When I left off last I had managed to secure soarin FP's with an 1130am return time. Not bad, considering it was probably already 10am. The drill was familiar now - the gang would TRY to leave the villa by 9am, but not quite make it. I slowed the whole gang down even more with my emergency return to the BR, and parking in timbuktu didn't help much. This may also have been one of those days when Chuck did not follow the GPS correctly resulting in a 15 minute drive instead of a 5 minute drive. Oh well - whatever - we had our FP's. Everything else would be a bonus.
One of the new attractions in Innoventions that I really wanted to try was Sum of All Thrills (SOAT). To be honest, I have heard too much about this attraction from the Dis population. I'm not sure why? Is it because everything in Innoventions is considered slightly sub par when compared to the rest of the park attractions. Is Innoventions considered an after thought for people wanting to hit all the head liners and make it to the world showcase by noon?
I was pretty psyched to find out that Cathy wanted to see SOAT. As you know, Cathy is not a thrill ride person and this ride does not look suitable for the faint of heart. Yes - you Jackie!
In actuality, its one of those rides that LOOKS much more intimidating than it actually is. It is this huge robotic monstrosity that can do double flips, barrell rolls, F-15 fighter plane take-offs, who name it. The rider looks like they at the mercy of multiple robotic appendages and a space age view finder.
So why was Cathy so curious about this attraction? Well - Cathy had the pleasure of sitting next to a woman on the plane (remember our standing room only flight) who works for Raytheon. She told Cathy all about the attraction. And Cathy and Chuck's daughter participates on a high school robotic team that has competed nationally. Cathy was doing this in honor of her daughter. Of course, I was not to question her motives. I just wanted to get on the ride before she changed her mind.
There was hardly any wait. The first step was to design our ride - either coaster, fighter jet, or luge type sled. Denny and I chose a coaster. The rest of the design allows the user to pick multiple coaster moves, but the speed of the coaster has to be adjusting so the robot is actually able to complete the moves. Think Cyber space mountain, but 5 notches above. I liked how we were actively involved in the design project. We had to make the appropriate physics adjustments to assure our coaster was a reality
Well - I am also a bit of a chicken when it comes to experiencing new rides, so I only put in one loop and a barrel roll. I regret that. I should have created 90 seconds of continuous moves, because that was the best part. Those darn robotic appendages were extremely smooth.
So - a ride attendant assigns you a robot. You put all your belongings in a storage area. They give you a final chance to opt out and then you sit in two side by side seats. The ride operator shows you the panic button and then down comes the view finder - right over your head. Seriously - this was the only part that freaked me out a bit, cause it was tight in there and I immediately felt claustrophobic. I felt a brief urge to reach for the panic button, but before I knew it my coaster had started. 90 seconds of robotic fun! I came off laughing and lamenting that I didn't build a faster coaster. The ride attendant told me to go back and make another one! And I seriously considered it!
Chuck and Cathy exited after us and they both seemed to enjoyed whatever ride it was that they designed.
I did not take any pictures while we were near the ride. I was a little slow with the camera this morning. But for those of you who are interested, here is a
Youtube video which does a great job showing and explaining the attraction. See what I mean about it looking scarier than it actually is?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilpBKRwqIsE
As we were getting ready to leave Innoventions I got a call from our friend Kevin. Not sure how many of you followed my trip report back in June 08, but Kevin was Denny's college room mate and he and his wife live in Daytona. We were trying to arrange a short visit with them. We talked for awhile and agreed that the best plan would be from them to drive to Orlando on Friday and we could hang out at the pool for the afternoon. We briefly considered driving to Daytona for the day, but our flight was leaving that evening and it may be a little hectic to get packed up, drive to the beach, then return in time for an evening flight.
With plans arranged, we headed over to Spaceship Earth. SE actually had half the queue filled and was about a 10 minute wait. We chatted and the time passed quickly. When we got on the ride I initially had no intention of taking pictures. I got that coveted flash photo across from the cavemen on my last trip. Of course, we were only a few scenes into the ride when I decided I had to see what kind of non-flash pics my camera would do. Ehhhh...not very good. So I switched it to the macro mode, just to see what would happen. The macro mode seemed to work really well for low light pics. Problem was the flash would come on.
But I couldn't control myself. The urge was too great. So I broke the rules....I took several macro pics of the ride - each including a brief flash. Don't flame me. I'm an addict. I couldn't help myself. I think the pics came out really good. Judge for yourself.
OK - My Bad! But look at that detail. And it was only a "small" flash! It totally makes up for my lack of pictures on CoP and PoC!
Next up- it was time for our story into the future. I have this bad habit of not being able to find Delaware on the map. I finally figured out why I keep screwing up. I try SO hard to find the right location with my index finger that I have been bracing my hand with my pinky. And my pinky hits the screen first and lands me directly in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Doh! I am such a loser!
So this trip we choose a little under water adventure! Me and the Denster scuba diving! Yup - I can totally see that happening...NOT!
When we exited SE I decided to photograph a few topiaries. After all, it was the F&G festival.....
I was reading someone's TR recently where some woman stopped her stroller here and proceeded to clean her child after an ice cream spill. Meanwhile, the line is growing and growing and growing with parkgoers waiting to take a picture. Ummmmmm.......HELLO.......can you move your messy kid out of the way...PU-LEASE! Whose TR was that????
It was actually getting close to our FP time, so we started to walk in the direction of Soarin. We had a bio break and I handed Denny the camera. He took this picture of Chuck checking out the guide map:
Chuck's B+ T-shirt actually has a story. About 3 years ago a soccer player at Salesianum High School in Wilm De was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. It actually happened the same evening he participated in an indoor winter soccer tournament. He was hospitalized at AIDupont children's hospital and he eventually lost his fight to cancer. His name was Andrew and his blood type was B+. His dad started a blog and a website and Andrew's logo became B positive. At the time all the highschool soccer players in Delaware purchased these shirts. Whenever I see a B+ shirt I think of Andrew's fight against cancer. Tough kid!
Sorry......Now we need something to lighten the mood. My stomach was feeling A-OK at this point, so I decided to ham it up for the camera:
Who says I can't have fun in a picture??????
Next up- Living with the Land, Soarin, and Le Cellier!
for some fine scenery in the morning! Makes getting up and running worth it.
I purposely walked that way more than once and was looking for them!! 
I have an iphone and the app is not always accurate....I have actually never even used it in any of the parks. Maybe they were down for refurb 
Seriously though every park has a board! Although I do like C's idea....
and a lot of them were from the OBX...such good times there! 
I hope the "Evil D" doesn't make another appearance; I'd hate to think you don't get to enjoy your meal at LeCellier! 
Those were super convenient. And what is someone like me with neither Verizon nor an iphone to do?
Scanne! I heard about you! But my DH couldn't remember what your user name was. So glad that you decided to stop by and check out my TR. Hope you follow along until you are ready for your trip (which looks like its not too far away)!
Look at those poses (with Chuck in the background plotting his next move 
They bought them in my approximation 220 points at FWV! 
She actually doesn't know how many she has...told me that she has enough for a 2br for one week. She is going in September and staying at OKW for a week. Can you imagine?!! I don't know anything about how they purchased....almost has to be resale or why else would they have chosen FWV for them. 
Not sure if it was on everytime we were at Epcot, but I know at least twice it was because I stopped to look at it. The one by TT & MS was operating as well.
