PrincessAurora
<font color=blue>Hmpphh! Who needs that boy in gre
- Joined
- Oct 26, 1999
- Messages
- 1,368
CAST:
"Pinky" AKA PrincessAurora - Computer geek, web designer, and Disney Princess Fiend. Always planning her next trip to The World.
Dot - Tech Contractor, 40's Swing Dancer & Hep Kitten, first timer at WDW - veteran Disneyland Nut.
(Please note all detailed food reviews are featured as separate reports after Day 8)
So today we are off to Epcot (my favourite park) however the hours are later than usual (Park opens at 10:00am, World Showcase opens at Noon)so we have a 15-minute wait at the rope. We quickly run through Innovations and are bored out of our minds.
Both Dot and myself work in Silicon Valley. She works at Sun Microsystems and I work for Netscape/AOL. We are on computers all day. Seeing a new laptop, cell phone or computer game does not impress us. It's like being at work. And we are here to play. So if your job does not involve computers, these exhibits might be very interesting to you. There are interactive stations where you can try things out, kids especially seem to have a good time with these. I do like The House of the Future. However today we had 12:00 ressies for Chefs De France and didn't want to be late.
In our killing time period until World Showcase (and my main reason to go to Epcot) opens, we stopped by my favourite hole in the wall - Ice Station Cool. You enter this iceberg, walk through its freezer section and enter a cool room populated with FREE soda. Before you get all excited, these are sodas that Coke sells in different countries that have WAY different taste than most Americans. You can take a Dixie cup and try different ones.
Now before I post our reviews I am going to say something upfront. I have eaten some strange things in my life, deep fried shrimp heads, snails, tofu Some I really liked, some (the tofu) I can do without. However, I am an English/Irish/Italian/Russian American mutt that thinks Mayo, Kraft Cheese and Wonder Bread is great. These are my personal opinions and those of my WASPy roommate. Please don't kill us.
Here are the Selections and our Opinions:
Smart Watermelon - China
Pinky & Dot - Tasty! Very light and refreshing, not sweet (A)
Vegibeta - Japan
Pinky - It's OK, I expected it to be nastier like that Vegemite doody the Aussies eat (B+)
Dot - Mild, lightly sweet, kinda like a sports drink (A-)
Mezzo Mix - Germany
Pinky - weak ginger beer (B+)
Dot - tastes like gummy coke bottles (A-)
Kinley Lemon - Israel
Pinky & Dot - Nice. This is what Sprite aspires to be! (A-)
Diet Tai Guarana - Brazil
Pinky & Dot - Slightly nasty with that "soft" diet taste - just OK (C)
Lift Apple - Mexico
Pinky - Nice and tart (B+)
Dot - Tasty without that artificial USA sweetness and taste (A-)
Krest Ginger Ale - Mozambique
Pinky & Dot - Not as sharp as USA Ginger Ale, a bit watery (B-)
Beverly - Italy
Pinky - This tastes like a combination of Children's Tylenol and spit (F-)
Dot - (After scraping tongue of residue) An unripe grapefruit with sugar and chemicals added (F-)
So once we could get into World Showcase at noon, we had to do the 5 mile dash to Chefs de France for our 12:00 PS. You can read the detailed report on the Food Board but I want to reiterate again - WHAT is up with the "Butterine - 40% butter"??!?!!!! Aren't France and French cooking the leader in butter? WHY are they putting butter-flavored grease on my table?!!!!!! They did get me regular butter but only after I asked.
There also were not too many kids here but I think that reflects more on kids taste in the food. "Tommy, do you want a hot dog or snails for lunch?"
The décor was lovely and I would be interested in checking out the Bistro at night sometime. So we decided to head to Mexico and work our way around from there.
Mexico - The River of Time ride. OK, my experience on this ride has not really changed at all since the last time and now I have added Dot as a convert to the "Small World on Drugs" concept of a Disney ride obviously put together in the 70's and not refabed since.
This ride is lame but it's great if you are hot, tired, drunk or just plain cranky. You can relax, there has never been a line when I've been there and they did lower the volume. You float by a restaurant (WDW's version of the Blue Bayou & Pirates of the Caribbean) with a dark, romantic atmosphere with a smoking volcano in the background. Dot thought that having human sacrifice on the Aztec pyramid with a head rolling down it would add to the ride. I think it would scare the children. Hmmmmm, anyway ..
