The Index

Day 6 - Outlet Shopping & Epcot

Tuesday 26th January

We didn’t wake up till our alarm at 8am today, a must needed 9 and a half hours!

Today we had a visit to Vineland Outlets planned, so we took our time getting ready. I washed my hair and Rich did two loads of washing. The machines were free here which was a nice surprise! It was just after 10 when we stepped outside and it only took us 6 minutes to get to the outlets.

We had signed up for the premium outlets on the website moons ago so we always go on before a trip and print off the voucher which you then swap at the information desk in the food court for another booklet of vouchers to use in the shops. We did this first then went straight into Adidas where I got two work out trousers for the gym for $24 each. They had just been marked down before we walked in apparently.


The other pair were the same in plain black

Kate Spade was next, this was a new find of mine thanks to Debidee’s trip reports here on the Dibb. Wow I could have bought the whole shop! I just had a good look round for now but saw a few pieces of jewellery that I knew I definitely wanted.





Tommy Hilfiger fared well for Rich who found two pairs of chinos he liked and two shirts. Unfortunately one of the shirts wasn’t in his size so he left them as it was buy one get one 50% off. I also picked up some bargains for presents for our kids friends off the sale rails for $7 each. As we had spent over $100 we used a discount code from the voucher book and got $10 off.




The other pair were navy

We popped into the Cosmetic Store as my mum has requested a Mac make up brush. It was only about $10 more (around $40) to pick up this set which included the one she wanted so we did that. I regretted not getting one too later in the trip!



Nine West up next. I used to love their shoes but had gone off them but still wanted a nosy. Well I found some gorgeous leopard print shoes and also some work shoes. The sales assistant told us if we spent another $10 we got 20% off so I bought some flats for work which were only $24. Three pairs of shoes! Not bad for somewhere that was ‘nosy’ worthy only 20 minutes earlier!





From here we went to Levi on the hunt for very specific jeans for my dad and uncle. 501s and 511s. It took us a while to find them and after a quick call home we had the ones we wanted. There is no wi-fi at the outlets and texts wouldn’t go through so I had no choice but to have a very quick conversation. I didn’t notice it in my bill actually so it couldn’t have resulted in much of a fee. Rich and I also found pairs we liked whilst we had been waiting to hear back after trying a few pairs on. They were $40 per pair if you bought 2 or more so a snip compared to home. We somehow lost an hour in here! Again using our voucher book we had $30 off if you spent $200 so we came away with 5 pairs for around $170 which we were happy with. Thank goodness we had the weight allowance to use as these were HEAVY.





It was lunchtime by now so Rich did a bag drop-off at the car whilst I queued up for a Taco Bell for us. This was our first one and we went for something simple – a shredded chicken burrito each. It was $6 for them both – so cheap compared with Disney!



We found ourselves in Calvin Klein next and Rich picked up 4 pairs of boxers for $29.

We knew we had to get going at 2pm so quickly popped into Michael Korrs where I saw a couple of bags I loved. Now there’s loads of opinions as to whether they are better quality or not from the outlets, they may or may not be, but I haven’t had an issue with any of mine bought from the outlets in over 6 years. I have had an issue with one I bought from store, so it doesn’t matter to me but its up to every individual. There was a sale on most bags too but I decided to think it over with my Kate Spade considerations on my mind.



Last but not least was the Character Warehouse. It was pretty busy in here but certainly had more stock than our last visit. Rich picked up a glow in the dark jumper (which he wore later today) for $20 that we’d seen for just over $40 at Disney.


I wouldn't let Richard get this, he loves Olaf


This was so cute but again we didn't get it


Rich wore this to Epcot tonight

We were pushed for time now so hurried back to the car and popped to Publix round the corner. It was the supermarket we went to the most on our last two trips so we knew it pretty well. We picked up a toothbrush (our electric one just wouldn’t charge), water and more booze! Rich picked up a box of Sam Adams Rebel IPA and I got two bottles of wine for the cruise. Oh and a banana! I was hungry again This came to $47. In comparison to our Walmart shop on day 2 Rich said the water was about $1 more expensive and the beer was $2 more, but the selection for both was much better at Publix. It just felt nice and familiar in there for us, and clean. Its not that much more but I’m sure it would soon add up if doing a much bigger shop.



