Tinkerbellarella
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2008
Chapter 6. Also known as the "Mammoth Epicot Update #1".
Once I assured Missy that not only were we still in Disney World, but that they had not, in fact, blown up Disney the night before, she conceded to get out of bed and get dressed for our first big park day.
Epicot day.
I lounged around on the bed and watched, in full, about 11 times, the new informational "7 Things" with Stacy.
Ok.
Um.
Seriously.
Exactly WHO on Disney staff thought those pigtail braids were a good idea?
I felt an IMMEDIATE longing to hear, "It's your zip-a-dee-do-dah tip for the day!"
Stacy. Seriously honey. Speak to your stylist. STAT.
After Missy had spent enough quality time with the showerhead and was dressed and ready, we decided it would be a most excellent idea to walk to the TTC and board the Epicot monorail there, rather than wait at the GCH and do the whole switcheroo thing. Save ourselves a few minutes and all.
Now, one would think that after my extensive walk of the grounds that morning that I would know the Poly like the back of my hand.
Raise your hand if you know where this is going.
After getting turned around twice, we finally found the path to the TTC. And by this time we were definitely feeling the heat. And a bit of humidity too. We were both happy to settle into the air conditioned bliss of the Epicot monorail. We chatted each other up and I'm sure I spewed out some random Epicot facts as we approached. I got a couple of shots of "the ball". This one was my favorite.
We were delayed for a minute or two and somehow got on the topic of the Key to the World cards.
And how they made everything so convenient.
And were oh so vital.
Missy: "So, it's our room key?"
Me: "Yup."
Missy: "And we can charge to it?"
Me: "Sure can."
Missy: "And they store our meals on here?"
Me: "And our park tickets."
Missy: "Mm. And our park tickets."
Me: "Yeah."
Missy: "Well, um, we have to go back. Mine is in the room."
I won't lie. My wee little inner commando sat down and cried. But only on the inside. It was as much as my fault as it was Missy's since I hadn't ever mentioned that the card was, quite literally, the "key" to everything. So, the monorail pulled into the station and we watched everyone else get off. And then all new people get on. 'Cept for us. We joked around on the way back, pretending like we hadn't seen all this scenery before and Missy remarked on how "old" the signage at the entrance gates to Epicot looked. Funny, I don't think I ever looked at it as "old". To me it just seems, I dunno, Epicot-y.
We trekked back up the path to the Poly. One would think that after my extensive walk of the grounds that morning and the explicit instructions given to us to find the path (twice) earlier that we would've known, yours truly especially, the Poly like the back of our hands.
Raise your hand if you know where this is going.
I got us so turned around that we were about ready to just walk across that hurtful Disney grass to the room (seriously, Disney hasn't mastered the art of growing soft grass their guests can walk barefoot on!?...wait a tic, perhaps they don't want us on the grass...hmmm, mental note). I also advised Missy that despite 9 other trips to the World, perhaps I shouldn't be our Navigator.
We finally reached the Hawaii building. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon sometime in 2076.
We used the nifty little side entrance near our room and Missy ran in to get her room/credit/meal/park key.
I'd like to say that I'm happy to report we made it back to the TTC using the paths like pros.
But we didn't.
Because instead of doing more walking, we decided to hop on the monorail at the GCH and do the switcheroo thing. And save the walking for Epicot.
Not because we're lazy (much).
More because Missy also remembered she needed cash.
I really thought that we'd be royally, er, inconvenienced by the ATM fee but it was only $2. A lot? Yes. Less than I expected? Yes. See, the Bank of America ATMs in the lobby of the building I work in charge a $3 fee. I have no DISboard-fit language for that. Instead, we move on.
A monorail pulled up shortly after we stepped out onto the platform. Despite the setback, my inner commando was eerily quiet. I think it's because I was acutely aware that the sky was that perfect "Disney" blue. And it was going to be a good day. I looked at the time on my phone and was surprised to find that despite what I thought the whole excursion to and fro and to and fro had taken, from the very start to finish, it was only 35ish minutes. So either our luck was still right on or the monorails are really Delorians.
We FINALLY walked into Epicot.
Aaaaah. I still remember that moment to this day. I close my eyes and I remember stepping out from under the awning over the turnstiles into the sun. The Epicot background music stirred up such emotion in my chest. I looked around at the place I'd been to so many times before but felt like I was seeing it for the first time again. I turned to Missy and smiled and we took some pictures. It was just after 11 a.m. and the parks had been open for hours at that point and we were just getting there. But in that moment I realized that I didn't care. I didn't care if we even rode rides. I can honestly say that now. I was just so happy to be THERE. Feeling Disney. And forgetting most everything else. And there wasn't a castle in sight.
Best. Feeling. Ever.
We decided to head over to The Land to see what we could score for Soarin' FPs. It was about 11:20 a.m. The wait was about 40 minutes, which we decided didn't want to do but the FPs were only for 1:15p.m.-2:15p.m. Score! (Bodes well for things to come.) I suggested checking out the wait for Living with the Land.
Cinco minutos.
Dude. We could totally wait 5 minutes.
Missy in line for our first (non-monorail) ride.
My favorite saying from the queue:
We got the first row of the boat all to ourselves. Score! Again!
