JULY 24TH PART 2: FUN WITH WATER AND WATERMELON
When I left off, Mom and I had just achieved victory in the Mission: Space Race. And we didnt even make complete fools of ourselves! That was probably our greatest victory of the whole trip. HAHA After arrogantly turning down a few autograph requests from our adoring fans (boy did we have big heads after our victory), we headed over to meet up with Dad and Katie. They had long since returned from Mars and were there to watch us finish our game. We bragged about our mad astronaut skills a little more, and then headed back over to Test Track to grab some Fastpasses to use that night. Late night test drives are so much fun. Plus, there wasnt anything else that we intended to use Fastpass for
I guess this is the part where I should mention that, other than my sister, no one in my family likes Soarin.
I know! We are, like, the worst Disney fans ever.
But Soarin is a panic attack waiting to happen for someone like me who hates heights, flying, motion simulating-type things, and dangling in the air. Both of my parents have ridden it, but neither of them are particularly eager to go on it again. Usually Katie rides (and one of my parents sucks it up and goes with her), but she told us that she didnt really need to ride it this time. She went to WDW with her high school choir in April, so I guess she got her Soarin fill then. So we actually ended up skipping the Land pavilion altogether this trip.
Thinking back on that is actually making me a little sad. We have some great memories of the Land. Or at least I do. Since youre all Disney-aholics like myself, Im sure that you remember Food Rocks, right? Food Rocks was pretty much my favorite thing in the history of ever. I loved it. It was my not-to-be-missed Epcot attraction. My mom and sister thought it was the lamest thing ever, so Id drag Dad in there with me every year because I ABSOLUTELY COULD NOT, WOULD NOT miss Food Rocks.
When I found out they were closing Food Rocks to build Soarin, I was heartbroken. You would have thought that my dog died or something, I was that upset. I mean, how could Disney do that to me? How could they knock down such a work of animatronic food art? What would I do without the music of Chubby Cheddar, Pita Gabriel, and the Refrigerator Police? How would I know what types of foods to eat? Would I be able to survive without hearing Bohemian Rhapsody sung by a cheese grater, with its words changed to be about food?
Eating right is easy,
Choose before you chew.
Were waiting in the kitchen
Fooooooor yooooooooooouuuuuuuuu.
*Sobs* Its just so beautiful! How could they take this away from the world? Do you think all of the animatronics are still intact? Can I buy them and rebuild the show in my backyard?
Oh, Food Rocks
Rest in peace, my food friends. You are missed.
In other Kara-is-a-crazy-person stories, I was so inspired by Living with the Land that I did my 8th Grade Science Fair project on Hydroponics. We basically turned my bedroom into a greenhouse for a few months, and I grew lettuce both hydroponically and with soil to compare the two methods. I actually won the Science Fair, so thanks, The Land!
Anyway, after grabbing the Fastpasses, we headed into Mouse Gears to do a little shopping. Im always overwhelmed when I go into that store. Its so big! And theres so much stuff! I never know what I should be looking at. Katie ended up buying a charm for her Pandora bracelet. I dont have a picture of it (and its now with her at college so I cant take a picture of it), but it had a lime green Mickey head on it...OMG. Such an inadvertent DIS purchase! I cant believe I just realized that. LOL.
Because I am obsessed with wearing anklets in the summer, I bought one that was beaded and had a little Mickey Mouse head charm dangling from it. This is a blurry picture of my foot at the Animal Kingdom, but you can kinda see the anklet.
Since we were in the area, we decided that we would experience something new (for us) at Epcot
Club Cool.
I pretty much fell in love with this place the second we walked in. It was air-conditioned. There was free pop (Midwest represent, yo). And they were playing awesome pop music. What more could you want?
We headed over to the Coke dispensers as Britney Spears Circus was playing [Speaking of which: Only a couple more weeks until Britneys on Glee!!! I want song samples! I want previews! I feel like they started showing previews for the Madonna episode months in advance. Plus, she's actually going to be ON the show, so why aren't they promoting the heck out of that?], and started to sample.
I think I tried the Costa Rican Fanta first, and it wasnt terrible. It wasnt great though. Next up, I had my world rocked by the Chinese Watermelon pop. Sweet Jesus, was that stuff good! I consider myself to be a pretty big watermelon enthusiast. Its great in just about any form. As a kid, I used watermelon-scented shampoo. Anytime we went to the doctor, theyd give us a lollipop, and I ALWAYS took a watermelon one because the other flavors just werent as good. Bonnie Bells Watermelon-flavored Lip Smackers were a staple of my childhood. So yeah, I think you can see that I like watermelon
A lot.
