DAY 2 – Friday 3/25/22
Who: Sue (63), DVC Member
SB (64), my husband
Tiana & Jonell (50’s & 60’s), friends

Plan: Epcot

Actual: Last night I didn’t turn the lights out until nearly 11:30 and then slept well in this comfortable bed. It was completely quiet, too. Although I woke up early, I’d set the alarm so when I dozed back off eventually the alarm woke me up for
good at 5am. One thing I’d forgotten is on the top floor at this resort the balconies have a big ceiling light that doesn’t shut off, which means I had to pull the drapes closed to keep the room from being too light.

I made my cappuccino and brought it to enjoy in bed while catching some morning news and doing online stuff. By 6:30 I confirmed the others were on the road and then got up to shower & dress. After doing that I made an egg and slice of bacon for my
breakfast, then had a piece of the cookie I bought in Germany yesterday – very good!

I noticed in the bathroom that the towel situation has really changed since the early days of DVC. Back then you got 1 towel per person in the occupancy limit, which for a studio was 4. You never saw more than 4 bath towels. Now they added the kiddie
bed, so this studio can have 5 people. However, I have 7 bath towels in the bathroom. Makes no sense to me, but it’s certainly not a problem.

Epcot opens at 8 for resort guests and everyone is listed on my reservation. They pulled in to the parking lot around 7:50 so I went to meet them downstairs. We walked over to Epcot, where we were able to walk right into the park. There was no wait at
bag check or the entry. Coming up the ramp a cast member scanned my magic band to see that we were resort guests and we were welcomed into the park.

It's so nice being in Epcot when not many people are here! On the way in I thought maybe it would make sense to do Remy first, since we’re right here by France. However, by the time we got up the hill the hordes of resort guests walking over from the
front entrance was pretty significant. I’d forgotten we did this with Tiana & Jonell on a previous trip, so everyone was fine skipping it today.

Tiana and SB were hungry for breakfast, so I mentioned Sunshine Seasons since we were also wanting to do Soarin’. We walked over there and it was the most uncrowded I have ever seen it! We decided to do Soarin first, since by now it was 8:20 and the
regular people would be let in at 8:30. Walking the standby queue we never stopped until the loading area. SB & I took the front row but Tiana & Jonell chose the 2nd row right behind us. The middle section ended up getting filled, but the 2nd and 3rd
rows of both side sections were empty – never seen that before either! We enjoyed the attraction, and although Tiana closed her eyes for a lot of it she made it through without chickening out.

Next we went to Sunshine Seasons and couldn’t find any hot food. They had some weird jackfruit gyros, some cut fruit and cheese/fruit plates in the refrigerated case. Over at the bakery they had croissants, muffins and cookies. I asked the cast
members what time hot food started and was told 11am! I said we were hoping for breakfast, and she said there is no hot breakfast anywhere in the park. Wow! That sucks – this used to be a great little breakfast spot, especially when they had that
croissant bread pudding that was so delicious!

Tiana got a croissant but SB decided to wait for real food later. Once she ate it we walked onto the Living with the Land boat ride, which is always relaxing. They had some plants I don’t recall seeing before. From here we walked over to Nemo, which
had a 5-minute wait posted. Basically it takes at least that long to walk through the queue! They still had plexiglass up in part of the queue, but I imagine that will be gone by my next visit – thank goodness! Disney has been removing it from
resorts, attractions, etc.

Nemo was cute, and afterwards we wandered around the aquariums looking at the fish and manatees. The dolphins came out for a bit as well. At this point it was 9:37 – still a while until the festival stuff opened at 11. Tiana asked about the Skyliner,
so we decided to exit the park and ride that, figuring by the time we got back it would almost time for the food to start.

The park still wasn’t crowded, and the weather was about as perfect as it could get! Humidity was low, sky was blue, temps were low 70’s and there was a bit of a breeze. It was so comfortable! They say by next weekend it’ll be 90, so I got lucky
this time! There was no wait at the Skyliner and we enjoyed the ride over to Caribbean Beach. They officially stopped requiring masks on this, although I always took mine off once past the station. Why would I wear a mask sitting by myself in a
gondola with air blowing through??? SB was the exception – he wears his mask everywhere, even in the car by himself. He says he can’t be too careful, and even when it’s just us he says “I don’t know where she’s been”, lol! So pretty much
the whole time except when he was eating or drinking he had his mask on.

At Caribbean Beach I was surprised to find no crowds headed to the Studios or Epcot! I’ve seen pictures recently of horrendous lines of people trying to get to the parks, so I was mentally preparing for that. A few people were headed to the Studios
and we were the only ones going to Epcot. We boarded another vehicle and enjoyed the ride once again.

At International Gateway it was still not busy so we breezed right back into the park. It was almost 10:30 at this point, and since SB had mentioned the scallops at the booth in Canada when we got there and saw the shades up we got in line. By 10:32 we
were at the cash registers. I picked up utensils and napkins and met them at a table across the way.

SB got the seared scallops (w/French green beans, butter potatoes & applewood smoked bacon pieces) and also the beef tenderloin over mashed potatoes w/baby carrots. Tiana and Jonell each got the beef. SB gave one of his scallops (there are 3) to Tiana
and I ate a few bites of his beef & one of the little butter potatoes. Everyone thought everything was excellent.

