danandjackie
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2003
- Messages
- 440
Day 2
I must be a total gent. After Stitch has woken us up at 6.30 (slept through no probs, must have been zonked) I make my way to the food court on my own and stock up on the Mickey waffles and a western omelette with sides of bacon and sausage and two teas. I then walk back to the room with the tray (its about 2 miles) and I do this every day, hopefully Jackie will be awake and ready. Its just as Im approaching our block of rooms that I realise I have not got a clue what our room number is. I have a vague idea, so I wander in the general direction with my laden tray looking in windows and trying to work out if the strange towel decorations on the window sills are the ones I remember from last night.
A quick word about the towel decorations, they seem to take one of two general forms. The first is in the form of some animal or character, sometimes with stuck on eyes rather spookily added for more effect. The other form is more abstract and seems to resemble, well, two twisted towels randomly knotted together. Perhaps our housekeeper has not finished perfecting the towel-knotting course yet.
I finally pluck up courage to put my room card in the door and, phew it works.
Jackie is bright and ready to get stuck into her waffles. After a quick shower and the omelette we are on our way to the bus for a date with EPCOT.
Quick trip, I am very impressed that this resort is well placed for the Disney buses to get to the parks with ease. Last trip the Disney buses seemed to take the most convoluted routes imaginable from the resort resulting in some trips lasting almost 30mins, here the average is 10mins. The buses are also lining up to pick up. In fact all week we walked to the bus stop to find a bus waiting for us.
Its a lovely morning though it was cool earlier due to last night being totally cloudless. Its warming up now though. We enter EPCOT quickly, have you noticed how people can be like sheep forming two long lines at the two middle ticket barriers when there are ten or more empty barriers either side.
Once in its straight over to Soarin for a FP. As we are among the first to enter The Land the cleaners and servers are playing a beat out with their mops on the table tops and on upturned buckets to greet us. There is no queue so we decide just to do Soarin as a walk on. I am always disappointed by the themeing of the waiting area for this attraction. It always seems a little stuck in to a corner as an afterthought and that long passageway to the ride is like the walk way to a car park. It seems even more stark now after seeing Californias version at Christmas. Its a pleasant ride as usual and to be honest its now the music I enjoy more than the ride, it desperately needs a new film. Apart from the fact this one is looking rather the worse for wear in terms of scratches and blotches, its starting to loose the element of surprise. I have been listening to the podcasts from Inside the Magic and new films are mentioned for Florida, California and Paris (who presumably are going to have the attraction added). I think the Florida film is going to be a particular challenge to the Imagineers with it being such a flat state. Although a shuttle launch at the Kennedy Space Centre and an air boat on the Everglades may be nice to see.
Next we the walk back over to Mission Space for a session of the More Intense Orange training please! with built in face massage, we just love it, MS has to be up there with Spiderman at US, although we are held in the briefing area for a long time for technical reasons which always leads me to wonder if the previous flight crew have managed to redecorate their cockpit.
We hold a FP for Test Track , strangely the FP machine gave us a surprise FP for Mission Space as well. This started to become less of a surprise FP when it became apparent that every other FP for Test Track would result in a surprise FP for Mission Space. Funny thing was invariably there was no queue for MS: intense training.
After several repeated intense trips on Mission Space a cup of hot tea at the Electric Umbrella and much people and fountain watching was enjoyed. I had a nosey around the pin station next door as well, a sure fire way by Disney of removing the dollars from my pocket. I love watching the fountain strike the quarter hour, each time blasting a new theme and a new sequence of jets; its amazing how many people just walk past it. I know its not quite as thrilling during the day as it is at night but its one of my EPCOT things I have to watch.
After a little tea and water is consumed we walk back over towards The Sea to try out the new Nemo ride. Absolutely no line here at all and the ride seems quite hidden , despite its prominence on the front of the new EPCOT map Im not sure anyone really knows its here. The queueing area here in contrast to Soarin is a work of art. You are on a beach, on a boardwalk then actually underwater with waves above you lapping and rippling against boats and pier legs, its actually a shame there is no line as there is no time to take in all the detail.
The ride is very cute with some great little touches especially when you reach the real aquarium at the end. I have to mention the seagulls which sit outside the entrance as well One of the funniest things in the park, in a Monty Python sort of way.
As lunchtime approaches we walk into the world showcase where the final weekend of the food and wine festival is taking place. I feel we did this full justice last year and whilst I enjoyed it I really do need to sit down to appreciate a meal, however some of the wine stalls will be worth visiting later on as there are some new additions this year.
We browse through in an anticlockwise direction until we reach the international gateway where we take a boat down to the Boardwalk for lunch. )This mode of transport is quite new to us and we made full use of it this week.)WEW had ADR at the Big River Grill.