Im not going to lie, I was a little nervous that the watermelon-flavored pop wouldnt be good. I mean, fizzy watermelon? That scared me a bit. But OMG, it was just so good! Why cant they start selling that stuff here in the States? Im already working on my strongly worded letters to the Canadian Government regarding Canadas lack of Fanta Orange Pop on behalf of Yuki, so maybe I should also write one to the US Government...
After my third (or so) cup of watermelon deliciousness, I was struck with the greatest idea ever.
Frozen Watermelon Pop
It would be exactly like a Frozen Coke, just watermelon-flavored. Disney would make a killing off of those. People love their frozen beverages, especially in the summer. And is there a flavor that better represents summer than watermelon? No, there isnt. Well, maybe barbeque, but you cant really turn that into a frozen beverage, so watermelon it is! And actually, I was at Target the other day and noticed that they were selling Jolly Rancher Watermelon flavored slushies. I didnt buy one because I was in a hurry, but apparently Ive been beaten to the watermelon flavored frozen drink punch. Although, I dont think the Jolly Rancher Watermelon would be as delicious as the Chinese watermelon pop would be. That stuff is just so good!
While I was downing my new favorite beverage, Katie told Dad that he should try the Beverly. Having read Disney websites for years, we all knew about the storied history of Beverly. Weve read all the stories of people tricking unsuspecting family members into thinking theyd love it. Weve seen countless pictures of people making ridiculous faces after taking a sip of the fabled drink. So its not as if Katie and I were trying to trick Dad into drinking it (though that does sound like something we would do), we were just suggesting that he try it. And he did. And like many a brave man before him, he made all of the ridiculous faces you see in pictures. We didnt take any pics, but I was pretty sure he was going to throw up.
I dont know if I was high off of Chinese Watermelon pop or what, but I decided that I absolutely needed to try it as well. I somehow managed to talk Katie into joining me for a shot, so we anxiously filled up our cups, and got ready to down some Beverly.
Thats my I am so hopped up on watermelon pop right now, but still kinda scared face.
On the count of three, we downed our little paper cups.
I waited for the OMG THIS IS THE WORST THING IVE EVER TASTED. I NEED A HAZMAT TEAM TO COME IN AND CLEAN OUT MY MOUTH feeling to kick in, but it never did. As Katie was gagging and fumbling to get a new drink to get rid of the taste, I was standing there with a REALLY??? look on my face. It really wasnt that bad. Would I drink it on a daily basis? No, but Ive tasted worse foods/beverages. I mean, cough syrup is like 10 times more disgusting than Beverly. I dont know. Maybe Im just weird. It wouldnt be the first time
After that cultural experience, we headed to one of my absolute favorite places in all of WDW, The Seas with Nemo and Friends!!!
I love this three-dimensional mural. When I have a kid, I fully intend on attempting to re-create this for his or her nursery. I also wanna paint my favorite Mr. Ray line, his singsong Lets go explore, explore, explore. Lets go explore the big blue world! on the wall somewhere. I think its the perfect way to say, Kid, theres a great big world out there and Im going to do my best to make sure you see it all.
I didnt take any pictures of the queue, but isnt it amazing in there? It really does feel like youre leaving the beach and heading down underwater.
And then, of course, theres the actual ride. Its perfect. The second I sit down in a clam-mobile, I get a huge smile on my face and I feel like Im five years old again.
Theres just something so innocently captivating about this ride. From the very beginning, as we travel through the coral reefs watching Nemo, Dory, Marlin, Mr. Ray, etc., I feel that familiar sense of child-like wonder. For someone like me whos now a bit jaded and cynical, its so refreshing to feel like that again. Its like the return of an old friend, the younger version of me. Even though Im not that little girl anymore, every once in a while I can still see the world through her eyes, and thats the greatest feeling. As you may have noticed while reading this report, Im having issues dealing with the fact that Im growing up. Those issues mainly stem from the fact that I dont want to lose my childhood innocence. I dont want to get sucked into the real world and lose that belief that anything is possible. I dont want to start thinking only with my head and ignoring my heart. Its a big fear of mine, but knowing that this little underwater adventure with Nemo can still bring out the little kid in me is extremely reassuring.
Putting my psychological issues aside, the ride is also just plain cool. The section with the jellyfish always seems to draw gasps from the people around me. I dont blame them because being surrounded by big, floating jellyfish is pretty awe-inspiring.
