MrScubaBHT
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2002
- Messages
- 40
The Big Family Trip to WDW Day 6
Day 6 Wednesday, July 10
Again Im up before our wake up call and I hit the shower. I then wake the wife and kids and head over to the Food Court and grab Mickey Mouse Waffles for everyone and bring them back to the room.
Everyone is ready and at the bus stop at 8:30 and its not long before the bus pulls up to take us to Epcot. Short ride later and were walking over to the security tables. Again, Im surprised at how well Disney handles crowds, especially the early morning crowds that hit the parks for opening. Were through security and the gate in less than 5 minutes and we work our way to the left side of Spaceship Earth to await the rope drop. At about 8:55 the park theme music begins to play and they drop the rope. Now for the mad dash to Test Track. We do a fast walk and make it to Test Track in just a few minutes, but already the line has backed up to outside of the building, so FP it is.
Side note: Ive read on several trip reports how people rush to the popular rides right at opening and are able to ride a couple of times before the lines back up. I just dont see how this is possible as we were always there for the rope drop and were to the rides in just a few minutes. We were able to ride BTMRR at MK with less than a 5-minute wait, but by the time the ride was over the Stand-by time was over 40 minutes.
Anyway, back to Epcot. Our FP return time is 9:30, so we head back to Innovations (West I think) Which is deserted this early in the morning and the kids are able to do just about everything they wanted within 30 minutes. On our way over to Test Track you can see the dark clouds moving in, not a good sign . As soon as we hand over our FPs and announcement comes over the PA that says that Test Track could close at anytime due to approaching inclement weather. There are just a few people in the FP line ahead of us and Im thinking, come on, hurry, hurry, dont close, let us get on, dont close. Finally we get into the briefing area and another announcement comes repeating the first message. Im thinking to myself, OK lets skip the silly video briefing and get on with the ride before they close it. Briefing is over and there are about 10 people in front of us. 3rd announcement made. Come on, Come on, lets move it people, go, go, go .. Finally were seated in our Test Track car and the 4th announcement is made. Im thinking, great, we finally make it into the car and theyre going to close the ride. But luck is on our side once again and we go. As soon as we make it outside, it begins to rain a little bit. We are able to finish the ride, whew!!!! We exit and then do the VR chairs (one of the longer waits we had during the whole week about 30 minutes). In my opinion, skip the VR chairs; its just a big GM commercial about how they are improving our lives, blah, blah, blah, not impressed
Once outside of the TT building the rain really starts to come down and TT closes. Its 10:15 and we were supposed to meet my wifes family outside of The Wonders Of Life. Quick call on the FRS and we find out that they are doing some of the stuff inside of Innovations and that they will meet us in just a few minutes at Wonders Of Life. After donning our ponchos and getting out the umbrellas we dash over to WOL and stand under cover waiting for the others to arrive. It seems like it takes forever for them to make it, all the while hordes of people are streaming in . They finally make it and once inside I can see that it isnt that crowded after all. Were able to do The Making Of Me and Cranium Command, and the other show within an hour as well as do most of the exhibits. My wifes family decide that they want to go see if they can get FPs for Test Track since they slept in. That ends up being it for the big group for the day. We manage to contact each other a couple of times on the FRS Radios, but were always on opposite ends of the park. No big deal, well just do our own thing today.
After WOL we head over to Energy. We make it in just in time for the pre-show and we get the front on the front row of the front car (great seats). Kids loved this ride. However, I dont care for the stupid banter between Ellen and Professor whats his name. The original presentation when Exxon??? was the sponsor was 100xs better. Its just too cartoonish now
After Energy we catch lunch at the Electric Umbrella and then head over to The Land. Im just amazed at how un-crowded Epcot is!!!! We pass by Spaceship Earth and no line is visible. I can remember the first two times I visited Epcot the line was backed up through all of the ropes and heading back towards the entrance. Granted this was before all of the other parks opened up, so that probably has something to do with it. Anyway, less than a 10-minute wait for The Land and were on.
Now its over to Imagination where we catch Honey I Shrunk The Audience with almost no wait, good show and great 3D. Next we do Journey Into Your Imagination. Once again, less than a 10 minute wait. This ride was very entertaining, but I can remember the original, and this one still falls short. Never saw the first remake, so cant compare it to that one. We stop and do several of the kiosks and email our picture to friends and co-workers.
We now head over to the Living Seas. What can I say here . It sucked. There, I said it. Epcot in my opinion has really gone downhill (except for TT). The Living Seas used to be my favorite (check my ID, Ive always loved the Ocean and Marine Life) I was there they year the opened it up and you had to wait an hour just to get in. When did they take the little tram ride out that took you underneath the aquarium? When did they take the Dolphin aquarium out? More than ½ of the reef is gone???? And they want to charge you $175 or so to dive in their tank, get real! Sorry to be so down hear, but I was expecting it to be the same as it was when it opened. I used to compare our Texas Aquarium in Corpus Christi to the Living Seas and thought it fell short. But I will think that no more. We spent maybe a total of 15 minutes here before leaving. I know some of you probably think the Living Seas was great, but if you ever saw the original Living Seas with the Elevator and Tram Ride youll know what Im talking about. If youre a SCUBA diver like I am, dont waste your time or money on diving in the Aquarium, instead use the money to go dive from a boat on either coast or dive a fresh water spring (and for a lot less). OK, Im off my soapbox, back to the story.