We got back to SSR just before 3 and it took two trips to get our purchases back to the room. A very fast turnaround we were back out the door for 3.40. It was a 10-minute wait and an Epcot bus showed up, taking us to the tapstiles for 4.10.

We had our first fastpass for Spaceship Earth (planned for the front of the park like a pro ) until 4.30 but we weren’t too fussed if we missed it, so we stopped for photopass outside the ball haha.









We did make our fastpass and had an enjoyable journey into the future.

Our next fastpass window had opened so we headed to meet Mickey and friends. Rich spotted that Baymax was doing a meet in the opposite building and the queue was only 15 minutes so we jumped into that. Oh my it was FREEZING in here, they must have thought it was summer! This was a cute but strange meet as he can’t talk or hug or move that well haha, but we got a fist bump each and we were happy with that!





Next to meet Mickey, Minnie and Goofy. This was a cute meet and Minnie was super excited over my nails *so* exciting. Love meeting them but I always do get a little nervous haha.







Perfect timing, we only had 20 minutes until our final fastpass for Test Track so we headed that way. The standby was only 25 minutes which we thought was really good given Soarin was closed for refurb too. This was our first time of going on this ride and we adored it. I designed today’s car and it did pretty well but I was sad that no one else in our car either designed one or tapped their magic band/tickets to connect it to our ride vehicle so it wasn’t tested against any others. But technically this did mean I was a winner







After this we stopped to see if we could get a fastpass for Illuminations but we wouldn’t so we obviously found a photopass person to make up for our disappointment.



These fountains remind me of the ones at Epcot that 'jump' from when me and my sister were little girls trying to jump through them



We started the world showcase at Mexico so popped inside for a look around a good on the little ride there, using the word ‘ride’ loosely of course!







Norway was next up where Rich bought an (Icelandic) beer that he buys at home, I enjoyed my sips of this too. I waited to get a drink somewhere else.





China was a quick walk by, stopping to explore the shops for a few minutes.





Then onto Germany where I had a wine (very descriptive there I know) and Rich had an Octoberfest. We went into the shops again here and there was a gorgeous Christmas shop with the most adorable baubles. They were really expensive though so we agreed on one of the cheaper limited edition Epcot baubles instead.



Rich also picked up an Epcot tankard from one of these shops after admiring the German ones that were so heavy and bulky, that he had seen in Germany previously for less (and more authentic). He was also off on a stag do to Berlin when we got home so decided to leave it and stick to the Epcot one. He used this all the time at home.















We also called in at the bakery and picked up a snack for later – a chocolate caramel salted square. Hmmm.



We carried on mooching around noting the times the singers of Liberty were on in America for another day.



Italy had a good selection of wines too but I was still working on mine from Germany. Via Napoli also looked so yummy and its made our definite list for next time!





We reached Japan where our ADR for Teppan Edo was about ten minutes before our 7.20 reservation so went to check in early.



I had a minor panic when we arrived at reception as I saw the tables and knew this wasn’t the right place but had no idea where we should go. I think this is something all planners experience when your other half/family are looking at you expecting to know what to do and you don’t have a clue haha. Anyway, as you experienced Dibbers will know, that was the check in point for Tokyo Dining and they share a waiting area with Teppan Edo. Phew. We were seated right on time with three other couples, all of which were American.







The chef was called Tomo and he was brilliant, he did the usual onion volcano and some decent food catching in his hat and was lovely and funny at the same time. He also got a bit of chatter going asking where we were all from.



We had ordered a beer and wine and waters each when we were seated, which was brought out with the little salad you get given (a bit naff but a nice gesture towards healthy food I guess).



The food was also fantastic. We both had the same: Asakusa – steak and shrimp $35. Its served with noodles and veg all cooked together and went really well with the dipping sauces they give to you. I’ve read Wizzo’s trippies where he called it stir fry and that’s pretty accurate! Yummy stir fry. We got our prawns first and the steak came a bit later. All the fat has been cut off too so it was really delicious.





