londonpenguin
The Voice of Reason
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2002
- Messages
- 415
Dramatis Personae
Me (londonpenguin), 34
My BF, 40
Day Six, September 12
Heres a good look: wearing a midriff-baring top and hip huggers, and having the tag from your underpants sticking up. Saw that Glamour Dont on the bus today. Speaking of the bus, weve found the bus service to be pretty amazing. They can be alarming, however, when the driver takes a curve quickly. I know theres some law of physics that says the bus wont tip over, but it sure the hell feels like it will!
Went to EPCOT WS today, stopping off at the Electric Umbrella (variously referred to throughout the trip as the Electric Blanket, Electric Toothbrush, and Electric Razor) for breakfast we were too late for breakfast service but were able to get fruit cups and juice. Alas, no French toast sticks!
Decided to do the countries counter-clockwise (or anticlockwise, as the 27,869 Brits there would say). The Hôtel du Canada was undergoing renovation, so it was not terribly picturesque. Watched the CircleVision film, which made us want to visit Montreal for our next vacation. Bought a magnet from a lumberjack.
The UK next. Very cute, but surprised there was no Big Ben scale model or a small Tower Bridge. If those things were there, I totally missed them. I loved the Hampton Court-esque main building, and the pretty little Mary Poppins-ish square at the back. No bloody magnets!
On to France, where we watched the Impressions de France film and were suitably impressed. Isnt the music at the beginning the same music used in Harry Potter? Or am I dreaming? Got an absolutely gorgeous chocolate and almond cream pastry at the Patisserie (thank you, Baptiste, for the excellent recommendation). Talk about scrumdiddlyumptious! The shops were very cute, and we watched some entertainers doing acrobatic stuff. Bought a magnet from a very friendly young Frenchman at a cart. His English was a teensy bit fractured (very endearing), but then mon français nest pas très bon non plus. We discussed the dollar/Euro exchange rate at length (i.e., for about 47 seconds) then said au revoir.
Then to Morocco. Lovely to look at lots of bright colors and shiny things. Bought a magnet, and the gentleman even put it in a box for me.
Japan next. No magnet! But lots of Ichiro merchandise, which made us Mariners fans laugh. Loved the koi pond, and it seemed there were even more little lizards scampering around than usual. Very tempted by the lovely chopsticks sets in Mitsukoshi, until we remembered that we dont use the lovely chopsticks sets we already have. (We did go back to Japan later on and I bought a lucky cat magnet.)
On to the American Adventure. I actually enjoyed the corny but stirring presentation. How on earth did they come up with Ben Franklin and Mark Twain? Saw the Ground Zero flag, which made me very sad.
Very hungry now. Back to Restaurant Marrakesh for the lunch special. We had beef rolls, chicken kebabs, savory rice and some sort of very sweet apple pastry. It was all very tasty, and the restaurant was pretty, though virtually empty. At one point, for about five minutes, we were the only two diners in the place. A belly dancer came out and got some little girls to dance with her. Their grandfather helped a bit by dancing with them. He was a fat guy in his 60s, so it was pretty funny.
Going back through America, there were Colonial soldiers singing patriotic songs. They got some young citizens up to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I actually had tears in my eyes, especially as we finished with God Bless America. Im such a softie. Cheered myself up by buying a magnet. At this rate, Im going to need to buy a second fridge.
Italy came next. Watched the carnevale-type entertainers for a bit and thoroughly enjoyed the funny guy who recruited a couple of little girls to basically do his act for him. Unfortunately, the campanile was in scaffolding, so Italy wasnt as picturesque as Id hoped. Bought a magnet from Gianni from Rome. He was utterly thrilled to be there not!
Germany was very Bavarian-looking. At least, it looked like Germany does in fairytale books. It was cute, anyway. I was excited to find a Steiff St. Bernard for my mothers husband for Christmas. I never know what to get him. Also got a sweet little rag doll for my cousins baby girl. Bought a magnet from a girl at a cart. I took a German class once and learned three things: (1) how to say please/thank you, hello/goodbye, etc.; (2) how to explain to someone that I am a foreigner and dont speak good German so could you please speak slower; and (3) how to buy a Swatch watch for a friend, provided the watch is red and has a picture of a mermaid on the face. So, when the girl handed over the magnet, I said, Danke. She replied with a short flurry of German, and I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. Ach, how embarrassing!
Enjoyed the CircleVision movie in China but no magnets! The whole pavilion was beautiful, and we got to see the acrobats for a bit.
To Norway, where Maelstrom was closed for refurb. Got a lovely pastry at the bakery (cloudberry something or other), and the heavens opened while we were eating. Fortunately, we had our rain jackets. We still got pretty wet. I mean, there was a regular gale blowing us around. Also, no magnet!
Dashed through the deluge narrowly avoiding the passing Ark to Mexico and rode El Rio del Tiempo. I have no idea what this ride was about. I was so distracted by one of the Incas on a video screen at the beginning who looked a lot like Ben Stiller, that I failed to pay attention to the rest of it. At least it was dry. There was a mariachi band playing, and it was all very festive. No magnet. Ay yi yi.
It was still bucketing down when we went back outside, but we went back to the UK to buy Double Deckers and Picnics and Curly Wurlies and a Cadbury hazelnut bar. The CM helping us was enthusiastic and only recently transplanted from England. He asked us, in a British accent of course, if we knew that the CMs in WS were almost all natives of the countries represented. Really? And here I thought I detected a Minnesota accent when you spoke.
Back to the resort. We were both sopping wet. Went to the Food Court for dinner, then went back to the room to eat candy, watch SoapNet, and attempt to dry our shoes with my travel hairdryer.
