aring75
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2001
Cast of Characters:
Angela (me): wife to DH, Mark
Mark (DH): devoted (and very tolerant) husband to me
Day Five - Epcot and "The Hot Seat"
Up at 8:00. We ate the snacks that we bought last night (and couldnt eat) for breakfast this morning. We then went to the bus stop and waited for the bus to Epcot. It arrived in less than a minute. Our driver took the back way to FW. This wasnt any faster, but at least it was a little different scenery.
When we got to Epcot we decided to go to The Living Seas. This, of course, meant taking a trip through Innoventions again. We sent another e-postcard. And all in all spent about 30 minutes wandering around. When we arrived at the Living Seas, we walked right into The Briefing Room with no wait. Then we boarded our Hydrolaters to descend to Sea-Base Alpha. As we looked around the various exhibits we saw they were having a dolphin presentation and decided to stick around and watch. This test the dolphins were performing had to do with pattern recognizance and was very interesting. We enjoyed it immensely. We watched the manatee presentation and looked at all of the interactive exhibits. We spent about 2 hours looking at everything!! I couldnt believe we were in there that long!
Heading over to The Land, we noticed that the sky was getting a little gray again. Uh-oh. Hope we can stay dry today. We wanted to ride Living with the Land, the boat ride inside. We waited in line for two minutes (tops) because there was practically no one there! Even though it was so slow, they were still cramming the boats full. They told Mark and me to board the second row. Well, there were two women already sitting in the second row, and they did not want to move over. The woman closest to the edge finally moved over about half-way (there was still about a foot between the second woman and the edge of the boat, and about a foot and a half between the women). Mark and I boarded and sat down. We were crammed into the remaining space. Now Mark is six feet tall and about 230 lbs. And Im not exactly Tinkerbell. I could hear the women talking and, although I couldnt hear what they were saying, I could tell they were aggravated. Well, you want to talk about aggravation! Just as calmly as I could I requested that the woman next to me move over to allow more room. She completely ignored me!! Oh no! I dont think so! I moved myself over as close to her as I could. (I was almost in her lap.) She held her ground for about two minutes, but finally relented, giving up about another six or eight inches. A small victory, but it made me feel better anyway.
Afterward, we wanted to eat at the Garden Grille. We walked upstairs and got right in. There was no one there. I think we must have been the first people of the day. We got our drinks and salad. They automatically use Ranch dressing. I would have preferred something (anything) else. But all of the ingredients were very fresh (grown right there in The Land) and tasty. The other items we got in our all you can eat skillet were farm-raised catfish, marinated flank steak, herb-roasted chicken, steamed vegetables, corn on the cob, cornbread dressing, and sunflower bread with butter. All of the food was good. I didnt feel like it was worth the price of $21 per adult. But that does include your drink and dessert too. Oh, by the way, dessert was a lemon soufflé with fresh strawberries and real whipped cream. I think I enjoyed that the most. Since we were the only ones in the restaurant for a long time, we got a lot of character interaction. We saw Mickey Mouse twice, Pluto once, and both Chip and Dale came by on separate occasions. They each hung around for quite a while before moving on.
When we left The Land we saw that it was raining outside. We stood under the covering at the entrance to the building with a few other people to wait for a lull. It didnt take long. About five minutes later we were again on our way. We walked around a little longer and then took the bus back to WL. The short rain shower succeeded only in creating steam from the sidewalks and walkways. It felt like we were walking in a sauna. The cool A/C of the bus was welcome.
We went up to our room and I had to look for the otters again. No otters, but quite a few ducks and a bird that looks like some kind of egret or crane. We had a Mickey Mouse head created from our towels this time. We read the paper (USA Today is delivered to your room in the mornings) and caught up on the goings on in the outside world. We then realized that we didnt care what was going on in the outside world. Were at WDW. What could be more important?
Well we showered and changed and headed back out to Disney/MGM Studios. As soon as we got there, we rode ToT twice with no wait! We walked over to RnR and again rode with no wait.
We walked over to WWTBAM-PI and the next show was starting in 10 minutes. We decided to wait for it. Once we got inside, we sat down and got ready to play. I love this game! Last year I got in the hot seat so I was going to try and do it again! The first time around my seat number came up near the bottom of the board. After they reset the scores and we played the next round, I was in second place! So close. Well, the guy who was in first place wouldnt go up, so guess what? I got in the hot seat again! I made it all the way to the 125,000-point question and missed it. So that means I fell back to the 32,000 point plateau. I won a t-shirt, a cap, a WWTBAM-PI lanyard, and pins for every level up to 32,000. I havent gotten in on the pin-collecting craze, so Im not sure what Im going to do with the pins. Maybe Ill start next time we go. I now have duplicates of all the pins up to 1,000.
We took the boat to Epcot for our 6 PM PS for Le Cellier. That was a very nice way to go over there. We both had the 7 oz. filet with the garlic and herb mashed potatoes. I had the mixed greens salad (one of my favorite salads at WDW) and Mark had the cheddar cheese soup. Of course, we ate as many of the breadsticks as we could fit, and then had no room for dessert.
We left and slowly walked our way around the WS. This time we stopped in shops and watched presentations (the Chinese acrobats, the Japanese ceremonial drums, and the belly dancer in Morocco). About an hour and a half later we stopped in France to have a pastry. I had the cheesecake this time, and Mark got a chocolate and hazelnut torte that was really good.
We left for the WL knowing that tomorrow would be a slow, relaxed day. Were going to look around the different resorts where weve never stayed. Im really looking forward to it!
