PrincessAurora
<font color=blue>Hmpphh! Who needs that boy in gre
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- Oct 26, 1999
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DAY SIX - EPCOT REVISITED, ASKERHAUS, LE CELLIER, ILLUMINATIONS
CAST:
"Pinky" AKA PrincessAurora - Computer geek, web designer, and Disney Princess Fiend. Already planning next trip to The World.
"The Brain" AKA Captain_Nemo - Applied Mathematics Major, first timer at WDW, trying hard to put his trust in his "native guide".
(Please note all detailed food reviews are featured as a separate report after Day 8)
Well, we're on the downside of the week and falling too fast. Neither of us has been getting much sleep between hacking coughs and someone muttering in their sleep, Brain just plotting overtime. So up we rise and get on the bus to EPCOT. Today is the day to catch the things that we missed. It is also the time to look for a particular Aurora pin for me. Allow me to elaborate.
The first day at Epcot (Sunday) I found a great Aurora pin. I had no idea it was also a "mistake" pin. Her sleeves were not painted so it appeared as if her gown was sleeveless. The next day when The Brain took over duties as Sherpa and took the fanny pack, the pin fell off somewhere between our resort and the Magic Kingdom. I figured to just buy another one, there were tons on Sunday. Guess what? There are no longer tons. In fact, neither of us had seen another one since. So now I am on a pin hunt myself. Ducky.
We are planning to do a marathon Epcot day, no naps, so we are pacing ourselves. We get a Fast Pass for Test Track and head over to the LIVING SEAS. This was something I missed the last time I was here. It was interesting. The ride was actually so forgettable that I've forgotten it. How's that? I DO remember the dolphins which I REALLY want to go swimming with and the sharks. We watched the dolphin trainers work with the dolphins for a while and enjoyed that. They also have a display with Jason. Jason is an undersea robot that was teamed with Argo out of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and utilized by Robert Ballard when he discovered the wreck of the Titanic. I was very jazzed about that. I'm a big Titanic nut, not Leonardo nut - there IS a difference. Pinky gives this exhibit a 6.5, The Brain was too pre-occupied with pin trading to rate this ride.
Next stop was TEST TRACK after more pin trading stops. I will say that this is the ONLY Fast Pass ride that your FP only does you minimal good. The line was not set up with FP in mind. You skip one section of the queue but still have a substantial wait. The ride also broke down for about 10 minutes on us. Total wait with FP was 40 minutes. I didn't find it to be worth it. The ride was neat. You did actual car tests, up hills, bumpy roads, spin outs, heat, cold, collision and then they take you out and run you on a "race track". That is the best part of the ride but it's only once around and too short. Pinky gives this one a 7.5. The Brain thinks it was fun but not fast enough. Just to be aware of the break down issues. A solid 8.
Alright, now it's off to the Countries but from the other way around. We pass up Mexico since it was too early to be drunk enough to ride the strange River of Time ride again. We went to Norway and had lunch at Askerhaus. Very interesting, especially the traditional plate licking. For more info, read the food reviews after Day 8. Then we went on the Maelstrom ride. You get in a Viking ship and take a ride through Norway Past, Present and Future. Pinky says that for World Showcase it's a good ride and the people are VERY friendly. I even met a guy named Sven! The Brain, thinking me not concise enough, declared it a "cute little ride". Fun for the whole family. Good respectable 6.5's on this one.
China is the home to another Circle Vision movie that is really spectacular. It's one of my favorites and not to be missed. As a big fan of circle vision, I give this one 2 thumbs up. Just stay away from the take-out Chinese food place - shudder.
Pin stop at the Liberty area. Nothing. Damn. Must keep looking. I'm starting to get the same glazed look Brain has. My feet are killing me, no Aurora pin to be seen, and I haven't seen Tarzan all week and does that have me bummed! We stop by Japan to listen to the drummers. They were excellent! I highly recommend giving them a listen when you are in the area. Onto Millennium village, still the pin hunt is in vain. The Brain is starting to go with a whole Tigger/Pooh theme for his trading.
"Gee honey, do you know you have a little "Poo" on your shirt?"
MILLENNIUM VILLAGE is really pretty neat. Brazil is playing some kind of interactive soccer game. I mean like what else does that country do? They rule in soccer. Just like Scotland across the way is doing a what game? Did I hear golf? That would be right! Saudi Arabia looks neat. Hey, they have money, maybe they have pins! They do but not the one I want. A nice guy writes our names in Arabic. We then watch a show in the magic oasis about how the rude guy goes into the desert, disrespects people and the desert, his car breaks, he has no water, he's going to croak when an Arab Bedouin comes and takes him to an oasis, shows him how he was a doof, he's sorry and then they are all friends. That's about it in a nut shell. The exhibit was pretty cool. In the pools are Arab words and when you touch them they translate into English. In Sweden you walk through the 4 giant spheres representing the 4 seasons of Sweden. It was an interesting exhibit. Nice, not HUGE, but nice.