The food is standard fare, not really anything to get excited about however the microbrewed beers are excellent. I simply order a Burger as I can find nothing on the menu that excites me (admittedly its a nice grained burger, cooked rare. Its probably the first burger I have eaten in our last 10 trips to the states but eating it does remind we why I dont really like them and I feel mildly unsatisfied at the end of the meal) fortunately the onsite brewed beers make up for the experience. Jackie has a Mahi Mahi Caesar Salad which is nice though it contains enough iceburg lettuce to keep a family of dieting vegetarians in rabbit food bliss for a month. Jackie washes this down with a nice dry sauvignon, beer being a drink that makes her pull the strangest of faces.
A rather large wedge of wonderful cheescake , and coffees does hit the spot however and the bill is $60 inc the tip. Nice service from Ursula.
We return to EPCOT on the friendship boats with Captain Jennifer who looks about 16 and seems to have forgotten that EPCOT is on EMH tonight until we passengers remind her much to her embarrassment.
Back into Epcot we continue the walk all the way around the Lagoon, snapping away with the camera.
Then its back onto Mission Space as the queue is non existent, just to ensure our lunch is churned thoroughly. By this time that other EPCOT device designed by Disney to remove every last dollar and cent from your wallet is calling Jackies name, Mouse Gear, and a little time is spent wandering around whilst Jackie makes a virtual shopping list in her head of what to by for nieces and nephew, fortunately she has only one sister.
A ride on Spaceship earth is then called for, just for a little nostalgia. More good news as well on the podcast, engineers will be arriving in the NY to work out how best to remove the hideous Mickey arm that drives me to mutter expletives under my breath on every visit, may I suggest dynamite. I take some pics on the way out as dusk starts to set showing the right hand side only to show how powerful and immense spaceship earth should look, the arm scales it down to look like a golf ball.
A bus ride then back to the resort and a shower followed by a change into some nicer clothes: Jackie chooses a strappy dress and I go for the linen coloured suit not having the legs for a short skirt. Then its back on the bus and straight back to EPCOT. Admittedly we probably look over dressed for the Disney buses but I quite enjoy the attention. I feel like Hercule Poirot for a moment. The CM on the barrier tells us we look wonderful as we enter EPCOT and make our way around to the World Showcase and the International Gateway. Its quite a walk for Jackie in her heels. Did you know the height of heel is directly proportional to the distance from leaving the bus to the restaurant! Hence the name of our Trip reports. Its also very busy with locals tonight who have come in to take advantage of the last weekend of the Food and Wine and Jon Secada will be bringing down the curtain to Eat to the Beat tonight and tomorrow night at the American Pavillion
We finally get to the Friendship boat again, this is such a lovely way of travelling, and head over to the Swan and Dolphin for dinner at BlueZoo, report to follow.
I must be a total gent. After Stitch has woken us up at 6.30 (slept through no probs, must have been zonked) I make my way to the food court on my own and stock up on the Mickey waffles and a western omelette with sides of bacon and sausage and two teas. I then walk back to the room with the tray (its about 2 miles) and I do this every day, hopefully Jackie will be awake and ready. Its just as Im approaching our block of rooms that I realise I have not got a clue what our room number is. I have a vague idea, so I wander in the general direction with my laden tray looking in windows and trying to work out if the strange towel decorations on the window sills are the ones I remember from last night.
A quick word about the towel decorations, they seem to take one of two general forms. The first is in the form of some animal or character, sometimes with stuck on eyes rather spookily added for more effect. The other form is more abstract and seems to resemble, well, two twisted towels randomly knotted together. Perhaps our housekeeper has not finished perfecting the towel-knotting course yet.
I finally pluck up courage to put my room card in the door and, phew it works.
Jackie is bright and ready to get stuck into her waffles. After a quick shower and the omelette we are on our way to the bus for a date with EPCOT.
Quick trip, I am very impressed that this resort is well placed for the Disney buses to get to the parks with ease. Last trip the Disney buses seemed to take the most convoluted routes imaginable from the resort resulting in some trips lasting almost 30mins, here the average is 10mins. The buses are also lining up to pick up. In fact all week we walked to the bus stop to find a bus waiting for us.
Its a lovely morning though it was cool earlier due to last night being totally cloudless. Its warming up now though. We enter EPCOT quickly, have you noticed how people can be like sheep forming two long lines at the two middle ticket barriers when there are ten or more empty barriers either side.
Once in its straight over to Soarin for a FP. As we are among the first to enter The Land the cleaners and servers are playing a beat out with their mops on the table tops and on upturned buckets to greet us. There is no queue so we decide just to do Soarin as a walk on. I am always disappointed by the themeing of the waiting area for this attraction. It always seems a little stuck in to a corner as an afterthought and that long passageway to the ride is like the walk way to a car park. It seems even more stark now after seeing Californias version at Christmas. Its a pleasant ride as usual and to be honest its now the music I enjoy more than the ride, it desperately needs a new film. Apart from the fact this one is looking rather the worse for wear in terms of scratches and blotches, its starting to loose the element of surprise. I have been listening to the podcasts from Inside the Magic and new films are mentioned for Florida, California and Paris (who presumably are going to have the attraction added). I think the Florida film is going to be a particular challenge to the Imagineers with it being such a flat state. Although a shuttle launch at the Kennedy Space Centre and an air boat on the Everglades may be nice to see.
