrimp with cucumber salad and BBQ beef skewer with creamy polenta, the pan seared seasonal fish with wild mushroom risotto finished for entree and the choc wave cake for dessert. It was yummy!!! Jonah enjoyed looking for Nemo and whales and demonstrated words that we didn't know existed in his vocabulary such as seahorse!

Our dinner venue

The view of the aquarium from our table

Land and Sea

Chocolate wave cake

The dessert Malcolm ordered. I can't remember what it was but it was delicious!

We were then off to World showcase again. We had to rush to make it to the candlelight processional. Unfortunately poor Annelise had diarrhoea and managed to get poo on her pants and so they had to go via the shops for new apparel. It was fortunate that the rest went ahead as the lines were long even for those with the dinner package. It was then that we discovered Ethel's flight had been cancelled! She was stuck at MCO awaiting transport back to the resort. The poor thing was so frustrated at not being able to get home and not being able to enjoy time with the family.

We chose to go to the candlelight processional with Steve Curtis Chapman as narrator. The music was just amazing. It truly was an auditory feast. The arrangement was just beautiful. It was unfortunate that it was freezing and Jonah had fallen asleep with a big poo in his bum. When the show ended, we had to abandon the plans to watch Illuminations and had to change a then screaming child in the cold. The bonus was that we got to watch Illuminations anyway albeit not in the special viewing area that we had entry to. What inspirational music and what a fantastic finale! We tried to beat the rush to resort and hence it was near impossible to take photos! We had to ready ourselves for 1) another big day tomorrow and 2)predicted highs of only 7 degrees and lows of -2. When are we going to find time for laundry?!? We have been so busy that I haven't even had time to have any churros...