I have to say that I do miss the actual LIVE Cast Member on this ride. I get the fact that the spiel is exactly the same and that it's an easy money-saver but still. I don't know. Nostalgia, I guess.
My favorite tree:
I always worry about exactly WHY they are farming these guys. NO pocketbooks/boots!!!!
Lemonade anyone?
And what TR would be complete without the requisite "Earning My Ears" photo?
We oohed and aahed over the future of growing veggies. I wish this future would get here faster. Yet again I told myself that next time I WILL take the Behind the Seeds tour.
When we'd first gotten on the ride, we'd remarked that we could probably wait a bit to eat. I think we were both just hoping to get more done before taking a time out to eat. Our bellies, however, betrayed us. I had been curious about the new Sunshine Seasons since I'd read about all the changes. We decided that we'd make our inaugural food purchase there. We both decided to eat from the rotisserie place, though agreed the Asian noodle spot also looked good. I got the pork, mashed potatoes and carrots. I think the girl felt bad that they were low on mashed because she gave me enough carrots to last three weeks. Missy got the pork with rice and carrots. For dessert I got the Butterfinger Brownie and Missy got the creme brulee. Normally I wouldn't comment on what we got to drink unless it was something not of the norm, since it was usually water or soda, but I have to say that I got lemonade. And this was the ONLY time on the trip I would do that.
UGH.
I think it was just the fountain machine itself because my lemonade was slightly carbonated and just, HO-RIB-BLE, but I was turned off by the thought of it the rest of the trip.
My meal:
Missy's:
I was a little nervous about using the Dining Plan since I'd never before had it.
Easy. As. Pie. And the girl we had at the checkout counter was a peach too. She explained it to us in terms of using it for counter service and wished us a magical day, turning us out to find a table among the noon masses.
Of which there were none. At noon. At HIGH NOON in the Sunshine Seasons at Epicot. We had many choices of tables.
Score! Again!!
We settled in and I have to say we were both very happy with this meal. The pork was tender and so moist! The potatoes were nummy (but NO Citricos potatoes) and the carrots were firm. And I'm really picky with cooked carrots but these were good. The brownie was a bit much and I only ate a few bites. I also tried Missy's creme brulee, as I've never had it before. Num-MY! I was now really excited to try the maple creme brulee at our Le Cellier ADR later in the week.
Lunch was lovely though this was where we first really observed something that we'd see all week. RUDE children and oblivious parents. And I'm not talking about the "I'm going to ignore what my child's doing so as not to condone it with my attention" routine. I'm talking about the "Wait, I have children?" routine. That and just blatantly disrespectful children. Kids hitting their siblings. Kids hitting their parents. Kids stepping on other people, almost causing them to drop their trays of food. Children cussing like truck drivers. I was actually pretty appalled. After that, we were kind of anxious to move on.
We still had time before our Soarin' FPs so we decided to head over to The Living Seas. I can't tell you how long we stood outside watching the seagulls, but it was a while. I LOVE the seagulls. LOVE THEM. And if you haven't ever noticed, they actually have a varying "routine" in terms of screaming, "MINE!" and interacting with each other. I believe Missy took video, but unfortunately I don't have that.
As much as I love the Nemo theming, as it's one of my favorite Disney movies, as we made our way through the winding (and empty...and FREEZING) queue, I was mourning the loss of the original. Again. Perhaps this should be chalked up to nostalgia too, and maybe I was the only one, but I didn't mind waiting in the round room, watching the countdown come and go with the "wash" of a wave. There was something about the music they played in there. BF and I go to a movie theatre where, for a while, the music they played sound just like that. No joke, I'd close my eyes and for 10 seconds or so be transported to that attraction. And I ALWAYS went to see the movie ("BWOOM! The deluge." - That's for you, V!). And the hydrolators. Even at 12, when I knew we weren't going up or down because I'd see that same piece of gum stuck to the "coral" over and over again. Didn't matter. I still loved it.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy the Nemo ride. Because I really did. It's certainly no super-headliner attraction but I thought it was well-done. I loved the jellies and the end where the incorporate the live tank with the effects. Actually, as we went by a big sea turtle was gracing us with his/her presence and it looked fantastic. I give the new ride a thumbs up.
The first thing we did was head over to the shark area. I thought it fitting to take a picture with Bruce since that's BF's name. Unfortunately we weren't able to do that because of the aforementioned rude children and oblivious parents. Missy and I just stood and watched, disbelieving. There were kids actually squishing smaller children (that they weren't related to) to get to the front of the mouth where there parents would pretend it was nothing out of the ordinary that their child just stepped on a preschooler and snap about 647 pictures. Most of the parents with little ones just gave up. We did too and got these pics instead.
I was trying to give him a kiss because he looks so bashful!
Oh and just so you know, I found Nemo:
And my Dory at home has fur and whiskers. Somehow I think she'd find this Dory to be her favorite snack, er, friend!
We visited the manatees next. I don't like the new splash guard below the railing. It makes getting a good picture nearly impossible since the manatees tend to surface most often at that side of the tank. I love these big sea cows, though I'm always saddened to learn why they're there. Today's big guys were hurt by a propellor and orphaned, respectively. After watching their peacefulness for a bit, we headed to the main tank where the rude children ran rampant. It was starting to ruin my day a bit. I got pushed out of the way, twice and a little boy pushed between me and the glass where I was crouched trying to get a picture of the turtles so that all I ended up with was a picture of the back of his head.
