I wasn't too concerned about our Epcot day, last trip this was our favorite park and it has always been my fav, so I knew someone would be having a good time! Little did I know I would be the one that would have the meltdown. We never did make a rope drop once this trip. We meandered up to the gate around 10am and I was a little worried by the line to get in. I had visions of fast passes given out already for soarin and long lines everywhere. Turns out that roughly everyone in line at that moment was essentially the entire park crowd for the day. It was EMPTY! The economy may be lousy for lots of things, but light park crowds wasnt one of them! As we made our way inside and started to get our bearings, we immediately ran into stitch and to this character!
For some reason, I don't think we had ever ran into Daisy before! Somehow we didnt get a picture with stitch, but the timing was great. Now a part of me was worried about this, I have been accused of being a bit of a park commando and I had to settle myself down to keep from tearing through the park. I was determined that this time we would just take what the day brought us!
After the character meet n greet we decided to hit Spaceship Earth. The last time we were here it was down for the refurb so the rest of my clan had never done it and I was curious as to what had changed. Now I know that your not supposed to do this ride first thing, its what the masses do and truth be told there was a small line which made me more concerned about what we would find after we made it out, but throwing caution to the wind we got in line and in less than 5 minutes were aboard. Now I have seen a million of the Foxy Cleopatra photo's so I wont add my poor version here, but we really, really enjoyed this ride! I especially loved the suprise at the end seeing our animated future selves, what a kick! We spent a little bit of time wandering around after we got out and then headed towards Soarin. The plan wasnt to ride it but to get FP's, as I imagined that they would be nearly gone by this point. I sent DH to grab those and the children and I found a snack cart (ummm Super Pretzels!), Hubby returned and I had the roasted pecans for him which really blew him away as he said he hadnt had any that good since we were in Germany. For some reason they have excellent roasted Pecans at Octoberfest and they go great with beer!
We had 90 minutes til the FP's for soarin so we headed over to an attraction we had never done,
Now, didnt this used to be where they had Captain EO? We enjoyed it, the ride was a walk on and the skunk was a pleasant change from the odors the kids normally make! We went outside and played around the fountains for a bit.
I was willing myself to behave and take it easy. The kids loved it and DH was mighty impressed too, which just goes to show that sometimes its the small things that Disney does that really make the difference. Next we went and reserved our Kimmunicator's for later and then headed for Soarin.
Now there were a couple of things that struck me, first, when we went in you could already smell oranges which sort of ruins the suprise and second, there were no other scents this time. On the other hand we were in the very front which is an entirely different experience! For some reason, the effect is heightened which while great adds an element that is a little knee weakening! After this great ride we knew that once was enough today. We left Soarin and had lunch at sunshine seasons (For a full report check out my DR, just click the link, come on, you know you want to!) and then we went to watch Honey I shrunk the audience. Now, we enjoyed this, even the constant Kodak commercials, but the movie is terribly dated and not on par with the other 3-D Movies.
Next we went and retrieved our Kimmunicator and promptly turned it off. It's not that we werent interested in playing, merely that we werent ready for China. Instead we stopped in Mexico, rode the boat ride, watched the glass blowers and enjoyed ourselves while the kids partook of the first kidcot station, something else that we skipped last time. As we were leaving we also ran into this guy, my favorite character!
Up next was Norway and I was hoping to find something I liked with Captain Sig!
I really wasnt awestruck though, and there was some celebrity fragrance designer there, but DH wasn't interested in that so we set sail on the turbulant seas of Maelstrom, again and again and again! At first we felt bad skipping the movie, but as hardly anyone stayed we felt a bit better, maybe we didnt need to run out of the theater high fiving, but all the same!
Now, on our way over Dh had grabbed FP's for Test Track, and about now our window had opened for another set so I suggested he go and grab Mission Space (which would be the site of my complete and utter meltdown later, but I'm getting ahead of myself!)