AK and WS have been my favorites so far, followed closely by BB.
Me (londonpenguin), 34
My BF, 40
Day Six, September 12
Heres a good look: wearing a midriff-baring top and hip huggers, and having the tag from your underpants sticking up. Saw that Glamour Dont on the bus today. Speaking of the bus, weve found the bus service to be pretty amazing. They can be alarming, however, when the driver takes a curve quickly. I know theres some law of physics that says the bus wont tip over, but it sure the hell feels like it will!
Went to EPCOT WS today, stopping off at the Electric Umbrella (variously referred to throughout the trip as the Electric Blanket, Electric Toothbrush, and Electric Razor) for breakfast we were too late for breakfast service but were able to get fruit cups and juice. Alas, no French toast sticks!
Decided to do the countries counter-clockwise (or anticlockwise, as the 27,869 Brits there would say). The Hôtel du Canada was undergoing renovation, so it was not terribly picturesque. Watched the CircleVision film, which made us want to visit Montreal for our next vacation. Bought a magnet from a lumberjack.
The UK next. Very cute, but surprised there was no Big Ben scale model or a small Tower Bridge. If those things were there, I totally missed them. I loved the Hampton Court-esque main building, and the pretty little Mary Poppins-ish square at the back. No bloody magnets!
On to France, where we watched the Impressions de France film and were suitably impressed. Isnt the music at the beginning the same music used in Harry Potter? Or am I dreaming? Got an absolutely gorgeous chocolate and almond cream pastry at the Patisserie (thank you, Baptiste, for the excellent recommendation). Talk about scrumdiddlyumptious! The shops were very cute, and we watched some entertainers doing acrobatic stuff. Bought a magnet from a very friendly young Frenchman at a cart. His English was a teensy bit fractured (very endearing), but then mon français nest pas très bon non plus. We discussed the dollar/Euro exchange rate at length (i.e., for about 47 seconds) then said au revoir.
Then to Morocco. Lovely to look at lots of bright colors and shiny things. Bought a magnet, and the gentleman even put it in a box for me.
Japan next. No magnet! But lots of Ichiro merchandise, which made us Mariners fans laugh. Loved the koi pond, and it seemed there were even more little lizards scampering around than usual. Very tempted by the lovely chopsticks sets in Mitsukoshi, until we remembered that we dont use the lovely chopsticks sets we already have. (We did go back to Japan later on and I bought a lucky cat magnet.)
On to the American Adventure. I actually enjoyed the corny but stirring presentation. How on earth did they come up with Ben Franklin and Mark Twain? Saw the Ground Zero flag, which made me very sad.
Very hungry now. Back to Restaurant Marrakesh for the lunch special. We had beef rolls, chicken kebabs, savory rice and some sort of very sweet apple pastry. It was all very tasty, and the restaurant was pretty, though virtually empty. At one point, for about five minutes, we were the only two diners in the place. A belly dancer came out and got some little girls to dance with her. Their grandfather helped a bit by dancing with them. He was a fat guy in his 60s, so it was pretty funny.
Going back through America, there were Colonial soldiers singing patriotic songs. They got some young citizens up to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I actually had tears in my eyes, especially as we finished with God Bless America. Im such a softie. Cheered myself up by buying a magnet. At this rate, Im going to need to buy a second fridge.
Italy came next. Watched the carnevale-type entertainers for a bit and thoroughly enjoyed the funny guy who recruited a couple of little girls to basically do his act for him. Unfortunately, the campanile was in scaffolding, so Italy wasnt as picturesque as Id hoped. Bought a magnet from Gianni from Rome. He was utterly thrilled to be there not!
Germany was very Bavarian-looking. At least, it looked like Germany does in fairytale books. It was cute, anyway. I was excited to find a Steiff St. Bernard for my mothers husband for Christmas. I never know what to get him. Also got a sweet little rag doll for my cousins baby girl. Bought a magnet from a girl at a cart. I took a German class once and learned three things: (1) how to say please/thank you, hello/goodbye, etc.; (2) how to explain to someone that I am a foreigner and dont speak good German so could you please speak slower; and (3) how to buy a Swatch watch for a friend, provided the watch is red and has a picture of a mermaid on the face. So, when the girl handed over the magnet, I said, Danke. She replied with a short flurry of German, and I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. Ach, how embarrassing!
Enjoyed the CircleVision movie in China but no magnets! The whole pavilion was beautiful, and we got to see the acrobats for a bit.
To Norway, where Maelstrom was closed for refurb. Got a lovely pastry at the bakery (cloudberry something or other), and the heavens opened while we were eating. Fortunately, we had our rain jackets. We still got pretty wet. I mean, there was a regular gale blowing us around. Also, no magnet!
Dashed through the deluge narrowly avoiding the passing Ark to Mexico and rode El Rio del Tiempo. I have no idea what this ride was about. I was so distracted by one of the Incas on a video screen at the beginning who looked a lot like Ben Stiller, that I failed to pay attention to the rest of it. At least it was dry. There was a mariachi band playing, and it was all very festive. No magnet. Ay yi yi.
It was still bucketing down when we went back outside, but we went back to the UK to buy Double Deckers and Picnics and Curly Wurlies and a Cadbury hazelnut bar. The CM helping us was enthusiastic and only recently transplanted from England. He asked us, in a British accent of course, if we knew that the CMs in WS were almost all natives of the countries represented. Really? And here I thought I detected a Minnesota accent when you spoke.
Back to the resort. We were both sopping wet. Went to the Food Court for dinner, then went back to the room to eat candy, watch SoapNet, and attempt to dry our shoes with my travel hairdryer.
AK and WS have been my favorites so far, followed closely by BB.