Now I'm going to stop here for a minute and say something so y'all don't think I'm the Wicked Witch of the Northeast. I might not have any kids, but I love them. ADORE them. Usually even the misbehaved ones (probably because I'm not a parent). But this was borderline ridiculous. I have never before been shoved by a child at a Disney attraction. Or anywhere else for that matter. And unfortunately, this was a persistent theme throughout the week. Though, to be fair, the week had its shining stars to, like TKs son and the brother and sister we sat next to for the Boo to You parade.
K. Back to the fishes.
A rare sight for me there were FOUR! dolphins out and about and playing like nobody's business. They were zooming all over the tank in pairs and had quite the crowd around them. Including a boy and a girl who were in their early teens. I was standing pretty close to them and heard him say, "We should find Mom and Dad." She said, "Yeah, Mom is probably looking for us." Then I happened to turned my had and saw that he was holding her in anything but something I would call a sibling-type way. And he kissed her. And I saw them call the same person "mom". Just....seemed....off.
MOVING ON.
We'd just missed a showing of Turtle Talk with Crush as we headed away from the main tank and we were nearing our FP time, so we decided to head out. But not without playing in the gift shop for a bit.
"I think we need a bigger boat."
"Look, I'm all the way in Florida and I'm kissing Bruce!" Awwwww.
On our way back to The Land we were ::ahem:: somehow detoured into Club Cool.
And Missy ::ahem:: somehow found herself faced by her smiling friend holding out a little dixie cup of a certain soda saying, "Here, try THIS one."
And then SOMEONE WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW RUINED IT!!!! Some random "helpful" person said to Missy, "Don't do it! That's the Beverly! It's AWFUL."
Thanks dude.
Missy looked at me and my dejected face. I really had wanted a "Beverly" picture for this TR. And she took the cup from me and said to Mr. Helpful Complete Stranger, "That's ok. My friend planned this entire trip around making sure we're spoiled the whole time. I didn't have to lift a finger. The least I can do is try this soda if she wants me to."
That's what friends are for. (NODionneWarwick)
And really, is there any other kind of picture than a genuine "Beverly face"?
Oh, and I'm not a complete jerk. I tried it myself. Though, conveniently, there is no picture.
Sweet Jesus. That stuff is just. I don't even know.
I think we agreed that the VegitaBeta was our favorite, though.
I also considered buying one of those big Coke bottle banks for home (BF and I collect our change - for what, we haven't figured out) until I realized and I wouldn't know how to pack it and get it home.
Even though it was time for our FPs, we decided to stop into the Imagination pavilion and Journey Into Some Imagineer's Warped Sense of "Fun", for which there was no wait (big surprise).
Now I KNOW this isn't nostalgia. What the Imagineers need to do is just bring back the very first incarnation of this ride. And leave it that way. Because it was the only one that didn't suck as hard as a Hoover. We also attempted to play with the photo-morphers in the Image Lab but out of 3 we tried, 2 were broken. And when we found one that worked, two older ladies stood behind us the whole time "helping" us. They were practically IN our picture. Rather irritating. They were actually just trying to hurry us through so they could have the machine. We weren't having any of it. We actually ended up taking a really cute picture. And I e-mailed it to both of us.
I got the e-mail about 2 weeks after we returned home. And it wasn't our picture. It was someone else's. I deleted it before I could think of saving it and posting it here to see if someone reading this would say, "HEY! That's US!"
After we both decided we could live without seeing Honey I Shrunk the Audience, we headed directly back to The Land to use our Soarin's FPs. I'd ridden the ride in California Adventure, but not yet in FL. We only waited about 10 minutes in line; the standby line was still at 40 minutes. Though it was long as we were next to a party of people who came from the "Land Without Deodorant" and then were directed to Row A1.
This meant nothing to me, at the time, though those of you who herald Soarin' as your favorite ride know exactly what this meant.
Score! Again!!!
Front and center baby! And we hadn't even asked for it! It was INCREDIBLE! With bare (and non-smelly) feet! The effects are so amazing. The only thing I wish is that they would pump in more smells - the ocean maybe, the smell of fresh grass. All in all an outstanding ride.
One question: am I the only person in the world (and the World) who doesn't know who Puddy is? Because that's what everyone murmured when the preshow started and I was just kind of like, "who?"
After that we decided it was high time to head over to the other side of Future World, by way of a stop in Mousegears to try on ridiculous hats.
(Actually, that one might have been in the Imagination pavilion, but it fits better here.)
This is also where I'd been directed to find the Mouse Ear tea ball for steeping loose tea. I did find it but decided to hold off while we headed to Test Track and such. There were also some great piratey/Capt. Jack shirts that I regret not getting.