What do you suppose DH returned with? Another set of Test Track Fast Passes! At first I was a little upset, then he explained that when he went up to the machine a CM stopped him and said I wouldn't do that if I were you. DH responded that his window was open and he wanted to make sure we could get on. Then the CM explained that they hadnt had more than a 5 min wait all day and that he might want to use that window for something else! WooHoo in his ultimate wisdom he put 2+2 together and figured an Extra Test Track (his favorite ride) was in order. Actually at some point we got a third set and rode this three times today, but I dont recall the schlepping manuevar that snagged us the other set.
After this we went over to Mission Space where we decided to tackle the green side. Now, I dont really mind the scare factor, but I am claustrophobic. That said, last time I handled this ride no problems, however later in the week we were on RRC and it broke down, well being in that restraint for that long nearly put me over the edge. So when that restraint came down this time, I was panicky, fidgety if you will. Last time I was able to amuse myself with the controls and watching through the screen, this time not so much. On top of that, there was some problem, we werent doing anything. After about 5 minutes of this the doors open but the console remains up close and the restraints stay on. An announcement comes over that there is a delay and it will be a few more minutes. Now truth be told, if it had started right away I might have been fine, but the delays were too much. Some how I squirmed under the restraint and bolted out of our capsule, to the utter astonishment of the kids who were riding with me. Immediately I got the Where are you going cries! I instantly felt like a bad parent fleeing and leaving them alone and a CM happened to be right there so I made some lame excuse about my restraint and went back in. Bad Idea Jeans episode 2!! They were still having problems and making announcements, but this time the doors remained closed. Now, after a few minutes of this, I am in near hysterics! I begged my children to pound on the doors (I was in the middle) but no one came, I screamed, cried, banged, they banged (and started to get a little freaked out, but they also thought it was funny, so there you go, my panic and discomfort was good for a laugh) but no one ever came. I am not sure what the problem was but eventually our mission was scrapped and we were told that we would be jettisoned to the Orange side. Whatever had gone wrong had nothing to do with my hysterics, and the fact that the very thing they tell you to do if you panic got no reaction made me feel even worse about continuing. I actually lined up with them, but when the doors opened I shot out of there like a bolt. I believe the vapor trail is still visible. I felt terrible, and when they came out all smiles and telling me how it started right away and went off without a hitch I felt even worse for not going the extra mile, but I just couldn't do it. I dont know if I'll ever go back on it to be honest. In all we were stuck on the green side for about 20 minutes and it's not an experience I ever want to repeat. Sober anyway.
After this we shopped for a bit and rode Test Track again, then headed to china to play with our Kimmunicator. This was incredibly neat! The things they have set up to interact with you is so ingenous we had a great time doing this, just one more little thing! We only did the one mission and it had started to get dark. We made it over to Germany for a bite (mmm German Super Pretzels) (beer, wine, brats, you know the drill, and if you dont follow the link to my DR!) We played around the countries for a bit, hitting all the kidcot stations as we went and snacking at various places along the way.
At some point we made it to Japan and DH was feeling generous so we did the Pick a Pearl and I had it set in a ring. This was a bit of a challenge because they barely had the time to do this before illuminations so we had a pretty tight window to get back before they closed and everything started. We made it as far as America and then back for the ring (my precious!) before the lights dimmed. Our vantage point in front of Japan wasnt the best, but we didnt feel like walking any further at that point and we had a bench to ourselves. The fireworks were great and it was a fantastic ending to a really awesome day, even though I was still feeling the sting from Mission Space. I still feel like I owe Gary Sinese an apology. The rest of the family enjoyed my meltdown so much, they reminded me of it the rest of the trip anytime someone wanted to skip a ride (such thoughtful children!
) but I am at least glad that it was me freaking out and not one of them. Up next, it's a twins birthday party at the Magic Kingdom! What could be better than that?
). Can't wait for the next episode.
Were there was a street party going on. The kids all danced,
and would disaster finally catch up to us?
