Let The Memories Begin! – Day 8

Today is our last day at Drury and we will finally be hitting the Walt Disney World tomorrow. We had breakfast again at the hotel, strange that we are not sick of it. We do not have much planned for today except catching La Nouba at 6pm. We are beginning to feel sad to leave as it’s like our home away from home.

After breakfast, we set off to Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney area features waterfront dining, unique shops and exciting entertainment options at Walt Disney World Resort. It is divided into the Marketplace and West Side. We were first greeted by the Lego Imagination Center. Outside the shop is a 3,000 square foot play zone. There are amazing Lego creations found around the shop, including Aurura, Cinderella and Snow White and the dwarfs. There is also a “sea serpent” in the lake. This is a great photo spot. We did not enter the shop as we are not Lego fans.

 

We did not stop long as Ashley was drawn into World Of Disney, just beside it. World Of Disney is the ultimate Disney Character store. You’ll find themed sections throughout the 50,000 square foot shop including a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. We saw many girls emerged as princesses after the make-over. Ashley was so fascinated by the colourful and vast display of all her dream princess themed toys. She was so busy twirling around the shop that we had trouble keeping up with her and maneuvering the stroller around. Apart from all the toys, accessories and souvenirs, there was a really cool ‘magic mirror’. When you stand in front of the mirror, you will be magically transformed into different princesses. Ashley had fun posing in front of the mirror. She had so much difficulty deciding what to get although she wished she could get the Cinderella’s castle with all the princesses complete with princes figurines. This must be the ultimate castle for all girls. We wished we could get it for her but it was simply too big for us to handle. Ashley finally picked a Belle muscial box and an autograph book. On our way out, Ashley was pixie dusted by Bibbidi Bobbidi staff and she looked all glittery.

We headed over to TRex for a late lunch. We had a reservation. This restaurant offers American fare in an interactive dinosaur-themed setting  and there was a long line of people waiting to be seated. While waiting we browsed at its retail shop and it has a  Build-A-Dino Workshop by Build-A-Bear. We were soon seated. The interior boasts of squawking pterosaurs, wooly mammoths, a massive undulating octopus and life-sized animatronic dinosaurs—including a 15-foot-tall T. Rex. We were seated at the colour changing Ice Cave and every 20 minutes or so, we witnessed a meteor shower complete with rumbling and fiery “explosions.” We ordered a Colosso Nachos,a Gigantosaurus Burger and a Mega-Mes-O-Bones which is a slow roasted St Louis Ribs. While waiting for our food, we walked around the restaurant taking lots of photos. The food arrived and everything was massive and finger licking good.

After lunch, we explored the other parts of Downtown Disney and saw kiosks featuring balloons, caricature artists, hair wraps, keepsakes, woodcarving and leather goods. There is also a hot air balloon ride – Characters In Flight.

 

Times passes quickly and soon it was time to be seated for La Nouba. La Nouba is a Cirque Du Soleil production and it was our first time watching it. It is a circus performance featuring acrobats, gymnasts and other skilled performance artists. Some of the acts performed were Jump Rope, High Wire, Flying Trapeze, Cycles and  Diabolos. Our favourite was the Diabolos. Four talented girls throw hourglass-shaped, giant yoyos in the air with help of a long line of string connected to two sticks that they hold in each hand. The children flip, roll and even skip with the string while the spinning diabolo plummets to the stage just to be caught at the last second. Although I did not quite understand the storyline, I enjoyed the mesmerising and mystifying performances. We left the Cirque du Soleil performance in awe of the glorious feats and the inexpressible beauty we have witnessed.

We stopped by Wolgang Puck Express and ordered Chicken Noodle Soup take-out for Ashley. As we were still feeling full after our lunch and decided to skip dinner. We headed back to hotel to brace our feet for the next 10 days at Walt Disney World.