resol37 said:
Aww...thanks! I left my notes at home tonight, but I promise to update with the rest of Day 2 tomorrow!
Okay, so I lied. I can't remember anything if it's not written on my hand, so I've just now remembered to bring my notes with me to work. Sorry!
Back at SoG I immediately took off my sneakers to clip my toenails. I know you needed to know that.
I decided to start my WDW vacation in sneakers because there's so much walking involved at Epcot and sneakers would give me the arch support I required. My feet weren't hurting nearly as much as they were during last March's trip (feet disasters took place!), but they were very "hot" on the bottom.
I also downed two extra strength Tylenols for the big ol' headache I now had.
Tips:
1. Even if Mission:Space doesn't make you sick, beware of sinus headaches!
2. Extra Strength Tylenol Rapid Release (the kind with the little laser drilled holes) really works!
We relaxed in our respective rooms with cool drinks from the vending machines, enjoying the air conditioning, until about 4:30. At that point we walked down to Evergreens, a sports bar on SoG property (over by the Mickey pool), for food. I decided to do the evening in my NothingZ. They're just like
Crocs - they even cost the same, but they're a little squishier and they have diamond shaped holes in the top. I have a black pair. I usually don't wear them with socks, but they give me blisters on the tops of my feet if I walk in them a lot, so I wore them with some very, very thin black socks.
I got cheese fries (I was hungry enough for a full meal, but wanted to save room for Food and Wine Festival). DD had chicken tenders, DM had nachos, DGA had a hamburger. All were good, not four star cuisine, but good.
We then hoofed it over to the bus stop. The SoG bus stop is downstairs from the lobby. When you first pull up to SoG to check in, you drive up a very slight incline. The bus stop is below the lobby and there is a little indoor area where you take steps down to a small snack shop (with tables and chairs) before going out to the covered area with benches to wait. The stairs have a great little waterfall there that I could just stand and listen to forever. It's all very pretty and lush.
Anywho, we grab the bus to the TTC and the monorail to Epcot.
It actually took us longer to get through the main gates this time than in the morning. My mom carried our only bag throughout the trip and that morning she had gone through the seperate bag check and met us just inside. This evening, they were doing bag checks at the turnstiles and it was all sorts of backed up.
We bee-lined to the Land Pavillion and I sacrificed myself for the herd by taking responsibility for all the tickets and going inside for more Soarin' FPs.
I was a little worried that they'd all be gone by this point, but they luckily weren't. I got four for 8:33 to 9:00.
Having accomplished the task, we headed for World Showcase.
Though I've been in October and November before, I don't rememeber ever seeing the F&W Festival before. Thanks to the Dis, I had printed out all the menus and was planning on hitting them hard.
Yeah, that didn't happen. Turns out the rest of the fam wasn't quite as into it as I and me wanting to wait in almost every food line was garnering a lot of rolled eyes. I got a couple of things, though. All good.
We turned right and headed into Canada. I got icewine from the Canadian F&W booth. Very small sample, but good.
DM got the honey and walnut baklava from the Greek booth. She said it was good, but not as good as the baklava she makes (it's one of her specialties).
We walked through the UK, but didn't stop for any food or shopping (though the fish and chips did temp me - long line!).
We also passed through France without shopping or eating. I know, it sounds horrible, but there were some crowds (not huge, but significant) and we were there mainly for the ambiance of WS at night. I had shopping plans, but they were limited to Morocco, Japan, China, and Mexico.
In Morocco I searched diligently for a not too expensive souvenier. They have tons of great clothes, but being a size 20 it wasn't feasible. They also have henna tattoing. I love henna tattoos, but I got one in Morocco last March and it wore off after a week.
I ended up purchasing a piece of papyrus for $10. I intend to use it in my living room once I get my own apartment.
DGA got herself a piece of pistachio baklava (baklava is big in our family) and deemed it good.
Next was Japan. I was looking forward to shopping here ever since I had heard of Lucky Cats over on the Parks and Attractions board (am I the only one who thinks we should have a seperate shopping board?).
The four of us meandered through the large department store for probably a good half an hour. I got some green tea incense and my Lucky Cat in purple. I think purple has something to do with creativity (I'll have to double check the little info sheet that came with it). Ringo (yes, I've named my Lucky Cat) is tiny, but oh so cute! My cat Sophie seems jealous, she tried to push Ringo to the ground with her paw, but I saved him just in time and moved him to higher ground.
I saw tons of other stuff there that I would have liked to buy (an entire room full of kitchenware - plates, bowls, etc. So pretty! They will be mine, oh yes, they will be mine), but was deterred by lack of money.
We next passed through the American Adventure. DD stopped for coffee and a danish at a regular Epcot stand (no F&W Fest affiliation).
The Beach Boys were playing and the place was packed. I love the Beach Boys, but we didn't stop to listen very long. We did hear the tail end of, what I'm going to call, Don't Worry Baby (don't know the actual name of that song) and the beginning of California Girls.
DGA wandered off into Italy during this and looked over a lot of chocolate, but we rolled into Germany without any Italian purchases.
We didn't shop in Germany (we had been stationed in East Germany from 1987 to 1990, so we have plenty of German stuff), but DM and DGA both got apple struedel from the F&W booth. Also very good. DGA claimed it as her favorite from the night.
We passed through the Outpost. We did notice a boy around 8 or so crouching down trying to catch a lizard. DD contemplated sneaking up behind him and scaring him, but thought better of it.
I had planned on shopping in China, but the rest of the group was tiring and ready to get a move on to the end of the evening.
I stopped at the F&W Fest booth and made my best purchase of the evening. Chicken Sha Cha Skewer with peanut sauce and a Green Tea and Plum Wine Cooler.
