May 3, 2009
Ahhh... another beautiful morning in sunny Lake Buena Vista, FL! Today we are heading back to Epcot to experience things we did not get to on day 2. This was also the park rated to be the least crowded for today by the crowd calculator. We knew today was going to be a long day because we have made the decision to view Illuminations this night... so we all slept in quite soundly until around 7:30 (believe me... this IS sleeping in for DD!).
After showers, dressing and a quick bite to eat in our room, we saunter over to Bus Stop 4 and wait for the next bus to Epcot. Seems this particular morning the buses were not timed very well... we witnessed 2 buses come and go for Magic Kingdom... and waited over 30 minutes for the Epcot bus to arrive. This is quite annoying considering how close we are to Epcot! Even more annoying since DW is not as patient as I am. She was ready to start calling people at this point... and she seemed peeved that I did not have a telephone number for the head of Disney transportation
"You have every other Disney number in that backpack!" she says. Hehe... I have it now.
OK... so the bus ride goes uneventful from there and we arrive unharmed at Epcot's front gate. Through the bag check and turnstile we go and head straight for Soarin'. We just can't get enough of that ride! Standby line was only 20 minutes... so we get in line. DD still gets kick out of the golf ball! (ok... I admit... so do I)
Since Imagination! is so close, we walk on over to have some fun taking our pictures and playing with all the gadgets. First, we have to ride "Journey Into Imagination With Figment". The previous year DD did NOT want to get on the ride. Still not sure why she was fighting it, but this year was different. She was practically pulling me to get on the ride. With no one waiting in line, we grab our own car and hop on. I think my favorite part of that ride is where everything is upside down.
Once the ride is over, we take quite a while to play with all the interesting gadgets at ImageWorks. DD loves making music, so she was entertained with the motion sensor displays... the kind where you wave your arms and the instrument plays. DD and DW were doing that while I was at the picture kiosks. It's fun taking your picture and then making yourself into a lion! Unfortunately, the picture never made it to my email box. Not sure what happens after the picture gets transmitted... but it's been more the 6 months and no sign of it. Anyway... we all check out the area where you can run around and when the light catches you on an instrument, it pays part of the figment song. Well... rather than try to explain it to you, check out this video... even DW joined the fun here:
Video:
That song can surely get stuck in your head! Personally, I like the song. But I know there are others that despise it's very existence. I suppose it's comparable to IASM... which I loath to hear repeatedly. Go figure. Anyway, I digress... we exit the ImageWorks area and hang out at the leap frog fountains for a little while. DD was having a blast chasing the water "frogs" jumping back and forth. Have a mentioned she's a water baby? Where there's water.... you'll find DD playing in it...
Video:
And here are a few pictures from the same location:
From here we decide it's finally time to go check out World Showcase. This is DD's first time walking over to this part of Epcot. And it's been too many years since the last time DW and I were at Epcot... so in essence this is fresh for all of us. Check out these pictures I took along the way....
DD was happy to have found this hat... if you've seen the Disney Vacation DVD from 2008 you will notice that this is one of the hats the kids grabbed as a souvenir:
This is one of my favorites... I love the "hidden" Mickey in this picture:
... and in case you didn't actually see that "hidden" Mickey:
... and a few more in different colors:
Now you may be wondering why I took this picture... but I think it shows the true attention to detail and imagination that only Disney is able to provide on a daily basis. I really liked how they designed these signs and took the time to even put the "streamers" on top of it.
More awesome topiaries:
Now these ones were by the kid's playground. DD really liked this area and we spend a little time here so she could burn off some of that 6 year old energy
And if you were interested to see what the play area is like, here is a small video as DD is playing:
I love the fake grass material they use under the equipment... nice and "springy". Wonder how much that stuff costs?? I'd even use it in my front yard! HAHA!
Day 6, Part 2:
"Finally Caught By Loop and Hook"
That kind of taunting does not make me work faster... but it surely was a blast from the past! 
