jrgutknecht
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2000
- Messages
- 199
Day 4 - May 8th - Epcot (EE) and Magic Kingdom E-night
Cast of characters: Me - 36 first trip in about 15 years
Tom - also 36, first trip to WDW
Let me start with a piece of advice dont plan three early entry days in a row. We had decided the night before that we were going to skip early entry this morning at Epcot and its a good thing we did. We didnt sleep that late (up by 8) but it was nice to pickup a couple extra hours of sleep.
In spite of missing our scheduled early entry at Epcot the day turned out pretty good. Now that I was getting more familiar with the Disney transportation schedule I proposed the first change in our itinerary. We had originally planned to go to the MK around 3:30 and then have dinner at the hotel at 5:30 and then go back for e-night. I knew before we left that this probably wasnt the best plan, but it was the only place I thought I could squeeze in a dinner at the Artist Point. Since I was less than thrilled with Illuminations the night before I decided to skip Epcot the following evening and have dinner at the Artist Point instead. Tom and I agreed and I decided to ask the concierge to make the necessary adjustments on our way out.
We were underway by about 9:00 after having our usual quick breakfast. I asked the concierge on the way out to get us a PS at Artist Point and cancel the one I had for tonight. She jotted it down and told me she would take care of it. All of the CMs that handled concierge duties were just great, they really made handling all the little details just great.
We walked down to the bus stop just in time to catch the bus to Epcot. The entire trip I dont think we ever waited longer than 15 minutes for a bus and that was on our first day when we just missed a departing bus. It must have been good luck. We arrived at Epcot just before 9:30 - only 30 minutes after normal park opening and only 90 minutes after our plan, but because of our extra sleep we felt 10 times more enegetic.
Today we were using the opposite halves of the plans from the day before. This morning it was the Sunrise portion of the Epcot Sunrise/starlight tour. # 1 on the list was Test Track. Knowing that this can be a very crowded ride we headed over to check it out. The standby line was only 30 minutes and knowing all lines so far have been about half of what was stated, we debated standing in line but choose the 10:45 fast pass instead. Right after we got our fast pass, the return time jumped to 11:45, so they must have been going quickly. If you want to do this ride, I would really recommend the fast pass.
So with a little over an hour to kill we looked at our plan and decided to re-arrange it a little bit. Instead of doing Journey into the Imagination, Body Wars, Cranium Command and Universe of Energy, we just did them in reverse order (partly because Tom is a palentologist wanna-be and when he saw the dinosaur topiaries all I could do was just follow him as he was drawn in that direction)
One thing I have to say about the Epcot future world pavilions is that the signage outside the buildings is less than clear. The previous day I had a tough time finding the entrance to the Living Seas and today I walked in the exit of Universe of Energy. Additionally if I didnt know what was inside the building, I might be standing in line to get a taco and never know it until the line turned the corner. We had a short wait here to get into the attraction. But it was less than 5 minutes before we were inside. I didnt really remember this from my previous visit, other than the fact that I knew it had these large cars like the Great Movie ride and there were dinosaurs inside. Ive read a lot about the rehab of the ride and the installation of the Ellen film so I was expecting the worst, and I was pleasantly surprised. Im not a big Ellen fan but I laughed at her joke anyway. I really liked the way she was depicted inside the attraction as well. As I said, I dont really remember this attraction from previous visits, but I thought the new additions were great. Of course Tom had a different opinion, mostly because the historical facts they presented about dinosaurs were out of date and incorrect according to current theory. I told him to lighten up and remember that it was a few years old and if he thought THIS was out of date with current theory he should have seen the previous version!
Next we headed over to The Wonders of Life pavilion. I dont remember when this was built, but I do know that I didnt do it in my first trip in 83. I may have been here in 86, but I dont remember it. I liked the building and wished we would have had more time to explore the various exhibits, but we didnt want to use too much time before our fast pass, so we headed over to Body Wars. This is a cute ride and we both really enjoyed it, but we were SHOCKED by the size of the queue and waiting area compared to the number of people riding. They only had 2 of the four cars running and we basically just walked right on. I think if the attendance of this ride is really falling off, they should reclaim some of the queue space for other purposes. I guess its the state of todays park audience. Everyone wants to ride Test Track and RnR, but nobody wants to get educated while having fun at the same time. (okay Ill stop whining now)
After Body Wars we went watched a little bit of the live show before heading in to Cranium Command. I thought this was hysterical. I had absolutely no idea of what to expect and this was complete treat. I really enjoyed watching the young boys trying to act cool on the way out as their sisters were making fun of them. I wonder if they ever thought of doing a girls version of this show?? This was a blast and if you havent seen it you have to go.
We spent a little time exploring the exhibits here when we realized it was almost time for Test Track. So we headed over and waited just a few minutes outside until 10:45 rolled around. Just then a large group of 20 or so all approached the fast pass return at the same time we did. The Fast pass clock showed it to be only 10:43, but the CM let us through anyway as he said by the time we got to the next checkpoint it would be 10:45. So we followed the group ahead of us and made our way through the exhibits on display. I may have been missing something, but I didnt see how the standby line guests ever got to see this part of the queue. The standby line was routed outside the building and came in where you are split into individual rooms for the quick movie about your test ride. I thought these displays were pretty cool and thought that they should have reversed the lines and made the standby people go through here so they could really look at them. As it was we couldnt really look at anything since we were following a group of 20 people and there were several more families quick on our heels. When we got inside, I realized why the singles line was so popular. What were the ride designers thinking by making a car with two rows of 3 seats??? Tom and I got seated in the front row with a single rider and off we went.
