[packerbeth]

So, where was I? Oh yes, dessert! The vanilla creme brulee was not as good as it had been when it was paired with the maple in January. Stacy and I both ate a bit of it. The apple crumble, however, was TOO DIE FOR! Oh my, I'd wished I had eaten less of my filet at that point, because to leave any of that deliciousness behind is just wrong! I'm a big fan of autumnal desserts, and this was one of the best I've ever had.

Now, I don't want to say that this was a bad meal. Lunch at Le Cellier is better by far than lunch in almost any other place I can name, but I think it was just that my expectations were so high, and I really wanted Stacy to like it, too. We were both disappointed in the lack of birthday recognition, but by no means did it ruin our day.

Our plan was to wander around World Showcase for the rest of the afternoon, starting with Norway, and then going counter-clockwise. I'd read that this is the opposite of what everyone else does, and it normally would have been a great plan. However, the park was so empty at this point, we could just go clockwise with everyone else without any problem.

We stopped in a shop on the way to Mexico, and I surreptitiously bought Stacy a birthday present. She had told me about a pin she found when she was buying her kids their lanyards for their February trip. She had already picked out one for herself, and didn't feel like she needed a second one. I hadn't bought anything for my kids yet, so I found some things in this shop and purchased the pin for her, as well. She was surprised, and I was glad to have picked out something she liked. She had given me a patriotic t-shirt earlier on in the trip, which I liked very much, so I was glad to reciprocate.

I had never been on the rides in Mexico or Norway, and enjoyed both. I thought Maelstrom was especially clever; I'm sure I read somewhere about the backwards part, but must have forgotten, because it really surprised me! Here are a couple of shots of the new and improved ride in Mexico that Stacy took:




We didn't dawdle in either of these countries. We wanted to get to China, because I wanted to see the movie.

I just love the colors of this pavilion!

We wandered around the pavilion for a while, looking for the area where they show the movie. For some reason, it's hard to find! We finally found it, and who should be there? Mulan and Mushu!


Unfortunately for us, they were just leaving. They told us they'd be back in about 20 minutes, and we discussed whether we should wait for Mulan or see the movie. We had some time before either option, so we sat a while watching a man play a Chinese violin. It was a very interesting instrument, and could play incredibly complicated music for only having two strings!

The time for the movie showing arrived, and I decided I'd rather see characters than the movie. But you knew that by the title of this report, right? Well, we waited until 20 minutes had passed, and then we waited some more. While we waited, I took this photo of the ceiling.


We finally got tired of waiting for Mulan, so we wandered outside to ask a CM if she was coming out or not. Apparently, sometimes they go outside for meet and greets, but she wasn't out there, either, so we left. While we were there, I checked my phone and found I'd missed a call from Stacy's DH. He'd left a voice mail asking if they'd given Stacy the cake he'd requested at Le Cellier!

Up next, Germany!

[packerbeth]

Just realized I forgot to mention that we saw the Canada movie after our lunch at LC. I had never seen the original, and was really glad that they were running the new version, because I'd read that Martin Short was the narrator, and I've liked him ever since his days on SCTV. Of course, Three Amigos was a big hit when I was in high school: "Hey! You two! LookuphereLookuphereLookuphere!"

Anyway, I really liked the movie. I've been to Canada several times, living as close as we do, and it was represented well. The addition of Martin Short made it funny, too. I thought the way it was presented, with those big screens all around you, was cool, too. I've never seen anything like that.

Definitely worth your while. Of course, we walked right in with no wait; I'm not sure I'd wait a long time for it!

I'd also forgotten all about doing Livin' with the Land! It must not have made much of an impression on me. I think we went on that right after we did Soarin'. I'd never been on Living with the Land before. I thought the Mickey pumpkins (interestingly called Cinderella pumpkins?!?) were the coolest part.

We had just left China, after being dissed by Mulan and were now on our way to Germany. I had lived in Germany for a total of four years, 3 years in Berlin, and another year in Hanau, which is outside of Frankfurt, so I was interested in trying out my minimal German on some unsuspecting CM. My family had spent another two years in Heidelberg while I was in college; in fact, when my brother came back to the States at the age of 14, he'd spent half in life in Germany. He even knew more German at that age that I ever did even though I took it for several years in school. My favorite story is when he came running home after school, telling my mom all about the "tot vogel" he had seen on his way home. She had to remind him to speak English; he hadn't even known he was telling her all about a dead bird in German !

I had also been looking forward to getting my hands on some Cola gummis, a gummi bear-type snack shaped like cola bottles and tasting like, you guessed it, cola! I'm not a gummi bear fan, but I really love those cola gummis! Stacy had wanted to try a German pretzel, so she used a snack credit on one of those while I ventured into the sweet shop. Unfortunately, after having that yummy pretzel bread at Le Cellier, this pretzel just did not live up to expectations.

There was a lot I could have purchased in that sweet shop! I could have spent a lot more time in there, as well, but we were on schedule to get to American Adventure for the 3:00 show and it was already after 2:30 by now. I had a conversation with the CMs behind the counter while I used a snack credit for my little bag of Cola Gummis. They seemed impressed with my minimal German, so I was happy. I asked one of them where his town was, and he said he didn't know. Seems that they put the wrong town on his name badge; he'd even googled it and wasn't able to find it! He told me where he was from, and it was a place I recognized. His name was Christian, so I told him that that was my son's name, too.

