Welcome Home, Now Relax ~ Day 6 – EPCOT

[wickesy]

Monday 30th March 2009

We had adjusted to the time difference by now and we weren’t up until just after 7:00. The plan for today was EPCOT so we didn’t go out until 8:25 and just 10 minutes later we were parked up in Amaze 34.

First stop was Soarin’ which, for the first time, we did standby and only waited about 5 minutes. This is still our favourite ride in all of Disney and although I would agree it doesn’t live up to the hype the combination of the music and the film make for a fantastic ride.

After Soarin’ we went over to The Seas with Nemo & Friends to ride Nemo. This is a cute ride but probably one that we will stop doing fairly soon. The part where the characters are mixed in with the real fishes is the best part but not good enough to keep us coming back.

From Nemo we waited around 15 minutes for the next Turtle Talk with Crush show, which was as good as ever and really lives or dies depending on the children in the audience and the questions they ask.

After Crush we walked over to the Imagination pavilion and rode Journey Into Imagination which I still quite enjoy, especially considering my cold meant I couldn’t smell the skunk!

From there we had a wander around towards World Showcase lagoon and took some photos of the fountains and topiaries.

continued

 

[wickesy]

We also came across a sand sculpture.

As we got to Fountain of Nations a show was just starting so we stopped to watch that and then had a quick look around Mousegear. From there we went to Club Cool for some free refreshment and I particularly enjoyed the Japanese drink this time. As I was standing there drinking one of the boys from the group opposite us took a mouthful of what I presume was Beverley and proceeded to spit it out all over the floor before spitting into the bin a couple of times! I know it doesn’t taste that good but I don’t think there was any need to spit it onto the floor.

From Club Cool we walked around both Innoventions buildings and then went over to Ellen’s Energy Adventure. This has just re-opened after a major re-furbishment but I didn’t notice any differences and in fact on one of the screens for the pre-show the sound was out of sync with the video. This again has been a must do for every trip because I love the way the theatre breaks down into the ride vehicles but it is another one that won’t hold my interest for much longer.

Once we came off of Energy Adventure it was way past our normal lunch-time and although I had intended to eat at Electric Umbrella that was closed for re-furbishment so we went over to Sunshine Seasons where I had a chicken wrap, Dad had a ham and salami sandwich and we had a coke each.

By the time we had finished lunch it was 12:40. Dad had another look around Mousegear, we had a look around Art of Disney and we left the park around 1:20 to go back to the studio for a break.

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[wickesy]

At 3:00 we decided to take a trip to Old Key West so we wandered over to the boat dock taking a few photos along the way.

I tried to get a bit closer but frightened him off and he ran back into the water.

We also saw the Characters In Flight balloon on a test flight.

By the time we got to the dock we had just missed a boat so we found a shady spot to sit and wait for the next one. Another boat arrived around 30 minutes later and we boarded for the short cruise to Old Key West. When we got there we had a wander around, had a look in the shops where Dad bought a DVC member polo shirt, park music CD and some cough medicine (I was getting toward the cough stage of my cold by now) before we got the boat back to Saratoga Springs.

We stopped off in the bar where I had a Mudslide Martini and Dad had a Margarita before we went back to the studio where we spent the rest of the evening relaxing, had a ‘nibbles’ tea and were in bed by 10:00. Plans for tomorrow were to go to IHOP for breakfast then to the Orange County History Center where there was a Jim Henson exhibition.

Day 7

 

[natalielongstaff]

Lovely day

 

[Pinky166]

That sounded like a lovely relaxed day.

I love the topiaries & sand sculpture.

 

[buzz for boys]

fantastic report so far x

 

[wickesy]

fantastic report so far x

Thank you. More coming soon.

 

[Gaynor]

What a lovely day. Soarin' is my favourite ride out of all of the parks

 

[wicket2005]

Lovely day and photos. There seems to be a lot of us who have experienced being poorly on trips lately, I blame the circulated air on the planes.

 

[wickesy]

Lovely day and photos. There seems to be a lot of us who have experienced being poorly on trips lately, I blame the circulated air on the planes.

It's either that or the air conditioning in the US. Dad was waking up with a dry throat every morning but got better as the day went on.

 

[suzycute]

I'm really enjoying your reports - the sand sculpture looks amazing!

 

[SusanEllen]

Thanks for another fun to read report. Please, tell us what you know about Characters in Flight.

 

[wickesy]

Thanks for another fun to read report. Please, tell us what you know about Characters in Flight.

I believe it either opened yesterday (10th) or will open any day now. Cost is $16 for adults, $10 for children and no reservations are required. Each trip will take between 10 and 20 people (depending on wind speed) and will last about 10 minutes (including ascent and descent). Peak height is 400 feet I think which should give a fairly decent all round view. The balloon goes up from West Side just by the entrance to Pleasure Island.

I think that about covers it.

 

[irongirlof12]

love the piccies of the sand sculpture and the ballooon 'flight'. nice morning at epcot.

 

[wilma-bride]

A lovely relaxing day - love the sand sculpture at Epcot. Last year's was phenomenal Really enjoying your reports and looking forward to more (hint, hint )

 

[wickesy]

Really enjoying your reports and looking forward to more (hint, hint )

Oh go on then. Day 7

 

[Nubbedy]

Really enjoying your reports too David.

That sand sculpture was amazing. You got through quite a bit at EPCOT today, I am intrigued to try Ellen's Energy Adventure - have never made it there yet, but want to see theatre turn into ride vehicles now.

 

[CHEK]

Great pics of the topiaries and sand scuplture, very talented people I really missed them this year on our trip.

 

[wickesy]

Great pics of the topiaries and sand scuplture, very talented people I really missed them this year on our trip.

Absolutely talented. I always look forward to seeing what the topiaries are when we go.

 

[Lizzybear]

Love Soarin', the bit where you go over Disneyland gives me goosebumps every time Characters in flight looks similar to something they have at DLRP, really cool but quite scary descending!