I had read that Test Track was prone to breaking down and before the ride I was explaining this to Tom. I said Watch, with our luck it will break down just before we get on Well I was close . Just as we were hitting the brakes after the high speed part of the ride and turning the corner into the building, the ride stopped. We sat there for about 10 minutes while they repaired whatever was causing the problem.
Other than this small problem, this is a really fun ride. I dont know that its worth at 90 minute wait, but it was definitely something Id like to try again.
We had a 12:30 lunch at the Coral Reef and after Test Track it was approaching 11:30 so we decided to hold off on Journey into the Imagination and Honey, I Shrunk the Audience and instead headed for Innovations where we sent our families a virtual postcard from the IBM booth and played around with the cool stuff inside.
We arrived at the Coral Reef around 12:15 and checked in. I was surprised at the number of people waiting and we were seated right on time at 12:30. It turns out the delay was due to a large group of 4th graders who had taken over the entire lower level of the restaurant. You can see my full review of lunch on the Restaurants board. In spite of the screaming 4th graders (who didnt stay very long) we had a great lunch and I highly recommend the chocolate wave.
After lunch we headed over to Journey into the Imagination. I tried my best to describe this attraction prior to its renovation to Tom, but I probably didnt do it justice. We decided to see Honey I shrunk the Kids first and basically walked right in. We had a short wait while we saw the Kodak slide show (which I thought was REALLY boring, but Tom liked it) and then went in and got a great seat in the middle twords the back. I kind of knew what was going to happen, but I wasnt prepared for the realism of the 3D effects. Typically when you think of 3D effects you think of things coming off the screen at you (and yes, that does happen) and you might think of smoke and stuff coming into the audience (I dont want to give to much away) but the thing that impressed me the most was when the lights come up behind the screen and you can see the actors back there getting ready to present the award..etc it REALLY looked like there were people behind the screen! This is a great show and it was made EVEN BETTER by reaction of the large group of girls sitting a few rows in front of us. Not only do the effects make you think its real, the audience reaction combines with that to make it a truly unforgettable experience.
I do have to say that the show will probably scare the pants off of small children. I felt really bad for the couple in front of us. They brought their young son who was probably three years old. By the time the show was over he was clinging onto his mom so hard she could hardly breath and he had a stream of tears running down his face. The parents thought it was kind of cute and they were trying to cheer him up and tell him its only a show, its not real but it was too late. This kid was REALLY scared and nothing his parents were going to say to him would make him forget what had happened so parents, take those warnings seriously this WILL scare young kids. I would say that if your kid is under 6 you should see it first and judge for yourself, but be prepared to leave if they get scared so sit on the aisle. Just tell a CM before you go in that you want to sit by the exit.
Next we headed down to Journey into the Imagination and .well . as a big fan of the original show and Figment - this sucked. Okay it wasnt terrible, but come on! What happened to Figment?
I know there is a lot of debate about this attraction and if youve never been on the original you would have no idea who figment is because the only place I saw him was in one star constellation near the end of the ride. As much as I really wanted to etch our pictures in glass at the Kodak pavilion on the way out, in protest to what they had done to what WAS a great ride, I declined. This ride also sparked a letter to Disney that I mailed upon my return. When we got home I pulled out my Epcot book from 1983/4 and showed it to Tom and explained the ride in its original form - his response was Why did they change it? I had to ask the same question.
Next we headed over to World Showcase. The previous night we had started in Canada and worked our way around to the back and today the plan was reversed. We made a quick stop at the Showcase Plaza and picked up some more souvenirs. We skipped the Mexico pavilion and headed right for Norway, which I dont remember seeing during my last trip. I really enjoyed the exhibits inside the stave church, especially the scale model of that type of construction. We did some shopping and I looked in the bakery but just wasnt hungry although everything looked delicious. We decided to skip Maelstrom but would try to do it later.
Next we stopped in China and went through the shops and stopped briefly to admire the water garden and watch some of the live performance of a group of young acrobats. It was approaching 2:30 by this point so we decided to head back to the American Adventure and come back later to see Germany and Italy.
We walked into the American pavilion about 5 minutes before the seating for the next show. We watched some of the live acapella singing group perform in the lobby (they were great!) before heading into the theatre. This was one of my favorite shows the first time I was here, probably because of the massive stage and my curiosity at what was going on behind the scenes. It was no exception this time, I would give anything to get a backstage tour at this attraction. However, I did have some trouble hearing some of the scenes. I dont know if its because the sound levels were off, or the speakers need to be replaced, or the little boy behind me who wouldnt shut up the entire show. I also thought some of the scenes were a little dark. Perhaps someone from Disney needs to check out this show and tune up the technical elements a little bit. These minor flaws aside, it was a very moving experience and one not to be missed.
