Meet me at the Snuggly Duckling! A June 2018 TR. UPDATED 3/8

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

kinda sad you gave up Fantasmic for it.

Yes, I am sad I missed it as well since I turned out to be ambivalent about the Star Wars show. Oh well, next time!

Anyway, hang in there with the long/many hours. Gotta pay to play, eh?

So true! Every time I pick up OT now I just tell myself if I work enough I won't feel guilty if I pay the exorbitant price to stay at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel instead of the much cheaper Sheraton.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

June 13 - EPCOT

Another Disney day dawned and we were up bright and early as we had a pre-park opening ADR at EPCOT to get to.

I woke up with a slight headache so I downed an Advil and prayed it wouldn't turn into something worse. I have a terrible track record of getting sick on vacation.

Here is your morning animal photo from our balcony.



Down at the bus stop we only had to wait a few minute for the bus. I was having flashbacks to the horrible ride the night before but this trip was uneventful.

There was a decently long line at Security and at the tapstyles as they weren't letting anybody into the park yet. That morning it seemed like they were making everybody go through the metal detectors but at other times it was random.

We got into the line designated for dining reservations and they started to let us in just before 0800. Our ADR wasn't until 0830 so I wasn't rushing once we were in so I got a few photos.









Even with the photo taking we were at The Land at 0805.




Another odd music moment, I noticed that they were playing the soundtrack to the 1996 theatrical version of Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow. I love the music in that movie and so it was a nice surprise to hear it in The Land.



You have probably figured it out but we were having breakfast at Garden Grill! This had been a fairly last minute add-on to the trip and it was so worth it!



Since we were there I checked to see if they would check us in early and they did! They called us to our table after waiting about five minutes.



Once we were seated the food started to come quickly and I was salivating. It was all sooo good! I loved every single item that was placed on that table.



You start out with this giant cinnamon roll. Amazing!



Then the server brought out a bowl of fresh fruit. Refreshing!



And shortly after that she arrived with our skillet which had Mickey waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and tater tots. We had also opted for POG juice with our breakfast.



I usually don't care for Disney eggs as I typically find them too runny but these ones were prepared perfectly. I was also surprised with how good the tater tots were. The waffles, bacon and sausage were delicious as expected. The server had also brought out a hazelnut drizzle we could add to the waffles.

I ate way too much food as it was all so good. It saddened me when we had to leave behind so much of the cinnamon roll but it was so big and no way we could eat it all.

In between all the food being delivered the characters started to come around. First up was Dale. I should have checked the best settings for photos with the lighting before the characters showed up but I was preoccupied with the food and didn't think about the camera.






Mom asked how to tell which was Chip and which was Dale so when Chip showed up I told him she was asking and he pointed at his nose. I told her Chip has a nose like a chocolate chip!





We had a few minutes after Chip and Dale to eat before Farmer Mickey made an appearance. He is so cute in his overalls!









Finishing up the character roster was Pluto





We were happy we didn't have to wait too long to see all the characters. I find sometimes at character meals it takes forever for all the characters to circulate and you end up waiting around even after you have finished your food. Not the case at Garden Grill, at least not that morning.

In fact, the characters started to make a second round around the restaurant!





Dale started to get up to no good. The family sitting next to us had finished their meal and left and when Dale saw all the left over food he made a beeline for the table and started trying to take the food.



Our server caught him in the act and came over and scolded him.






She told him that he can't take the food and maybe they were coming back. He shook his head no and pointed out of the restaurant to say they were gone.



Then he started to do some morning yoga.



Perfect tree pose



It was all hilarious and really gave us a good laugh.





Mickey showed up right as we were paying the cheque so I got one last picture with him.



It was 0855, time to hustle!

As you can tell from this post, we LOVED Garden Grill! The food was delicious and the characters were great. We were so surprised when we got to see them a second time. It was also a nice surprise that we got seated 25 minutes before our ADR time. This allowed us to make it out of there just in time for rope drop. Initially I had been disappointed I couldn't land an 0805 reservation but it turns out it didn't matter.

 

[earfulofmagic]

Then he started to do some morning yoga.



Perfect tree pose

Hahaha, that is precious! The character interactions look great here, and it's always nice to hear the food's good too.