We didn't eat anything here but the selection looked good and reasonably priced. Next was the ride through Jerusalem in Israel. This was a pricey exhibit. The stones in the entrance way came from Jerusalem, from the old part of the city I believe. Now we all know the unrest going on in that section of the globe. We were wondering how an exhibit sponsored by a Jewish country was going to depict a city that is currently being fought over by the three major religions on the planet. The Brain puts it this way "It was amazing they could be so even-handed in their presentation even though a bit of the story line was laid on a bit thick." You are in open simulators and take a ride through stories of the area as seen from the 3 different religions. It was a good ride, educational and worth the wait. I would recommend it.
Well, it's starting to get late and we have PS's at LE CELLIER. A bit of a stop to see the tall puppets in the parade and then off I run to the restaurant. I have to have that Cheese Soup! Then it happened, my phlegm cough hit full force. I had to keep running to the ladies room to hack in private, hoping that people didn't think it was the food. It was terrible. I would think about drinking something or eating and that tickle would start in my throat and I'd be off running! My blessings to Shaunna, our wonderful server, who leaves to go back to Canada in 2 more weeks. She brought me hot tea and honey. Because of that I could finish my meal BUT I was unable to eat more than one sip of the soup and only one bite of pretzel bread. The Brain loved it but I could not have any. Big sob! I will have to try making it at home.
Next we go outside for Illuminations. I am feeling shaky and just want my bed and more drugs. However I heard such wonderful things about Illuminations we stay. I'm so glad we did. They were starting right when we left the restaurant. We just walked out of Canada, towards the front of the lake and there was a nice spot with a bench so we got a good look. It's hard to describe, saying that it's just a fireworks show does not do it justice. There are fireworks, amazing ones timed to music but also fire and lasers and lights on all the country pavilions and a GIANT globe that projects real life images on the continents. It is not to be believed. The best thing I've seen in ages! A perfect 10!
We join the cattle call of people heading towards the exit but since we were at the front of the lake we got a jump on the people in the other countries.
We got on one of the 3 buses waiting for Port Orleans so it was a reasonable hour to get back. Now if I can just stop coughing and get some sleep! Just too tired to take over The World.
Next: Day Seven - Short MGM jaunt, DTD, Fulton's Crab House, Pleasure Island and the Adventure's Club - Kongaloosh!
CAST:
"Pinky" AKA PrincessAurora - Computer geek, web designer, and Disney Princess Fiend. Already planning next trip to The World.
"The Brain" AKA Captain_Nemo - Applied Mathematics Major, first timer at WDW, trying hard to put his trust in his "native guide".
(Please note all detailed food reviews are featured as a separate report after Day 8)
Well, we're on the downside of the week and falling too fast. Neither of us has been getting much sleep between hacking coughs and someone muttering in their sleep, Brain just plotting overtime. So up we rise and get on the bus to EPCOT. Today is the day to catch the things that we missed. It is also the time to look for a particular Aurora pin for me. Allow me to elaborate.
The first day at Epcot (Sunday) I found a great Aurora pin. I had no idea it was also a "mistake" pin. Her sleeves were not painted so it appeared as if her gown was sleeveless. The next day when The Brain took over duties as Sherpa and took the fanny pack, the pin fell off somewhere between our resort and the Magic Kingdom. I figured to just buy another one, there were tons on Sunday. Guess what? There are no longer tons. In fact, neither of us had seen another one since. So now I am on a pin hunt myself. Ducky.
We are planning to do a marathon Epcot day, no naps, so we are pacing ourselves. We get a Fast Pass for Test Track and head over to the LIVING SEAS. This was something I missed the last time I was here. It was interesting. The ride was actually so forgettable that I've forgotten it. How's that? I DO remember the dolphins which I REALLY want to go swimming with and the sharks. We watched the dolphin trainers work with the dolphins for a while and enjoyed that. They also have a display with Jason. Jason is an undersea robot that was teamed with Argo out of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and utilized by Robert Ballard when he discovered the wreck of the Titanic. I was very jazzed about that. I'm a big Titanic nut, not Leonardo nut - there IS a difference. Pinky gives this exhibit a 6.5, The Brain was too pre-occupied with pin trading to rate this ride.
Next stop was TEST TRACK after more pin trading stops. I will say that this is the ONLY Fast Pass ride that your FP only does you minimal good. The line was not set up with FP in mind. You skip one section of the queue but still have a substantial wait. The ride also broke down for about 10 minutes on us. Total wait with FP was 40 minutes. I didn't find it to be worth it. The ride was neat. You did actual car tests, up hills, bumpy roads, spin outs, heat, cold, collision and then they take you out and run you on a "race track". That is the best part of the ride but it's only once around and too short. Pinky gives this one a 7.5. The Brain thinks it was fun but not fast enough. Just to be aware of the break down issues. A solid 8.
