We hightailed it out of the timeshare place and made our way over to Epcot. I had heard about a new attraction, Turtle Talk with Crush, and thought my kids would like it so we went to The Seas first. We found our way to Turtle Talk just as they were filling the auditorium for another showing. Unfortunately, they reached capacity before we got to enter, so we were some of the first people in line for the next showing. We waited for our turn and eventually made it in. The kids were ushered forward, while we grown-ups were asked to stay toward the back. Soon Crush came swimming out on the screen in front of us that made it look like he was in an aquarium tank and after some preamble he started fielding questions from the kids in the audience. When he started to answer questions specifically, and call on specific kids (“how about the little dude in the red shirt”), we adults in the back started trading confused glances.
“Wait a second. It’s a cartoon! How can he interact with kids and answer specific questions?” This was incredible! In a way, the awesomeness of it was lost on the kids because they believe that cartoons are real. We adults know that they aren’t real, and we know that cartoons can’t carry on a conversation with you, but here he was, doing just that. And he was so Crush-like! Cracking jokes, using surfer lingo in response to kids’ questions, and calling on specific kids in the audience. It was amazing. At the end, the kids left, happy to have met Crush. The parents left scratching their heads at this new Disney magic that wasn’t supposed to be possible.
After Crush we got a couple of pictures with Bruce.
Marlene, a great actress even at this young age. James is to the left.
It was easier to get pictures back here than wait for a turn at Bruce's mouth.
From there we went over to Innoventions. Now I have to tell you that James has always been a videogame nut. When he was 2 or 3 we got some cheap videogame console from QVC that had a bunch of 1980’s era games on it. He loved that thing and even though he couldn’t read, he could somehow get through its menus and go to whatever game he wanted without fail. In fact, he wore that console out. We sent it back a couple of times to get it replaced because he played it so much. Well that, and the fact that it was pretty cheap. Anyway, I tell you that so you’ll understand how James thought he was in heaven when he walked into Innoventions. We passed a teenage boy playing a game where he had to move some boxes on the screen by physically jumping. A belt he was wearing communicated his movements to the game. James watched with fascination. This kid was big -- probably over six feet tall, and got a decent score, I would guess. Anyway, when he finished James wanted to try it. The cast member strapped the belt on him and he started in. He had a really strange technique. He’d squat way down low, and then jump up. It looked downright thigh-burning exhausting, but he got a really high score, beating the six-foot teenager before him. The cast member couldn’t believe James’ score and gave him a certificate of achievement. I’m sure it was due to his unorthodox technique.
James showing how it’s done.
Then the girls gave it a shot.
They did fine, but didn’t come close to James’ score.
After this my memory’s a little blurry so I have to refer to um, memory-enhancing documentation. We purchased an autograph book at exactly 6:14 pm. I think that was for James. He had a pretty big book in that earlier picture with Mickey at the Magic Kingdom. I think we got him a more streamlined model.
Then we walked around the World Showcase looking for someplace to eat before Illuminations. We ended up in Japan and approached a restaurant asking if they could seat us. They said that the building was actually two restaurants and that the one toward the back of the building could not, but the one toward the front could, although they only served sushi and tempura. My memory-enhancing documentation says this place was called Matsu No Ma Lounge, and after a quick look on the internet I’ve discovered that this place closed in 2007. Does anyone know -- did this lounge reside where Teppan Edo or Tokyo Dining are now? Anyway, I remember the one thing I learned is that I’m not a big fan of tempura and I kind of wished we had kept looking around World Showcase.
After that we found a spot for Illuminations. We either parked on the bridge between UK and France or over in Canada. We’ve watched it from those two spots and I can’t remember which occasion this was. If anyone can tell where we were from these photos, please let me know!
With that, we have the end of Day 5.
Link to next chapter
