Saturday, April 28: Epcot
"It's like 3-D without the glasses!"
So Saturday dawned bright and early for us as we got up and made ready for our last day in the parks. I think we were all certainly tired by this point but also more than a little sad that our time here was coming to a close. Today we were off to Epcot and I had great plans to wrap up the week on a high note with dinner and viewing Illuminations that night as a special finish to a wonderful week.
We walked over to the TTC and took the Epcot monorail with no problem. It was a nice ride over enjoying the view (we all saw another alligator!) and before we knew it we saw the "giant golf ball" come into view. I must have mentioned the nickname for Spaceship Earth to Maggie which she thought was funny and commented that you'd need a really large golf club for that. LOL! We got off the monorail and approached the gates at around 8:20am whereupon I noticed that the crowds already seemed larger than I would have guessed. I knew that Epcot, having evening extra magic hours today, was not a recommended park and the crowd levels were going to be up around a 7 out of 10 which would have been the highest we had seen yet. Still I thought this early in the morning we would have seen less people. The reason was all the cheerleading squads and their coaches, friends and families coming in for the competition. We had run into them yesterday at the Animal Kingdom which was probably their day off if they arrived early but today they were here on mass. I was thankful though that most of them would be busy with the actual competition and not riding rides.
(I had to wait a bit for the monorail to come around again but was happy to get this shot!)
We lined up behind a set of turnstiles off to the far left with only a few people in front of us - they must be the other ones that read sites like DIS and EasyWDW!
When we got in line there wasn't any cast members at those particular turnstiles yet but by the time the opening welcome show (such as it is) was set to go they were in place and I could relax. The lines at the other turnstiles were all really backed up so once again I silently thanked all the advice I had read and planning I had done beforehand. It continued to pay off big time. We were let though the gate right on time (early opening) at 8:45am and we started our hustle towards Soarin'. Maggie however had other ideas as she had spotted Daisy Duck. Knowing we had to make a bee line for the Land Pavilion to get ahead of the horde of people just behind us I was loathe to make a detour to the plan. However as Maggie really loved the character greetings and there was literally no one in line for her I broke all the rules of several planning websites by stopping to meet her and get a photo before riding Soarin' but seeing that smile it was worth it!
With that quickly accomplished we made our way towards the Land Pavilion and Soarin'. I have to admit that even with our detour the crowds were light. Getting to the park early combined with the soft opening procedure really does thin out the mad rush. Since we were 2nd in line at the turnstile we were well ahead of the majority of people that would still be back at the gates waiting to get through. Here is a shot as we were walking up past Spaceship Earth I think - pretty vacant.
Soarin' was listed as 10min. stand-by when we got there which as you'll know if you've been is essentially the time it takes to walk through the queue. We got placed in the lowest row which meant we had feet dangling over our heads but it didn't matter much. Soarin' was very cool - every bit the experience people had described. Yes there was some dust on the screen but you don't really notice it once the rides starts. The experience was so totally immersive. Maggie was thrilled and described it as "just like 3D but without the glasses!" Very true!
Once out of Soarin' we headed straight to Mission Space. We debated a bit about green side/orange side. I would have been ok with orange for sure but my Mum and Sandy would not like the spinning. Maggie has some sensory issues and so is a sensory seeking kid - she never gets dizzy and the bigger the sensory input the more she likes it so she would have actually loved the orange side. We deferred to Mum & Sandy though and all got on the green side. Again, the wait was minimal at this time - even the more popular orange side had only about 12-15 people in line. We successfully navigate to Mars and completed our mission. Maggie liked the lift off and my Mum liked Gary Sinise!!
From there it was off to my personal favourite at Epcot - the Living Seas. Ok, The Seas with Nemo but I still think of it by the old name. They have done a really great job with the new theme - I loved the rusted texture on the handrails in the queue line (I'll have to try and emulate that on my cemetery fence for Halloween) and the animated fish appearing in the real tank was very cool although I miss the Hydrolator and Seacabs.