Its over to Spaceship Earth we go. This is more like it. And its been updated to include more modern technology and pretty much the same as I remember it. Disney, leave it alone!!!!
OK, weve done everything in Future World, so its back to The World Showcase. Short stop in Ice Station Cool, or whatever its called. I trick my wife and kids into drinking that awful flavored drink and get a big kick out of seeing the expressions on their faces. They shouldve known better than to trust me. My favorite was the Lemon flavored drink, cant remember which country.
Once again we are surprised to see there is just a short wait for the Mexico Ride and get right on. On to Norway and the again its just a short wait. The time is now a little after 7:30 and we decide to eat at the Mexico Cantina by the lake. After dinner we head over to the boat landing on the Future World Side and catch the last boat ride of the evening over to the Italy landing. Weve all had enough of Epcot at this point. The Kids really liked TT, Energy, JIYI, and Spaceship Earth. Other than that they just werent that interested. So rather than torture them by forcing them to go through the countries we go pick out a spot for Illuminations around 8:00 PM. This is a big recommendation Just across the street from Italy and to the left of the boat landing (If your looking back over the lake towards Space Ship Earth) and to the Right of the American Outdoor Theater, there are some stairs leading up to a landing with a fountain on it. Go up these steps and stake out a spot by the railing. You will have an unobstructed view for Illuminations. There were only a few people here (little after 8:00 PM) since most were watching the 2nd Tapestry Of Dreams Parade. We could still watch and hear the Parade (although a little distant), and we were guaranteed a great viewing for Illuminations. Youll notice a little roped off area right before the steps to the right, this is the Preferred Seating for AP holders. So you know this has got to be a good viewing spot. We were not disappointed. The wind was blowing away from us and we were able to see and hear all of Illuminations w/o any obstructions of people in the way. I took video of just about the whole thing .
After Illuminations we take our time heading back to the exit since we know the lines for the busses will be long if we rush. As it turns out, this was a good strategy as the bus lines had thinned by the time we got there and only had to wait about 15 minutes. Wouldve been less if we wanted to stand, but we wanted seats, so we waited for one more bus.
All in all it wasnt a bad day. But I know that we wont be revisiting Epcot for the rest of the trip and it will probably be a park we will miss next time unless big changes are made. This is hard to say, because I really, really liked Epcot when it first opened.
Im hoping tomorrow at MGM will be much better!!!!
Day 6 Wednesday, July 10
Again Im up before our wake up call and I hit the shower. I then wake the wife and kids and head over to the Food Court and grab Mickey Mouse Waffles for everyone and bring them back to the room.
Everyone is ready and at the bus stop at 8:30 and its not long before the bus pulls up to take us to Epcot. Short ride later and were walking over to the security tables. Again, Im surprised at how well Disney handles crowds, especially the early morning crowds that hit the parks for opening. Were through security and the gate in less than 5 minutes and we work our way to the left side of Spaceship Earth to await the rope drop. At about 8:55 the park theme music begins to play and they drop the rope. Now for the mad dash to Test Track. We do a fast walk and make it to Test Track in just a few minutes, but already the line has backed up to outside of the building, so FP it is.
Side note: Ive read on several trip reports how people rush to the popular rides right at opening and are able to ride a couple of times before the lines back up. I just dont see how this is possible as we were always there for the rope drop and were to the rides in just a few minutes. We were able to ride BTMRR at MK with less than a 5-minute wait, but by the time the ride was over the Stand-by time was over 40 minutes.
Anyway, back to Epcot. Our FP return time is 9:30, so we head back to Innovations (West I think) Which is deserted this early in the morning and the kids are able to do just about everything they wanted within 30 minutes. On our way over to Test Track you can see the dark clouds moving in, not a good sign . As soon as we hand over our FPs and announcement comes over the PA that says that Test Track could close at anytime due to approaching inclement weather. There are just a few people in the FP line ahead of us and Im thinking, come on, hurry, hurry, dont close, let us get on, dont close. Finally we get into the briefing area and another announcement comes repeating the first message. Im thinking to myself, OK lets skip the silly video briefing and get on with the ride before they close it. Briefing is over and there are about 10 people in front of us. 3rd announcement made. Come on, Come on, lets move it people, go, go, go .. Finally were seated in our Test Track car and the 4th announcement is made. Im thinking, great, we finally make it into the car and theyre going to close the ride. But luck is on our side once again and we go. As soon as we make it outside, it begins to rain a little bit. We are able to finish the ride, whew!!!! We exit and then do the VR chairs (one of the longer waits we had during the whole week about 30 minutes). In my opinion, skip the VR chairs; its just a big GM commercial about how they are improving our lives, blah, blah, blah, not impressed
Once outside of the TT building the rain really starts to come down and TT closes. Its 10:15 and we were supposed to meet my wifes family outside of The Wonders Of Life. Quick call on the FRS and we find out that they are doing some of the stuff inside of Innovations and that they will meet us in just a few minutes at Wonders Of Life. After donning our ponchos and getting out the umbrellas we dash over to WOL and stand under cover waiting for the others to arrive. It seems like it takes forever for them to make it, all the while hordes of people are streaming in . They finally make it and once inside I can see that it isnt that crowded after all. Were able to do The Making Of Me and Cranium Command, and the other show within an hour as well as do most of the exhibits. My wifes family decide that they want to go see if they can get FPs for Test Track since they slept in. That ends up being it for the big group for the day. We manage to contact each other a couple of times on the FRS Radios, but were always on opposite ends of the park. No big deal, well just do our own thing today.
