Epcot, Ohana and Illuminations from our balcony

We cancelled our Crystal Palace breakfast reservation and slept in a little, had some items out of the fridge for breakfast and around 11am headed over to Epcot. Once inside we went on all our favourite rides, Spaceship Earth, Soarin’, picked up a Fastpass for Test Track and got on Mission Space, before we headed towards the World Showcase to have some lunch.

We checked out the menu in Marocco, since we wanted to try that too, and went past more of the countries. We both felt like having some Chinese food that day. So we went to the Lotos Blossom Café. We have always loved their Orange Chicken with Steamed Rice, so we both ordered it. Since the Disney Dining Plan Counter Service Credit comes with dessert, we both wanted to try their ice-cream.

So we ordered a Caramel Ginger Ice Cream and a Red Bean Ice Cream. We asked if there was any chance to pick it up after we had finished our main courses and they told us to come back right after we had had our Orange Chicken dish. So this is what we did. Unfortunately we both didn’t like the ice-cream very much.

There is so much to see in the China Pavillion, so we went in there for a while and checked out all the different things they had on display. We finished our walk around the world and used our Fastpass at Test Track, then got on Mission Space again, rode the Journey into Imagination before we went back to France to try some of their drinks we had heard so much about, the Grey Goose Citron Lemonade Slush and the Grand Marnier Orange Slush.

Neither of us got what all the hype was about, these were nice drinks, very cooling, but they tasted far too much of alcohol for my liking. There was not much more left to do before we left, so we slowly walked towards the exit, got back to the car and drove to Publix to stock up on some more groceries and drinks. We picked up some ready made salads we wanted to try too and then went back to our villa to chill for some time. Tom hit the Jacuzzi and I called the Disney Travel agent to make some changes to our 2010 vacation. I got a parcel ready for Olivia and Susan to send to them before we left and started putting things away we would not need again before we left. Before long it was time to drive over to the Polynesian for our dinner at Ohana. We arrived a little ahead of time, signed in and were handed a buzzer and told that it would be around 15 minutes until we were to be seated.

There are lots of places to check out while waiting, so we wandered of and had a good look at the store that is opposite Ohana. Once our buzzer had gone off we went over to the restaurant, and were told that we had to wait for another family and we would all be walked to our tables together.

 A short wait later the family arrived and our greeter took us over to our table, which was right in the middle of the restaurant and a four top. Our server came right by and brought us the Ohana Welcome Bread and took our order for two Diet Cokes. While we were waiting for the Cokes a food runner brought out the Mixed greens with a honey-lime dressing and the Peanut, Spicy Mustard, and Sweet n Sour Sauces.

We happily started on the salad and bread, and soon we were brought even more food. Honey-Coriander Chicken Wings and Pork Dumplings with Sweet and Sour Sauce, there was a plate of Stir-fried Vegetables and a plate of Lo Mein Noodles, tossed in a Teriyaki sauce with fresh vegetables. Everything was really tasty, fresh and hot. All the time while we were there, there was some kind of entertainment and we had “front row” seats to that. They had the children parade through the restaurant, celebrated birthdays, anniversaries and the table right opposite ours was celebrating a wedding, that was to take place the very next day at Seabreeze Point. After about 10 minutes they brought some more food.

Steak – we both got several pieces. It was nice and cooked medium, but our server never came back with the turkey, pork or shrimp. When she finally noticed we were lacking some meat we had already finished our meal and didn’t want any more. So they cleared the table and brought out ….. a Birthday Cupcake, since the birthday trip was noted on the reservation. Our server also brought the star of the evening – the 'Ohana bread pudding served a la mode with Bananas and Caramel Sauce.

So we went out on the balcony to check out where it all came from and watched Illuminations right from our balcony! So we stood at the railing and watched the fireworks, beverage in hand and in comfortable clothes. This was so much more relaxing than battling the crowds at the Magic Kingdom. We finally went to bed at around 11pm, after we had had another wonderful day.