Alright, now it's off to the Countries but from the other way around. We pass up Mexico since it was too early to be drunk enough to ride the strange River of Time ride again. We went to Norway and had lunch at Askerhaus. Very interesting, especially the traditional plate licking. For more info, read the food reviews after Day 8. Then we went on the Maelstrom ride. You get in a Viking ship and take a ride through Norway Past, Present and Future. Pinky says that for World Showcase it's a good ride and the people are VERY friendly. I even met a guy named Sven! The Brain, thinking me not concise enough, declared it a "cute little ride". Fun for the whole family. Good respectable 6.5's on this one.
China is the home to another Circle Vision movie that is really spectacular. It's one of my favorites and not to be missed. As a big fan of circle vision, I give this one 2 thumbs up. Just stay away from the take-out Chinese food place - shudder.
Pin stop at the Liberty area. Nothing. Damn. Must keep looking. I'm starting to get the same glazed look Brain has. My feet are killing me, no Aurora pin to be seen, and I haven't seen Tarzan all week and does that have me bummed! We stop by Japan to listen to the drummers. They were excellent! I highly recommend giving them a listen when you are in the area. Onto Millennium village, still the pin hunt is in vain. The Brain is starting to go with a whole Tigger/Pooh theme for his trading.
"Gee honey, do you know you have a little "Poo" on your shirt?"
MILLENNIUM VILLAGE is really pretty neat. Brazil is playing some kind of interactive soccer game. I mean like what else does that country do? They rule in soccer. Just like Scotland across the way is doing a what game? Did I hear golf? That would be right! Saudi Arabia looks neat. Hey, they have money, maybe they have pins! They do but not the one I want. A nice guy writes our names in Arabic. We then watch a show in the magic oasis about how the rude guy goes into the desert, disrespects people and the desert, his car breaks, he has no water, he's going to croak when an Arab Bedouin comes and takes him to an oasis, shows him how he was a doof, he's sorry and then they are all friends. That's about it in a nut shell. The exhibit was pretty cool. In the pools are Arab words and when you touch them they translate into English. In Sweden you walk through the 4 giant spheres representing the 4 seasons of Sweden. It was an interesting exhibit. Nice, not HUGE, but nice.
We didn't eat anything here but the selection looked good and reasonably priced. Next was the ride through Jerusalem in Israel. This was a pricey exhibit. The stones in the entrance way came from Jerusalem, from the old part of the city I believe. Now we all know the unrest going on in that section of the globe. We were wondering how an exhibit sponsored by a Jewish country was going to depict a city that is currently being fought over by the three major religions on the planet. The Brain puts it this way "It was amazing they could be so even-handed in their presentation even though a bit of the story line was laid on a bit thick." You are in open simulators and take a ride through stories of the area as seen from the 3 different religions. It was a good ride, educational and worth the wait. I would recommend it.
Well, it's starting to get late and we have PS's at LE CELLIER. A bit of a stop to see the tall puppets in the parade and then off I run to the restaurant. I have to have that Cheese Soup! Then it happened, my phlegm cough hit full force. I had to keep running to the ladies room to hack in private, hoping that people didn't think it was the food. It was terrible. I would think about drinking something or eating and that tickle would start in my throat and I'd be off running! My blessings to Shaunna, our wonderful server, who leaves to go back to Canada in 2 more weeks. She brought me hot tea and honey. Because of that I could finish my meal BUT I was unable to eat more than one sip of the soup and only one bite of pretzel bread. The Brain loved it but I could not have any. Big sob! I will have to try making it at home.
Next we go outside for Illuminations. I am feeling shaky and just want my bed and more drugs. However I heard such wonderful things about Illuminations we stay. I'm so glad we did. They were starting right when we left the restaurant. We just walked out of Canada, towards the front of the lake and there was a nice spot with a bench so we got a good look. It's hard to describe, saying that it's just a fireworks show does not do it justice. There are fireworks, amazing ones timed to music but also fire and lasers and lights on all the country pavilions and a GIANT globe that projects real life images on the continents. It is not to be believed. The best thing I've seen in ages! A perfect 10!
We join the cattle call of people heading towards the exit but since we were at the front of the lake we got a jump on the people in the other countries.
We got on one of the 3 buses waiting for Port Orleans so it was a reasonable hour to get back. Now if I can just stop coughing and get some sleep! Just too tired to take over The World.
Next: Day Seven - Short MGM jaunt, DTD, Fulton's Crab House, Pleasure Island and the Adventure's Club - Kongaloosh!