When we arrived at Test Track, the stand-by wait was 80 minutes and single rider line at 40 minutes but none of the lines were outside of the building. I wondered if maybe they were wrong but we decided not to risk it and got FPs for 4:05p.m.-5:05p.m. instead. I was particularly hopeful for a short wait at Mission:Space either, but we were surprised to find a 15min. wait posted for the Green Side (a.k.a. the "I'd like NOT to revisit my lunch" side). It WASN'T 15 minutes. It was a walk-on. We walked right through the queue and into line to watch Sinise-vision.
What is up with his hair?
Missy and I were directed to our spots and discovered we were to be the only ones in our spaceship to Mars. We discussed that perhaps I shouldn't be the Navigator since I got us so lost that morning, so instead I believe I was to be the Pilot and the Commander. Just before the doors opened to board, from around the bend of the hall, we heard an adult say, in a very small voice, "Woohoo!"
Only, typed it should be, Woohoo!.
Missy called a Woohoo! back but we got no answer. This would become a joke the rest of the trip. Whenever something awesome happened, one or both of us would give a rather anticlimactic Woohoo!.
After safely blasting off from the planet, hyper-sleeping and crash-landing on Mars, we were dumped into, appropriately, the dump shot.
Where Missy took this picture of me and sent it to just about everyone we know. I'm posting it on here specifically so that at least one person will ruin their monitor with a fine spray of the beverage of their choice.
It's blurry, but you get the gist. You can all thank Missy.
We also bought our first souvenirs. I have a Stitch Yoda who now sits on my desk. Missy bought a Goofy Darth Vadar for her friend. I don't have a picture of my Stitch but I will for my "Souvenir" chapter.
We still had plenty of time before our Test Track FPs, so we wandered into the pre-show for Universe of Energy after I walked by and mourned the now completely dufunct Wonders of Life pavilion. Buzzy, Cranium Command, I mourn thee. Body Wars, I can't say that either me or my digestive tract miss you.
As is always the case, I enjoyed (and mouthed word-for-word) the preshow. I love me some Ellen. We then took and almost 40 minute nap with the exception of the dinosaur part where I actually noticed a TON of speakers not very well hidden that I'd never seen before AND had to coment for the umpteenth time that the Audioanimatronic Ellen couldn't look LESS like her real-life counterpart. I don't get it. They can get a spot-on Jack Sparrow but they can't take five minutes and make Ellen look less like she has typhoid? I also noticed that some of the patterns on the dinos looked like they're tattoos and not like their just skin patterns. I don't know, as much as Universe of Energy reminds me of old trips to the World with my grandparents, I think I'm willing to admit that this one is in desperate need of some TLC. The four boys that we shared our (FRONT) row with who slept for the entire ride would agree, I think.
Once we were finally released from the deathgrip of UoE, it was time for our FPs for Test Track. The wait was about 10 minutes and, as always, the ride was a blast. Am I the only one that wants the last part to last, oh, I dunno, about 30 minutes longer? We car-gazed on our way out, but not for too long. We wanted to get a trip on the newly revamped Spaceship Earth in before we had to head over to Mexico for our ADRs. I made a quick pit stop in Mousegears to get my ear-bedecked tea ball (pic in the souvie chapter) and then we headed to the ball.
No wait for SE. Score! Again!!!! or is it !!!!! at this point. I'm not sure. We chose our language and smiled for our pictures and then settled back for the ride. Now it's my turn to weigh in on the Cronkite v. Irons v. Dench debate. Love the Dame but I miss Irons. The End. What I didn't miss was the chariot dude that used to appear over and over and over in the Roman scene before the burning of Rome. And the smoke smell. Which has never smelled much like true smoke to me.
And I would just like all you nonbelievers to know ONE thing that has been cited as a blatant discrepancy in the revamp.
I TOTALLY wear my GoGo boots, miniskirt and yellow tights to work every day. The firm's Senior Partners do too. Well, the female ones anyway.
Missy and I were completely hysterical when it came time for the new ending. My favorites were seeing us in the Jetsons-ish car and in our scuba suits with bubble heads (we obviously chose the water-related ending). It was so funny, in fact, I was almost able to completely ignore the fact that if the screens weren't interactive that I'd have been bored out of my skull on the return to Earth. Almost.
C'mon, guys, you couldn't pull at least ONE more idea out of your hats for the end of the ride? Whatsa matter? The lemon leotards completely wiped your idea-banks dry?
We didn't do too much exploring in the post-show area but I have to say that I'm much happier with it than with what was there before (i.e. nothing) and even before that. I always kind of felt like I got out of the ride and then walked into a cave. And then when I left the post-show like I was coming into (a very bright) world for the first time (NOFlashbacktoBirth).
At this point it was time to head towards the World Showcase for our dinner ADR at San Angel Inn in Mexico. I was pleased with the way the day had panned out thus far. If it's any testament to the crowd level, we sat exactly where we wanted to with just about no wait on every ride. We'd essentially seen, in a leisurely manner, including a non-rushed lunch, everything we'd wanted to see in Future World in about 5 hours. And now we were headed over to what we hoped would be a fantabulous dinner followed by some drinkin' 'round the World (Showcase).
Up Next: Dinner at San Angel Inn. Would Montezuma get his revenge?
P.S. Just an FYI that there will likely be additional pictorial updates from the first two days before I post the next part of this chappie as I'm now 100% certain not all of my pics made it onto Photobucket.
