DisneyJedi
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2001
- Messages
- 39
The long days were starting to take their toll on my wife and I and as our honeymoon progressed we were unable to wake up as early as we had on the previous two Disney days. Today we decided to go to Epcot.
We had noticed the free transportation at the Buena Vista Suites where we were now staying, but opted to not use it because we considered leaving for the parks at 9:30am-ish was too late and by the time we'd have gotten there by bus it would be much later. I assumed the bus probably stopped at other resorts on the way, but I never asked. I wanted the freedom to come and go to the parks at will and not rely on busses. We wasted enough time at busses from Downtown Disney to Magic Kingdom the first full day.
Since it was asked, I will leave my impression of Buena Vista suites before I begin to describe our great day at Epcot. Like I said in a previous trip report I didn't bid very smart at priceline.com and we were stuck using our honeymoon savings to stay at Buena Vista Suites with no possibility for a redo at priceline. Buena Vista Suites wasn't an a bad place. If you've stayed at Courtyard by Marriot, you've been to Buena Vista Suites. The only real difference is that you get a free continental breakfast which is more like cafeteria food from your high school. The rooms are a little bigger. We had the queen room to take advantage of pillows and sheets off the second bed. The inside of the room was basic, though the yellowish painted walls and really tacky drapes were not very attractive. We didn't care much though because for us, this was just a place to sleep. There are two rooms and a bathroom between them at Buena Vista Suites. There are also two televisions, though we only used one and barely at that. There's a little refrigerator that isn't very cold at all. There'sa little frost on the metal plate in the back of the fridge, but it took all week to cool a gallon of Hawain Punch in there. I found myself using my cooler instead. There's also a basic microwave that I used a couple times n leftover food and it gets the job done fine. The staff at this hotel was predominantly Spanish-speaking and they tried to charge me again until I pointed out about my priceline bid. The housekeeping was ok. We left a buck on the pillow everynight for them anyway. My wife used to work as a housekeeper and she knows how messy people can be and how much appreciation a housekeeper has for a little tip left for them everyday. The housekeeping vacuumed everyday and made the beds until the last couple days we were there and figured out I was taking the pillows off the second bed. They simply put the extra pillows on the bed we slept in. They started to slack a bit on leaving towels towards the end of our stay, but we had enough to get by. They stopped replacing the free soap (they're onto us)
My major complaint would be the barely-cold fridge and the fact the pool was used 24-7 by lots of kids. My wife and I don't like being splashed, so we never got to swim the 6 days we were there. Anyway, Buena Vista Suites was sufficient if you are on a budget and need a place to sleep.
Ok, now onto our day..
So we drove to Epcot the way I knew how.. by driving all the way to Downtown Disney. I later figured out if I had just gone straight down International Drive, I'd be right at Disney. That's what I get for being too cheap to buy a map of Orlando I guess. Parking at Epcot (like MGM was easy). Just pay $6 and grab a spot, hopefully up front or close to the tram. I think we parked in Journey row 45. We had a small walk to the tram. We rode the tram to the main gate.
As I watched Spaceship Earth grow in size, I had forgotten how massive it really is. I kept looking at the Mickey's hand attached to the side and couldn't remember if guests could ever want by that side or not. I came to the conclusion that back in the mid-eighties when I was there we had exited the park on the side where the hand now resides.
We didn't really have a game-plan to tackle Epcot, but I knew we wouldn't experience everything in one day here. The very first thing we did was head to Test Track, after hearing about all the good things here. We didn;t need a fastpass.. we waited on a line for about 15 minutes watching the cars zip around on the track overhead. Something must have happened because there was a good 5 minutes when there were no cars on the track. I heard this attraction goes offline quite a bit, so it was to be expected. When we got inside, we didnt have time to view the queuing area. We were admitted to the ride right away. My wife and I were joined by a singles lane rider and off we went. I enjoyed the various tests our 'car' was subject to. The ride never broke down while we were on it. I would have liked to go on this one again. It really made me understand what goes into testing a car.
After Test Track, we went to Universe of Energy. I remember the old boring movie and didn't mind Ellen's movie at all. I knew Ellen was added as an animatronic to the attraction, but couldn't place what the dinosaurs used to be doing in that location. Anyone remember?
