You know those plans you make, change, change again, and obsess over the months leading up to your trip? The ones in which you figure out where youre going each day and where youre eating. Wake-up time is accounted for, travel time is figured out. We work so hard to get them
just right. And our Day 2 plans called for us to be up bright and early. Not only to make rope drop at the Magic Kingdom, but to be able to visit the Polynesian first for some Kona coffee.
you think were crazy now, dont you? I mean, we were at the Magic Kingdom till 2 am, how could we possibly want to be up that early the next day? Well, we didnt! So for the second time in 2 days, we changed the plans. Before going to sleep, we set an alarm for the late hour of 9am.
When that alarm went off, we managed to get up but we didnt rush. We had brought bagels with us, so we toasted a couple and had breakfast out on our balcony.
We then headed over to the bus stop to begin our journey to the MK. Once there, we walked over to the boat launch and had a short wait for a boat.
Its funny that we stayed at the Poly for a whole week last year and never once took the boat launch to the MK! We made up for it this time, though
Ben wanted to be sure to get a picture on a boat, because he was wearing his favorite T shirt ever. If you are familiar with the Im On a Boat SNL skit (even funnier is the explicit version you can find on You Tube), youll see why we found it hilarious that a Disney shirt had this phrase.
We thoroughly enjoyed our leisurely boat ride, and were soon docking at the Poly. As we pulled in, we saw a wedding ceremony on the grassy area near the Poly beach.
They had an absolutely gorgeous day for it!
Ben originally had wanted to get coffees at the Kona Island coffee stand because we really like Kona coffee, and why not? We werent too impressed, honestly. But it was nice to have an excuse to wander the lovely Polynesian grounds. After our stay here, we dont like the rooms, elevators, or corridors of the longhouses, but we just love the rest of the resort! We sat on a swing and drank out coffees on the beach. It was very relaxing!
Since it was now approaching 10am, I thought heading to the MK would be silly as it was bound to be getting more crowded. So, we decided to walk to the TTC and monorail ourselves over to Epcot. I stopped on the path to the TTC to finish my coffee and savor one of my favorite spots in Disney. I just love this little path!
As we wearing sitting there, a gentleman asked us where the Ferryboat was, so we pointed him down the path to the TTC. He headed that way, and we followed a little after. Once we got to the sidewalk at the end of the path, we ran into the same man, still lost. I felt bad that I hadnt given him directions further than this, but I thought that once he saw the TTC hed be ok. Well, he was frazzled and obviously running late to meet his family and just didnt see where he needed to go. So Ben and I walked him past the ticket kiosks and pointed out the Ferryboat. His family was right there waiting, so that all worked out well!
With just a short wait for a monorail, we were on our way to Epcot!
There was a pretty good group of people waiting to get in, but they were all lined up at bag check. We dont carry a bag, so we were able to slip right in past the mob. Yay!
Bet you cant guess where we were headed.
Nope, not Soarin. Not Test Track, either. No, not even Mission:Space. We made a beeline for Ellens Energy Adventure.
We were trying to experience new things this trip, and this was another attraction that Ben had never done. I dont particularly care for it, and had never wanted to take the time to do it again with him. But now seemed like as good a time as any. I had warned Ben before that it was 45 minutes long, but as we walked up and he saw the sign that states how long it is and he decided that was too long to spend and not to ride.
I think he thought I had been exaggerating about the 45 minutes and just could not believe an attraction would be that long. I was more than happy to skip it, and we turned right around.
We walked past the old Wonders of Life Pavilion, and I remembered that it was open as the Flower and Garden Festival Center. So I just
had to check it out.
Something you should know about me: I am completely fascinated by abandoned buildings. It started when I first read about dead malls, but my true interest is in abandoned theme parks. I had no idea how common these are! In fact, there is one only an hour or so from where I live. You can actually still see the roller coaster from the road! We visited it with friends last year, and it was one of my best days, ever!
The other thing you should know is that I loved the Wonders of Life. I loved Body Wars and Cranium Command. When my family visited Epcot in 1992, the pavilion was pretty new and I thought the hands-on displays and exhibits were so cool! I handled the closings of Horizons and World of Motion fairly well (I was probably the only 11 year old who insisted that her family go to Epcot first thing on the trip so she could ride those!), but when World of Life closed, I was so sad! Not to mention the fact that Food Rocks closed around the same time (maybe thats why I cant love Soarin the way most people do
)
Anyway, that whole tangent was to explain why I needed to go inside WOL. I had to see what it looked like! And the answer? It looked like a dead mall. Very sad.
They just had tons of potted plants blocking the places were stuff used to be!
There were areas set up for the festival, but it all felt very run down flea-markety. It was super interesting!
I wish I had taken more pictures, but I felt kinda weird. There were only a very few F&G Festival people in there, and I didnt want to be the wacko taking pictures of nothing.
One thing we did find in one of the festival merchandise spots were prints of photographs by this photographer:
We took the picture so we would remember to look him up when we got home. We loved his photos, and the fact that they were printed on canvases. We almost bought something then, but decided to wait so we could really figure out where wed put the picture in our house before buying one!
Once back outside, we decided to visit one of our favorites- Mission:Space.
A nice lady took our picture for us.
After, we could resist grabbing a Kim Possible FP. Even though we did all the missions last time, we knew there were alternate clues and we wanted to see them. What can I say? We are obsessive KP Mission nerds
Now it was about noon and I was
starving. Lunch wasnt until almost 2 at Coral Reef, and I really didnt want to miss it by eating somewhere earlier. But how would I make it that long without eating?
So... bringing some teens is a challenge... and a waste of money... but for some of us it is the only choice we have if we ourselves want to go. Now... bringing my dd was always a joy... she still is my #1 person to take to the parks with...well her and my youngest dd. 
rolleyes1 maybe unsuccessfully) I was just kinda realizing that I HAVE to bring Alex again. And your comment about why do people waste the money..well... I kinda wonder myself. 
Actually, he is starting to show promise..and maybe he won't be a moody little..cus.. on the trip. 
Where did you find that Donald shirt??? I love it! 
I'm not really sure how you could miss it when your at TTC, but I guess if you're not really familiar with it, you might not see it! 
I have yet to see Ellen's Energy Adventure...I feel like I'm not really missing much! I don't know if I could sit through 45 minutes of it!
But I do love Soarin!
I love hearing about how much people enjoy it, but I can barely do the tea cups 
Do you have any of those "Weird" books, like "Weird New England" or "Weird Massachusetts"? My DH and I have both of those and there are so many strange places we want to go, but it seems like most of them are illegal! 
