Anyone Game? 2 Castles and a Road Trip TR! Last Day and TR Wrap Up! #2796; 10/01

[ejud]

ALERT! ALERTS! ALERT!!!

Pio! You got it all wrong!!!



The complaints about that "corner" of EPCOT are that 1) the original Figment ride was MUCH better: when it was rehabbed a LOT of it was wrecked! What people want is the original restored; and 2) the entire second floor used to be an imagination playroom with some pretty neat stuff! Now it is, as we say in the biz, dead air. (Both can be seen on YouTube.)



And Captain EO gets better with each viewing- but putting 8 years in between is not quite repeating... I had never seen the original, so was thrilled when it came back and replaced the lame-o Honey Shrinking. First time I saw it, I was thinking ya, kinda lame, but was still singin' and jigglin' as I left. Saw it again a few days later, and it wasn't so bad, and parts were even pretty good... again and ya, it was good, dated, but darn glad it's there.



As for your son's failure to appreciate good music- sorry, but that's on you!



Oh! NICE picture of that little squarish fish!

Jud

 

[ACDSNY]

I like how the puffer fish is smiling for you! Nice update.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Very nice pictures from The Seas with Nemo and Friends. That was neat that in one of your pictures when the ride is about to end where you get to see the scuba diver. When I compare this ride and the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at DL, the FNSV gives it a more exciting experience when you are in the Subs.

Nice that you were able to see Turtle Talk with Crush.

Just like EPCOT where Captain EO is outdated, I'm wondering what DL will be doing with Captain EO in the near future.

Very nice updates.

 

[Jade+3]

I'm late for our DIS meet post. Oops. Looks like I have a lot of catching up to do. We have been busy moving house, and, shock horror, I was without internet for a week.

 

[LegoMom3]

Nice update! Love all the fish pics. Love that you practiced speaking whale.....

.

 

[skier_pete]

I think most people like Figment himself, it's just the sad state of the imagination pavillion.

And agree 100% on Captain EO. I missed out on it in the original incarnation, but it is pretty awful. WE saw it a few years back, never again!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Cool update thanks! Having a shark phobia I only went to the seas before it had Nemo.... Never again lol..

I love Crush

I enjoy Figment as I do all Disney attractions sometimes. You know you could replace it with something more modern but it's nice to keep things. Why not just keep things for its historic value? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot....

They removed all our red telephone boxes for modern plastic ones. No character. Lots of folks bought the old boxes and have them in their yards. They look cute! I wish I had one! Some hotels made them into outside showers by swimming pools. That looked great.

 

[franandaj]

Nice pictures from the Nemo ride!

I've only done Turtle Talk with Crush once. It was cute, but that was enough. I have NEVER done Captain EO, I never "got" the Michael Jackson thing, so I guess it's just as well. Anyhoo, nice update. Good to find out what you were doing before we made it on to the scene!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Another big Figment fan here, but I really miss the original ride. I glad that you got to see Turtle Talk with Crush. I love that one. I still have to see Stitch Live! at Disneyland Paris. Whenever we were there, it was broken when they had scheduled it in English.

I have never seen Captain EO when it was on the first time round. I have seen it at Disneyland since it came back and I actually really enjoyed it. It has a decidedly retro feel and I was a die hard Michael Jackson fan in my younger years so that may have something to do with it.

Corinna

 

[PrincessInOz]

Turtle Talk and Cap't EO are two of the FP+ I got for my parents. Glad to hear that one will be okay!

What time of year are your parents going?

Cap'n EO plays every 20 minutes or so and there is usually space to get in to a screening. Is there another attraction that the FP+ could be used for? Mind you....it IS Epcot and there are few attractions, right?

Love your Nemo pictures and quotes

Having not experienced WDW yet, vintage or otherwise, I don't really 'get' the Figment thing. He does look cute though.

I have yet to experience Captain EO. We very nearly saw it at DLP, but it had shut down for the evening. I would very much expect it to be lame, but if I get another chance to see it, I probably will.

It is very Michael Jackson '80's; with lots of Star Wars cast-offs. If you've never seen it and you have the opportunity to, I would try and catch it.

 

[dgbg100106]

I liked crush and turtle talk the first time but have not been back, as for EO not a fan...

Nice pictures, and loved the update!

 

[PrincessInOz]

ALERT! ALERTS! ALERT!!!

Pio! You got it all wrong!!!

W...W.....w....wr.......wr........??



I've seen a very few posts thinking that whole area needs a rethink from time to time.