The boat ride is ala Small World. The First part is the most promising. A large Aztec warrior, standing Godlike in his feathers and gold and tiny little loin cloth talking (I think) about the great scientists, mathmaticians and poodle breeders (hey, I don't know, the sound was bad) that the civilization had. However, it started to go downhill with the next section, "Aztec Interpretive Dance". We had no idea what the point was since you couldn't hear the narration. There was no human sacrifice. We were bummed. They you enter the room of It's A Small World rejects. That is not nearly as scary as the actual Small World but it's getting there. THEN you get to see bad film clips from the 70's of girls water skiing, people getting drunk and a Mexican couple trying to sell you stuff. Then they have this large room where a festival is going on. What are they celebrating? I don't know. It's a carousel of marionette people in the center of a modern town with fireworks overhead. Maybe they are celebrating that we left the peddlers in the next room.
(Editorial non-PC rant: I am assuming that these rides are to educate guests about the glorious history of the country represented and give others a sense of why this is a neat place. To me it's really cheapening the history of Mexico and it's people to portray them as annoying peddlers that are always trying to sell you stuff. Sure I go to Mexico and have the beat off the herds of youngsters that are trying to sell me Chiclets or a paper mache donkey but this is suppose to be an INCENTIVE to go to Mexico. Mexico has a rich history and I DIDN'T SEE ANY OF IT! I saw "interpretive dance" and that's it. How about the art of Mesoamerica or festivals specific to that region. NO! I get water skiing bikini babes and people "running" next to your boat tying to sell you junk! That is really insulting to the people of Mexico. End rant)
Next on the hit parade was Norway and the Maelstrom ride. This we liked MUCH better. It was interesting, there was a switch (one part of the ride your boat turns and you go backwards) and the drops were nice but not steep enough o be scary or to get you really wet.
The only skipable thing is the tourist film that comes after the ride. I saw it once, and it's really pretty but I've had my fill of fjords. No offense. So Dot and I are waiting there when I spy 2 women with lime green lanyards. "Do you post on the DIS boards?" OMIGOD, it was NativeTxn and friends from the DIS con. That was sooooo neat. I was lime green ribbonless that day and was telling Dot to be on the lookout for them. She thought I was nuts but that is neither here nor there.
They were skipping the movie too (you can just walk right through the theatre and keep walking) and going for lunch at Askerhaus. We exchanged hotel information and numbers and I wanted them to come out to Adventurers Club tomorrow night (when we would be there again). Did the DIS hoard appear? Guess you will have to wait for Day 6 to find out.
So on we moved to China where Dot bought trinkets and I tried to dissuade fence-sitting dinners from eating in China. "NO, no, don't waste your money! It's nasty. It's slow. You can get better stuff in Beaver Creek! Really!!!"
We traversed the stalls of the African Outpost with no Tarzan in sight. Then buzzed through Germany, while buying a fab present for my Mom. She's reading this so I can't say what it is. I'm not really into Hummel figurines but I did buy an interesting book on the Brothers Grimm.
Then on to Italy and all the wonderful Carnival masks that I can't afford. Now we are running out of time and the parade is going to start - trapping us in the back of WS. We hurry around the lake, avoiding the parade and dodging small children to get our bus back to the Lodge and to change for dinner. It's Citricos and we brought our nice, fancy clothes.
This was the BEST place we ate for our entire trip. I am having dreams about the food even now. (see food review about this incredible place) It was so wonderful, I didn't want to leave. The Grand Floridian is a beautiful resort and I could see myself staying there, although I do prefer Wilderness Lodge.
Well after dinner it was home again. We did get to catch the last half of the Water Parade. I don't know what I expected. It's kind of like the Electrical Light Parade on only floats. It comes up to the pool/beach area, plays that tinny/ELP music and sea creatures appear. I guess I expected something else, something more. It was nice but the critters only changed for the grand finale of red, white and blue. Other than that it was the same sea critters. OK, this is a nice octopus or dolphin but aren't you going to do something else? I've been looking at the same thing for 4 minutes and it's not moving. Maybe someone can educate me who has seen this before or seen the whole thing? Is this it? Is it just 8 -10 minutes of looking at the same thing with the same music going on and on? Just wondering.