Once I assured Missy that not only were we still in Disney World, but that they had not, in fact, blown up Disney the night before, she conceded to get out of bed and get dressed for our first big park day.
Epicot day.
I lounged around on the bed and watched, in full, about 11 times, the new informational "7 Things" with Stacy.
Ok.
Um.
Seriously.
Exactly WHO on Disney staff thought those pigtail braids were a good idea?
I felt an IMMEDIATE longing to hear, "It's your zip-a-dee-do-dah tip for the day!"
Stacy. Seriously honey. Speak to your stylist. STAT.
After Missy had spent enough quality time with the showerhead and was dressed and ready, we decided it would be a most excellent idea to walk to the TTC and board the Epicot monorail there, rather than wait at the GCH and do the whole switcheroo thing. Save ourselves a few minutes and all.
Now, one would think that after my extensive walk of the grounds that morning that I would know the Poly like the back of my hand.
Raise your hand if you know where this is going.
After getting turned around twice, we finally found the path to the TTC. And by this time we were definitely feeling the heat. And a bit of humidity too. We were both happy to settle into the air conditioned bliss of the Epicot monorail. We chatted each other up and I'm sure I spewed out some random Epicot facts as we approached. I got a couple of shots of "the ball". This one was my favorite.
We were delayed for a minute or two and somehow got on the topic of the Key to the World cards.
And how they made everything so convenient.
And were oh so vital.
Missy: "So, it's our room key?"
Me: "Yup."
Missy: "And we can charge to it?"
Me: "Sure can."
Missy: "And they store our meals on here?"
Me: "And our park tickets."
Missy: "Mm. And our park tickets."
Me: "Yeah."
Missy: "Well, um, we have to go back. Mine is in the room."
I won't lie. My wee little inner commando sat down and cried. But only on the inside. It was as much as my fault as it was Missy's since I hadn't ever mentioned that the card was, quite literally, the "key" to everything. So, the monorail pulled into the station and we watched everyone else get off. And then all new people get on. 'Cept for us. We joked around on the way back, pretending like we hadn't seen all this scenery before and Missy remarked on how "old" the signage at the entrance gates to Epicot looked. Funny, I don't think I ever looked at it as "old". To me it just seems, I dunno, Epicot-y.
We trekked back up the path to the Poly. One would think that after my extensive walk of the grounds that morning and the explicit instructions given to us to find the path (twice) earlier that we would've known, yours truly especially, the Poly like the back of our hands.
Raise your hand if you know where this is going.
I got us so turned around that we were about ready to just walk across that hurtful Disney grass to the room (seriously, Disney hasn't mastered the art of growing soft grass their guests can walk barefoot on!?...wait a tic, perhaps they don't want us on the grass...hmmm, mental note). I also advised Missy that despite 9 other trips to the World, perhaps I shouldn't be our Navigator.
We finally reached the Hawaii building. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon sometime in 2076.
We used the nifty little side entrance near our room and Missy ran in to get her room/credit/meal/park key.
I'd like to say that I'm happy to report we made it back to the TTC using the paths like pros.
But we didn't.
Because instead of doing more walking, we decided to hop on the monorail at the GCH and do the switcheroo thing. And save the walking for Epicot.
Not because we're lazy (much).
More because Missy also remembered she needed cash.
I really thought that we'd be royally, er, inconvenienced by the ATM fee but it was only $2. A lot? Yes. Less than I expected? Yes. See, the Bank of America ATMs in the lobby of the building I work in charge a $3 fee. I have no DISboard-fit language for that. Instead, we move on.
A monorail pulled up shortly after we stepped out onto the platform. Despite the setback, my inner commando was eerily quiet. I think it's because I was acutely aware that the sky was that perfect "Disney" blue. And it was going to be a good day. I looked at the time on my phone and was surprised to find that despite what I thought the whole excursion to and fro and to and fro had taken, from the very start to finish, it was only 35ish minutes. So either our luck was still right on or the monorails are really Delorians.
We FINALLY walked into Epicot.
Aaaaah. I still remember that moment to this day. I close my eyes and I remember stepping out from under the awning over the turnstiles into the sun. The Epicot background music stirred up such emotion in my chest. I looked around at the place I'd been to so many times before but felt like I was seeing it for the first time again. I turned to Missy and smiled and we took some pictures. It was just after 11 a.m. and the parks had been open for hours at that point and we were just getting there. But in that moment I realized that I didn't care. I didn't care if we even rode rides. I can honestly say that now. I was just so happy to be THERE. Feeling Disney. And forgetting most everything else. And there wasn't a castle in sight.
Best. Feeling. Ever.
We decided to head over to The Land to see what we could score for Soarin' FPs. It was about 11:20 a.m. The wait was about 40 minutes, which we decided didn't want to do but the FPs were only for 1:15p.m.-2:15p.m. Score! (Bodes well for things to come.) I suggested checking out the wait for Living with the Land.
Cinco minutos.
Dude. We could totally wait 5 minutes.
Missy in line for our first (non-monorail) ride.
My favorite saying from the queue:
We got the first row of the boat all to ourselves. Score! Again!
I have to say that I do miss the actual LIVE Cast Member on this ride. I get the fact that the spiel is exactly the same and that it's an easy money-saver but still. I don't know. Nostalgia, I guess.