After the show we made a quick stop in Japan to pick up a few more items that we didnt buy the night before and made our way to the bus stop. We made it back to the hotel by about 4 oclock which was much later than I had anticipated. This was partially due the late start, as well as the fact that we re-arranged the order of attractions on the touring plan. I dont think the touring plan allowed enough time to really explore the pavilions in World Showcase, but since we were planning on coming back that wasnt really a concern. I dont think you can really experience Epcot in any less than two full days. We had now completed two half days and we knew that we wanted to come back at least one more time.
Back at the Hotel we checked with the Concierge and confirmed our change in dinner plans. We debated grabbing a quick bite to eat before heading over to the Magic Kingdom. I wasnt really hungry and figured I would grab some counter service food at the MK, but Tom was hungry so we decided to check out the Roaring Forks Snack bar.
The Roaring Forks is kind of a dreary place tucked into the basement level of the hotel. It does however open right into the pool area, but somehow I felt like I was back in the basement of my college rec. center at the student snack bar. It just didnt seem to fit in with the rest of the lodge very well. Tom had a turkey sandwich and I just had some nachos, which I didnt finish because they were stale, and the cheese sauce was kind of cold. Tom said the turkey and chips were good. I suppose I could have ordered a hamburger or something but after my big lunch I just wasnt hungry.
After this we spent some time in the arcade and gift shops and rested at the hotel before heading over to the MK around 7:00 pm. The plan called for us to arrive around 4 so we could see Carousel of Progress. Since it was running on limited hours we would have to come back another time to see that. We headed right for guest relations to exchange our tickets for wrist bands and I picked up a list of attractions that were open for E-Night. The list was the same as it had been before and listed Timekeeper. I was going to ask one of the CMs if there was a replacement for Timekeeper (since it was closed) but decided to catch the train that had just pulled into the station instead.
We ran up to the platform and got onto the train just as they were calling out All Aboard and headed back to the Frontier land station. From here we headed over to Adventure land to do the attractions that were not part of E-Night. First we rode the Jungle cruise. Tom had no idea what to expect on this and although I had done it years before, it was somehow more fun than I remember. Our tour guide was a riot, she was having a great time and threw in some extra jokes as we were waiting for the boat in front of us to load and unload a guest from a wheelchair. I really enjoyed the part of the jungle cruise that went through the temple ruins I dont remember this from our last trip, but I might be confusing this with the one at Disneyland. All of the animals and animatronics looked in great shape. I was a little surprised at the color of the water, one of the guest actually asked about it and the CM explained they dye the water to represent the rivers of the world, but I think it was really because they wanted to hide the tracks under the boats J
Next we made a quick tour through the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. This is such an easy attraction to miss, but if its not crowded its really a great one to explore. As long as you dont have to rush through it you can take your time to really examine the details. It also offers a great view of the park once you get to the top. I think I read here that the one in Disneyland has been refurbished to a Tarzan theme?? If so I hope they do the same in WDW. Its just a shame to see such a great idea and attraction being overlooked. Refurbishing it with a Tarzan theme might encourage more guests to check it out.
Our intention after this was to check out the Tiki Birds, but I had forgotten that they too were running on limited hours, so we would just have to add it to our list of stuff to do on our return visit. We had decided that we would use our time on Sunday between check-out and our trip to the airport (about 7 hours) to pick up any attractions we missed, so we now had two of them on our list for Sunday.
I was beginning to get hungry by this point and the park was still full of people. We checked the time and it was about 7:40 so we headed over to catch Pirates of the Caribbean before it closed. There was absolutely no wait for this attraction, in fact the CMs on the loading area were yelling at us to hurry up as we rounded the corner to ramp that lead down to the loading area. I dont know if they were in a hurry to leave or if this was part of the atmosphere We ended up with a boat to ourselves as we headed off into the ride. I only remembered the end of this attraction so it was great and we were both singing Yo ho yo ho a pirates life for me by the time we finished our pirates cruise. There was a bit of a traffic jam at the end of the ride and we were parked in front of the treasure room for a few minutes. I was amazed at the amount of stuff that was actually in that room. I really wanted to jump out of the boat and explore the room in more detail. I wonder if anyone (besides CMs) has ever done that?? It also occurred to me that keeping this attraction CLEAN must be a real chore! This ride probably doesnt get the recognition it deserves because it doesnt have the thrills and chills of modern roller coasters, but the detail in this attraction is just amazing. I even remembered to check out the hair in the pirates leg who is sitting on the bridge. I think his hair is longer than I remember it being last time.
After pirates, I was now very hungry and we tried to find someplace to grab a bite to eat. Little did I realize that the E-ride list of attractions was a COMPLETE list. Every food service place was now closed and it was still before 8 oclock. We decided to head over to tomorrow land because according to the E-ride guide the Lunching pad was supposed to be open. By the time we got to Tomorrowland it was 8pm and the regular guests were all heading down main street to the exit. When we got to the bridge to Tomorrowland it was like trying to swim upstream. The number of guests leaving far exceeded the number trying to make their way into Tomorrowland. When we arrived at the middle of Tomorrowland the place was starting to look a little deserted. I checked out the lunching pad and was more than a little disappointed in their menu selection. Turkey legs, slushies and drinks. I was hungry but Im not a big fan of turkey legs, so I just had a coke and decided I would just deal with not eating for the night. I figured I had already had enough food in three days to last a week, so missing one meal wasnt going to kill me.