We took a few photos as we strolled around Germany.




We said goodbye to Germany and skated right through Italy (without taking any pictures!) because we were on a mission: American Adventure, here we come!

[packerbeth]

America, here we come! I'd never spent much time in this pavilion, and I had two goals: to see the AA show, and to hear the Voices of Liberty. I'd really wanted to hear them the last time we were here, and knew that my DH and FIL would have liked to hear them, as well, since several International barbershop quartets have members who belong to VoL, also. Unfortunately, we weren't there at the right time, so we had to save that experience for another trip.

Well, this was the trip! On our way to the American pavilion, there was a very interesting group characters just to the left of the building. I can only guess that it was the "American" group, a mishmash just like our melting pot of a country! There was Goofy, Chip & Dale, Rafiki, Friar Tuck and the Country Bears. A stranger group I've never seen! We stopped and got our photos taken with a couple of them.

Robin Hood was my childhood favorite Disney movie. When I asked the good Friar where Robin Hood was, he rubbed his tummy. "You ate him?!?!?" I asked. But no, Stacy told me he must mean that he was eating. I would have LOVED to have seen him. I absolutely loved his British accent, even as a child.


This is a terrible picture of me, but it's a good one of him!

I always love how they pose differently for the next shot.



We'd missed seeing Rafiki at AK, so it was good to catch him here.

After our character meet & greet, we headed into the building. The nice CM at the door saw Stacy's birthday button and asked if she'd been sung to today (or something like that.) He took us over to an old fashioned desk, and opened up a "hidden" phone. He told us to dial a certain number, which we did, and Goofy sang Stacy a birthday greeting! It was so cool, that I had to do it, and then Stacy had to do it so I could take her picture.

[packerbeth]

We arrived in the American Adventure pavilion just as the Voices of Liberty was beginning their pre-show performance. As I mentioned, I was really excited about hearing this group. I'm a musician, also, and have sung in groups like this, and really love a cappella music. (That's without accompaniment for those of you who didn't major in music like I did. Actually, it's Italian, and it means "at the chapel." Why that translates into without accompaniment, I'm not sure. There's your music theory lesson for today! )

Anyway, I videotaped them singing, but haven't figured out how to post it. Take my word for it, though, if you're in Epcot, look up this group. They are awesome.


As I'm enjoying this fabulous group, I look at the guy on the right and he seems very familiar. It took me a few minutes to figure out that he's in one of the barbershop quartets that we've seen at the international conventions we've attended. I couldn't remember which quartet he was in, though, so after the group was finished, I went to talk to him. I probably scared him a little , because I didn't want to miss the show, so I walked right up to him without wasting any time. He said hello, and I asked him if he was a barbershopper. He said yes, and I asked which quartet. He told me, and then of course, I remembered.

His quartet is called Rounders, and in the barbershopping world, they're quite well known. They've placed in the top ten a couple of times. They are from Florida, and he subs with VoL, the Dapper Dans and the group that does the preshow for Beauty and the Beast, "Four for a Dollar," occasionally. We chatted for a few minutes, and I told him about my son and his love for all things barbershop. I asked if I could take a photo with him, and he couldn't have been nicer about it. His name is Myron, and I sent him an email when we got home to thank him for his kindness, and this was his response: "Beth, it was a pleasure meeting you. Thank you for introducing yourself! I hope you enjoyed the rest of your day at EPCOT." Barbershoppers are the best folks in the world (next to Mousebuzzers!)


Funny note; I emailed this photo to my DH and also my FIL. FIL thought that maybe I had met a new guy while I was away from my family. He is pretty cute, but even if I weren't married, he is and his wife is expecting their first baby. Funny FIL.

So we said goodbye to my new friend Myron with a promise to bring the family by when we're at the next convention (which is in July in Nashville; it's in Anaheim in 2009 so you know I'll be there for that one, too!) and went to see the AA show.

When I rounded the corner, all these flags took my breath away and all I could say was "wow..."


Another vacationer offered to take our photo with the flags behind us.


I'd read that the first few rows were the best places to sit, so you could see the detail, so I think we were in the fourth row. I really liked this show. Growing up as an Army brat, we have a lot of patriotism in our family, so I really appreciated the message of this attraction, and I was amazed by all the animatronics, and wonder about how they accomplish it all. This was time well spent, and I'd go see it again.

It had rained while we were inside (it is a long show, after all) and we wouldn't see the sun for the rest of our World Showcase day. It had been a while since lunch, and I had one more snack credit to use. Right outside AA is a snack stand, and I bought my first Mickey bar.


See my cool lanyard? I had been hunting for one ever since I saw one in a TR I read way before our trip. I loved all the flags on it and didn't have a lanyard yet for all the pins I bought on ebay so I was determined to find one. I must have checked 20 shops and kiosks and could not find it. Turns out it's not really a lanyard but a water bottle holder, and I found it on this last Epcot day; it was, as Stacy would say, "cheap cheap" at only $3.50!

Up next, our Epcot day (and our moms-only trip) comes to close...