Nory Report III: In the Third Person! After 3 Years, the Final Update! NEW 2/6

[norybell]

This is much better. I must say I was immensely disappointed when your first "Epcot Cheese" post actually had to to with Cheese. This was much more what I was envisioning!

You can't help but love Captain EO in it's totally cheese-o-riffic glory. Now if only they could bring back Food Rocks, I'd be a happy child of the 80's. (If you don't remember it, or actually even if you do, watch it on YouTube if you need to laugh. I'd gladly trade Soarin' to see it live again!)

Oh, yes, Food Rocks -- I miss them! Was '80s Epcot really as cool as I remember? Or is it all nostalgia talking?

Awwww old Epcot!!! I'm very happily listening to Food Rocks (thanks Joanna!) typing this . I definitely thought that EO was a fantastic throwback, and basked in the wonderfulness of it all when there.

The thing I remember most about the Wonders of Life pavillion are those exercise bikes they had there! I don't even remember what they measured, but I was pretty competitive about it! Oh, and Cranium Command!!!!

I had totally forgotten about those bikes! I have not, however, forgotten about the awkwardness of watching "The Making of Me" with my parents!

I have yet to watch Captain EO, but I promise to see it in December. I am definitely over 30, so what's not to love?

Fun update!

Be prepared to embrace the '80s ridiculous-ness!

my fear exactly!!!



Another fear - flinging it at the CM trying to swipe it. That coil has some spring to it.
I really needed a retractable badge holder thingie like my work keys are on ( Say geek with me ) This way it never really leaves me and I don't lose it- sober or not. ooooohhhh I may onto something here for this year.

Geek!

So glad Nory was able to go see Captain EO as she chose to do. My DH went to see it while I checked email for the office, etc.

Nory took wonderful pictures of Canada in World Showcase.

Thanks, Kat!

Ah yes, I saw Captain EO back in the day. Nostalgic moment over.

Who was in that picture with Michael? Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas?

Yep, FFC and Lucas. It was the '80s, after all!

Captain Eo! I'm oddly excited to see that for the first time I was only 4 when the 80's ended but I have a strange attraction to the era nonetheless.
Love the pictures of the Canada pavilion

In all honesty, it's pretty terrible. But in such a wonderful, wonderful way!

 

[clearskies]

Hi Nory,

As usual I got behind and I am catching up...

That CM who rang you up for the gift card had some good psychic abilities when he/she warned you to hold on to the receipt.

I am with you on the "dated wierdness" of Captain EO...not so much on the "coolest thing ever!" and sadly I am well past that "30" line. Albeit, I slept through a lot of it. Perhaps I did not give it enough of a chance.

After the movie, Nory left the bright colors of the Imagination pavilion and retraced her steps back to Canada, the World Showcase land of totem poles and expensive sweaters.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Hey Nory!

I'm so far behind, I don't even know where I left off. So, I'm starting over. Hope to be back in a couple of days to comment.

 

[eandesmom]

I admit, when we saw EO last summer, Jeff and I were grinning like idiots. So cheesy, so fun, and so much deja vu.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Finally got caught back up.

Great Captain EO recap! It put me right back there with my best friend Pete, cracking up at the FX and mocking Hooter for days.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Oh Captain EO. Pure cheese. We enjoyed it for the same reasons as you-but haven't returned since our first visit! I wonder how long it will be there...

 

[Tribilín]

Oh my goodness! I'm well behind with my DISreader responsibilities!

Captain EO! So cool! Too bad I didn't get to see it this past trip. We (my parents, a nephew and me) went to WDW this past July and I was the only one wanting to see it So no Captain EO for Tribilín And I was the planner... can you believe it?

I hope is still there next year

 

[glennbo123]

Oh my goodness! I'm well behind with my DISreader responsibilities!

Captain EO! So cool! Too bad I didn't get to see it this past trip. We (my parents, a nephew and me) went to WDW this past July and I was the only one wanting to see it So no Captain EO for Tribilín And I was the planner... can you believe it?

I hope is still there next year

Trib! You went to WDW this past July?!! Where is your trip report?

 

[Tribilín]

Trib! You went to WDW this past July?!! Where is your trip report?

The TR is rolling around inside my head I really want to share our trip with my DIS friends (we had a fabulous great time!) but I haven't had a chance to put everything in order yet I haven't even changed my pic! LOL!

Maybe next month I will publish a pettitte TR... with just a few pics here and there

 

[All7OfUs]

Hey Nory!

It's been forever since I've been making a visit to others' threads, but today is the day!!!

OK, Capt. EO is so very, very retro! I didn't take the time to see it when I was there, but was tempted to just to have a blast the past. I'm pretty sure I saw it at my high school grad night at DLR a million years ago- it was weird then, as it is now too, I'm sure.

Anyway, glad to be back, so I can say howdy

 

[norybell]

Apparently I'm incapable of writing a TR without taking a month off somewhere or other in the middle of it. Sorry! I guess I should start putting disclaimers about my inevitable absence right up front.