My absolute favorite part of the ride (and of the movie) is the journey through the EAC with Crush and Squirt. If reincarnation is true, I hope I come back as a sea turtle. I feel like they live pretty awesome lives. I realize that Crush and Squirt are fictional characters, but I hope that in their own sea turtle-y way, real sea turtles have the same spirit as those two. Now you probably think Im crazy, but really, wouldnt that be the coolest thing if there were a bunch of laid-back, surfer-lingo-using sea turtles speeding through the EAC right now?
[Sidenote: Did anyone watch Kate+8 this week? They were on vacation in North Carolina and had the opportunity to see a nest of sea turtles hatch. OMG. It was the cutest thing Ive ever seen! There were so many little tiny turtles all headed towards the water together. And the fact that they just know that once they hatch, they have to head to the water is mind blowing. Im fascinated by the concept of instinct.]
Of course I cant talk about The Seas with Nemo and Friends without mentioning the rides finale. The second we enter the real aquarium and the Big Blue World song kicks in, I get chills. They way they project the characters into the aquarium is so neat. I mean, who ever thought wed be able to see our favorite animated characters swimming around with actual fish? And the song
OMG. That song makes me tear up every time I hear it.
To sum all that up, I love The Seas with Nemo and Friends THE RIDE. Its classic Disney. I know that there are a lot of people who hate it because of what it replaced, but I cant help but think that without Nemo, there might not even still be a Seas pavilion. That little clownfish and all his pals have brought knowledge of marine life to a whole new generation. And if Mr. Ray has taught us anything, its that learning doesnt only occur in a cold, sterile environment (*cough*Sea Base Alpha*cough*). Learning can be warm, friendly, and most importantly, FUN.
As soon as we stepped off the ride, I ran over to the Manatee tank. Manatees have always been my favorite animal. My grandma gave me a stuffed manatee when I was little, and that guy has gone everywhere with me. Im not ashamed to admit that he still sleeps with me in bed most nights. So yeah, Ive always felt a bit of an attachment to manatees. Theyre just so big and gentle. And they look so friendly! I just want to jump in the tank and hug one.
Here are some pictures of the manatees in action.
Watching the manatees eat was the most adorable thing. They would balance a head of lettuce on their front fins, and then theyd just start gnawing off of it. It was so cute!
After watching the manatees from down below for a bit, I headed upstairs to the area where you can look down into the manatee tank. While I was up there, one of the manatees decided to stick his head out of the water RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME and I almost died from the cute. Oh my gosh. You have no idea how hard it was to resist jumping over the railing and giving that big guy a hug, especially considering he lost his tail in a boating accident.
So after that bonding experience, I met up with the rest of my family and we headed over to watch a CM give a bit of a dolphin info session. There were quite a few people watching, so each time the dolphin would do a trick, shed have us all applaud. I guess the dolphin could hear it through the glass. It was funny because as wed applaud, the dolphin would swim by with a giddy YOU LIKE ME! YOU REALLY LIKE ME! look on his face. It was adorable.
But the most memorable part of this info session was how OBSESSED the CM was with dolphin genitalia. I swear she went on FOREVER about how to tell male and female dolphins apart. Her exact wording was that Boy dolphins have exclamation points and girl dolphins have division signs. Boys have one line and one dot, and girls have one line and two dots. Then every time the dolphin swam by us, shed get all excited and would be like, Oh, look at his exclamation point! Can you see his exclamation point? I couldnt help but wonder what the poor dolphin was thinking while a huge crowd of people stared at his privates. I mean, maybe he came from a background of dolphin porn and was used to it
.But something tells me he was probably uncomfortable.
Because I couldnt stay and look around forever, (remember, only one day at Epcot
gotta make it count!) after watching the dolphins I said goodbye to my beloved Seas and we headed out. On some yet to be planned future trip, I plan on spending all day in the Seas. I want to do the tour where they let you swim in one of the tanks. I want to spend copious amounts of time looking at all of the sea life. I want to watch Turtle Talk over and over again. I want to eat at Coral Reef.
Oh, I love you, the Seas!
UP NEXT: One little spark of inspiration....
Epcot. On girl trips we spend a lot of time in the World Showcase, but on family trips we spend a lot of time in Future World. So I always get the best of both worlds. 
You're welcome to join us. Living with people who just don't get Epcot...you poor thing. 
I STILL remember that song. I had such a crush on Orion. Awww, good times.... 
DD
That has to be one of my all-time favorites. But then again I don't like Mission:Space. Though maybe I should ride it before I actually make that claim. 
