Part 6 Day 3 Sunday 01st October
Up with the alarm call at 07.00. A lot slower getting ready today, too many creaking bones to go too fast!
We had breakfast in the room, a cookie and banana that we had gotten from Wal*Mart we were ready to leave at 07.40.
After some major wrong turns from Gavin, who took us to Epcots restricted parking section earning us a telling off from an attendant who had to jump in a car and drive to us in order to deliver the telling off and also redirect us to the regular parking section, we were at the entrance for 08.10 and we ran through to Guest Relations to ensure we were there the required 15 mins early for our Around the World on a Segway tour.
I was looking forward to this but Gavin was really excited. We thought we would be disappointed as last month some Segways were recalled due to a few accidents and malfunctioning problems but apparently Disney only stopped them for a couple of days so luckily our tour was to go ahead.
There were 10 people in our group and we were all there at 08.20 so the guide took us to Segway Central to begin our training. After 10 mins of instruction we were on a Segway.
Both Gavin and I were nervous when we first got on but it really is so easy it only took a few moments to get used to it.
We zig-zagged through some cones and had to duck under a stick to ensure we were ok avoiding any low branches, then after about 30 mins practice we were off Around the World Showcase.
The guide gives you information on the way round, he told us stuff about France, Japan, Morocco, China and Germany. He was going to stop in Italy as well but there was a wedding going on so we rode straight past.
All in all the tour was about 2 hours 10 mins and was worth every last penny of the $80.00pp .
Both of us had a blast and Gavin wants to know if I will buy him one for Christmas. At £2000.00 a pop, I dont think so! We would both do this again in a heartbeat.
Tour over we took the guides advice a grabbed a Fast Pass for Soarin which had a return time of 12.30. Hungry we headed to the Fountain View for a snack but they werent serving their regular menu due to the Food & Wine festival so we had lunch at Electric Umbrella but on the way I bought a few postcards at Mouse gear $5.35.
I cant find the receipt for lunch. Gavin must have lost it.
I dragged Gavin into Character Connection after lunch and we had some Photopass pictures done. We were only in here a few minutes, there was hardly anyone about. Its a great way to do this as theres a structured queuing system and kids must get excited that they can see several celebrities at once but it is just too formal. When a Character pops out from behind a random wall or appear from a doorway people nearby gasp in delight. Even though this format stops the inevitable mad rush for autographs and pictures it isnt my favourite way of seeing a character even if it is the least stressful (and as I have moaned in the past saying a more structured viewing area would be better I shouldnt really complain, but it does remove a little of the magic).
We also popped into Mousegear....
By now it was coming up to our fast pass time for Soarin so we went to Test Track to get another fast pass stopping for a Toll House Cookie on the way (yummy!) our FP had a return time of 14.40 and it also gave us a surprise fast pass for Mission Space, I assume this attraction isnt a success if they have to beg people to ride.
Over to Soarin we had about a 15 min wait but struck gold with middle front row seats! Soarin was of course excellent, I cant say I noticed the smells last year, they may not have been working when we rode or I was just too distracted by the pictures!
We now had 1 hr 40 mins before our Test Track time was here but it went quickly. First we took a look at our Leave a Legacy tile. I had intended on taking our co-ordinates with me but I forgot (the only thing I did forget though so I hadnt done badly!) so we had to ask for them, I am pretty sure the cm I asked isnt one of Disneys employees of the month, she was a little bit sulky we had interrupted her day dreaming!
While checking out our tile we spotted a Photopass photographer so had a few more shots taken
then I dragged Gavin over to Club Cool and gave him some Beverly! He convinced me despite the horrified look in his face it really wasnt that bad so I tried a sip and it really does taste like cough syrup!
We had a ride on Spaceship earth as there was no queue
then a sit down and a coke at Electric Umbrella, I had some fries as I was feeling a little peckish.
Fries - $2.39
Large Coke - $2.39
Regular Coke - $2.09
Tax - $0.45
Total - $7.32
Refreshed we slowly walked over to Test Track and with only a 5 min wait we were in our car. We love this ride and now you can get your ride photo straight onto your Photopass card which is brilliant. This was the only ride we saw that you could do this at but as Photopass is fairly new I assume if successful more ride photos will be added.