 

[disneyAndi14]

We loved the breakfast, have been twice! I love all your pictures with the characters, so fun.

I keep Chip and Dale straight with the nose as well!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hahaha, that is precious! The character interactions look great here, and it's always nice to hear the food's good too.

We were 2/2 for great character breakfasts. I was hoping that our good luck with great ADR's would continue.

We loved the breakfast, have been twice! I love all your pictures with the characters, so fun.

It was such a great meal and great characters. We will definitely be back. I think it will be a great place to go when we do our big family trip in 2021.

I keep Chip and Dale straight with the nose as well!

Me too, I can also tell them apart by their teeth. Chip has centred teeth whereas Dale has teeth on the far sides of his mouth.

 

[pepperandchips]

Saving my spot and now I've got another fun report to catch up on

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

I was wrong about the air conditioning kicking in. The complete opposite happened, it just got hotter and hotter. The lady sitting next to me was freaking out. She said it was so hot that she felt she was suffocating. It was so hot that you couldn't see out the windows as they were obscured by a thick layer of condensation from all the people crammed on the bus. The children in the seats across from me were writing "HELP!" on the windows.

That's crazy! There definitely must've been something broken on that bus - they're normally freezing cold. I once got stuck on the monorail for over half an hour in early October (about 85-90 degrees out that trip), and that's when I realized they don't have A/C! We were sweating and trying to not freak out too much - I was super glad I was standing by the tiny window/air opening. When we finally made it to the TTC an army of people went up to the CM there to "have words". I left haha, I figured they had it covered.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Saving my spot and now I've got another fun report to catch up on

Thanks for coming over! I hope you like it!

That's crazy! There definitely must've been something broken on that bus - they're normally freezing cold. I once got stuck on the monorail for over half an hour in early October (about 85-90 degrees out that trip), and that's when I realized they don't have A/C! We were sweating and trying to not freak out too much - I was super glad I was standing by the tiny window/air opening. When we finally made it to the TTC an army of people went up to the CM there to "have words". I left haha, I figured they had it covered.

Yikes! That's awful and I get it when people are upset but I dislike it when it gets taken out on a person that had no control of the situation. I hope Disney gives them good training for dealing with situations like that.

 

[OhMari]

Wow, I did not know The Garden Grill has breakfast. This is one place I want to eat at. There are just to many choices at EPCOT to dine.

I would of passed out on that bus. I cannot tolerate heat, how did your mom do.

 

[paradesintherain]

I woke up with a slight headache so I downed an Advil and prayed it wouldn't turn into something worse. I have a terrible track record of getting sick on vacation.

Fingers crossed it didn't get worse!

Great picture!

Another odd music moment, I noticed that they were playing the soundtrack to the 1996 theatrical version of Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow. I love the music in that movie and so it was a nice surprise to hear it in The Land.

That is so random!

Wow, this looks amazing

I usually don't care for Disney eggs as I typically find them too runny but these ones were prepared perfectly.

It's weird, they look like the powdered eggs in the photo. I'd think they'd do fresh eggs. Were they?

Precious little chippy

 

[amazingact21]

Beautiful shots of Spaceship Earth! It looks so quiet and peaceful that early in the morning.

I'm glad the Garden Grill breakfast was a success. It was nice that they let you in to your breakfast early and that you were able to see most of the characters more than once. I loved Dale's antics and his yoga posing, too funny.

 

[missangelalexis]

I love Garden Grill breakfast, the food is so good! Sounds like awesome character interaction, especially with Chip & Dale. The photos all came out so cute

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Wow, I did not know The Garden Grill has breakfast. This is one place I want to eat at. There are just to many choices at EPCOT to dine.

Yep, Garden Grill does all three meals.

There are a lot of choices in EPCOT but I would rather have more than less.

I would of passed out on that bus. I cannot tolerate heat, how did your mom do.

She never said anything to me about having a hard time.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Wow, this looks amazing

It definitely was

It's weird, they look like the powdered eggs in the photo. I'd think they'd do fresh eggs. Were they?

If they were they tasted better than any Disney powdered egg I've had in the past.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Beautiful shots of Spaceship Earth! It looks so quiet and peaceful that early in the morning.