My favorite tree:
I always worry about exactly WHY they are farming these guys. NO pocketbooks/boots!!!!
Lemonade anyone?
And what TR would be complete without the requisite "Earning My Ears" photo?
We oohed and aahed over the future of growing veggies. I wish this future would get here faster. Yet again I told myself that next time I WILL take the Behind the Seeds tour.
When we'd first gotten on the ride, we'd remarked that we could probably wait a bit to eat. I think we were both just hoping to get more done before taking a time out to eat. Our bellies, however, betrayed us. I had been curious about the new Sunshine Seasons since I'd read about all the changes. We decided that we'd make our inaugural food purchase there. We both decided to eat from the rotisserie place, though agreed the Asian noodle spot also looked good. I got the pork, mashed potatoes and carrots. I think the girl felt bad that they were low on mashed because she gave me enough carrots to last three weeks. Missy got the pork with rice and carrots. For dessert I got the Butterfinger Brownie and Missy got the creme brulee. Normally I wouldn't comment on what we got to drink unless it was something not of the norm, since it was usually water or soda, but I have to say that I got lemonade. And this was the ONLY time on the trip I would do that.
UGH.
I think it was just the fountain machine itself because my lemonade was slightly carbonated and just, HO-RIB-BLE, but I was turned off by the thought of it the rest of the trip.
My meal:
Missy's:
I was a little nervous about using the Dining Plan since I'd never before had it.
Easy. As. Pie. And the girl we had at the checkout counter was a peach too. She explained it to us in terms of using it for counter service and wished us a magical day, turning us out to find a table among the noon masses.
Of which there were none. At noon. At HIGH NOON in the Sunshine Seasons at Epicot. We had many choices of tables.
Score! Again!!
We settled in and I have to say we were both very happy with this meal. The pork was tender and so moist! The potatoes were nummy (but NO Citricos potatoes) and the carrots were firm. And I'm really picky with cooked carrots but these were good. The brownie was a bit much and I only ate a few bites. I also tried Missy's creme brulee, as I've never had it before. Num-MY! I was now really excited to try the maple creme brulee at our Le Cellier ADR later in the week.
Lunch was lovely though this was where we first really observed something that we'd see all week. RUDE children and oblivious parents. And I'm not talking about the "I'm going to ignore what my child's doing so as not to condone it with my attention" routine. I'm talking about the "Wait, I have children?" routine. That and just blatantly disrespectful children. Kids hitting their siblings. Kids hitting their parents. Kids stepping on other people, almost causing them to drop their trays of food. Children cussing like truck drivers. I was actually pretty appalled. After that, we were kind of anxious to move on.
We still had time before our Soarin' FPs so we decided to head over to The Living Seas. I can't tell you how long we stood outside watching the seagulls, but it was a while. I LOVE the seagulls. LOVE THEM. And if you haven't ever noticed, they actually have a varying "routine" in terms of screaming, "MINE!" and interacting with each other. I believe Missy took video, but unfortunately I don't have that.
As much as I love the Nemo theming, as it's one of my favorite Disney movies, as we made our way through the winding (and empty...and FREEZING) queue, I was mourning the loss of the original. Again. Perhaps this should be chalked up to nostalgia too, and maybe I was the only one, but I didn't mind waiting in the round room, watching the countdown come and go with the "wash" of a wave. There was something about the music they played in there. BF and I go to a movie theatre where, for a while, the music they played sound just like that. No joke, I'd close my eyes and for 10 seconds or so be transported to that attraction. And I ALWAYS went to see the movie ("BWOOM! The deluge." - That's for you, V!). And the hydrolators. Even at 12, when I knew we weren't going up or down because I'd see that same piece of gum stuck to the "coral" over and over again. Didn't matter. I still loved it.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy the Nemo ride. Because I really did. It's certainly no super-headliner attraction but I thought it was well-done. I loved the jellies and the end where the incorporate the live tank with the effects. Actually, as we went by a big sea turtle was gracing us with his/her presence and it looked fantastic. I give the new ride a thumbs up.
The first thing we did was head over to the shark area. I thought it fitting to take a picture with Bruce since that's BF's name. Unfortunately we weren't able to do that because of the aforementioned rude children and oblivious parents. Missy and I just stood and watched, disbelieving. There were kids actually squishing smaller children (that they weren't related to) to get to the front of the mouth where there parents would pretend it was nothing out of the ordinary that their child just stepped on a preschooler and snap about 647 pictures. Most of the parents with little ones just gave up. We did too and got these pics instead.
I was trying to give him a kiss because he looks so bashful!
Oh and just so you know, I found Nemo:
And my Dory at home has fur and whiskers. Somehow I think she'd find this Dory to be her favorite snack, er, friend!
We visited the manatees next. I don't like the new splash guard below the railing. It makes getting a good picture nearly impossible since the manatees tend to surface most often at that side of the tank. I love these big sea cows, though I'm always saddened to learn why they're there. Today's big guys were hurt by a propellor and orphaned, respectively. After watching their peacefulness for a bit, we headed to the main tank where the rude children ran rampant. It was starting to ruin my day a bit. I got pushed out of the way, twice and a little boy pushed between me and the glass where I was crouched trying to get a picture of the turtles so that all I ended up with was a picture of the back of his head.