And Captain EO gets better with each viewing- but putting 8 years in between is not quite repeating

Now that DS has seen it, I don't think we'll be repeating it for the next 8 years or more.

As for your son's failure to appreciate good music- sorry, but that's on you!

DH and I have steered DS away from the music of the 80's. We got him the Guitar Hero games after we started him on the Beatles and classical music.

His tastes run to Aerosmith, Deep Purple, Nirvana, Heart, Foo Fighters, Slayer, Queen and The Police.

Now that he's hit the teenage years, he's starting to narrow in on all the music of the games he plays.

I like how the puffer fish is smiling for you! Nice update.

Thanks! Yes, that puffer fish is smiling.

Very nice pictures from The Seas with Nemo and Friends. That was neat that in one of your pictures when the ride is about to end where you get to see the scuba diver. When I compare this ride and the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at DL, the FNSV gives it a more exciting experience when you are in the Subs.

Nice that you were able to see Turtle Talk with Crush.

Just like EPCOT where Captain EO is outdated, I'm wondering what DL will be doing with Captain EO in the near future.

Very nice updates.

It will be interesting to see what they end up replacing Captain EO with. I appreciate that it was great to bring it back when MJ passed away; but I would expect that there will come a time to put it back into the Vault.

I'm late for our DIS meet post. Oops. Looks like I have a lot of catching up to do. We have been busy moving house, and, shock horror, I was without internet for a week.

Hope that the move was successful and that you're now back on line again.

Nice update! Love all the fish pics. Love that you practiced speaking whale.....

.

Thaaaaank yooooooou.

I think most people like Figment himself, it's just the sad state of the imagination pavillion.

And agree 100% on Captain EO. I missed out on it in the original incarnation, but it is pretty awful. WE saw it a few years back, never again!

That imagination pavillion could do with an update. Sure seems a waste of space for such a wonderful building.

Yes, I think I'm happy to leave Captain EO for a long time.

Cool update thanks! Having a shark phobia I only went to the seas before it had Nemo.... Never again lol..

I love Crush

I enjoy Figment as I do all Disney attractions sometimes. You know you could replace it with something more modern but it's nice to keep things. Why not just keep things for its historic value? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot....

They removed all our red telephone boxes for modern plastic ones. No character. Lots of folks bought the old boxes and have them in their yards. They look cute! I wish I had one! Some hotels made them into outside showers by swimming pools. That looked great.

I'm happy to keep Figment. I'm not advocating that they replace the building but that space could be better utilised.

England does not seem the same without the red telephone boxes. Such a shame that they've replaced it with the modern plastic ones. I wonder if they thought about keeping the boxes and putting new phones in.

Nice pictures from the Nemo ride!

I've only done Turtle Talk with Crush once. It was cute, but that was enough. I have NEVER done Captain EO, I never "got" the Michael Jackson thing, so I guess it's just as well. Anyhoo, nice update. Good to find out what you were doing before we made it on to the scene!

I felt exactly the same way when I was reading your TR. I loved playing 'what was I doing at the exact time' whilst I was reading it.

Another big Figment fan here, but I really miss the original ride. I glad that you got to see Turtle Talk with Crush. I love that one. I still have to see Stitch Live! at Disneyland Paris. Whenever we were there, it was broken when they had scheduled it in English.

I have never seen Captain EO when it was on the first time round. I have seen it at Disneyland since it came back and I actually really enjoyed it. It has a decidedly retro feel and I was a die hard Michael Jackson fan in my younger years so that may have something to do with it.

Corinna

It's funny. I really loved MJ when I was younger.....still do. So it was a surprised to find that I didn't really enjoy Cap Eo. I suspect that the fact that the supporting cast felt like a D-grade Star Wars cast-off had a lot to do with why we thought it was lame.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Finally caught up again. DD was highly amused? bewildered? by Captain EO. Mostly I think felt it was a utter rip off of her fave Star Wars. Much head shaking as her parents laughed throughout appreciating the "retro" 80's smuck. I confess I like it and I never liked MJ.

Good luck with music and DS - DD grew up liking Meatloaf and Queen and Bowie and lots more particularly 70's stuff-before diversifying into Indie, much of which to me has the classic rock and roll roots. Several of hers have become my faves too.

Looking forward to trying out F&W stalls. Pity all my highest choice TS are in EPCOT-have to ignore this trip as we'll be full from all our stalls. Karamel Kruche was not there last visit - duly noted as a must-try!

Great pics throughout and some lovely ones of you and the boys. Dismeets to date look fun ...must stir up the Qlders for another.

 

[rentayenta]

We also waited too long to see Turtle Talk. Joshua really enjoyed it but the girls found it more babyish. Really like your Nemo narrative.