Next we the walk back over to Mission Space for a session of the More Intense Orange training please! with built in face massage, we just love it, MS has to be up there with Spiderman at US, although we are held in the briefing area for a long time for technical reasons which always leads me to wonder if the previous flight crew have managed to redecorate their cockpit.
We hold a FP for Test Track , strangely the FP machine gave us a surprise FP for Mission Space as well. This started to become less of a surprise FP when it became apparent that every other FP for Test Track would result in a surprise FP for Mission Space. Funny thing was invariably there was no queue for MS: intense training.
After several repeated intense trips on Mission Space a cup of hot tea at the Electric Umbrella and much people and fountain watching was enjoyed. I had a nosey around the pin station next door as well, a sure fire way by Disney of removing the dollars from my pocket. I love watching the fountain strike the quarter hour, each time blasting a new theme and a new sequence of jets; its amazing how many people just walk past it. I know its not quite as thrilling during the day as it is at night but its one of my EPCOT things I have to watch.
After a little tea and water is consumed we walk back over towards The Sea to try out the new Nemo ride. Absolutely no line here at all and the ride seems quite hidden , despite its prominence on the front of the new EPCOT map Im not sure anyone really knows its here. The queueing area here in contrast to Soarin is a work of art. You are on a beach, on a boardwalk then actually underwater with waves above you lapping and rippling against boats and pier legs, its actually a shame there is no line as there is no time to take in all the detail.
The ride is very cute with some great little touches especially when you reach the real aquarium at the end. I have to mention the seagulls which sit outside the entrance as well One of the funniest things in the park, in a Monty Python sort of way.
As lunchtime approaches we walk into the world showcase where the final weekend of the food and wine festival is taking place. I feel we did this full justice last year and whilst I enjoyed it I really do need to sit down to appreciate a meal, however some of the wine stalls will be worth visiting later on as there are some new additions this year.
We browse through in an anticlockwise direction until we reach the international gateway where we take a boat down to the Boardwalk for lunch. )This mode of transport is quite new to us and we made full use of it this week.)WEW had ADR at the Big River Grill.
The food is standard fare, not really anything to get excited about however the microbrewed beers are excellent. I simply order a Burger as I can find nothing on the menu that excites me (admittedly its a nice grained burger, cooked rare. Its probably the first burger I have eaten in our last 10 trips to the states but eating it does remind we why I dont really like them and I feel mildly unsatisfied at the end of the meal) fortunately the onsite brewed beers make up for the experience. Jackie has a Mahi Mahi Caesar Salad which is nice though it contains enough iceburg lettuce to keep a family of dieting vegetarians in rabbit food bliss for a month. Jackie washes this down with a nice dry sauvignon, beer being a drink that makes her pull the strangest of faces.
A rather large wedge of wonderful cheescake , and coffees does hit the spot however and the bill is $60 inc the tip. Nice service from Ursula.
We return to EPCOT on the friendship boats with Captain Jennifer who looks about 16 and seems to have forgotten that EPCOT is on EMH tonight until we passengers remind her much to her embarrassment.
Back into Epcot we continue the walk all the way around the Lagoon, snapping away with the camera.
Then its back onto Mission Space as the queue is non existent, just to ensure our lunch is churned thoroughly. By this time that other EPCOT device designed by Disney to remove every last dollar and cent from your wallet is calling Jackies name, Mouse Gear, and a little time is spent wandering around whilst Jackie makes a virtual shopping list in her head of what to by for nieces and nephew, fortunately she has only one sister.
A ride on Spaceship earth is then called for, just for a little nostalgia. More good news as well on the podcast, engineers will be arriving in the NY to work out how best to remove the hideous Mickey arm that drives me to mutter expletives under my breath on every visit, may I suggest dynamite. I take some pics on the way out as dusk starts to set showing the right hand side only to show how powerful and immense spaceship earth should look, the arm scales it down to look like a golf ball.
A bus ride then back to the resort and a shower followed by a change into some nicer clothes: Jackie chooses a strappy dress and I go for the linen coloured suit not having the legs for a short skirt. Then its back on the bus and straight back to EPCOT. Admittedly we probably look over dressed for the Disney buses but I quite enjoy the attention. I feel like Hercule Poirot for a moment. The CM on the barrier tells us we look wonderful as we enter EPCOT and make our way around to the World Showcase and the International Gateway. Its quite a walk for Jackie in her heels. Did you know the height of heel is directly proportional to the distance from leaving the bus to the restaurant! Hence the name of our Trip reports. Its also very busy with locals tonight who have come in to take advantage of the last weekend of the Food and Wine and Jon Secada will be bringing down the curtain to Eat to the Beat tonight and tomorrow night at the American Pavillion
We finally get to the Friendship boat again, this is such a lovely way of travelling, and head over to the Swan and Dolphin for dinner at BlueZoo, report to follow.
Or maybe I'm just not there at the right time. I've entertained many a CM prancing around to that.
), but not for a while, so I'm looking forward to hearing what you made of it.
)
Looking forward to the video 