I noticed the new space attraction was well into construction. There was a wireframe sphere added since I saw the last pics on the 'net. I snapped a pic myself. It'll be interesting to see how the design plays into the attraction when it done.
We made our way to the other side of the park and went to see Honey, I Shrunk The Audience. The pre-show was not very interesting at all. I wish I could have been seated. The CMs ushered in more people, but not enough to warrant everyone to squish together so close. The attraction wasn't full enough for that. My wife and I really like the 3D effects and this was a good one. We thoroughly enjoyed it. What ever happened to Rick Moranis?
Next, we had to go to Journey Into Your Imagination. I was curious to see how bad they hacked it up. You guys were not kidding. I really missed Figment. My wife likes the Figment character alot, judging by all the Figment goods she bought in the gift shop afterward. Disney needs to do something about this ride. They took a wonderful, little ride and took all the good elements out of it (Figment). I hope with enough public outcry they will add Figment everywhere possible. He really focused the guests on using their imagination. There wasn't much to focus on anymore there.
We had planned to jump in Innovations, but decided to start our trip around the World Showcase. We started on the right side. I know we passed Canada in interest of time and wound-up eating fish and chips in the UK. We thought they would taste like Long John Silvers, but we were far from wrong. The fish was bland and the fries were a big soggy, but acceptable. There were no tables free, so we grabbed a bench in front of the water and watched birds fly around. In the eighties I remember flocks of seagulls in the park. You'd throw down a french fry and two dozen seagulls would swoop down at it. I didn't see a single seagull the entire honeymoon, unless you count Scuttle's food shack place at Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom.
We did manage to eat all of our food and once again were set to navigate the World Showcase. We passed Japan and had to stop in the gift shop. We spent a great deal of time in there. My wife is a Hello Kitty fan and she was having a great time shopping through all of that stuff. I watched a CM there split open an oyster and get out a pearl for some customer. That was pretty amusing.
We later approached the American section and proceeded to wait for The American Adventure. We grabbed a bench and waited for probably a half hour. That accapella group came in and sang quite nicely. Unfortunately our great view gave away to looking through holes formed by people's backsides as they blocked the way. We didn't have the energy to get up and have a closer look. I figured if we could hear the singing from our bench, it was good enough. We finally got seated in the enormous autitorium and watched the show. The darkness in the theater was just like in my college biology class, so I started to fall asleep. I believe my wife actually did fall asleep. She asked me what happened and I only had sketchy details to give her. I felt a little rested exiting this attraction.
The darness gave way to blinding sunlight outside the theater, but we moved over to the China section and caught the Dragon Legend Acrobats performing. They were incredible! We didn't see what the little girls performed, but those little boys flew and jumped around like crazy. They were great! It was a cool stop! We mingled around the gift shops here afterward and I bought one of them little drums with the two beads on either side as a novelty item.
Next we went on the Maelstrom. A dozen annoying kids were in front of us on the queue. They were noisy and moving all over the place. I was glad when the CM put us ahead of them into a boat before theirs. In interest of time we sorta skipped the movie afterward.
The entire time around the World Showcase we were looking for DoleWhip after reading about how wonderful it is at the DIS I thought they sold it here, but couldn't find it. We also visited Mexico and took an easy ride on the boat through there. There was no line at all. Gotta love that! I love the simulaated sky there. it is so realistic. I wish the skys were that clear here.
The Flower and Garden Festival was going on in full swing, so my wife and I admired the scenary as we moved from one side of the park to the other. I took a bunch of pictures (of course). The park is so beautiful. It made me want to grow some flowers at my apartment.
We made our way to the Land and sat down for a few minutes. I got us some Sprite to drink in a cup shaped like Spaceship Earth. I asked the vender about DoleWhip and she had no idea, so she asked this older fellow and he said he hadn't seen anything like what I described in a year and a half. I was bummed (but later discovered secret location of DoleWhip by actually reading the map at Magic Kingdom a couple days later on our honeymoon). My wife and I sat around in front of the Land sucking Sprite out of Spaceship Earth for awhile.
About this time we were getting hungry, so we exited the park, but not before going on a little trip in Spaceship Earth. The flagship attraction at Epcot is always a joy to go on. You all were not kidding when you said it needs WD-40. I'll even spring for a can if Disney would like. This ride needs some lube.
