Let The Memories Begin! – Day 9
Saving the best for last, we are finally off to the Walt Disney World today. We scrambled to pack our luggage, grabbed a quick breakfast and proceeded to check out. Drury has been great from the beginning of our stay right to the end. The staff at the counter remarked that Ashley would stop at the Christmas tree and looked at the ornaments without fail. She then told Ashley to pick an ornament as souvenir. Ashley was delighted and picked her favourite snowflake. We bade goodbye to Drury and made our way to our next stay at Port Orleans Riverside.
Nestled along the banks of the Disney-created Sassagoula River, Port Orleans Riverside is certainly picturesque. As we have already done our online check in, our My Magic+ package was waiting for us at the lobby. We were most excited to receive our Magic Band and Ashley couldn’t wait to put it on. We were also given 1st visit pins since it is our first time staying at the Disney resort. It was a bonus that our room was ready and we made our way there. We had requested for a high floor room at Oak Manor and ZA was commenting that we only had 2nd floor. When we arrived at our building, it was only 2 storey high and we actually had the top floor. We used our Magic Band to unlock the door and it is so cool. We no longer need to dig around for our room key when we return to the resort and even Ashley’s Magic Band could unlock the door. We booked the Royal Room and true to it’s name, it is fit for royalty. We marveled at the magnificent touches and magical surprises, including custom drapes and linens, ornately decorated beds and headboards that glitter with fibre optic lights. After taking a few quick photos of our room, we made our way to Epcot as we have a dining reservation at 12.15pm.
We finally have a reprieve from the hot weather and it is so much cooler. When we arrived at Epcot carpark, the attendant waved us in. Complimentary carpark is one of the privileges for onsite guests. Epcot spans 300 acres and we wasted no time to get to the Photo Center to exchange our PhotoPass+ voucher for our PhotoPass+ card and lanyard. We headed over to Epcot’s World Showcase which is centered around a reflective lagoon. There are eleven countries represented here. On our way, we stopped by to take a photo with Duffy the Disney Bear and Ashley got her first autograph.
Today marks the start of our Free Dining Plan. Our lunch reservation was at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall for Princess Storybook Dining at Norway. We checked in and our party was soon called. We were first ushered to meet Belle and had our photos taken and autograph signed. Belle is Ashley’s favourite character and hence dressed up as Belle to meet her. It was so cute to see Belle danced with Ashley. The look on Ashley’s face was priceless. We were then brought to our table and the server took our orders. Ashley ordered kid’s Meaty Macaroni and the rest of us torn between salmon and meatball ordered the highly recommended Norwegian Meatball. ZA went to the salad bar and there was salmon, so it was a good thing we did not order that. The restaurant was abuzz as the princesses made their way to the tables. Ashley could not wait for the princesses to come! Soon, the first princess, Snow White came. Snow White complimented Ashley’s dressing and signed her autograph and posed for pictures. Our food then arrived and we tucked in but it was too distracting to eat with all the princesses walking around the restaurant. Ashley then met Cinderella, Ariel and Aurora. The children were then invited to take part in a royal parade. The princesses led them around the dining hall as they waved and curtsied to us. It was really cute! We were given a photo package which comes with the meal. This is certainly a must-do for little girls who are princesses at heart.
After lunch, Ashley wanted to meet Elsa and Anna, the Frozen characters but the line was very long and the cast member estimated 60 to 90 minutes wait and we gave up. We headed over to ride Maelstrom. Maelstrom is a darkened viking boat ride through stormy Norse seas where trolls lurk. It was a fun ride. As we skipped Mexico just now, we went back there and took a boat ride to discover the sights of Mexico. The ride seemed familiar as I took it with ZA 17 years ago.
Next, we went over to China and we really felt like we were in China. There were replicas of tomb warriors and other ancient artifacts. Ashley bought an umbrella and had her Chinese name written on it. She also got to meet Mulan here. She asked Mulan where Li Sheng was and was told he was in a training camp. We visited Germany next and ZA had fun taking photos of Jarod wearing different hats.
Time passes by quickly and it was time for our Test Track ride which we have a FastPass+ booked. We really appreciated this feature as the standby time was 80 minutes while we simply tapped our Magic bands and whisked through. Test Track lets you design a virtual concept vehicle at an interactive design kiosk and then go for a high-octane spin. Being a car enthusiast, Jarod selected maximum power in his design. After the design is done, we rode through the attraction in a six-passenger SimCar, but our design followed us through the ride in a virtual sense. At the end, we would find out how our design compared to the SimCar in the areas of Capability, Efficiency, Responsiveness and Power. Ashley’s design came in 1st for Efficiency while Jarod’s design came in 1st for Power. After the ride, there were some exhibits of Chevrolet cars and we had fun taking some photos with different backdrop. We loved this ride and decided to return tomorrow to try it again.
When we stepped out of Test Track, the sky was getting dark and the wind chilly. We made our way back to the World Showcase and explored Canada and United Kingdom before stopping at France. We had a dining reservation at Les Chefs de France, an authentic French bistro. The decor is true to the French theme, and offers the feeling of a vintage Parisian dining spot. The servers were French too. Ashley ordered Pasta with Chicken Tenders from the kids’ menu. Jarod went for Duck Breast and Leg Confit and I had Grilled Tenderloin of Beef. ZA settled for the Prix Fixes 3 courses menu with Lobster Bisque, Beef Short Ribs with Pasta. As we looked at diners in the restaurant, almost 80% had their Magic Bands and they must be happy diners with Free Dining Plan like us. The food were really good and we all loved our dishes, especially Jarod. We then ordered Creme Brulee, Strawberry cake and Profiteroles for dessert while Ashley was given a huge chocolate chip cookie. We enjoyed our dining experience and will certainly return should we visit Orlando again.
After dinner, the weather was getting colder and the winds really chilly. Apart from Ashley, we were not dressed appropriately for this weather. We decided not to stay for Illuminations and catch it tomorrow instead. We headed back to our hotel. There is another reason why hurried back to the hotel. Jarod has ordered a headphone from Amazon and according to delivery tracking, it has arrived at the hotel. He was so excited! Next, we redeemed our complimentary refillable mugs and filled them up. We returned to our room to unpack our luggage for our 10 night stay. Our feet were sore and aching!
(Note by ZA : Without SF effort, we would have
– waited more than one hour for the popular rides
-20-30 minutes for the non popular rides
– will not get to see Belle, and the other princesses in Arkhesus
(not possible to walk in or at least wait more than an hour for lunch at the place)
– not have very nice dinner at French restaurant, where the waiters, busboy, cooks etc are all mostly French. It feels authentic and the food is fantastic. We just have to wait 5 mins waiting for our table. While the poor souls with no reservations are there for the long wait.
– will not get Fastpass + (which is different than Fastpass btw and which we also have as we had magic band and room cards)
Thank you Baby!)