What can I say, it was a busy summer! Over the past couple of months I've visited my parents in WI, spent a wonderful weekend solo at the Poly, and just returned from a week in CA watching my baby sister get married (sniff! sob!). I've written the first third of the first draft of my Disney book. I've still been working, way, way, waaaaay too much (I'm so ready for that to stop). So when I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is sit at my computer, even for the DIS...though I've really missed you all! I need to reactivate my Disney brain!

Anyway. Now that my (lame) excuses are over, without further ado...


***
One portion of the Canada pavilion is devoted to the gorgeously landscaped Victoria Gardens—one of the most beautiful spots in Epcot, as far as Nory’s concerned—and Le Cellier is tucked within a corner of the garden. Nory was surprised, then, to see that the check-in podium for the restaurant had moved from its front door, all the way up the path to the entrance of the garden. I wonder why they moved it? Nory thought. Is it because of Food & Wine? Were people having trouble finding it? Weird. Considering the popularity of the place—it was one of the hardest reservations to come by, even if you called 180 days in advance—it seemed strange that its location would be in question.

She gave the CM at the podium her name, then ambled along the path to the restaurant. Once inside, it took her eyes a few minutes to adjust to the darkness. Since she’d already checked in at the podium, she was a little confused about what to do at this second check-in desk, inside the place. The CMs there told her she was all set, she should just take a seat and wait.

As she stared down the empty corridor that led to what she knew was a rather featureless dining room, Nory pondered the popularity of the place. It seemed like it wasn’t that many years ago when it was the go-to Epcot lunch place for her family: They would walk in without a reservation at lunchtime, no problem, every visit. There was a steak sandwich on the menu she particularly enjoyed, but she didn’t think the food was knock-your-socks-off amazing, or anything. So why was it so popular?

She tried discussing this (without commenting on the food) with one of the three young CMs manning the desk, but they were much more interested in flirting with each other than they were with talking to her. She couldn’t really blame them.

Five minutes later, a CM summoned her and led her down the dark hallway to the dining room.

About two seconds after she sat down, her server—a cute, young, blonde boy (Canadian, obviously)—handed her a menu, and Nory immediately realized she had a problem: Her beloved steak sandwich was gone, replaced by something open-faced. With arugula. Oh well. She debated whether or not to order a steak, considering all popular reports said the filet was the way to go. But the thought of such a heavy lunch didn’t sound appealing, so she went ahead and ordered the open-faced imposter.

About a minute after she ordered, her waiter brought over some delicious looking bread. Nory couldn’t wait to bite into the soft pretzel, but first she arranged her bread for a quick picture. And in the one minute this took—before she’d even had time to take out her camera—they brought her sandwich and ruined her still life.

That’s right: One minute after she ordered, the bread came. One minute after the bread came, the food came.

Now, Nory hadn’t planned on lingering too long over lunch. But this pacing was ridiculous. They could at least pretend that they cooked it just for me, and that it wasn’t sitting under a heat lamp ready to go! she thought, irritated. For the fine dining prices they charged, it seemed unacceptable. And her sandwich wasn’t particularly good: over-dry beef overwhelmed by under-seasoned arugula. Not nearly as tasty as it used to be, back when it was a classic steak sandwich that called for both hands.

At least now she wouldn’t feel pressured to try to get a reservation at Le Cellier again!

Less than twenty minutes after she’d been seated at Le Cellier (that’s right: twenty minutes, about the same time it would have taken her to choke down some fast food), Nory was standing back outside, admiring the Canada gardens in an attempt to block out her extremely unsatisfactory lunch.

She left the World Showcase altogether and trekked back to Future World, in pursuit of a second Soarin’ fastpass to join the first one already tucked away in her purse. The return window on the first one hadn’t arrived, so she couldn’t ride it quite yet, but since over two hours had passed since she collected the first one, she was eligible for another. And she was in luck. Often Soarin’ fastpasses for the day will be gone by early afternoon, but she managed to get one for seven o’clock.

Maybe my rushed lunch was a good thing, after all, Nory thought. If she’d been stuck in Canada longer, the fastpasses very well might have been all gone.

She left The Land building and cut across Future World. After her exhilarating ride on Test Track the night before, she was excited to give it another go. This time, she made a beeline for the single’s line, and within ten minutes she was seated with a couple who tried really, really hard to make conversation.

Now, Nory never minds chatting a bit. But they just wouldn’t stop, and it was a little distracting.

They talked to her over the bumpy roads, during the brake tests, through the hot room and the cold room and the acid room, around each bend of the simulated mountain.

They won’t be able to talk during the speed test, Nory hoped. And that’s the only part I care about, anyway!

Finally the car accelerated, and they were whizzing around the outdoor track at 65 mph.

And Nory was bored.

Then she realized what had made Test Track fun for her: the dark. In the middle of the day with the sun shining, it didn’t feel nearly as fast.

Lesson learned, Nory climbed out of her car and decided it was time for a break.

***

 

[tinacaplan]

Welcome back, Nory! I have a TR going myself, which I started in July, and I'm only up to eleven a.m. on our first full day! So I get it...updating these isn't the easiest thing to do.