At this point I also noticed the Tomorrowland Transit Authority was still running so we quickly headed over to get a ride before they closed it. It turns out though that this was the replacement for the timekeeper and they were only letting E-Ride night guests on, so there was no reason to rush. Two little girls gave us dirty looks as we walked by them and got on the ride. They were the last regular guests we saw for the night. We ended up in a car by ourselves and after our tour ended and we returned to the station, the place was deserted. There were no other guests in site on the platform and as we headed down the ramp, the only people we saw were those waiting in line for the Alien Encounter.
We were a little disappointed in Alien Encounter the other night, so we decided to head right for Buzz Light Year. We walked in and got right into our space ranger pod with no wait at all. I knew what to expect on this ride but Tom had no clue at all. I grabbed the spinner control and explained to him how to operate his gun. I also told him to just HOLD the trigger down since it was a fully automatic laser rifle! We had a blast on this ride. I wanted to ride it again, but they were making people get off and go around instead of just riding through. So we got off and walked right back on again. I scored a respectable 160,000 on the first trip and Tom did less than 60,000. The second trip however I think I got ripped off, I only scored 38,000 and Tom scored over 400,000. Needless to say he enjoyed it much more the second time. This ride is a blast, I could do it over and over again. We both agreed we would have to add this to our list of things to do again on Sunday before we left.
Space Mountain was also open for E-night, but we both decided to skip it. It was one of my favorites as a kid, but as an adult, I found it to be too bumpy and Tom agreed. Since there was still a line for Alien Encounter (which by its very nature there is almost always going to be some kind of wait) we headed back to Frontierland.
The Magic Kingdom is always beautiful, but its 10 times more beautiful at night. The castle was lit up and changing colors. The lights on the Riverboat were all lit up and at night, Frontierland, really looks like an old-west town. Its just truly magical at night. There were very few guests around by this point. We probably passed a dozen people on the walk from Tomorrowland to Frontierland (not counting CMs)
We arrived at Splash Mountain and had a little trouble finding the entrance at first. When we did find what we thought was the entrance I almost turned around halfway through the queue because it was the longest queue we had been in so far and there was nobody ahead or behind us, so I thought we were in the wrong place. It turns out we were in the right place and when we arrived at the loading station there were indeed people ahead of us, but not very many. We waited about 5 minutes to get our boat and away we went. I had no idea what to expect on this ride, but I did know that some of it was outside and some was inside. I wondered if we would be able to see anything because the outside of the mountain was dark. As we got to the top of the lift, it was indeed dark and we could see the outlines of something hanging from a tree branch and hear the music but that was about it. I was just preparing myself for what I thought would be a let down since we couldnt see anything when all of a sudden we stopped ever so briefly as another boat came shooting down the hill and got us all wet. And I mean ALL WET. I was soaked. So now I was soaking wet, it was dark and I couldnt see anything and I was hungry. I was thinking to myself I cant wait for this to be over so I can go back to the hotel and get something to eat. Just then we went shooting over a small but very unexpected hill and all I can say is WOW!! I had no idea how much detail there was in this ride. My fears of not being able to see anything were quickly put aside. My worried about being wet and hungry quickly (and I mean very quickly) disappeared as I was drawn into the story around me. I had seen Song of the South once as a kid, but I couldnt really tell you what it was about. However as we went through the attraction it all came back to me. This to me is the magic of Disney. I was also surprised at the number of lifts and drops and I really enjoyed the final scene. Tom and I both loved this ride and it was the biggest surprise of our entire trip. No wonder there is always a long line for it during the day! This rates second in my book only behind Buzz Lightyear.
After Splash Mountain I wasnt really worried about being hungry anymore, but I was still wet. Very wet. As we walked through the queue for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, two young ladies in front of us turned around and said Front row, you were on the right and you were on the left right?? We agreed and talked about how they obviously were familiar with the ride. We walked right onto BTMR and as we went through I realized that I had actually been on this during my last trip but for some reason I didnt remember it. It too was a great ride but compared to Splash Mountain and Buzz it was a distant third or fourth in my book.
It was now past 9 and we had done all of the ride we wanted so we decided to check out Mainstreet and see if there was anyplace open that was selling ice cream. We found the Ice cream parlour but it was closed for remodeling, however there was a CM there with a cart selling Mickey bars. So we each had a Mickey bar and enjoyed the evening on mainstreet. We even snapped a few quick pictures so we could remember how empty the place was. It was a truly wonderful evening it was like having the place all to ourselves. For the money, it was the best value of all of our purchases.
We made it back to the hotel before 11 and decided to call it an early night since we had a 7:30 am breakfast with Donald tomorrow at the Animal Kingdom. Since we knew it was going to take some time to get there, we decided to set the alarm for 6am and we drifted off to sleep with memories of a truly magical night at the magic kingdom. No wonder its called the happiest place on earth.