We headed out the park to Bahamma Breeze for dinner. I had never been there before and didn't know what to expect. Unfortunately I drank too much pop at Epcot and felt a certain acidity in my system from Sprite-backwash from my gut. I didn't know everything at Bahamma Breeze was spicy. Heck of a place to pick on a sour stomach huh? I would up getting a pizza, as did my wife. Little did we knew we weren't as hungry as the server must have thought. We had WAY too much pizza between us. We could have shared one just fine, but the server insisted that we needed two. The pizza was good, but in my condition I shouldn't have eaten as much as I did, for I had 2 slices left and took a bite out of them which about killed me. I must have eaten the spiciest portion. I was put in a spin and had to take it easy. This was a free meal earned from gift certificates, but we took the pizza back to stash in the fridge anyway just in case I could eat it later.
We didn't want to miss the later Tapestry of Nations Parade (I'm not sure if there was an earlier one or not), so we drove back to Epcot and rushed over to the Morocco where the CM told me it ended. We got there early enough to watch a bunch of kids dance around with an Indian woman for 10 minutes or so as the parade finally made its way to us. I had enough time to forget about my rotten stomach when we finally got to watch the parade.
The parade was pretty neat. I don't see the broken puppets and faded clothing others have spoken about. It was dark and it all looked fine and wonderous to me.
After the parade we found a bench close to where we watched the parade and sat there until it started. When it started we moved because some trees were just in the right spot to ruin the fireworks. All the good real estate for watching them was taken and we could barely see the shining globe from our location. The show was a disappointment. If I knew where to stand, we'd of had a better view and probably would have enjoyed it more.
Exiting the park, I just love the neon lighting, so I snapped some pictures. A few came out pretty good, so I was happy. I got a really awesome shot of the lights on Spaceship Earth. It looks like a postcard.
We had a great and busy Epcot day. There was alot of attractions we didn't even touch, so we planned to return here later in the trip. Tomorrow we are off to Animal Kingdom, so better get back to Buena Vista Suites for a good night's rest. Both of us had never been there and didn't know what to expect.
We had noticed the free transportation at the Buena Vista Suites where we were now staying, but opted to not use it because we considered leaving for the parks at 9:30am-ish was too late and by the time we'd have gotten there by bus it would be much later. I assumed the bus probably stopped at other resorts on the way, but I never asked. I wanted the freedom to come and go to the parks at will and not rely on busses. We wasted enough time at busses from Downtown Disney to Magic Kingdom the first full day.
Since it was asked, I will leave my impression of Buena Vista suites before I begin to describe our great day at Epcot. Like I said in a previous trip report I didn't bid very smart at priceline.com and we were stuck using our honeymoon savings to stay at Buena Vista Suites with no possibility for a redo at priceline. Buena Vista Suites wasn't an a bad place. If you've stayed at Courtyard by Marriot, you've been to Buena Vista Suites. The only real difference is that you get a free continental breakfast which is more like cafeteria food from your high school. The rooms are a little bigger. We had the queen room to take advantage of pillows and sheets off the second bed. The inside of the room was basic, though the yellowish painted walls and really tacky drapes were not very attractive. We didn't care much though because for us, this was just a place to sleep. There are two rooms and a bathroom between them at Buena Vista Suites. There are also two televisions, though we only used one and barely at that. There's a little refrigerator that isn't very cold at all. There'sa little frost on the metal plate in the back of the fridge, but it took all week to cool a gallon of Hawain Punch in there. I found myself using my cooler instead. There's also a basic microwave that I used a couple times n leftover food and it gets the job done fine. The staff at this hotel was predominantly Spanish-speaking and they tried to charge me again until I pointed out about my priceline bid. The housekeeping was ok. We left a buck on the pillow everynight for them anyway. My wife used to work as a housekeeper and she knows how messy people can be and how much appreciation a housekeeper has for a little tip left for them everyday. The housekeeping vacuumed everyday and made the beds until the last couple days we were there and figured out I was taking the pillows off the second bed. They simply put the extra pillows on the bed we slept in. They started to slack a bit on leaving towels towards the end of our stay, but we had enough to get by. They stopped replacing the free soap (they're onto us)
My major complaint would be the barely-cold fridge and the fact the pool was used 24-7 by lots of kids. My wife and I don't like being splashed, so we never got to swim the 6 days we were there. Anyway, Buena Vista Suites was sufficient if you are on a budget and need a place to sleep. Ok, now onto our day..
