CJK
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2001
- Messages
- 7,595
Yeah! Off to my favourite park today - EPCOT! Tradition dictates that we go to Spaceship Earth first. I remember years ago when we would have to wait in a pretty long line to get on the ride. Now it seems to be a walk-on. I really like dark rides like this one so I hope they don't disappear completely! Dh found his first hidden mickey on this ride. I think it was in the Renaissance period. Our next stop was Test Track. This has quickly become one of our favourites too. Much to our surprise, at the end of the ride, the CM asked if we wanted to stay on and ride again. A tough decision for us? Nope. We went again...surprise, surprise! At the end of the ride, he asked us if we wanted to ride again but we declined. Too much to explore!
On the way out of Test Track, we noticed a virtual "ride" in the exit. It was the Dreamcatcher by GM. It looked really intriguing but we were disappointed. It was basically a big advertisement of GM and its future products. I'm glad we did it, but we'll probably bypass it from now on. Next stop was Ellen's Universe of Energy. It's funny - we've heard soooo many people say how dull it is and even with Ellen being in it now, they still don't like it. I've always been a fan of Ellen so I find her addition to the attraction to be a real enhancement.
Dh's favourite thing to do in Epcot is Cranium Command in Wonders of Life. He laughs at the same jokes just as if he were watching it for the first time. After CC, we decided to go have lunch at the Electric Umbrella. Ordering a kids meal is perfect for me since I have little appetite when it's very hot! Better for the waistline too!
I love the topping bar here too. I hope they don't turn it into a McDonald's in there!
Today was September 11th so at 12:00pm, a moment of silence was observed in all 4 parks. Over the loudspeaker, they broadcasted a speech by President Bush, followed by the moment of silence. They finished with a beautiful rendition of God Bless America. We were very moved and impressed how Disney handled the anniversary. We were standing by the water fountain in Epcot. People were huddled in little groups, some holding hands, some tears, lots of patriotism. We're Canadian but we felt such a connection with Americans at that moment. God Bless us all.
After we collected ourselves, we went to the Annual Pass lounge in Epcot. What a beautiful lounge! We got ourselves a drink and had a great conversation with the CM there. We then went on the Land ride. We are starting to think about planting a garden (in the spring) so we were particularly interested in the greenhouse. I think we'd like to do the walking tour of the greenhouse on our next trip. Anyone know the cost?
Finally, the time came to go to Imagination and try the ride with Figment. We had been VERY disappointed with the revised ride a couple years ago so we were very excited to hear that Figment was back. Wow! Was I thrilled! It's still not as good as the original (with Dreamfinder), but it's a thousand times better than the replacement. The surprise at the ending is my all time favourite! We had fun playing around in the exit area and emailed some friends and family. I'm happy to report that all recipients DID receive the email! I had heard people say they emails weren't being received but they worked for us!
We decided to go over to the Magic Kingdom for the remainder of the day. We got to ride up front in the monorail. I even got the co-pilot license. Hmmmm, I'm close to 30 but I still got one. Maybe it IS true that we're all kids at Disney??
Our plan in the MK was to see attractions we hadn't seen yet during this trip. We went to see the Tiki Birds first. I had read here on the DIS that we should stay until the very end, after everyone has left to hear some of the last jokes. What a great tip! I especially loved the joke about the Hall of Presidents. 
We got the traditional Citris Swirl (dh likes it better than the Dole Whips) and went to the Jungle Cruise. We had a full boat with lots of kids who were convinced the animals were real! It was cute to see. We then went on the new Aladdin ride. Yup, another spin ride. It was fun. We never did get spit at by the camel since I was in control of our carpet! Next stop was the Country Bear Jamboree. We just love this show. There was a young baby beside us who absolutely went crazy when the bears started singing. She couldn't talk yet but you could tell she was just enthralled with the whole show. I think I watched her more than the show!
Splash Mountain was only a 10 minute wait so we went on it again. It's definitely one of my favourites in MK. Dh is now addicted to buzz lightyear so he made me trek over to Tomorrowland to ride it not once.......not twice.....but THREE times in a row! Hmmm....is there a support group for Buzz Lightyear addicts? Thanks to the tips from the DIS, dh was able to get the maximum points you can get on this ride. Even with the tips from the board, my highest score was 638,000. It was still fun to see. I left my sunglasses on the ride. It is now a tradition that one or both of us lose our sunglasses while in Disney! This is a tradition I'd like to break. We did go back to find the glasses, but they weren't there. We decided to go to the lost & found later. We then walked through Fantasyland and noticed Peter Pan had no line (one of the few times during our trip) so we decided to go. Our nephew LOVES Peterpan so we hope to bring him here one day. The show in the castle was about to begin so we decided to watch. What a cute little show. I love how they actually use the castle in the show. It started to rain right after so we decided to go back to the hotel and relax for the night. Another fun-filled day!