Loving the updates. Sorry I fell painfully behind during the cruise.

 

[ejud]

Just for the record... Turtle Talk with Crush, Dude!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6MHvLixcr4



Jud

 

[PrincessInOz]

Finally caught up again. DD was highly amused? bewildered? by Captain EO. Mostly I think felt it was a utter rip off of her fave Star Wars. Much head shaking as her parents laughed throughout appreciating the "retro" 80's smuck. I confess I like it and I never liked MJ.

Good luck with music and DS - DD grew up liking Meatloaf and Queen and Bowie and lots more particularly 70's stuff-before diversifying into Indie, much of which to me has the classic rock and roll roots. Several of hers have become my faves too.

Looking forward to trying out F&W stalls. Pity all my highest choice TS are in EPCOT-have to ignore this trip as we'll be full from all our stalls. Karamel Kruche was not there last visit - duly noted as a must-try!

Great pics throughout and some lovely ones of you and the boys. Dismeets to date look fun ...must stir up the Qlders for another.

Thanks Wendy. Seems like your music tastes and DH run very similar. I'm stuck in the music of the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's.....and jazz.

I'm looking forward to your TR when you eventually complete your trip.

Yes. I must talk to the Melbournians about another DisMeet here as well.

We also waited too long to see Turtle Talk. Joshua really enjoyed it but the girls found it more babyish. Really like your Nemo narrative.

Loving the updates. Sorry I fell painfully behind during the cruise.

Welcome back. Hope the cruise was a good one for you. Looking forward to catching up on the news.

Just for the record... Turtle Talk with Crush, Dude!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6MHvLixcr4



Jud

Thanks for sharing.

Crush sure sounds different to the crush I heard.

 

[PrincessInOz]

GASP! We’re NOT having F&W for Dinner?!?!



The afternoon had slipped away whilst we were in The Sea. Those clouds wafted by ever so slowly, clouds that did not bring rain, but rather to add that wonderful orange candy floss to the sky.






As we headed towards the World Showcase, we could not help but admire the lovely sunset that evening. The heat of the day was setting and with the twinkle of the stars, we were heading towards the relative cool of the evening.






I was keen to grab more blissful bites and was completely devastated to find that neither DH nor DS were of the same opinion. We’d come all this way and were in the midst of Food and Wine and neither one wanted to taste test their way from booth to booth?


Really????


DH was in the mood for a plate of salad. And he knew exactly what he was going to get. He's always liked Tangierine Cafe. It's one of the places in Epcot where you CAN get decent vegetarian food.







DS remembered the fantastic Fish and Chips at Yorkshire County Fish Shop. He had definitely come prepared for an encore.







I did debate grabbing something from one of the booths, but the smells of Yorkshire got to me. I ended up grabbing a serve of the F&C there. And you know what? It was as good as we remembered it to be!


And because we found a table to eat at just in front of France and there was a very short queue, we ended up with some crepes for dessert.


The strawberry preserves crepe.







We also got a serve of the chocolate crepe as well.







I have to thank DH for the food porn in this post. I was so hungry that I....er....chose to eat first rather than take any pictures.




(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)


A Most Illuminating Time




The first time I saw Illuminations was in the pouring rain. Well....it absolutely bucketed down at Epcot the hour before the show and there was always a chance that it would be cancelled. But shortly before the stated start time, the rains let up and the show went ahead. It had been touch and go; and no one really likes waiting around in the wet. However, one of the benefits of the rain was that we were blessed with very low crowds around the World Showcase Lagoon and we nabbed spots around the World Showcase Plaza, directly across the lagoon from the USA pavilion. As viewing spots went, it was one of the best places to view Illuminations.



The conundrum for us this time was where to stake out a spot. This time, we had to take into account cameras and tripods....and a DS that was in the mood for shopping.


Yes. I did say my DS.


You may have noticed that he had acquired a Luigi hat during the course of the day. That hat had been a present from DH and DS had been all Chatty Cathy about it when I eventually caught up with them at SAB. But it had been nothing compared to the other treasures that he had spotted at Mitsukoshi Department Store.
Considered to be "the mall" of Epcot's World showcase, DS found the mall to be crammed with all Japanese things 2D that he finds fascinating. All sorts of Anime and Tamagotchis and Kingdom Hearts and Mario and....and....and....!


DS wanted to head back to Japan and SHOP! He had come on this vacay with his own money that he had saved up and we had the stash in the hotel room safe. And he hadn't spent much of it up to this point.