So we drove to Epcot the way I knew how.. by driving all the way to Downtown Disney. I later figured out if I had just gone straight down International Drive, I'd be right at Disney. That's what I get for being too cheap to buy a map of Orlando I guess. Parking at Epcot (like MGM was easy). Just pay $6 and grab a spot, hopefully up front or close to the tram. I think we parked in Journey row 45. We had a small walk to the tram. We rode the tram to the main gate.
As I watched Spaceship Earth grow in size, I had forgotten how massive it really is. I kept looking at the Mickey's hand attached to the side and couldn't remember if guests could ever want by that side or not. I came to the conclusion that back in the mid-eighties when I was there we had exited the park on the side where the hand now resides.
We didn't really have a game-plan to tackle Epcot, but I knew we wouldn't experience everything in one day here. The very first thing we did was head to Test Track, after hearing about all the good things here. We didn;t need a fastpass.. we waited on a line for about 15 minutes watching the cars zip around on the track overhead. Something must have happened because there was a good 5 minutes when there were no cars on the track. I heard this attraction goes offline quite a bit, so it was to be expected. When we got inside, we didnt have time to view the queuing area. We were admitted to the ride right away. My wife and I were joined by a singles lane rider and off we went. I enjoyed the various tests our 'car' was subject to. The ride never broke down while we were on it. I would have liked to go on this one again. It really made me understand what goes into testing a car.
After Test Track, we went to Universe of Energy. I remember the old boring movie and didn't mind Ellen's movie at all. I knew Ellen was added as an animatronic to the attraction, but couldn't place what the dinosaurs used to be doing in that location. Anyone remember?
I noticed the new space attraction was well into construction. There was a wireframe sphere added since I saw the last pics on the 'net. I snapped a pic myself. It'll be interesting to see how the design plays into the attraction when it done.
We made our way to the other side of the park and went to see Honey, I Shrunk The Audience. The pre-show was not very interesting at all. I wish I could have been seated. The CMs ushered in more people, but not enough to warrant everyone to squish together so close. The attraction wasn't full enough for that. My wife and I really like the 3D effects and this was a good one. We thoroughly enjoyed it. What ever happened to Rick Moranis?
Next, we had to go to Journey Into Your Imagination. I was curious to see how bad they hacked it up. You guys were not kidding. I really missed Figment. My wife likes the Figment character alot, judging by all the Figment goods she bought in the gift shop afterward. Disney needs to do something about this ride. They took a wonderful, little ride and took all the good elements out of it (Figment). I hope with enough public outcry they will add Figment everywhere possible. He really focused the guests on using their imagination. There wasn't much to focus on anymore there.
We had planned to jump in Innovations, but decided to start our trip around the World Showcase. We started on the right side. I know we passed Canada in interest of time and wound-up eating fish and chips in the UK. We thought they would taste like Long John Silvers, but we were far from wrong. The fish was bland and the fries were a big soggy, but acceptable. There were no tables free, so we grabbed a bench in front of the water and watched birds fly around. In the eighties I remember flocks of seagulls in the park. You'd throw down a french fry and two dozen seagulls would swoop down at it. I didn't see a single seagull the entire honeymoon, unless you count Scuttle's food shack place at Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom.
We did manage to eat all of our food and once again were set to navigate the World Showcase. We passed Japan and had to stop in the gift shop. We spent a great deal of time in there. My wife is a Hello Kitty fan and she was having a great time shopping through all of that stuff. I watched a CM there split open an oyster and get out a pearl for some customer. That was pretty amusing.
We later approached the American section and proceeded to wait for The American Adventure. We grabbed a bench and waited for probably a half hour. That accapella group came in and sang quite nicely. Unfortunately our great view gave away to looking through holes formed by people's backsides as they blocked the way. We didn't have the energy to get up and have a closer look. I figured if we could hear the singing from our bench, it was good enough. We finally got seated in the enormous autitorium and watched the show. The darkness in the theater was just like in my college biology class, so I started to fall asleep. I believe my wife actually did fall asleep. She asked me what happened and I only had sketchy details to give her. I felt a little rested exiting this attraction.