We continued walking, getting to Mexico about 10:50. The margarita stand would be opening at 11, so they got in line (the first people in line today) while I grabbed one of the seating areas. Right at 11 (or just before) they opened up and the crowd
filed up to order their stuff. By this point the queue wasn’t full, but it was nearly full.

The margaritas are smaller now, although the price isn’t smaller. They thought the drinks were stronger, so perhaps the alcohol to sweet crap ratio has changed as well. They each got a frozen margarita and Tiana also ordered the tacos. She said the
tacos were excellent – there were 2 of them, and they’re pretty small, but she really enjoyed them.

Once Tiana finished her tacos we got up and started walking again. In Italy there was nobody in line at all so I got a glass of prosecco. However, they didn’t use a champagne flute – it was in a regular plastic wine glass (but filled to the rim).
I asked if this was really the prosecco and the cast member assured me it was (she was right). I don’t know – you can’t drink prosecco from a wine glass! It’s just not right.

America (Magnolia Terrace) was on the guys’ minds, so we stopped there next. Tiana and I got a picnic table while the guys got food. SB got both the southern boil (shrimp, mussels, crawfish, potatoes, corn on the cob & andouille sausage) and the
spicy chicken gumbo w/andouille sausage & long grain/wild rice. Both were good, with the gumbo being more on the great side. It was very spicy, but everyone really liked the flavor. This was my other savory item of interest, so I ate a few bites of
that & enjoyed it. I’m glad SB got it, as eating the whole thing myself would have been more than I wanted.

After eating I showed Tiana the list of concerts, and we may come down just for the day to catch Starship next month. They were all interested, so I figured I’d go along with it – normally I don’t like to come here unless I’m in a resort for at
least 3-4 nights. We continued walking and by the time we came around to France for the goat cheese croissant nobody had any room for more food. I suggested if we did another walk around the countries maybe we’d be ready on the 2nd loop but they
decided to just get on the road early so I left the park with them.

Once they left I changed into a swimsuit and went down to the quiet pool for about an hour or so. It was nice down there – great weather! A fellow dvc member who reads my reports on the dvctalk list saw me and came over to say hello. It’s always
nice to meet people from the various sites, even if they’re not active posting a lot. I went back upstairs around 1:30 and spent some time on the balcony updating the report before going inside to watch General Hospital at 2.

Just after 4:30 I headed back to Epcot, this time turning left to head through United Kingdom first on my way around World Showcase. The park was busier now, with the narrower parts of the walkway being totally congested. Lines were long for many of
the ordinary stuff – Joffrey’s coffee, fish & chips, gelato, etc. The lines for the festival booths were longer than earlier today but not bad at all – and Italy still had no line (hardly anyone in China either).

I wasn’t sure what I wanted – I would have liked another savory item of interest but although they have quite a few offerings it’s pretty much stuff I don’t eat. In the end I decided I’d get the warm cheese strudel with berries from Germany,
but after the concert. If I’m hungry for something more “real food” vs dessert later I still have crackers and cheese in the studio.

I continued to America, arriving at 5:10. The first concert is 5:30 so I knew they would have let people in at 5. I didn’t expect to find the theater pretty much full already. It wasn’t even worth wandering around looking for a seat – every row
was full. The wall on the Japan side was also full, so I plopped down on the wall on the Italy side and watched the concert from there.

They did a nice job, and the music was very good. No screaming the songs, either <g>. The audience seemed to really like the concert, and the group expressed their happiness to be back. I think I’ve seen them here once before. After the concert
ended I headed back to Germany and had a short wait in line to get the warm cheese strudel.

I took it to a table by the lake and enjoyed it there, although with this item basically once per year is enough. It’s good but not so great I want it again and again – certainly not at the expense of skipping other dessert items. After that I
walked into Future World and browsed through the Creations shop but didn’t see anything that caught my eye. It’s not a bad shop, although I miss Mouse Gears.

Checking the tip board confirmed everything had a wait longer than I was willing to do so I meandered back to World Showcase and waited to take the obligatory photo of the monorail passing by with Spaceship Earth in the background. Once that was done I
headed back to the resort.

Once again I spent time out on the balcony, and updated the report from there. Since it’s in the shade I put on a spirit jersey for the long sleeves, and put this morning’s bath towel on the cold iron chair. There was a breeze, but it was still
comfortable. One guy is in the hot tub and a few people came and went from the pool, but it was very quiet & peaceful.

Today turned out to be a really nice day – great weather, fun with SB & our friends, good food, pool time, and an enjoyable concert. Life is good here! SB did say he was shocked they wanted to go home so early, as he wanted to do another loop around
the countries and spend more time here but didn’t say anything since he wasn’t driving.

Tomorrow will be another relaxing day. It’s supposed to be cool the next 2 mornings, which ruins my original plan of spending the morning at the pool. Instead I’ll switch it up and get some pool time tomorrow afternoon – possibly heading to
Disney Springs for opening (or doing it Sunday) or hitting Flower & Garden at opening. I’ll head back into Epcot for the early evening, unless maybe I decide to hop somewhere else just for the heck of it.

Sue/WDW1972

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