Now I'm going to stop here for a minute and say something so y'all don't think I'm the Wicked Witch of the Northeast. I might not have any kids, but I love them. ADORE them. Usually even the misbehaved ones (probably because I'm not a parent). But this was borderline ridiculous. I have never before been shoved by a child at a Disney attraction. Or anywhere else for that matter. And unfortunately, this was a persistent theme throughout the week. Though, to be fair, the week had its shining stars to, like TKs son and the brother and sister we sat next to for the Boo to You parade.
K. Back to the fishes.
A rare sight for me there were FOUR! dolphins out and about and playing like nobody's business. They were zooming all over the tank in pairs and had quite the crowd around them. Including a boy and a girl who were in their early teens. I was standing pretty close to them and heard him say, "We should find Mom and Dad." She said, "Yeah, Mom is probably looking for us." Then I happened to turned my had and saw that he was holding her in anything but something I would call a sibling-type way. And he kissed her. And I saw them call the same person "mom". Just....seemed....off.
MOVING ON.
We'd just missed a showing of Turtle Talk with Crush as we headed away from the main tank and we were nearing our FP time, so we decided to head out. But not without playing in the gift shop for a bit.
"I think we need a bigger boat."
"Look, I'm all the way in Florida and I'm kissing Bruce!" Awwwww.
On our way back to The Land we were ::ahem:: somehow detoured into Club Cool.
And Missy ::ahem:: somehow found herself faced by her smiling friend holding out a little dixie cup of a certain soda saying, "Here, try THIS one."
And then SOMEONE WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW RUINED IT!!!! Some random "helpful" person said to Missy, "Don't do it! That's the Beverly! It's AWFUL."
Thanks dude.
Missy looked at me and my dejected face. I really had wanted a "Beverly" picture for this TR. And she took the cup from me and said to Mr. Helpful Complete Stranger, "That's ok. My friend planned this entire trip around making sure we're spoiled the whole time. I didn't have to lift a finger. The least I can do is try this soda if she wants me to."
That's what friends are for. (NODionneWarwick)
And really, is there any other kind of picture than a genuine "Beverly face"?
Oh, and I'm not a complete jerk. I tried it myself. Though, conveniently, there is no picture.
Sweet Jesus. That stuff is just. I don't even know.
I think we agreed that the VegitaBeta was our favorite, though.
I also considered buying one of those big Coke bottle banks for home (BF and I collect our change - for what, we haven't figured out) until I realized and I wouldn't know how to pack it and get it home.
Even though it was time for our FPs, we decided to stop into the Imagination pavilion and Journey Into Some Imagineer's Warped Sense of "Fun", for which there was no wait (big surprise).
Now I KNOW this isn't nostalgia. What the Imagineers need to do is just bring back the very first incarnation of this ride. And leave it that way. Because it was the only one that didn't suck as hard as a Hoover. We also attempted to play with the photo-morphers in the Image Lab but out of 3 we tried, 2 were broken. And when we found one that worked, two older ladies stood behind us the whole time "helping" us. They were practically IN our picture. Rather irritating. They were actually just trying to hurry us through so they could have the machine. We weren't having any of it. We actually ended up taking a really cute picture. And I e-mailed it to both of us.
I got the e-mail about 2 weeks after we returned home. And it wasn't our picture. It was someone else's. I deleted it before I could think of saving it and posting it here to see if someone reading this would say, "HEY! That's US!"
After we both decided we could live without seeing Honey I Shrunk the Audience, we headed directly back to The Land to use our Soarin's FPs. I'd ridden the ride in California Adventure, but not yet in FL. We only waited about 10 minutes in line; the standby line was still at 40 minutes. Though it was long as we were next to a party of people who came from the "Land Without Deodorant" and then were directed to Row A1.
This meant nothing to me, at the time, though those of you who herald Soarin' as your favorite ride know exactly what this meant.
Score! Again!!!
Front and center baby! And we hadn't even asked for it! It was INCREDIBLE! With bare (and non-smelly) feet! The effects are so amazing. The only thing I wish is that they would pump in more smells - the ocean maybe, the smell of fresh grass. All in all an outstanding ride.
One question: am I the only person in the world (and the World) who doesn't know who Puddy is? Because that's what everyone murmured when the preshow started and I was just kind of like, "who?"
After that we decided it was high time to head over to the other side of Future World, by way of a stop in Mousegears to try on ridiculous hats.
(Actually, that one might have been in the Imagination pavilion, but it fits better here.)
This is also where I'd been directed to find the Mouse Ear tea ball for steeping loose tea. I did find it but decided to hold off while we headed to Test Track and such. There were also some great piratey/Capt. Jack shirts that I regret not getting.
When we arrived at Test Track, the stand-by wait was 80 minutes and single rider line at 40 minutes but none of the lines were outside of the building. I wondered if maybe they were wrong but we decided not to risk it and got FPs for 4:05p.m.-5:05p.m. instead. I was particularly hopeful for a short wait at Mission:Space either, but we were surprised to find a 15min. wait posted for the Green Side (a.k.a. the "I'd like NOT to revisit my lunch" side). It WASN'T 15 minutes. It was a walk-on. We walked right through the queue and into line to watch Sinise-vision.