Cast of characters: Me - 36 first trip in about 15 years
Tom - also 36, first trip to WDW
Let me start with a piece of advice dont plan three early entry days in a row. We had decided the night before that we were going to skip early entry this morning at Epcot and its a good thing we did. We didnt sleep that late (up by 8) but it was nice to pickup a couple extra hours of sleep.
In spite of missing our scheduled early entry at Epcot the day turned out pretty good. Now that I was getting more familiar with the Disney transportation schedule I proposed the first change in our itinerary. We had originally planned to go to the MK around 3:30 and then have dinner at the hotel at 5:30 and then go back for e-night. I knew before we left that this probably wasnt the best plan, but it was the only place I thought I could squeeze in a dinner at the Artist Point. Since I was less than thrilled with Illuminations the night before I decided to skip Epcot the following evening and have dinner at the Artist Point instead. Tom and I agreed and I decided to ask the concierge to make the necessary adjustments on our way out.
We were underway by about 9:00 after having our usual quick breakfast. I asked the concierge on the way out to get us a PS at Artist Point and cancel the one I had for tonight. She jotted it down and told me she would take care of it. All of the CMs that handled concierge duties were just great, they really made handling all the little details just great.
We walked down to the bus stop just in time to catch the bus to Epcot. The entire trip I dont think we ever waited longer than 15 minutes for a bus and that was on our first day when we just missed a departing bus. It must have been good luck. We arrived at Epcot just before 9:30 - only 30 minutes after normal park opening and only 90 minutes after our plan, but because of our extra sleep we felt 10 times more enegetic.
Today we were using the opposite halves of the plans from the day before. This morning it was the Sunrise portion of the Epcot Sunrise/starlight tour. # 1 on the list was Test Track. Knowing that this can be a very crowded ride we headed over to check it out. The standby line was only 30 minutes and knowing all lines so far have been about half of what was stated, we debated standing in line but choose the 10:45 fast pass instead. Right after we got our fast pass, the return time jumped to 11:45, so they must have been going quickly. If you want to do this ride, I would really recommend the fast pass.
So with a little over an hour to kill we looked at our plan and decided to re-arrange it a little bit. Instead of doing Journey into the Imagination, Body Wars, Cranium Command and Universe of Energy, we just did them in reverse order (partly because Tom is a palentologist wanna-be and when he saw the dinosaur topiaries all I could do was just follow him as he was drawn in that direction)
One thing I have to say about the Epcot future world pavilions is that the signage outside the buildings is less than clear. The previous day I had a tough time finding the entrance to the Living Seas and today I walked in the exit of Universe of Energy. Additionally if I didnt know what was inside the building, I might be standing in line to get a taco and never know it until the line turned the corner. We had a short wait here to get into the attraction. But it was less than 5 minutes before we were inside. I didnt really remember this from my previous visit, other than the fact that I knew it had these large cars like the Great Movie ride and there were dinosaurs inside. Ive read a lot about the rehab of the ride and the installation of the Ellen film so I was expecting the worst, and I was pleasantly surprised. Im not a big Ellen fan but I laughed at her joke anyway. I really liked the way she was depicted inside the attraction as well. As I said, I dont really remember this attraction from previous visits, but I thought the new additions were great. Of course Tom had a different opinion, mostly because the historical facts they presented about dinosaurs were out of date and incorrect according to current theory. I told him to lighten up and remember that it was a few years old and if he thought THIS was out of date with current theory he should have seen the previous version!
Next we headed over to The Wonders of Life pavilion. I dont remember when this was built, but I do know that I didnt do it in my first trip in 83. I may have been here in 86, but I dont remember it. I liked the building and wished we would have had more time to explore the various exhibits, but we didnt want to use too much time before our fast pass, so we headed over to Body Wars. This is a cute ride and we both really enjoyed it, but we were SHOCKED by the size of the queue and waiting area compared to the number of people riding. They only had 2 of the four cars running and we basically just walked right on. I think if the attendance of this ride is really falling off, they should reclaim some of the queue space for other purposes. I guess its the state of todays park audience. Everyone wants to ride Test Track and RnR, but nobody wants to get educated while having fun at the same time. (okay Ill stop whining now)
After Body Wars we went watched a little bit of the live show before heading in to Cranium Command. I thought this was hysterical. I had absolutely no idea of what to expect and this was complete treat. I really enjoyed watching the young boys trying to act cool on the way out as their sisters were making fun of them. I wonder if they ever thought of doing a girls version of this show?? This was a blast and if you havent seen it you have to go.
We spent a little time exploring the exhibits here when we realized it was almost time for Test Track. So we headed over and waited just a few minutes outside until 10:45 rolled around. Just then a large group of 20 or so all approached the fast pass return at the same time we did. The Fast pass clock showed it to be only 10:43, but the CM let us through anyway as he said by the time we got to the next checkpoint it would be 10:45. So we followed the group ahead of us and made our way through the exhibits on display. I may have been missing something, but I didnt see how the standby line guests ever got to see this part of the queue. The standby line was routed outside the building and came in where you are split into individual rooms for the quick movie about your test ride. I thought these displays were pretty cool and thought that they should have reversed the lines and made the standby people go through here so they could really look at them. As it was we couldnt really look at anything since we were following a group of 20 people and there were several more families quick on our heels. When we got inside, I realized why the singles line was so popular. What were the ride designers thinking by making a car with two rows of 3 seats??? Tom and I got seated in the front row with a single rider and off we went.