NEXT: Day 6: Magic Kingdom, Flying Fish, Adventurer's Club
"Pinky" AKA PrincessAurora - Computer geek, web designer, and Disney Princess Fiend. Always planning her next trip to The World.
Dot - Tech Contractor, 40's Swing Dancer & Hep Kitten, first timer at WDW - veteran Disneyland Nut.
(Please note all detailed food reviews are featured as separate reports after Day 8)
So today we are off to Epcot (my favourite park) however the hours are later than usual (Park opens at 10:00am, World Showcase opens at Noon)so we have a 15-minute wait at the rope. We quickly run through Innovations and are bored out of our minds.
Both Dot and myself work in Silicon Valley. She works at Sun Microsystems and I work for Netscape/AOL. We are on computers all day. Seeing a new laptop, cell phone or computer game does not impress us. It's like being at work. And we are here to play. So if your job does not involve computers, these exhibits might be very interesting to you. There are interactive stations where you can try things out, kids especially seem to have a good time with these. I do like The House of the Future. However today we had 12:00 ressies for Chefs De France and didn't want to be late.
In our killing time period until World Showcase (and my main reason to go to Epcot) opens, we stopped by my favourite hole in the wall - Ice Station Cool. You enter this iceberg, walk through its freezer section and enter a cool room populated with FREE soda. Before you get all excited, these are sodas that Coke sells in different countries that have WAY different taste than most Americans. You can take a Dixie cup and try different ones.
Now before I post our reviews I am going to say something upfront. I have eaten some strange things in my life, deep fried shrimp heads, snails, tofu Some I really liked, some (the tofu) I can do without. However, I am an English/Irish/Italian/Russian American mutt that thinks Mayo, Kraft Cheese and Wonder Bread is great. These are my personal opinions and those of my WASPy roommate. Please don't kill us.
Here are the Selections and our Opinions:
Smart Watermelon - China
Pinky & Dot - Tasty! Very light and refreshing, not sweet (A)
Vegibeta - Japan
Pinky - It's OK, I expected it to be nastier like that Vegemite doody the Aussies eat (B+)
Dot - Mild, lightly sweet, kinda like a sports drink (A-)
Mezzo Mix - Germany
Pinky - weak ginger beer (B+)
Dot - tastes like gummy coke bottles (A-)
Kinley Lemon - Israel
Pinky & Dot - Nice. This is what Sprite aspires to be! (A-)
Diet Tai Guarana - Brazil
Pinky & Dot - Slightly nasty with that "soft" diet taste - just OK (C)
Lift Apple - Mexico
Pinky - Nice and tart (B+)
Dot - Tasty without that artificial USA sweetness and taste (A-)
Krest Ginger Ale - Mozambique
Pinky & Dot - Not as sharp as USA Ginger Ale, a bit watery (B-)
Beverly - Italy
Pinky - This tastes like a combination of Children's Tylenol and spit (F-)
Dot - (After scraping tongue of residue) An unripe grapefruit with sugar and chemicals added (F-)
So once we could get into World Showcase at noon, we had to do the 5 mile dash to Chefs de France for our 12:00 PS. You can read the detailed report on the Food Board but I want to reiterate again - WHAT is up with the "Butterine - 40% butter"??!?!!!! Aren't France and French cooking the leader in butter? WHY are they putting butter-flavored grease on my table?!!!!!! They did get me regular butter but only after I asked.
There also were not too many kids here but I think that reflects more on kids taste in the food. "Tommy, do you want a hot dog or snails for lunch?"
The décor was lovely and I would be interested in checking out the Bistro at night sometime. So we decided to head to Mexico and work our way around from there.
Mexico - The River of Time ride. OK, my experience on this ride has not really changed at all since the last time and now I have added Dot as a convert to the "Small World on Drugs" concept of a Disney ride obviously put together in the 70's and not refabed since.
This ride is lame but it's great if you are hot, tired, drunk or just plain cranky. You can relax, there has never been a line when I've been there and they did lower the volume. You float by a restaurant (WDW's version of the Blue Bayou & Pirates of the Caribbean) with a dark, romantic atmosphere with a smoking volcano in the background. Dot thought that having human sacrifice on the Aztec pyramid with a head rolling down it would add to the ride. I think it would scare the children. Hmmmmm, anyway ..