Up with the alarm call at 07.00. A lot slower getting ready today, too many creaking bones to go too fast!
We had breakfast in the room, a cookie and banana that we had gotten from Wal*Mart we were ready to leave at 07.40.
After some major wrong turns from Gavin, who took us to Epcots restricted parking section earning us a telling off from an attendant who had to jump in a car and drive to us in order to deliver the telling off and also redirect us to the regular parking section, we were at the entrance for 08.10 and we ran through to Guest Relations to ensure we were there the required 15 mins early for our Around the World on a Segway tour.
I was looking forward to this but Gavin was really excited. We thought we would be disappointed as last month some Segways were recalled due to a few accidents and malfunctioning problems but apparently Disney only stopped them for a couple of days so luckily our tour was to go ahead.
There were 10 people in our group and we were all there at 08.20 so the guide took us to Segway Central to begin our training. After 10 mins of instruction we were on a Segway.
Both Gavin and I were nervous when we first got on but it really is so easy it only took a few moments to get used to it.
We zig-zagged through some cones and had to duck under a stick to ensure we were ok avoiding any low branches, then after about 30 mins practice we were off Around the World Showcase.
The guide gives you information on the way round, he told us stuff about France, Japan, Morocco, China and Germany. He was going to stop in Italy as well but there was a wedding going on so we rode straight past.
All in all the tour was about 2 hours 10 mins and was worth every last penny of the $80.00pp .
Both of us had a blast and Gavin wants to know if I will buy him one for Christmas. At £2000.00 a pop, I dont think so! We would both do this again in a heartbeat.
Tour over we took the guides advice a grabbed a Fast Pass for Soarin which had a return time of 12.30. Hungry we headed to the Fountain View for a snack but they werent serving their regular menu due to the Food & Wine festival so we had lunch at Electric Umbrella but on the way I bought a few postcards at Mouse gear $5.35.
I cant find the receipt for lunch. Gavin must have lost it.
I dragged Gavin into Character Connection after lunch and we had some Photopass pictures done. We were only in here a few minutes, there was hardly anyone about. Its a great way to do this as theres a structured queuing system and kids must get excited that they can see several celebrities at once but it is just too formal. When a Character pops out from behind a random wall or appear from a doorway people nearby gasp in delight. Even though this format stops the inevitable mad rush for autographs and pictures it isnt my favourite way of seeing a character even if it is the least stressful (and as I have moaned in the past saying a more structured viewing area would be better I shouldnt really complain, but it does remove a little of the magic).
We also popped into Mousegear....
By now it was coming up to our fast pass time for Soarin so we went to Test Track to get another fast pass stopping for a Toll House Cookie on the way (yummy!) our FP had a return time of 14.40 and it also gave us a surprise fast pass for Mission Space, I assume this attraction isnt a success if they have to beg people to ride.
Over to Soarin we had about a 15 min wait but struck gold with middle front row seats! Soarin was of course excellent, I cant say I noticed the smells last year, they may not have been working when we rode or I was just too distracted by the pictures!
We now had 1 hr 40 mins before our Test Track time was here but it went quickly. First we took a look at our Leave a Legacy tile. I had intended on taking our co-ordinates with me but I forgot (the only thing I did forget though so I hadnt done badly!) so we had to ask for them, I am pretty sure the cm I asked isnt one of Disneys employees of the month, she was a little bit sulky we had interrupted her day dreaming!
While checking out our tile we spotted a Photopass photographer so had a few more shots taken
then I dragged Gavin over to Club Cool and gave him some Beverly! He convinced me despite the horrified look in his face it really wasnt that bad so I tried a sip and it really does taste like cough syrup!
We had a ride on Spaceship earth as there was no queue
then a sit down and a coke at Electric Umbrella, I had some fries as I was feeling a little peckish.
Fries - $2.39
Large Coke - $2.39
Regular Coke - $2.09
Tax - $0.45
Total - $7.32
Refreshed we slowly walked over to Test Track and with only a 5 min wait we were in our car. We love this ride and now you can get your ride photo straight onto your Photopass card which is brilliant. This was the only ride we saw that you could do this at but as Photopass is fairly new I assume if successful more ride photos will be added.
