Is any Birthday Complete Without It?

Friday December 8, 2017                                                                          Most Recent Posts:
Fort Wilderness Campground                                                    Birthday in Disney World-Bubbles Forever
Walt Disney World                                                                        Even as an Adult, It’s Still My Favorite
Orlando, Florida

Day dawns on our last day in Disney World – booo hooo!   But my birthday continues and the birthday fairy godfather provides mini pecan rolls for breakfast so we’re off to a great start.  Those come by the half dozen for $5 at The Trails End take out in Fort Wilderness which, since we’re in loop 200, is easy walking distance.

More campsite decorations along our walk to the ferry this morning.   David thinks all the trailers parked in the extended extra parking must be for the folks who have all these decorations to transport them.

Looks like Big Al from the Crimson Tide but the RV license plates say Tennessee.

We catch the first ferry and Mickey reviews the life vest directions for us.

We’ll get off at the Magic Kingdom but head right over to the monorail.  We’re going to Epcot.
Although there are 5 “kingdoms” here and in previous years we’ve visited them all, this year we skipped both Disney Springs and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  There are also two water parks.

We see the Magic Kingdom approaching.

We aren’t shoppers or nightlife people and that’s what Disney Springs is all about.  Last year at Hollywood Studios they were taking out the only things we really enjoyed so perhaps we’ll give them a go on another year but this year we did Magic Kingdom Twice, one day at Animal Kingdom and this will be the second Epcot Visit.

From the Magic Kingdom we take a monorail to the Parking and Transportation Hub and then catch a second Monorail to Epcot.  When we leave this afternoon we find another way to arrive back at the Magic Kingdom.  More on that later.

We whiz by the Magic Kingdom.

All our information on Epcot says save the 180 foot geosphere Spaceship Earth attractions until later in the day when the lines are less.  We did that on Monday and then never got back so today we think we are here early enough to just go right on in.  This is one of  my favorite rides in Epcot. I love the way that this ride presents the evolving inventions throughout history, both communication and transportation.

And then you get to design your own personal “future world” by answering three questions on your car’s touch screen.  David picked the answers this time.  I wish we could have gone back through and chosen other answers to see what a different future we’d have.  They present your future to you on the screen in your car with pictures of you they’ve taken previously.   It’s great fun which is why it’s so popular.

The post show area is Project Tomorrow which features several interactive sections all emphasizing technology and its influence on Daily life.  David tries out the accident avoidance driving and does pretty well but then we’ve both taken the Safe Driver Training Course that lowers our insurance rates.

We both did the three reactions test games where one of the three was to remember and match color sequences.  You can also try your hand at putting together a human skeleton like a puzzle.  We did that last time and did really well.  It’s a beat the clock.  But this time the lines were too long so we skipped it.

In other posts I’ve recognized a T-Shirt of the Day and this is today’s.  I love it.  When I asked if I could take his picture I wish I’d also asked if his wife gave it to him.   There will be more on people watching later.  Epcot is a fabulous place to people watch.

Like Monday, we have a goal in mind.  Well two goals but one has a 3:00 reservation.
So as we did before, we just wander around the World Showcase stopping at things that take our fancy.   I’ve said it before but it’s so true that the architecture in Epcot is just wonderful.

This is Mexico.

Here we happen on a concert of Holiday music.

We stop by China to see their wonderful movie in the round which takes you down the Great Wall and all over the country.   Outside the Chinese Lion dancers were performing.  We are told the performance brings good furtune and happiness in the Lunar New Year.

China also had an exhibit of Shanghai Disneyland.  The castle there is the tallest Disney has ever built and represents all the princesses..

They also have Winnie the Pooh of course  I’m very glad to see Pooh’s wisdom is world wide.  I recommend the Tao of Pooh  and the AA Milne Books.

We pass by Germany, site of our delicious lunch on Monday.  The largest outdoor model railroad I’ve ever seen is on its outskirts.   It’s so large a walking path runs through it and 3 or 4 trains can run simultaneously.

As I said, the people watching here is fantastic.  This particular outfit caught my eye.  Black velvet, white fur ruff.  Not sure about the over the knee stockings.

And then this seemed a rather pefect plce for him to sit with his Goofy ears santa hat.

How about these two walking along with their tails on the ground as they have their faces in their phones. 

But this may be my favorite of all.  The shirt says Original Mouskateer 1928.

We saw most of this on our way to France where today David had to stop by and pick up a couple of pastries of his choice since I have two mini-pecan rolls left for tomorrow.  I suspect the Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie is his favorite spot in Epcot.  He looks forward to it from the moment we park Winnona at the campsite.

After accomplishing our first goal,  we wander through Morocco where we watch the lively Moroccan band and graceful belly dancer lead a few volunteers in dancing.

I’ve always wondered how the countries were chosen to be in World Showcase.  Korea isn’t here and neither is Iceland or Tibet or well most countries.  But the Kingdom of Morocco is.

By then it’s nearing 3:00 and time for our reservation. Boy did I work hard to get this time at Beaches and Cream.  Talk about a popular place.   So don’t spread the word and make it even harder.

Those of you who’ve read previous posts I’ve done nearly each year from Disney World already know that this is one place we always visit. 

It’s not for the jukebox although that’s lots of fun.  No money is involved and you can pick any 1950ish recording they have and have it play at a very reasonable volume.   So I do….Ricky Nelson’s ‘Travelin’ Man’.  David chooses Bill Haley’s “Rock around the Clock”.  We would go back and do it again except our order has arrived.

What we come for is the ICE CREAM!

While I’d rather have cake AND ice cream for my birthday, especially our family cake, I can do either one of them alone.  Since neither of us felt in the mood to make a whole cake with no one to share it with, we opt for ice cream.   If I could just get Beaches and Cream to make No Way Jose with Jamaican Me Crazy ice cream, it would be the perfect desert.

But here we are with nearly totally perfect birthday No Way Jose – it’s a Peanut Butter and Hot Fudge delight featuring Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Morsels, Whipped Cream, and a Cherry

This is the ‘before’ shot.   it’s a lot of ice cream.   Notice that we are having a vegetable for lunch with our dessert.

And here is the after shot. Not sure why we are both smiling.  Sadly it’s over. David’s still trying to get the very last bits out of his dish.

From there we head away from the the lovely Beach Club Resort and back to Epcot.

Our timing was off as we walked around the world showcase initially for seeing the American Experience so we’re going to catch it on our way out.   We are really pleasantly surprised to find the Dickens Carolers of the Voices of Liberty in the rotunda giving an a capella concert of holiday music

They were wonderful.  What a great way to wait for the show in which Mark Twain and Ben Franklin take us all through the history of this country.  The animatronics are amazing.

By the time we are leaving Epcot they have turned on the lights. It really is something to see.

Tonight we decide to trade in one of our monorails for a BIG ferry which will take us from Parking and Transportation to the Magic Kingdom and our little Ferry boat back to Fort Wilderness.    It’s dark when we board the Richard F Irvine (no idea who he is/was)

We can see the Magic Kingdom far in the distance.

It’s definitely Magical the closer we get.

The perfect way to end our stay in the happiest place on Earth.