After WOL we head over to Energy. We make it in just in time for the pre-show and we get the front on the front row of the front car (great seats). Kids loved this ride. However, I dont care for the stupid banter between Ellen and Professor whats his name. The original presentation when Exxon??? was the sponsor was 100xs better. Its just too cartoonish now
After Energy we catch lunch at the Electric Umbrella and then head over to The Land. Im just amazed at how un-crowded Epcot is!!!! We pass by Spaceship Earth and no line is visible. I can remember the first two times I visited Epcot the line was backed up through all of the ropes and heading back towards the entrance. Granted this was before all of the other parks opened up, so that probably has something to do with it. Anyway, less than a 10-minute wait for The Land and were on.
Now its over to Imagination where we catch Honey I Shrunk The Audience with almost no wait, good show and great 3D. Next we do Journey Into Your Imagination. Once again, less than a 10 minute wait. This ride was very entertaining, but I can remember the original, and this one still falls short. Never saw the first remake, so cant compare it to that one. We stop and do several of the kiosks and email our picture to friends and co-workers.
We now head over to the Living Seas. What can I say here . It sucked. There, I said it. Epcot in my opinion has really gone downhill (except for TT). The Living Seas used to be my favorite (check my ID, Ive always loved the Ocean and Marine Life) I was there they year the opened it up and you had to wait an hour just to get in. When did they take the little tram ride out that took you underneath the aquarium? When did they take the Dolphin aquarium out? More than ½ of the reef is gone???? And they want to charge you $175 or so to dive in their tank, get real! Sorry to be so down hear, but I was expecting it to be the same as it was when it opened. I used to compare our Texas Aquarium in Corpus Christi to the Living Seas and thought it fell short. But I will think that no more. We spent maybe a total of 15 minutes here before leaving. I know some of you probably think the Living Seas was great, but if you ever saw the original Living Seas with the Elevator and Tram Ride youll know what Im talking about. If youre a SCUBA diver like I am, dont waste your time or money on diving in the Aquarium, instead use the money to go dive from a boat on either coast or dive a fresh water spring (and for a lot less). OK, Im off my soapbox, back to the story.
Its over to Spaceship Earth we go. This is more like it. And its been updated to include more modern technology and pretty much the same as I remember it. Disney, leave it alone!!!!
OK, weve done everything in Future World, so its back to The World Showcase. Short stop in Ice Station Cool, or whatever its called. I trick my wife and kids into drinking that awful flavored drink and get a big kick out of seeing the expressions on their faces. They shouldve known better than to trust me. My favorite was the Lemon flavored drink, cant remember which country.
Once again we are surprised to see there is just a short wait for the Mexico Ride and get right on. On to Norway and the again its just a short wait. The time is now a little after 7:30 and we decide to eat at the Mexico Cantina by the lake. After dinner we head over to the boat landing on the Future World Side and catch the last boat ride of the evening over to the Italy landing. Weve all had enough of Epcot at this point. The Kids really liked TT, Energy, JIYI, and Spaceship Earth. Other than that they just werent that interested. So rather than torture them by forcing them to go through the countries we go pick out a spot for Illuminations around 8:00 PM. This is a big recommendation Just across the street from Italy and to the left of the boat landing (If your looking back over the lake towards Space Ship Earth) and to the Right of the American Outdoor Theater, there are some stairs leading up to a landing with a fountain on it. Go up these steps and stake out a spot by the railing. You will have an unobstructed view for Illuminations. There were only a few people here (little after 8:00 PM) since most were watching the 2nd Tapestry Of Dreams Parade. We could still watch and hear the Parade (although a little distant), and we were guaranteed a great viewing for Illuminations. Youll notice a little roped off area right before the steps to the right, this is the Preferred Seating for AP holders. So you know this has got to be a good viewing spot. We were not disappointed. The wind was blowing away from us and we were able to see and hear all of Illuminations w/o any obstructions of people in the way. I took video of just about the whole thing .
After Illuminations we take our time heading back to the exit since we know the lines for the busses will be long if we rush. As it turns out, this was a good strategy as the bus lines had thinned by the time we got there and only had to wait about 15 minutes. Wouldve been less if we wanted to stand, but we wanted seats, so we waited for one more bus.
All in all it wasnt a bad day. But I know that we wont be revisiting Epcot for the rest of the trip and it will probably be a park we will miss next time unless big changes are made. This is hard to say, because I really, really liked Epcot when it first opened.
Im hoping tomorrow at MGM will be much better!!!!