The darness gave way to blinding sunlight outside the theater, but we moved over to the China section and caught the Dragon Legend Acrobats performing. They were incredible! We didn't see what the little girls performed, but those little boys flew and jumped around like crazy. They were great! It was a cool stop! We mingled around the gift shops here afterward and I bought one of them little drums with the two beads on either side as a novelty item.
Next we went on the Maelstrom. A dozen annoying kids were in front of us on the queue. They were noisy and moving all over the place. I was glad when the CM put us ahead of them into a boat before theirs. In interest of time we sorta skipped the movie afterward.
The entire time around the World Showcase we were looking for DoleWhip after reading about how wonderful it is at the DIS I thought they sold it here, but couldn't find it. We also visited Mexico and took an easy ride on the boat through there. There was no line at all. Gotta love that! I love the simulaated sky there. it is so realistic. I wish the skys were that clear here.
The Flower and Garden Festival was going on in full swing, so my wife and I admired the scenary as we moved from one side of the park to the other. I took a bunch of pictures (of course). The park is so beautiful. It made me want to grow some flowers at my apartment.
We made our way to the Land and sat down for a few minutes. I got us some Sprite to drink in a cup shaped like Spaceship Earth. I asked the vender about DoleWhip and she had no idea, so she asked this older fellow and he said he hadn't seen anything like what I described in a year and a half. I was bummed (but later discovered secret location of DoleWhip by actually reading the map at Magic Kingdom a couple days later on our honeymoon). My wife and I sat around in front of the Land sucking Sprite out of Spaceship Earth for awhile.
About this time we were getting hungry, so we exited the park, but not before going on a little trip in Spaceship Earth. The flagship attraction at Epcot is always a joy to go on. You all were not kidding when you said it needs WD-40. I'll even spring for a can if Disney would like. This ride needs some lube.
We headed out the park to Bahamma Breeze for dinner. I had never been there before and didn't know what to expect. Unfortunately I drank too much pop at Epcot and felt a certain acidity in my system from Sprite-backwash from my gut. I didn't know everything at Bahamma Breeze was spicy. Heck of a place to pick on a sour stomach huh? I would up getting a pizza, as did my wife. Little did we knew we weren't as hungry as the server must have thought. We had WAY too much pizza between us. We could have shared one just fine, but the server insisted that we needed two. The pizza was good, but in my condition I shouldn't have eaten as much as I did, for I had 2 slices left and took a bite out of them which about killed me. I must have eaten the spiciest portion. I was put in a spin and had to take it easy. This was a free meal earned from gift certificates, but we took the pizza back to stash in the fridge anyway just in case I could eat it later.
We didn't want to miss the later Tapestry of Nations Parade (I'm not sure if there was an earlier one or not), so we drove back to Epcot and rushed over to the Morocco where the CM told me it ended. We got there early enough to watch a bunch of kids dance around with an Indian woman for 10 minutes or so as the parade finally made its way to us. I had enough time to forget about my rotten stomach when we finally got to watch the parade.
The parade was pretty neat. I don't see the broken puppets and faded clothing others have spoken about. It was dark and it all looked fine and wonderous to me.
After the parade we found a bench close to where we watched the parade and sat there until it started. When it started we moved because some trees were just in the right spot to ruin the fireworks. All the good real estate for watching them was taken and we could barely see the shining globe from our location. The show was a disappointment. If I knew where to stand, we'd of had a better view and probably would have enjoyed it more.
Exiting the park, I just love the neon lighting, so I snapped some pictures. A few came out pretty good, so I was happy. I got a really awesome shot of the lights on Spaceship Earth. It looks like a postcard.
We had a great and busy Epcot day. There was alot of attractions we didn't even touch, so we planned to return here later in the trip. Tomorrow we are off to Animal Kingdom, so better get back to Buena Vista Suites for a good night's rest. Both of us had never been there and didn't know what to expect.
Glad you managed to be such a trooper, though, and stick it out!
8 days until WDW!!
