Florida Road Trip June 2005: Part 4

lorifl2

Mouseketeer
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Nov 28, 2001
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Thursday, June 23 – Fishing, EPCOT, MGM, Boardwalk

Stitch called way too early this morning. We had to be at the Yacht Club marina at 6:45 for our fishing excursion. We dragged ourselves down to the dock and found our boat and captain. He took us on a spin of the World Showcase lagoon. Now I would have preferred to skip this whole fishing thing, especially at the crack of dawn, but the photos I got of the Beach Club, World Showcase and the Illuminations globe from out on the water at sunrise made even having to touch a fish worthwhile. It was very cool.

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We “parked” the boat right by the bridge between the UK and France to fish. I think you could catch fish with a piece of string and a safety pin here. Either that or there are divers down there hooking the fish on your lines. I can’t even count how many bass we caught. Three of them were over 3 lbs. Ryan got bored after an hour and decided to play with the bait instead. He doesn’t want to hold up the fish he catches, but he’ll catch minnows with his bare hands.

Craig donated a fishing rod to the bottom of the lagoon. Apparently he and Jessica both had fish on the line at the same time right next to each other at the back of the boat, and in trying to keep them from getting tangled, one of the lines went over. He tried to snag it with the other rod, and had it for a while and was calling for the net, but the captain didn’t get over with the net fast enough. Craig’s a big fisherman, so he was really embarrassed. Our captain didn’t seem to care – I guess those aren’t his personal equipment. He said a diver would get it later.

We also fished for a bit in front of the Yacht Club marina before our 2 hour excursion came to an end. If you want to take your kids on a fishing trip where they are sure to catch something, this is definitely the way to go!

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After a quick stop in the room we headed to EPCOT. Our main goal was to ride Soarin’. EPCOT was mobbed. I was breaking the avoid-the-extra-magic-hour park rule here. The wait for Soarin’ was already an hour at 9:30 in the morning. We grabbed fast passes and rode the Land ride instead, which only had 20 minute wait.

We still had time to kill before our fast passes, so we hopped over to the Living Seas and got in a long line for Turtle Talk with Crush. The line stretched from the theatre entrance all the way over to the Nemo room. A CM kept trying to get people to smoosh together to make the line shorter. It took over a half hour to get into the show, but it was worth it. Walt would love this attraction. The kids had questions ready, but they didn’t get picked. They still thought it was very cool.

We wandered around the Nemo exhibit and saw the dolphins until it was time to head back to Soarin’. Soarin’ was definitely my favorite new attraction. We were in row 3, so we weren’t the highest row and we could see feet dangling in row 2, but it was still awesome. This will be a must-do every trip. I hope they film new movies as well.

We had a PS at 50’s Prime Time for lunch, so we took the boat over to MGM. It’s a slllooooowwww ride to MGM, almost 30 minutes, but we were way too tired to walk. When we got there, we went to see Indiana Jones. I hadn’t seen this in many years. For seem reason we usually skip it. Ryan really liked it. As the show ended it began to rain.

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Then it began to pour.

I thought the 50’s Prime Time was over by the Sci Fi Diner. We’re too cool to read maps since we’ve been to the parks so many times. So we did a big loop in the pouring rain and finally found the café (yes, it was right back near Indiana Jones) and sloshed on in. It took a while to be seated here. I think they were taking a lot of walk-ins that were trying to get out of the rain.

We thought the food here was good. Our waiter/cousin was Topher, and he was hysterical. I had warned the family about the elbows on the table thing, but neglected to warn Craig about the penalty for not eating all your veggies (oops). I laughed to myself when he ordered the chicken with green beans. He hates green beans. So Topher helped him eat one, complete with airplane noises.

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Ryan loved the glow in the dark ice cubes, and the milkshakes and malts were awesome. Topher promised the kids they wouldn’t get the stand-in-the-corner type of punishment if they misbehaved – but he would find them a boyfriend/girlfriend instead. He kept trying to set Jessica up with the boy at the table across the room, much to both of their embarrassment. The guy at the next table wouldn’t keep his elbows off the table, so we were treated to a song of “I’m a Little Teapot”. The kids were in hysterics. Topher was great.

We all indulged in the s’mores for dessert. Those things are deadly sweet, but very good.

We were ready to fall asleep on our feet, so we headed back for naps and a swim.

We had no dinner or park plans for the evening, so after we were freshened up, we headed over to the Boardwalk. We tried to get takeout from Spoodles, but they were out of almost everything on their menu (how can you run out of salads?) except pizza. So we had pizza. Again. While we waited we watched a magician do a few tricks and escape from a straightjacket.

Tonight was extra magic hours at EPCOT, so we decided to split up for a bit. Jessica and I went back to EPCOT to see if we could ride Soarin’ again. It was 10:00, and we had a hard time finding someone to give us a wristband. There was no one at the gate, and no one in the first Innoventions breezeway. We finally found someone in the other breezeway. We wasted way too much time hunting down a wristband.

We hustled back over to the Land, but no luck – 80 minute wait and no more fast passes. So we rode Figment instead. There was not a single soul on the Figment ride. The ride wasn’t even moving when we walked in. They had to turn it back on for us. I guess they were all at Soarin’ and Test Track. After Figment we decided just to go shopping at Mouse Gears. So we did all that hunting for a wristband to ride one ride that they probably would have let us ride without it. But I love the parks at night, so it was okay. But I don’t think EMH at EPCOT will be something we go to in the future. The crowds aren’t any lighter than during the day.

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We also had Topher on our June trip........he was running around trying to find my DS a girlfriend......... :rotfl2: He actually found 2 a young girl and an older girl.......he made him go and meet the girls parents :rotfl: :rotfl:

When we were there waiting for our table they had a young boy in the corner for not minding his manners :rotfl2:
 
This is great! Keep 'em coming!
 

Great report ~ Thanx for posting.
 
Great trip report! I will have to ask for Topher when we go in Sept. THanks for posting!! :earsgirl:
 
Once again, another splended report. Thanks for the pics.
 
nice pics...cute report...so are you saying avoid EMH?? to avoid crowds?? Do you think this applies to off season too or was it you were there at a peak time? New to the park thing, looking for hints...your pics are great. I was looking at them thinking "looks like a different country" and then I realized "WORLD SHOWCASE" DUUHH...I have never been to EPCOT before :crazy: Very nice!!
 
MOMOFMNM said:
nice pics...cute report...so are you saying avoid EMH?? to avoid crowds?? Do you think this applies to off season too or was it you were there at a peak time?

I think the EMH mornings are still a really good deal, if you can get up that early. But the conventional wisdom is that that park stays crowded the rest of the day (especially now that not everyone has a park "hopping" option), so you should be prepared to leave that park and hop to another one mid-day. We decided to do later nights rather than try to get to EMH mornings at 8AM.

The evening EMH seem to be very crowded, or at least they were in June. So I wouldn't count on those extra 3 hours being your time to get everything done with no wait, unless the extra hours are from 11-2AM when you are there! The parks are cool at night though, especially Magic Kingdom.

The last time we went in the off-season, EMH were only in the mornings, so I don't know if the evening ones are this busy all year round.
 
Love your reports. Isn't Soarin' just awesome. I think I rode it 4 or 5 times last month. Couldn't get enough! Your pics are terrific.
 












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