On the way out of Test Track, we noticed a virtual "ride" in the exit. It was the Dreamcatcher by GM. It looked really intriguing but we were disappointed. It was basically a big advertisement of GM and its future products. I'm glad we did it, but we'll probably bypass it from now on. Next stop was Ellen's Universe of Energy. It's funny - we've heard soooo many people say how dull it is and even with Ellen being in it now, they still don't like it. I've always been a fan of Ellen so I find her addition to the attraction to be a real enhancement.
Dh's favourite thing to do in Epcot is Cranium Command in Wonders of Life. He laughs at the same jokes just as if he were watching it for the first time. After CC, we decided to go have lunch at the Electric Umbrella. Ordering a kids meal is perfect for me since I have little appetite when it's very hot! Better for the waistline too!
I love the topping bar here too. I hope they don't turn it into a McDonald's in there!Today was September 11th so at 12:00pm, a moment of silence was observed in all 4 parks. Over the loudspeaker, they broadcasted a speech by President Bush, followed by the moment of silence. They finished with a beautiful rendition of God Bless America. We were very moved and impressed how Disney handled the anniversary. We were standing by the water fountain in Epcot. People were huddled in little groups, some holding hands, some tears, lots of patriotism. We're Canadian but we felt such a connection with Americans at that moment. God Bless us all.
After we collected ourselves, we went to the Annual Pass lounge in Epcot. What a beautiful lounge! We got ourselves a drink and had a great conversation with the CM there. We then went on the Land ride. We are starting to think about planting a garden (in the spring) so we were particularly interested in the greenhouse. I think we'd like to do the walking tour of the greenhouse on our next trip. Anyone know the cost?
Finally, the time came to go to Imagination and try the ride with Figment. We had been VERY disappointed with the revised ride a couple years ago so we were very excited to hear that Figment was back. Wow! Was I thrilled! It's still not as good as the original (with Dreamfinder), but it's a thousand times better than the replacement. The surprise at the ending is my all time favourite! We had fun playing around in the exit area and emailed some friends and family. I'm happy to report that all recipients DID receive the email! I had heard people say they emails weren't being received but they worked for us!
We decided to go over to the Magic Kingdom for the remainder of the day. We got to ride up front in the monorail. I even got the co-pilot license. Hmmmm, I'm close to 30 but I still got one. Maybe it IS true that we're all kids at Disney??
Our plan in the MK was to see attractions we hadn't seen yet during this trip. We went to see the Tiki Birds first. I had read here on the DIS that we should stay until the very end, after everyone has left to hear some of the last jokes. What a great tip! I especially loved the joke about the Hall of Presidents. We got the traditional Citris Swirl (dh likes it better than the Dole Whips) and went to the Jungle Cruise. We had a full boat with lots of kids who were convinced the animals were real! It was cute to see. We then went on the new Aladdin ride. Yup, another spin ride. It was fun. We never did get spit at by the camel since I was in control of our carpet! Next stop was the Country Bear Jamboree. We just love this show. There was a young baby beside us who absolutely went crazy when the bears started singing. She couldn't talk yet but you could tell she was just enthralled with the whole show. I think I watched her more than the show!
Splash Mountain was only a 10 minute wait so we went on it again. It's definitely one of my favourites in MK. Dh is now addicted to buzz lightyear so he made me trek over to Tomorrowland to ride it not once.......not twice.....but THREE times in a row! Hmmm....is there a support group for Buzz Lightyear addicts? Thanks to the tips from the DIS, dh was able to get the maximum points you can get on this ride. Even with the tips from the board, my highest score was 638,000.
It was still fun to see. I left my sunglasses on the ride. It is now a tradition that one or both of us lose our sunglasses while in Disney! This is a tradition I'd like to break. We did go back to find the glasses, but they weren't there. We decided to go to the lost & found later. We then walked through Fantasyland and noticed Peter Pan had no line (one of the few times during our trip) so we decided to go. Our nephew LOVES Peterpan so we hope to bring him here one day. The show in the castle was about to begin so we decided to watch. What a cute little show. I love how they actually use the castle in the show. It started to rain right after so we decided to go back to the hotel and relax for the night. Another fun-filled day!