So, after dinner, we ended back at Japan; a little later than I had hoped for.






That spot on the upper level of the Japan pavilion is highly sought after by photographers. So it was no surprise that the spots against the balcony in that particular corner were already taken up by 3 tripods, owned by a Canadian and two locals. I was absolutely gobsmacked when the locals looked at me and moved right on over so that DH and I could fit my tripod in against the balcony. They even made space for DS when he eventually finished his shopping. Guys - I so thank you for your generosity!

For the record, I didn't grab a spot right by the lagoon because we had been late finishing dinner and all the good spots were already 2 or 3 deep with people. Not quite what I was looking for. This spot on the upper section of Japan tends to fill up a little later than lagoon side; so it was only natural that I would go seek it out.

And because we had been late arriving, our wait was not long and it seemed like barely any time had passed before the show started.


I've always like Illuminations. Afterall, there are so many elements that is incorporated in this show. It utilises fire....







....fireworks....






.....pyrotechnics.....






....laser lights....






......and fountains to create the entire production.







I....er....perhaps went a little overboard with pictures for Illuminations. But then you knew that, right?

I've ordered them into the appropriate Illumination sections.


Part 1 - Chaos













Part 2 - Life and Adventure begins with that amazing Globe moving to centre stage.







Images are then projected on to the globe as it spins round and round. The imagery is fantastic as it shows landscapes of different environments, world figures, animals of all shapes and sizes and faces of all races.







This is probably my favourite section of Illuminations. Sadly, I wasn't close enough to see all the details on that globe.
















My favourite shots from this 15 minutes period include the following.
































As the globe opens up into a metal flower, we hit the Finale section. The snap, crackle and pop of the fireworks in the celebration and show finale section is stunning. About the only thing that I wish would be different is that we have more colour in this section.






















(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)


A Late Night Stroll around World Showcase



After the show, I mentioned to DH that my ambition was to be the last guest out of Epcot and spend some time walking around World Showcase taking pictures. DH was feeling a little tired and wasn't keen to join me. So, he and DS said their goodnights and headed back to the resort.



Remember the Canadian and the two locals that kindly made space for me? Well, we did get quite chatty. Turns out the two locals were art students in one of the local schools and they were hoping to major in photography. All 3 guys heard me talking things over with DH and they were keen to join me for the walk around.



Yes. I. picked. up. 3. guys. in. front. of. DH.



As we were at Japan, we started out here. I was keen to grab some shots of the Tori Gate.



















I was totally loving the lack of bodies in my shots.






Although, the occasional one person in the picture frame tells a story unto itself.







Poor old American Pavilion. Believe it or not, no one wanted to take a picture of it.




So, Italy was next.


















With 4 photographers in the group, our progress round the World was very slow. But I thought it was well worth the effort. We did spend a bit of time checking out each other's shots and the different settings that we were using.


We eventually made our way to Germany.







Where one of the students pulled out their big gun! For those interested, it was the 400 mm L-series lens that had me completely in lens envy!







The object of their close-up was one of those suits of armour. There is a hidden mickey on their forehead.







We certainly made the most of our time here.






As a measure of how slow we'd strolled round the World Showcase. Illuminations was scheduled at 9 pm on this night. We hit that drawbridge at close on 10.30 pm and were faced with a choice. That shadowy figure of a man on the right hand side of the bridge was the Illuminations Production Manager. He caught up with us at the drawbridge as the globe was being pulled back into storage for the night. He didn't mind that we were around and suggested that we stop on this side of the bridge so that we could take a look at the whole operation. Our option was to get on the other side before they raised the drawbridge. I guess the novelty of it all got to us; and we decided to stay and watch. Sorry for the blury picture; but I'd forgotten that I had a longer shutter speed on the camera and had been caught unawares. And that globe moves across at a pretty quick pace!







Sadly for us, there was a security guard also on this side of the bridge. And when they realised we were guests, we were firmly advised that our little walk around World Showcase was over.


My shooting partners and I parted company after the bridge came down. But I did get one last Pavilion in.







I had to do some quick talking with the security guard; and in the end, I was allowed to take pictures of China at night on the understanding that I would not stop anywhere else along my way to the International Gateway.







I held up my end of the bargain; and I was satisfied with what I'd gotten for the night. I also am very satisfied with the knowledge that I was probably one of the LAST guests out of Epcot that night.




:

 

[LegoMom3]

Those are truly some of the most phenomenal pics of Illuminations and the pavilions at night that I have EVER seen!!!!! Thanks for the little "tour". How fun that you got to meet and shoot with some new photog friends, even if you did pick up three guys.

.