Anyway, I have to say that my husband and I came to a rather disappointing conclusion after our most recent trips: the vast majority of the 1 TS credit places we've eaten at just aren't very good. We went to Le Cellier for lunch this past February and I had the much-talked about filet. It was so salty I thought I might die. I just could not understand what all the fuss was about.

We did have some decent CS meals, though, which is sort of the opposite of what might expect.

Anyway, your writing is great (your pictures aren't bad either) that I don't mind a long break between posts. Makes it easier to stay current!

 

[onelilspark]

Wow, 20 minutes?! That's ridiculous for a table service.

 

[norybell]

Welcome back, Nory! I have a TR going myself, which I started in July, and I'm only up to eleven a.m. on our first full day! So I get it...updating these isn't the easiest thing to do.

Anyway, I have to say that my husband and I came to a rather disappointing conclusion after our most recent trips: the vast majority of the 1 TS credit places we've eaten at just aren't very good. We went to Le Cellier for lunch this past February and I had the much-talked about filet. It was so salty I thought I might die. I just could not understand what all the fuss was about.

We did have some decent CS meals, though, which is sort of the opposite of what might expect.

Anyway, your writing is great (your pictures aren't bad either) that I don't mind a long break between posts. Makes it easier to stay current!

Hi Tina! I'll have to come visit you on your TR...I'm bound and determined to get caught up on my DIS reading!

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who hasn't been wowed by Le Cellier. I think my new favorite TS spot at Epcot is La Hacienda -- I've been there three times now and it's been delicious every time.

Wow, 20 minutes?! That's ridiculous for a table service.

I know, right? And I swear, I'm being generous by saying 20 minutes...it was probably closer to 15. And I'm a slow eater. My sandwich practically had "heat lamp" written on it. (Actually, if it had literally had "heat lamp" written on it, maybe in steak sauce or something, at least it wouldn't've been so dry!)

 

[MEK]

I seriously can't believe that your lunch took 20 minutes from start to finish. Do you think they wanted you out of there???? Heaven forbid - you were using up a table for two. You were cutting into their profits. That's ridiculous! I have had nice lunches there, but there are plenty of other good places to eat, so I don't even bother with it anymore.

Anyway - happy to see an update. I love Victoria Gardens! Beautiful!

I agree - Soarin is 10X better at night!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Maybe LC wanted to cut back on walk-ups meandering through Victoria Gardens? I have no idea why they moved the check-in podium, I never thought it was THAT hard to find!

Um. 20 minutes??? That's insane. What a shame, really. Now I'm a bit nervous for our LC lunch, I haven't been there in FOREVER because of the crazy hype, and I was curious how it was now. Hopefully our meal is a bit better paced lol.

 

[laura74]

I just discovered your report. What an entertaining writer you are! I can't wait to buy your novel for my daughter.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Yikes 20 minutes? That's a bit crazy, I mean I know they have to turn the tables over, but I mean really? Come on Canada!

SEE Test Track is boring... I told you Maybe I need to ride it at night. I'm not sure I have ever done it. Everest is way better at night, I'll have to put TT on my nighttime list too.

 

[norybell]

I seriously can't believe that your lunch took 20 minutes from start to finish. Do you think they wanted you out of there???? Heaven forbid - you were using up a table for two. You were cutting into their profits. That's ridiculous! I have had nice lunches there, but there are plenty of other good places to eat, so I don't even bother with it anymore.

Anyway - happy to see an update. I love Victoria Gardens! Beautiful!

I agree - Soarin is 10X better at night!

The weird thing was...it wasn't even busy in there! Lots of empty tables!

Maybe LC wanted to cut back on walk-ups meandering through Victoria Gardens? I have no idea why they moved the check-in podium, I never thought it was THAT hard to find!

Um. 20 minutes??? That's insane. What a shame, really. Now I'm a bit nervous for our LC lunch, I haven't been there in FOREVER because of the crazy hype, and I was curious how it was now. Hopefully our meal is a bit better paced lol.

The outside check-in podiums seem to be the thing now at Epcot...La Hacienda and Les Chefs were the same, and still are as of this month. I wonder why they do that? It still makes me confused once I walk in the restaurant and see other CMs at the inside podium...seems like an inefficient use of staff to me, but what do I know?

I just discovered your report. What an entertaining writer you are! I can't wait to buy your novel for my daughter.

And thanks! I'll let you know as soon as it's done...hopefully in the not-too-distant future.

Yikes 20 minutes? That's a bit crazy, I mean I know they have to turn the tables over, but I mean really? Come on Canada!

SEE Test Track is boring... I told you Maybe I need to ride it at night. I'm not sure I have ever done it. Everest is way better at night, I'll have to put TT on my nighttime list too.

Oh, TT is totally boring. No matter what your DH says! But it's much, much better at night. No comparison, really.

 

[eandesmom]

I guess I can see outside check ins just to deal with the walkups but it does seem like twice as much staff as needed for just checking in. That is completely unacceptable to get anything that fast besides bread in a sit down. I might have said something, that's just crazy!

It does leave me with zero desire to eat there.

I've often wondered that about the wristbands, whether they'd be awkward to get on and off or how sturdy they were. Good info!

Ah well, at least the soup sounded good!