Yes, once we cleared Spaceship Earth it felt that we had the park to ourselves. It seemed as though nobody else was heading to Garden Grill.

It was nice that they let you in to your breakfast early

It was very nice of them. It meant we were finished by rope drop and could dash to Soarin. We would have had to wait in the long line otherwise or hope for a same day fastpass.

I loved Dale's antics and his yoga posing, too funny.

Great character interactions for sure. I love when they really get into their characters and do more than the love and shove.

I love Garden Grill breakfast, the food is so good! Sounds like awesome character interaction, especially with Chip & Dale. The photos all came out so cute

It was a great meal! We will definitely be back for the food and characters.

 

[paradesintherain]

It definitely was



If they were they tasted better than any Disney powdered egg I've had in the past.

Good!! For something like that they should definitely be using fresh, imo! And now I’m dying to try Garden Grill!

 

[earfulofmagic]

Naturally even though we weren't really shopping we had to stop in the Disney Store. I showed mom the Sebastian pool float that I am dying to buy. $75 though! Ouch!

! I just saw this on clearance on ShopDisney and thought of you - https://www.shopdisney.com/sebastian-pool-float-the-little-mermaid-oh-my-disney-1471073

It takes the extra 25% off promo code as well. In USD that brings it down to $26.99!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

! I just saw this on clearance on ShopDisney and thought of you - https://www.shopdisney.com/sebastian-pool-float-the-little-mermaid-oh-my-disney-1471073

It takes the extra 25% off promo code as well. In USD that brings it down to $26.99!

Tempting!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Sorry for the lack of update the past few days, once again I am in a crazy stretch of shifts. Hoping to get one out tomorrow before my night shift!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

June 13 - EPCOT

It was 8:55 and we were leaving Garden Grill. I looked towards the entrance of The Land and told mom that we needed to hustle as this is what I saw coming towards us.

Run!

We made it into the Soarin queue before the crowds hit us. Close call!



This was our first time seeing the new Soarin' film so we were excited!

Another weird music moment, we were listening to the theme from An American Tail in the queue. I loved that movie as a kid and I still enjoy the music so it was a nice surprise. I don't know why I was paying so much attention to the atmospheric music this trip.

The wait was minimal since we were able to beat the rope drop crowd. The only wait we had was while standing in the pre-show queue area.

Sadly mom and I were seated on the far right of the screen so everything looked a bit warped during our ride but we still really enjoyed it! We had the front row though so no feet dangling in our view.

Next up we had a fastpass for the Character Spot. Not that we had any particular desire to go there as we had just had a character breakfast but since we had the fastpass we figured we may as well use it.























No stand out interactions at these character meets, just the usual which is fine as we didn't want to spend too much time here anyways.

We went over to The Seas next to hang out with Nemo and friends.







Usually we spend some time in the aquarium after our ride through The Seas but we weren't feeling it this day. I did browse through the gift shop and saw an adorable "How to speak whale with Dory" mug. I really wish I had bought one! I have so many novelty cups and mugs though so it is probably better that I didn't.

Our next fastpass was for Spaceship Earth and I saw that it was down on the MDE app so we had a bit of time to kill before the fastpass window opened/the ride was back up so we decided to do something we have only done once before as it is never on our radar most days, Journey Into Imagination With Figment.









The ride is cute enough but it is definitely only ever going to be on my "I have nothing else to do right now" list. I feel the ride and the whole Imagination pavilion is dated and could use a huge refresh.

After Figment we made our way towards Spaceship Earth as I saw that it was running again on MDE. Along the way we saw Honeydew and Beaker doing the Mobile Muppet Lab Show.



We walked in towards the end of the show though so we only watched for a few minutes before moving on. Looked cute though!

When we got to Spaceship Earth there was a line at the fastpass entrance and the fastpass tap stations were covered up. I was confused as MDE showed the ride as open. We stood around and waited to see what was happening and a CM came and opened up the fastpass line again. So we tapped in and made our way in.



I just love Spaceship Earth. I can't even really say why I like it so much but I do. Maybe because I am a history buff?











On the way back down I told Mom she should make the selections for the "Choose Your Future" game but she refused. So I made the selections and got a completely different future than I have had in the past. Anybody know if they have updated it with more endings or were my selections just totally different than in the past?