It started to rain while I was in line and I got the pleasure of watching the man in front of me attempt to put on a poncho. I know I'm a horrible person for not assisting him when he tried to put his head through an arm hole, but it was just too funny!
The chicken skewer had three or four decent sized pieces of meat with a liberal amount of peanut sauce. I love peanut sauce. And the wine cooler! Not only was it good, it was big. Or at least bigger than I was expecting. The cup was a regular plastic party cup filled to the top. I was drinking it for almost the rest of the night.
We hit Norway next. I love Laila perfume, but I rarely ever wear perfume so I can't bring myself to pay $50 for the smallest size bottle.
In Mexico, I stopped at the Argentinian booth and got a Spicy Beef Empanada. The beef was very good and well seasoned. The shell was a little hard, but still not that bad at all. I had planned on shopping in Mexico. I love the inside of that pavillion with its gorgeous night sky. But, again, antsy family.
DD and DM stopped in the store where FW and WS meet - Showcase Plaza, maybe? I don't know if there were any No Food Allowed Inside signs, but I waited until I had finished my empanada before going in. DGA wiped down a bench (it was still raining, but barely) and took a seat.
We didn't buy anything. I looked at some Tinkerbell earrings, but seeing the line, decided I'd get them at Studios on Wednesday.
We grabbed DGA and made our way back towards the Land Pavillion for our FPs. It was still 8:00. DM said that we should go in and see if they'd let us use them early, but I quickly told her there was no way that was going to happen.
The Seas with Nemo and Friends had no line so we jumped into the queue.
There are seagulls outside (Motion sensored? They seemed to only start up when people walked by) that go, "Mine, mine, mine!" This may have been my favorite part of the whole experience. The seagulls were DD's favorite characters in Finding Nemo and we were cracking up every time we heard them.
The queue for this attraction is excellent. It starts off with a beach motiff. The floors are made to look like you're walking on sand. Lighthouses, etc. You then work your way down into the water. The rails in that section look like metal that's been down under water for a long time, rusted with barnacles, etc. Above you, it was swirling water. Very cool. We boarded our clamshells (it's similiar to doom buggies on HM or time machines in SE).
While I liked this ride, I think it will become a smaller scale ride once the newness has worn off. It was very well themed and looked great, but I think I was expecting more. I was expecting a plot. I had read that Nemo is lost and you try to find him accompanied by Mr. Ray. The ride is, essentially, a series of screens depicting the characters from the movie going, "Nemo, where are you?" etc. with Nemo bounching in and out of the shots. The audience was never "involved" as I had expected.
I tried to determine if the voices were the same from the movie. Dory is def not Ellen DeGeneres, but I couldn't say for sure about the rest. The last part was very cool. You get to see into the actaul fish tanks and the Nemo characters are projected so they look like they are in the tanks, too. Awesome!
We still had about twenty minutes before our FPs were up, but decided to head over to the Land Pavillion anyway.
While we waited, DD and I wandered over to a tiny little stand just outside the Soarin' queue that was selling Soarin' merch. DD noticed that the CM working there was from Central Piedmont Community College (it said so on her name tag). CPCC is (unless something has changed since 2003) the largest community college in the East and is based out of Charlotte, NC. They have several campuses throughout Mecklenburg County. I spent four semesters there and did my college program through them.
I think her name was Kristen (I can't remember now). We talked for awhile and found out we had a lot in common. She lives in Chatham Square which is where I lived when I was a CP. She was planning on transferring from CPCC to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and majoring in journalism. I had spent my first semester out of high school at UNCG before coming home and going to CPCC and had considered journalism as a possible major. Now I'm a college drop out. *sticks out lower lip*
She was very nice, but ride time was nearing! DD was standing right in front of the FP return clock waiting for it to tick over from 8:32 to 8:33. Goofball.
So we rode Soarin' and got in the first row this time. Great stuff. I still love smelling the pine and the orange groves. And I was able to see the Hidden Mickey on the golf ball. I've always known it was there, but can't get my eyes to focus on it fast enough to actually make it out as a Mickey.
We exited just as Illuminations was starting. We had decided earlier that we weren't interested in seeing Illuminations.
I've only seen it once and it was a good show, but I don't feel a need to see it again. I'm only 5'2" so it's hard for me to see if I don't want to stake out prime real estate for hours. Plus, being overweight, my feet have a hard time standing for that long. Next May if the big group wants to see it, I'll be glad to see it with them, but for the most part it's skippable.
For the record, I will watch SpectroMagic and Wishes at MK because I can grab some curb space on Main St to watch the parade and can easily see Wishes up in the sky regardless of the height of the person in front of me.
We exited and waited for our monorail. Since there were so few people waiting, I asked if we could ride of front and was given a yes!
DGA absolutely loved it! "Gee whiz!" were her exact words. But our driver never spoke to us! I forgave him later because it was the end of the day and he looked like he had had a long one. Plus, these were four adults ranging in age from 23 to 70 something. Still, it would have been nice if he had engaged us.
We caught the bus back to SoG.
I didn't have the energy to shower and fell into bed. Then, realizing that it wasn't quite 10 pm yet, I turned the TV on to NBC where I caught the tail end of Heroes (I love Hiro with a passion - he's so cute!) and watched my new favorite show, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. I'm a very dedicated Aaron Sorkin fan and I've been with him since Sports Night. Loyalty!
I don't think I saw the credits at the end of the show, I fell asleep so fast.
Tomorrow - Sea World reminds me why I love WDW so much.
I never thought about ordering the tuna sandwich...Hhhhmmm decisions decisions!! 
Close enough. I'm glad you enjoyed the CM stuff. I'm never really sure if anyone cares about that stuff, but I really miss it and sometimes I just start launching into it. 