I had read that Test Track was prone to breaking down and before the ride I was explaining this to Tom. I said Watch, with our luck it will break down just before we get on Well I was close . Just as we were hitting the brakes after the high speed part of the ride and turning the corner into the building, the ride stopped. We sat there for about 10 minutes while they repaired whatever was causing the problem.
Other than this small problem, this is a really fun ride. I dont know that its worth at 90 minute wait, but it was definitely something Id like to try again.
We had a 12:30 lunch at the Coral Reef and after Test Track it was approaching 11:30 so we decided to hold off on Journey into the Imagination and Honey, I Shrunk the Audience and instead headed for Innovations where we sent our families a virtual postcard from the IBM booth and played around with the cool stuff inside.
We arrived at the Coral Reef around 12:15 and checked in. I was surprised at the number of people waiting and we were seated right on time at 12:30. It turns out the delay was due to a large group of 4th graders who had taken over the entire lower level of the restaurant. You can see my full review of lunch on the Restaurants board. In spite of the screaming 4th graders (who didnt stay very long) we had a great lunch and I highly recommend the chocolate wave.
After lunch we headed over to Journey into the Imagination. I tried my best to describe this attraction prior to its renovation to Tom, but I probably didnt do it justice. We decided to see Honey I shrunk the Kids first and basically walked right in. We had a short wait while we saw the Kodak slide show (which I thought was REALLY boring, but Tom liked it) and then went in and got a great seat in the middle twords the back. I kind of knew what was going to happen, but I wasnt prepared for the realism of the 3D effects. Typically when you think of 3D effects you think of things coming off the screen at you (and yes, that does happen) and you might think of smoke and stuff coming into the audience (I dont want to give to much away) but the thing that impressed me the most was when the lights come up behind the screen and you can see the actors back there getting ready to present the award..etc it REALLY looked like there were people behind the screen! This is a great show and it was made EVEN BETTER by reaction of the large group of girls sitting a few rows in front of us. Not only do the effects make you think its real, the audience reaction combines with that to make it a truly unforgettable experience.
I do have to say that the show will probably scare the pants off of small children. I felt really bad for the couple in front of us. They brought their young son who was probably three years old. By the time the show was over he was clinging onto his mom so hard she could hardly breath and he had a stream of tears running down his face. The parents thought it was kind of cute and they were trying to cheer him up and tell him its only a show, its not real but it was too late. This kid was REALLY scared and nothing his parents were going to say to him would make him forget what had happened so parents, take those warnings seriously this WILL scare young kids. I would say that if your kid is under 6 you should see it first and judge for yourself, but be prepared to leave if they get scared so sit on the aisle. Just tell a CM before you go in that you want to sit by the exit.
Next we headed down to Journey into the Imagination and .well . as a big fan of the original show and Figment - this sucked. Okay it wasnt terrible, but come on! What happened to Figment?
I know there is a lot of debate about this attraction and if youve never been on the original you would have no idea who figment is because the only place I saw him was in one star constellation near the end of the ride. As much as I really wanted to etch our pictures in glass at the Kodak pavilion on the way out, in protest to what they had done to what WAS a great ride, I declined. This ride also sparked a letter to Disney that I mailed upon my return. When we got home I pulled out my Epcot book from 1983/4 and showed it to Tom and explained the ride in its original form - his response was Why did they change it? I had to ask the same question.
Next we headed over to World Showcase. The previous night we had started in Canada and worked our way around to the back and today the plan was reversed. We made a quick stop at the Showcase Plaza and picked up some more souvenirs. We skipped the Mexico pavilion and headed right for Norway, which I dont remember seeing during my last trip. I really enjoyed the exhibits inside the stave church, especially the scale model of that type of construction. We did some shopping and I looked in the bakery but just wasnt hungry although everything looked delicious. We decided to skip Maelstrom but would try to do it later.
Next we stopped in China and went through the shops and stopped briefly to admire the water garden and watch some of the live performance of a group of young acrobats. It was approaching 2:30 by this point so we decided to head back to the American Adventure and come back later to see Germany and Italy.
We walked into the American pavilion about 5 minutes before the seating for the next show. We watched some of the live acapella singing group perform in the lobby (they were great!) before heading into the theatre. This was one of my favorite shows the first time I was here, probably because of the massive stage and my curiosity at what was going on behind the scenes. It was no exception this time, I would give anything to get a backstage tour at this attraction. However, I did have some trouble hearing some of the scenes. I dont know if its because the sound levels were off, or the speakers need to be replaced, or the little boy behind me who wouldnt shut up the entire show. I also thought some of the scenes were a little dark. Perhaps someone from Disney needs to check out this show and tune up the technical elements a little bit. These minor flaws aside, it was a very moving experience and one not to be missed.