The boat ride is ala Small World. The First part is the most promising. A large Aztec warrior, standing Godlike in his feathers and gold and tiny little loin cloth talking (I think) about the great scientists, mathmaticians and poodle breeders (hey, I don't know, the sound was bad) that the civilization had. However, it started to go downhill with the next section, "Aztec Interpretive Dance". We had no idea what the point was since you couldn't hear the narration. There was no human sacrifice. We were bummed. They you enter the room of It's A Small World rejects. That is not nearly as scary as the actual Small World but it's getting there. THEN you get to see bad film clips from the 70's of girls water skiing, people getting drunk and a Mexican couple trying to sell you stuff. Then they have this large room where a festival is going on. What are they celebrating? I don't know. It's a carousel of marionette people in the center of a modern town with fireworks overhead. Maybe they are celebrating that we left the peddlers in the next room.
(Editorial non-PC rant: I am assuming that these rides are to educate guests about the glorious history of the country represented and give others a sense of why this is a neat place. To me it's really cheapening the history of Mexico and it's people to portray them as annoying peddlers that are always trying to sell you stuff. Sure I go to Mexico and have the beat off the herds of youngsters that are trying to sell me Chiclets or a paper mache donkey but this is suppose to be an INCENTIVE to go to Mexico. Mexico has a rich history and I DIDN'T SEE ANY OF IT! I saw "interpretive dance" and that's it. How about the art of Mesoamerica or festivals specific to that region. NO! I get water skiing bikini babes and people "running" next to your boat tying to sell you junk! That is really insulting to the people of Mexico. End rant)
Next on the hit parade was Norway and the Maelstrom ride. This we liked MUCH better. It was interesting, there was a switch (one part of the ride your boat turns and you go backwards) and the drops were nice but not steep enough o be scary or to get you really wet.
The only skipable thing is the tourist film that comes after the ride. I saw it once, and it's really pretty but I've had my fill of fjords. No offense. So Dot and I are waiting there when I spy 2 women with lime green lanyards. "Do you post on the DIS boards?" OMIGOD, it was NativeTxn and friends from the DIS con. That was sooooo neat. I was lime green ribbonless that day and was telling Dot to be on the lookout for them. She thought I was nuts but that is neither here nor there.
They were skipping the movie too (you can just walk right through the theatre and keep walking) and going for lunch at Askerhaus. We exchanged hotel information and numbers and I wanted them to come out to Adventurers Club tomorrow night (when we would be there again). Did the DIS hoard appear? Guess you will have to wait for Day 6 to find out.
So on we moved to China where Dot bought trinkets and I tried to dissuade fence-sitting dinners from eating in China. "NO, no, don't waste your money! It's nasty. It's slow. You can get better stuff in Beaver Creek! Really!!!"
We traversed the stalls of the African Outpost with no Tarzan in sight. Then buzzed through Germany, while buying a fab present for my Mom. She's reading this so I can't say what it is. I'm not really into Hummel figurines but I did buy an interesting book on the Brothers Grimm.
Then on to Italy and all the wonderful Carnival masks that I can't afford. Now we are running out of time and the parade is going to start - trapping us in the back of WS. We hurry around the lake, avoiding the parade and dodging small children to get our bus back to the Lodge and to change for dinner. It's Citricos and we brought our nice, fancy clothes.
This was the BEST place we ate for our entire trip. I am having dreams about the food even now. (see food review about this incredible place) It was so wonderful, I didn't want to leave. The Grand Floridian is a beautiful resort and I could see myself staying there, although I do prefer Wilderness Lodge.
Well after dinner it was home again. We did get to catch the last half of the Water Parade. I don't know what I expected. It's kind of like the Electrical Light Parade on only floats. It comes up to the pool/beach area, plays that tinny/ELP music and sea creatures appear. I guess I expected something else, something more. It was nice but the critters only changed for the grand finale of red, white and blue. Other than that it was the same sea critters. OK, this is a nice octopus or dolphin but aren't you going to do something else? I've been looking at the same thing for 4 minutes and it's not moving. Maybe someone can educate me who has seen this before or seen the whole thing? Is this it? Is it just 8 -10 minutes of looking at the same thing with the same music going on and on? Just wondering.
NEXT: Day 6: Magic Kingdom, Flying Fish, Adventurer's Club
