After a wonderful nap
(we don't get many of those at home), we grabbed a bus to EPCOT. Our room was in a wonderful location for bus-catching and our stop at The Carousel was the first stop when returning home.
We headed straight for Soarin', one of our most favorite rides ever. After walking into The Land and making our way down the stairs (has anyone else noticed the POOR set-up of this situation? People trying to get off the escalator while others are crossing their path to get down stairs?
)... we see that there is a ONE HUNDRED THIRTY MINUTE WAIT for Soarin'.
WHAT?!?!?! It's value season for crying out loud!!! Of course, by this time of evening, fast passes have all been distributed, so we decide waiting two hours for Soarin' just isn't worth it.
When we meader outside, we notice the Nemo and Friends exhibit. Oh
Yeah, that's open now. Cool. I gotta tell you, those gulls that sit on the rocks outside the building and say "MINE".. just like the movie... Those are GREAT!
DH and I laughed for a while about that one. The queue for Nemo is wonderful. You feel like you are under water, and even see a "butt" at one point. We didn't have long to admire the queue however, because we walked right onto this ride. I guess since everyone and their mother is at Soarin', the other rides were easily obtainable! It was a very cute ride... one DH and I didn't feel the need to ride again for the rest of the trip, but we sure are looking forward to showing DS and DD this one!
Next stop was Mission: Space... orange side of course!! We didn't experience much of a wait, and were soon in our little tiny space capsule. I just love this ride.. that blast off is incredible, and if you haven't tried the orange side, you MUST!!! I also love Gary Sinese.
He's so talented.. even if it's just a pre-show video in Disney World!
We begin the trek to dinner, and took in all of the sights and smells and sounds that are EPCOT.
We just love this park. On our way, we were detoured around some CRAZY celebration. There were TONS of people filtering out of some gate and into another area across from our restaruant. There were all kinds of noise makers and screaming people (in celebration) and this went on for a LONG time. Anyone have any idea who they were or what on Earth they were doing?
Rose and Crown is a pub/ restaurant in Great Britain. We had ADRs but had to wait almost 15 minutes.. not bad. We found a waiting seat on a curb next to a trash can. You would think the smell would bother me..? No. It was the constant stream of kids who felt the need to bang on it... over and over and over...
and parents would never tell them to stop. Am I the only one who's concerned about how my kids' behavior affects other people!?
Dinner was amazingly FILLING.
The
DDP provides WAY too much food. Appetizer for BOTH of us?! Okay. I'll have mushrooms, DH has onion rings. Entrees for BOTH of us?!? Okay. I'll have steak, and steak for DH as well. We are both A1 users and asked for some steak sauce. All they had was Britain's version (duh) and MAN was it NASTY!
Desserts for BOTH of us?!? Okay. The food was pretty good, the desserts were amazing. I left that place feeling more full than I ever had in my life! Yes, even more than Thanksgiving.
We waddled over to find a place for Illuminations. No,we weren't able to milk our dinner for 2 hours, and we didn't really have a table on the lagoon anyway. But we did find a great vantage point. And since we didn't have kids with us to entertain, we were able to wait the 45 minutes and keep our great vantage point for the show, without anyone getting antsy or asking, "When are the fireworks starting"... in a whiny voice. So our wonderful Illluminations started..
....
HUH?! Where is the music?! That's IT?!?! That's as loud as it gets!
Well, our great vantage point was in front of the speakers that were turned the other way. UGH!! We LOVE the soundtrack for this show and basically have the whole thing memorized. I play it a TOP volume in my car when I'm at home. So I want it to blast my ears out here as well. Didn't happen. Well, tomorrow night we'll search out speakers to stand in front of!
It was EMH at EPCOT, so we thought we'd try our luck again at Soarin'. Nope. Everyone left IllumiNations and went right to it. It was still packed. Darnit! This was starting to disappoint us, because we specifically come at this time of year for smaller crowds, and in years past, it's always been fairly slow. Guess it's all of the marathon folks...
We found the new character meet and greet area in EPCOT. It's a great set up and it's inside, which will be nice on those terribly hot summer days. We waited for about 15 minutes. Then as we got up to meet Mickey, they pulled the black rope on us. "Sorry guys, Mickey and his friends need to take a break." Darn black cat
. But when the break was over, we WERE the first ones to every character. We even staged a fun shot with Minnie. Sorry, I didn't buy the Photopass disc or pics, so I don't have it. But we asked Minnie to kiss my DH while I stood here with a jealous stance. It really was cute.
Mouse Gear was our next stop. We enjoy this store... but tonight it was a madhouse! It was also a MESS
. I spent most of my time picking up merchandise and putting it back where it belonged. Come on, people. If you take it down, put it pack. Simple logic
I also threw away a ton of empty cups that people just left on display shelves. AWFUL!! How trashy can you be?
We jumped in the single rider line for Test Track next. I know, DH told DS that we wouldn't ride this without him, but I just needed to feel that 65 MPH rush just once. You won't tell, will you?
I found some new hidden Mickeys that I hadn't seen before. DH played games on his cell phone most of the time. The line was actually pretty long. I can't imagine what the standby line was. I don't care who you are, that speed thing is pretty awesome!
One more try for Soarin'
DH entertained himself with some MADDEN on his cell phone:
We ended up waiting 45 minutes at 11:30 at night! Shouldn't these people be back at their resorts putting their kids to bed!?! DH and I just LOVE the pre-show video with Kronk! We have almost the whole thing memorized, and DH can say it just like Kronk!
"Hello and welcome to Soarin'. My name is Patrick and I'll be your chief flight attendant today...." Our favorite part is when the little kid fastens his seat belt and Kronk says, "Nice work, pal!" So great. And luckily we had the video to entertain us, because we had the absolute WORST seats you can get on this ride. (DARNED BLACK CAT
) We were on the bottom row in the far right corner. So not only did we have to see feet dangling above us, but we had to see the curve of the screen. Well, we'll try again another day.
The best thing that happened today was our luck with busses. Well, except for the 5K fiasco this morning! Otherwise, we waited VERY LITTLE for busses. I guess our luck wasn't all that bd. We certainly had a MARATHON of a day. Up at the crack of dawn, and closing down EPCOT with EMH. Do you think we should sleep in tomorrow!?
BTW everyone... I am realizing that I need to take WAY more pictures. I'll do better next time, I promise!
Where else but Disney can you be grabbed by a foreign man and not think twice about it!?
I'll continue this next time!!
We just aren't vocal enough to ask to be on the top... but you know, I spend enough money there.. I should just open my mouth and ask. Next time, Susie, next time!! All was not lost, however. There was some lady on the ride across from us. She was screaming like she was on the Tower of Terror. It was great! She was having such a great time. It made up for the bad seats... well.. kinda...