What is up with his hair?
Missy and I were directed to our spots and discovered we were to be the only ones in our spaceship to Mars. We discussed that perhaps I shouldn't be the Navigator since I got us so lost that morning, so instead I believe I was to be the Pilot and the Commander. Just before the doors opened to board, from around the bend of the hall, we heard an adult say, in a very small voice, "Woohoo!"
Only, typed it should be, Woohoo!.
Missy called a Woohoo! back but we got no answer. This would become a joke the rest of the trip. Whenever something awesome happened, one or both of us would give a rather anticlimactic Woohoo!.
After safely blasting off from the planet, hyper-sleeping and crash-landing on Mars, we were dumped into, appropriately, the dump shot.
Where Missy took this picture of me and sent it to just about everyone we know. I'm posting it on here specifically so that at least one person will ruin their monitor with a fine spray of the beverage of their choice.
It's blurry, but you get the gist. You can all thank Missy.
We also bought our first souvenirs. I have a Stitch Yoda who now sits on my desk. Missy bought a Goofy Darth Vadar for her friend. I don't have a picture of my Stitch but I will for my "Souvenir" chapter.
We still had plenty of time before our Test Track FPs, so we wandered into the pre-show for Universe of Energy after I walked by and mourned the now completely dufunct Wonders of Life pavilion. Buzzy, Cranium Command, I mourn thee. Body Wars, I can't say that either me or my digestive tract miss you.
As is always the case, I enjoyed (and mouthed word-for-word) the preshow. I love me some Ellen. We then took and almost 40 minute nap with the exception of the dinosaur part where I actually noticed a TON of speakers not very well hidden that I'd never seen before AND had to coment for the umpteenth time that the Audioanimatronic Ellen couldn't look LESS like her real-life counterpart. I don't get it. They can get a spot-on Jack Sparrow but they can't take five minutes and make Ellen look less like she has typhoid? I also noticed that some of the patterns on the dinos looked like they're tattoos and not like their just skin patterns. I don't know, as much as Universe of Energy reminds me of old trips to the World with my grandparents, I think I'm willing to admit that this one is in desperate need of some TLC. The four boys that we shared our (FRONT) row with who slept for the entire ride would agree, I think.
Once we were finally released from the deathgrip of UoE, it was time for our FPs for Test Track. The wait was about 10 minutes and, as always, the ride was a blast. Am I the only one that wants the last part to last, oh, I dunno, about 30 minutes longer? We car-gazed on our way out, but not for too long. We wanted to get a trip on the newly revamped Spaceship Earth in before we had to head over to Mexico for our ADRs. I made a quick pit stop in Mousegears to get my ear-bedecked tea ball (pic in the souvie chapter) and then we headed to the ball.
No wait for SE. Score! Again!!!! or is it !!!!! at this point. I'm not sure. We chose our language and smiled for our pictures and then settled back for the ride. Now it's my turn to weigh in on the Cronkite v. Irons v. Dench debate. Love the Dame but I miss Irons. The End. What I didn't miss was the chariot dude that used to appear over and over and over in the Roman scene before the burning of Rome. And the smoke smell. Which has never smelled much like true smoke to me.
And I would just like all you nonbelievers to know ONE thing that has been cited as a blatant discrepancy in the revamp.
I TOTALLY wear my GoGo boots, miniskirt and yellow tights to work every day. The firm's Senior Partners do too. Well, the female ones anyway.
Missy and I were completely hysterical when it came time for the new ending. My favorites were seeing us in the Jetsons-ish car and in our scuba suits with bubble heads (we obviously chose the water-related ending). It was so funny, in fact, I was almost able to completely ignore the fact that if the screens weren't interactive that I'd have been bored out of my skull on the return to Earth. Almost.
C'mon, guys, you couldn't pull at least ONE more idea out of your hats for the end of the ride? Whatsa matter? The lemon leotards completely wiped your idea-banks dry?
We didn't do too much exploring in the post-show area but I have to say that I'm much happier with it than with what was there before (i.e. nothing) and even before that. I always kind of felt like I got out of the ride and then walked into a cave. And then when I left the post-show like I was coming into (a very bright) world for the first time (NOFlashbacktoBirth).
At this point it was time to head towards the World Showcase for our dinner ADR at San Angel Inn in Mexico. I was pleased with the way the day had panned out thus far. If it's any testament to the crowd level, we sat exactly where we wanted to with just about no wait on every ride. We'd essentially seen, in a leisurely manner, including a non-rushed lunch, everything we'd wanted to see in Future World in about 5 hours. And now we were headed over to what we hoped would be a fantabulous dinner followed by some drinkin' 'round the World (Showcase).
Up Next: Dinner at San Angel Inn. Would Montezuma get his revenge?
P.S. Just an FYI that there will likely be additional pictorial updates from the first two days before I post the next part of this chappie as I'm now 100% certain not all of my pics made it onto Photobucket.
He said that he had a whole bunch of uncatalogued movie "souvenirs".
Been there, done that! 
I try very hard to steer Leo away from that area these days. 