After the show we made a quick stop in Japan to pick up a few more items that we didnt buy the night before and made our way to the bus stop. We made it back to the hotel by about 4 oclock which was much later than I had anticipated. This was partially due the late start, as well as the fact that we re-arranged the order of attractions on the touring plan. I dont think the touring plan allowed enough time to really explore the pavilions in World Showcase, but since we were planning on coming back that wasnt really a concern. I dont think you can really experience Epcot in any less than two full days. We had now completed two half days and we knew that we wanted to come back at least one more time.
Back at the Hotel we checked with the Concierge and confirmed our change in dinner plans. We debated grabbing a quick bite to eat before heading over to the Magic Kingdom. I wasnt really hungry and figured I would grab some counter service food at the MK, but Tom was hungry so we decided to check out the Roaring Forks Snack bar.
The Roaring Forks is kind of a dreary place tucked into the basement level of the hotel. It does however open right into the pool area, but somehow I felt like I was back in the basement of my college rec. center at the student snack bar. It just didnt seem to fit in with the rest of the lodge very well. Tom had a turkey sandwich and I just had some nachos, which I didnt finish because they were stale, and the cheese sauce was kind of cold. Tom said the turkey and chips were good. I suppose I could have ordered a hamburger or something but after my big lunch I just wasnt hungry.
After this we spent some time in the arcade and gift shops and rested at the hotel before heading over to the MK around 7:00 pm. The plan called for us to arrive around 4 so we could see Carousel of Progress. Since it was running on limited hours we would have to come back another time to see that. We headed right for guest relations to exchange our tickets for wrist bands and I picked up a list of attractions that were open for E-Night. The list was the same as it had been before and listed Timekeeper. I was going to ask one of the CMs if there was a replacement for Timekeeper (since it was closed) but decided to catch the train that had just pulled into the station instead.
We ran up to the platform and got onto the train just as they were calling out All Aboard and headed back to the Frontier land station. From here we headed over to Adventure land to do the attractions that were not part of E-Night. First we rode the Jungle cruise. Tom had no idea what to expect on this and although I had done it years before, it was somehow more fun than I remember. Our tour guide was a riot, she was having a great time and threw in some extra jokes as we were waiting for the boat in front of us to load and unload a guest from a wheelchair. I really enjoyed the part of the jungle cruise that went through the temple ruins I dont remember this from our last trip, but I might be confusing this with the one at Disneyland. All of the animals and animatronics looked in great shape. I was a little surprised at the color of the water, one of the guest actually asked about it and the CM explained they dye the water to represent the rivers of the world, but I think it was really because they wanted to hide the tracks under the boats J
Next we made a quick tour through the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. This is such an easy attraction to miss, but if its not crowded its really a great one to explore. As long as you dont have to rush through it you can take your time to really examine the details. It also offers a great view of the park once you get to the top. I think I read here that the one in Disneyland has been refurbished to a Tarzan theme?? If so I hope they do the same in WDW. Its just a shame to see such a great idea and attraction being overlooked. Refurbishing it with a Tarzan theme might encourage more guests to check it out.
Our intention after this was to check out the Tiki Birds, but I had forgotten that they too were running on limited hours, so we would just have to add it to our list of stuff to do on our return visit. We had decided that we would use our time on Sunday between check-out and our trip to the airport (about 7 hours) to pick up any attractions we missed, so we now had two of them on our list for Sunday.
I was beginning to get hungry by this point and the park was still full of people. We checked the time and it was about 7:40 so we headed over to catch Pirates of the Caribbean before it closed. There was absolutely no wait for this attraction, in fact the CMs on the loading area were yelling at us to hurry up as we rounded the corner to ramp that lead down to the loading area. I dont know if they were in a hurry to leave or if this was part of the atmosphere We ended up with a boat to ourselves as we headed off into the ride. I only remembered the end of this attraction so it was great and we were both singing Yo ho yo ho a pirates life for me by the time we finished our pirates cruise. There was a bit of a traffic jam at the end of the ride and we were parked in front of the treasure room for a few minutes. I was amazed at the amount of stuff that was actually in that room. I really wanted to jump out of the boat and explore the room in more detail. I wonder if anyone (besides CMs) has ever done that?? It also occurred to me that keeping this attraction CLEAN must be a real chore! This ride probably doesnt get the recognition it deserves because it doesnt have the thrills and chills of modern roller coasters, but the detail in this attraction is just amazing. I even remembered to check out the hair in the pirates leg who is sitting on the bridge. I think his hair is longer than I remember it being last time.
After pirates, I was now very hungry and we tried to find someplace to grab a bite to eat. Little did I realize that the E-ride list of attractions was a COMPLETE list. Every food service place was now closed and it was still before 8 oclock. We decided to head over to tomorrow land because according to the E-ride guide the Lunching pad was supposed to be open. By the time we got to Tomorrowland it was 8pm and the regular guests were all heading down main street to the exit. When we got to the bridge to Tomorrowland it was like trying to swim upstream. The number of guests leaving far exceeded the number trying to make their way into Tomorrowland. When we arrived at the middle of Tomorrowland the place was starting to look a little deserted. I checked out the lunching pad and was more than a little disappointed in their menu selection. Turkey legs, slushies and drinks. I was hungry but Im not a big fan of turkey legs, so I just had a coke and decided I would just deal with not eating for the night. I figured I had already had enough food in three days to last a week, so missing one meal wasnt going to kill me.