Our first stop was Turtle Talk with Crush. Maggie knew about this from the planning DVD but still didn't know what to expect. I told her to sit right up front which she did. Crush came out and it was great. He selected Maggie for the 2nd question (I think she had her hand up from even before he appeared!) and she asked "what do turtles do when it gets cold?" A very good question (which she came up with on her own) and Crush thought so too. He said they just don't go where it's cold and asked her where she was from? "Canada" she replied. He asked whether it was cold or hot there and Maggie responded "a bit of both!" Crush thought he would stay down in Florida and not go to Canada. Then Dory appeared and led us all in a class on how to speak whale. Truly magical experience - the actor must wear some kind of motion capture suit to get Crush's expressions and motions but it is a perfect blend of actor and technology to create real Disney magic. I can see why it's so popular.
After Crush we stopped to watch the Manatee. Sandy & I loved these from our 1 day visit together years ago and Maggie instantly loved them as well. I don't think you can help it - they are so gentle with such sweet faces. One thing to note, there was quite a crowd in front of the main viewing area but no one off to the sides in the small viewing pods. We had the concave one on the right all to ourselves and it seemed like we were right in the tank with the manatee.
Maggie did the obligatory shot up close and personal inside Bruce's jaws which was fun and tried some of the interactive shark displays.
Then it was up to the main Sea Base Alpha viewing areas of the aquarium and they were as every bit as mesmerizing as I remember and could stand there forever looking out into the tank. We watched a bit of one of the dolphin shows where they have to pick correct matching shapes as selected by the trainer. Very impressive.
We found Nemo!!
After the Seas we were feeling it was time for lunch. I had planned for us to eat at Cantina de San Angel counter service so we made out way out to the International Showcase which had just opened up. Enroute we took in some of the incredible Disney character topiaries and flower displays of the Annual Flower & Garden Festival. My Mum is an avid gardener and so was very interested in all the displays. She was amazed to see such variety and size of the flowers and plants. She's experimented getting some of the varieties to grow but up in Canada she just can't get many of them to grow in our zone.
I also had to take this picture of the orchids as Sandy's mother is quite fond of orchids and has a good variety growing at home.
After lunch in Mexico it was on to China. Maggie was excited to meet Mulan - one ONE AND ONLY princess she likes and takes an interest in. Mainly because Mulan does kung fu. Mum had again hand-made a beautiful custom dress for Maggie to wear - this time a Mulan style one for when she met the princess in China.
When we got to China the rest of the family went off to get Maggie changed while I took a look around the pavilion. I was impressed to see the Temple of Heaven. When in Beijing back in 2006 I took Maggie to see the actual Temple of Heaven - even scaled-down this was a remarkable replica.
For comparison here is the replica at Epcot…
And here is the real thing in Beijing...
As you can see they did a great job at capturing the spirit of the place if not the exact size and majesty of it. And yes, that is Maggie at 14 months in the stroller. The rest of our travel group went shopping at the Pearl Market so we went touring the nearby temple just the two of us - father & daughter!
Maggie reappeared all dressed up and it was time for Mulan! After a short wait for a number of teenage boys (?) to finish with her it was Maggie's turn. Unlike other character meets she didn't immediately run into her arms for a hug but acted quite shy and sweet. Mulan was so taken aback to see Maggie in her dress and she had brought her little dragon stuffed toy she had bought the day before in Asia at the Animal Kingdom. You could tell Mulan was genuinely touched and spent a lot of time with Maggie. She complimented my mother on her dress-making and was interested to see Maggie's kung fu moves (although Maggie complained she really couldn't do them properly as the dress was in the way - definitely a tomboy through and through) They did a number of poses together which the Photopass photographer got some great shots of. (you could hear the photographer saying things like "YES!" to herself after each shot so you know she was happy with them) After Mulan signed Maggie's book it was time to say "zaijian" (goodbye) and they bowed to each other. It was so moving and special for all of us.
We then went into the temple and watched the 360 degree movie on the wonders of China and had fun recognizing many of the sights we had seen when we were there. Then of course it was into the gift shop. I think it took Maggie all of about one day into our stay when she figured out that almost every ride or attraction ended in a gift shop! Maggie spent the last of her savings on a paper fan and a Chinese style play sword with a dragon printed on it. They've just started practicing with some weapons in her kung fu class and so Maggie couldn't wait to try it out. I've got some great video of her doing kung fu movements with the sword in the courtyard for the amusement of the shopkeepers and people passing by. I'll have to try and post it here if I can.