They also served the dishes with rich, but surprisingly this wasn’t cooked in front of you as we have seen at similar restaurants. This was really good with the ginger sauce.

After mains were finished they brought out the dessert menu. The only thing that took my fancy was the ginger chocolate cake. It was light and tasty and came with a candle in to celebrate our wedding anniversary, which we had noted on the booking, which was a nice tough. I wouldn’t have ordered it but for being on the dining plan though as I had a few snacks in the back of my mind from around the showcase!



The couple nearest to us started to talk to us right at the end but we weren’t too fussed so made polite conversation about England and answered their question whether they can use Dollars there. They were staying at Art of Animation and had driven for days from Kentucky which was interesting to hear about.

The bill was brought over quickly and was $105.44 plus tip but we paid with two table service credits. We just owed $16 plus tip for the alcoholic drinks we had which we charged back to the room.

Both - Asakusa $70 for 2 / Ginger cake $13 for 2 / $8 each for my wine and Richard's beer (Kirin Ichiban)

We agreed that we had both enjoyed it and it had felt like being in a ‘proper’ restaurant not just inside a theme park.

We then hot footed it through poor Morocco (which smelt lovely) to get to France as I had one thing on my mind. Grey Goose Slushie. This was soooo good at $10.51 including tax.



Rich had carried on to England to get a Innis & Gunn beer whilst I waited for my Slushie and we met coincidentally on the bridge between England and France, which I had heard was a really good view for Illuminations which would be on shortly. We noticed there was a photopass photographer there and Rich confessed he had hoped to beat me back to have his own photo taken so when I was looking through them at home I would have been surprised haha.



Back to the bridge there was a woman almost doing the splits to reserve an area for her family. We decided not to take her on so just moved further down and got a decent view above the head of some kids. We didn’t bother with taking too many photos for this and just wanted to enjoy it. We certainly did and it added to the end of a great night, but it doesn’t beat Wishes (or now the HS fireworks) in our eyes.





After Illuminations we wandered back to France to see what we had missed, which wasn’t much other than the perfume we had bought for family at Manchester airport more than twice the price! I looked in the bakery for inspiration but didn’t see anything I wanted. Rich had declared the Germany bakery the best smelling shop ever earlier and we agreed there was more in Germany that we wanted.

We then walked through the UK and toyed with having a drink in the Rose and Crown but it looked really busy so we decided against it and had a nosy through the Downtown Abbey- merchandise. Another thing that has passed us by.





Last up was Canada but unfortunately it was closed now at 9.45. It was magic hours until 11pm tonight but clearly not for poor Canada. We sat down on a bench instead and watched the world go by whilst munching on our chocolate square from Germany earlier. It was only a couple of bites each but it was so tasty with a nice salty flavour.

We then went to have a couple more photopass photos taken before making our way out of the park with the ball looking oh so pretty. Its certainly another park that comes into its own at night.





We were back on a bus by 10.15 which was standing room only, but back showered and in bed by 11! Another fabulous day and one that really won Epcot over for us. We have always not been that ‘fussed’ by it but we saw it with different eyes tonight. It did help that it was our first warm evening which made it extra special I think.

loving your report

I know what you mean about Epcot but on my last visit I just loved it ! It was one of my favourite days what a lovely day you had and beautiful photos cx

We visited Teppan Edo for the first time in December and loved it, and we completely loved Epcot at night in the dark and after Illuminations, when others are rushing out of the park we just wandered slowly through the park having some photo pass photos taken. Another fab day for you both.

My best friend is obsessed with Kate Spade and it's started to rub off on me too. I have to avoid the website in order to not spend ££££ on the amazing bags and jewellery.

I love Epcot, particularly at night and I think it might actually be my favourite park, which is quite controversial I think! x

A lovely day👍

Poor Baymax looks so awkward with his arms just hanging there, bless him.

Great evening in Epcot, really love that limited edition bauble.

What a great shopping haul with some good discounts too

We enjoy Epcot but we never seem to have much time exploring the countries. I love the music to Illuminations I listen to it loads

Another great day Michelle xx

Love your shoes! Epcot at night looked lovely and your report convinced me on TE trip! Thank you

Really enjoying your report so far!