At this point I also noticed the Tomorrowland Transit Authority was still running so we quickly headed over to get a ride before they closed it. It turns out though that this was the replacement for the timekeeper and they were only letting E-Ride night guests on, so there was no reason to rush. Two little girls gave us dirty looks as we walked by them and got on the ride. They were the last regular guests we saw for the night. We ended up in a car by ourselves and after our tour ended and we returned to the station, the place was deserted. There were no other guests in site on the platform and as we headed down the ramp, the only people we saw were those waiting in line for the Alien Encounter.
We were a little disappointed in Alien Encounter the other night, so we decided to head right for Buzz Light Year. We walked in and got right into our space ranger pod with no wait at all. I knew what to expect on this ride but Tom had no clue at all. I grabbed the spinner control and explained to him how to operate his gun. I also told him to just HOLD the trigger down since it was a fully automatic laser rifle! We had a blast on this ride. I wanted to ride it again, but they were making people get off and go around instead of just riding through. So we got off and walked right back on again. I scored a respectable 160,000 on the first trip and Tom did less than 60,000. The second trip however I think I got ripped off, I only scored 38,000 and Tom scored over 400,000. Needless to say he enjoyed it much more the second time. This ride is a blast, I could do it over and over again. We both agreed we would have to add this to our list of things to do again on Sunday before we left.
Space Mountain was also open for E-night, but we both decided to skip it. It was one of my favorites as a kid, but as an adult, I found it to be too bumpy and Tom agreed. Since there was still a line for Alien Encounter (which by its very nature there is almost always going to be some kind of wait) we headed back to Frontierland.
The Magic Kingdom is always beautiful, but its 10 times more beautiful at night. The castle was lit up and changing colors. The lights on the Riverboat were all lit up and at night, Frontierland, really looks like an old-west town. Its just truly magical at night. There were very few guests around by this point. We probably passed a dozen people on the walk from Tomorrowland to Frontierland (not counting CMs)
We arrived at Splash Mountain and had a little trouble finding the entrance at first. When we did find what we thought was the entrance I almost turned around halfway through the queue because it was the longest queue we had been in so far and there was nobody ahead or behind us, so I thought we were in the wrong place. It turns out we were in the right place and when we arrived at the loading station there were indeed people ahead of us, but not very many. We waited about 5 minutes to get our boat and away we went. I had no idea what to expect on this ride, but I did know that some of it was outside and some was inside. I wondered if we would be able to see anything because the outside of the mountain was dark. As we got to the top of the lift, it was indeed dark and we could see the outlines of something hanging from a tree branch and hear the music but that was about it. I was just preparing myself for what I thought would be a let down since we couldnt see anything when all of a sudden we stopped ever so briefly as another boat came shooting down the hill and got us all wet. And I mean ALL WET. I was soaked. So now I was soaking wet, it was dark and I couldnt see anything and I was hungry. I was thinking to myself I cant wait for this to be over so I can go back to the hotel and get something to eat. Just then we went shooting over a small but very unexpected hill and all I can say is WOW!! I had no idea how much detail there was in this ride. My fears of not being able to see anything were quickly put aside. My worried about being wet and hungry quickly (and I mean very quickly) disappeared as I was drawn into the story around me. I had seen Song of the South once as a kid, but I couldnt really tell you what it was about. However as we went through the attraction it all came back to me. This to me is the magic of Disney. I was also surprised at the number of lifts and drops and I really enjoyed the final scene. Tom and I both loved this ride and it was the biggest surprise of our entire trip. No wonder there is always a long line for it during the day! This rates second in my book only behind Buzz Lightyear.
After Splash Mountain I wasnt really worried about being hungry anymore, but I was still wet. Very wet. As we walked through the queue for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, two young ladies in front of us turned around and said Front row, you were on the right and you were on the left right?? We agreed and talked about how they obviously were familiar with the ride. We walked right onto BTMR and as we went through I realized that I had actually been on this during my last trip but for some reason I didnt remember it. It too was a great ride but compared to Splash Mountain and Buzz it was a distant third or fourth in my book.
It was now past 9 and we had done all of the ride we wanted so we decided to check out Mainstreet and see if there was anyplace open that was selling ice cream. We found the Ice cream parlour but it was closed for remodeling, however there was a CM there with a cart selling Mickey bars. So we each had a Mickey bar and enjoyed the evening on mainstreet. We even snapped a few quick pictures so we could remember how empty the place was. It was a truly wonderful evening it was like having the place all to ourselves. For the money, it was the best value of all of our purchases.
We made it back to the hotel before 11 and decided to call it an early night since we had a 7:30 am breakfast with Donald tomorrow at the Animal Kingdom. Since we knew it was going to take some time to get there, we decided to set the alarm for 6am and we drifted off to sleep with memories of a truly magical night at the magic kingdom. No wonder its called the happiest place on earth.
inkbounc