Angela (me): wife to DH, Mark
Mark (DH): devoted (and very tolerant) husband to me
Day Five - Epcot and "The Hot Seat"
Up at 8:00. We ate the snacks that we bought last night (and couldnt eat) for breakfast this morning. We then went to the bus stop and waited for the bus to Epcot. It arrived in less than a minute. Our driver took the back way to FW. This wasnt any faster, but at least it was a little different scenery.
When we got to Epcot we decided to go to The Living Seas. This, of course, meant taking a trip through Innoventions again. We sent another e-postcard. And all in all spent about 30 minutes wandering around. When we arrived at the Living Seas, we walked right into The Briefing Room with no wait. Then we boarded our Hydrolaters to descend to Sea-Base Alpha. As we looked around the various exhibits we saw they were having a dolphin presentation and decided to stick around and watch. This test the dolphins were performing had to do with pattern recognizance and was very interesting. We enjoyed it immensely. We watched the manatee presentation and looked at all of the interactive exhibits. We spent about 2 hours looking at everything!! I couldnt believe we were in there that long!
Heading over to The Land, we noticed that the sky was getting a little gray again. Uh-oh. Hope we can stay dry today. We wanted to ride Living with the Land, the boat ride inside. We waited in line for two minutes (tops) because there was practically no one there! Even though it was so slow, they were still cramming the boats full. They told Mark and me to board the second row. Well, there were two women already sitting in the second row, and they did not want to move over. The woman closest to the edge finally moved over about half-way (there was still about a foot between the second woman and the edge of the boat, and about a foot and a half between the women). Mark and I boarded and sat down. We were crammed into the remaining space. Now Mark is six feet tall and about 230 lbs. And Im not exactly Tinkerbell. I could hear the women talking and, although I couldnt hear what they were saying, I could tell they were aggravated. Well, you want to talk about aggravation! Just as calmly as I could I requested that the woman next to me move over to allow more room. She completely ignored me!! Oh no! I dont think so! I moved myself over as close to her as I could. (I was almost in her lap.) She held her ground for about two minutes, but finally relented, giving up about another six or eight inches. A small victory, but it made me feel better anyway.
Afterward, we wanted to eat at the Garden Grille. We walked upstairs and got right in. There was no one there. I think we must have been the first people of the day. We got our drinks and salad. They automatically use Ranch dressing. I would have preferred something (anything) else. But all of the ingredients were very fresh (grown right there in The Land) and tasty. The other items we got in our all you can eat skillet were farm-raised catfish, marinated flank steak, herb-roasted chicken, steamed vegetables, corn on the cob, cornbread dressing, and sunflower bread with butter. All of the food was good. I didnt feel like it was worth the price of $21 per adult. But that does include your drink and dessert too. Oh, by the way, dessert was a lemon soufflé with fresh strawberries and real whipped cream. I think I enjoyed that the most. Since we were the only ones in the restaurant for a long time, we got a lot of character interaction. We saw Mickey Mouse twice, Pluto once, and both Chip and Dale came by on separate occasions. They each hung around for quite a while before moving on.
When we left The Land we saw that it was raining outside. We stood under the covering at the entrance to the building with a few other people to wait for a lull. It didnt take long. About five minutes later we were again on our way. We walked around a little longer and then took the bus back to WL. The short rain shower succeeded only in creating steam from the sidewalks and walkways. It felt like we were walking in a sauna. The cool A/C of the bus was welcome.
We went up to our room and I had to look for the otters again. No otters, but quite a few ducks and a bird that looks like some kind of egret or crane. We had a Mickey Mouse head created from our towels this time. We read the paper (USA Today is delivered to your room in the mornings) and caught up on the goings on in the outside world. We then realized that we didnt care what was going on in the outside world. Were at WDW. What could be more important?
Well we showered and changed and headed back out to Disney/MGM Studios. As soon as we got there, we rode ToT twice with no wait! We walked over to RnR and again rode with no wait.
We walked over to WWTBAM-PI and the next show was starting in 10 minutes. We decided to wait for it. Once we got inside, we sat down and got ready to play. I love this game! Last year I got in the hot seat so I was going to try and do it again! The first time around my seat number came up near the bottom of the board. After they reset the scores and we played the next round, I was in second place! So close. Well, the guy who was in first place wouldnt go up, so guess what? I got in the hot seat again! I made it all the way to the 125,000-point question and missed it. So that means I fell back to the 32,000 point plateau. I won a t-shirt, a cap, a WWTBAM-PI lanyard, and pins for every level up to 32,000. I havent gotten in on the pin-collecting craze, so Im not sure what Im going to do with the pins. Maybe Ill start next time we go. I now have duplicates of all the pins up to 1,000.
We took the boat to Epcot for our 6 PM PS for Le Cellier. That was a very nice way to go over there. We both had the 7 oz. filet with the garlic and herb mashed potatoes. I had the mixed greens salad (one of my favorite salads at WDW) and Mark had the cheddar cheese soup. Of course, we ate as many of the breadsticks as we could fit, and then had no room for dessert.
We left and slowly walked our way around the WS. This time we stopped in shops and watched presentations (the Chinese acrobats, the Japanese ceremonial drums, and the belly dancer in Morocco). About an hour and a half later we stopped in France to have a pastry. I had the cheesecake this time, and Mark got a chocolate and hazelnut torte that was really good.
We left for the WL knowing that tomorrow would be a slow, relaxed day. Were going to look around the different resorts where weve never stayed. Im really looking forward to it!