With China done we wanted nothing more than to get back to the Polynesian. It was now VERY hot and VERY crowded. As we walked back to the entrance I noticed that my Mum especially was dragging and really feeling the heat. We had done well all week but we had just reached the wall of our endurance. We were scheduled to come back to Epcot later that afternoon for dinner and Illuminations but I realized there was just no way we could manage it. I did some figuring in my head and announced that I would see what I could do once we got back to the Poly. We finally made it to the monorail and sitting in the air conditioned cars felt very nice indeed! At the Poly I went to talk to guest services to see what could be done with our ADRs. If we couldn't get in anywhere close I was prepared at this point to pay OOP for a counter service. The very helpful cast member did some checking and although 'Ohana was completely booked (I expected that) we could get into Kona for 7:00pm which was great! She went ahead and cancelled our ADR at Chef du France (with more than a tinge of regret on my part but it was for the best) and booked us into Kona. We had eaten there earlier in the week and loved it and the fact we wouldn't have to travel anywhere for dinner was just what we needed. I went to meet up with the family and let them know the good news.
Sandy went back to the room to sleep and the rest of us went to the volcano pool. We found Mum a table and chairs in the shade over by the Barefoot Bar where she could rest and have a cool drink in our refillable mugs while I took Maggie swimming. Maggie really loved the pool and going down the slide although she didn't go down as often as she did previously - it was more crowded with more of a line-up at the slide - although we had lots of fun playing around the waterfall. She met a little girl in the pool and they had fun jumping in together hand in hand - it's amazing how fast kids can make friends.
After our swim we went back to the room to get changed. Sandy was still sleeping and Mum decided to rest as well so Maggie & I went out and walked all around the resort taking pictures. We ended up at the GCH just in time for nightly torch lighting ceremony so we were able to see that as well. It was cool watching the fire juggling again and Maggie liked it a lot.
The quiet afternoon was just want everyone had needed and we all felt better afterwards. Having the ADR a bit later was also nice so we didn't have to rush. Feeling refreshed we got cleaned up and dressed for dinner before heading over to Kona at the GCH. Our last night dinner was another winner. I read glowing reviews beforehand of the steak and had liked it so much earlier I had it again that night although I think I'll miss that pineapple bread and butter more!! I also HAD to have a Lapu Lapu in a pineapple to celebrate. I had previously ordered a Lapu Lapu from the Barefoot Bar but they couldn't make it in the pineapple. It was the same drink as far as the ingredients went and tasted good (strong!!) but I wanted to order another to get it in the pineapple the way it was supposed to be. I had brought sporks but sadly forgot it in the room. Didn't stop me from scraping away with my knife and fork and did a pretty good job at hollowing it out!! It was very good and had a ridiculous amount of rum so I was very happy for the remainder of the evening.
Since we were missing the Illumnations fireworks at Epcot which would have been our big finish closer to our vacation we instead watched Wishes again from the beach at the Poly as a wonderful way to wrap up a wonderful week. We got a great spot with lounge chairs for all of us and a direct view of the castle. There must have been a speaker nearby because we could hear the music loud and clear. While we waited Maggie played on the beach with a selection of glow sticks and wands from the dollar store I had brought with us for the evening shows. Before we knew it we heard the music start, Tickerbell did her flight (clearly visible - she was like a shooting star falling to earth) and the fireworks started up. Wishes as seen from the Poly beach is such a unique and magical way to experience it I think we were all happy with how this day had played out - not according to the "PLAN" but in the end what works for us is what's important. Being able to rest and relax in the afternoon, have wonderful dinner without having to travel and now watching the fireworks knowing that we won't have to fight the crowds and can be back in our room and in bed before we know it all played a part in wrapping up the week better than I think the planned evening at Epcot ever could have done.
And then suddenly, as quick as it had started, with one big blast and a fanfare of music Wishes was over and it was time to go home.
This dinner was a special treat though and she thoroughly enjoyed it. For desert Sandy had the chocolate mousse and I had the almond crusted cheesecake - I'd have to get back on my diet in a serious way when we returned to the "real" world! All in all a wonderful meal and well worth the signature designation.
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