AliciaG
06-05-2003, 10:35 PM
Wednesday, May 28
We got to sleep a little later today, because we could walk to EE at Epcot. We’d spent time at Epcot on the prior days, but this was our first time to really get in there and see much of Future World. I will tell you that we did a lot of park crossing today. It might not be the most efficient touring, but it got us where we wanted to be, when we wanted to be there.
We made our way to Test Track, and were able to ride it twice. I just love when you hit the open road on this ride. What a thrill! Once we got off the second ride we picked up a fastpass that would be good for around the time we finished our breakfast. Something interesting happened when our fastpass tickets come out. They had a ‘bonus’ fastpass with them. It was a second fastpass with each ticket that was good for the Maelstrom for between 11:00 and 12:00. I don’t know if that was their way of trying to divert traffic to the WS once it opened, or not, but it was a nice surprise.
http://members.aol.com/aguethlein/minswing.jpg
The flower decorations were so well done.
Next we headed over to the Imagination pavilion, because we wanted to catch HISTA before the lines got long. To our surprise it was under a brief refurb. They said it should be back open by Friday. I believe they were re-working the pre-show. We decided to take in JIYI since we were over there, and none of us had ridden it before. It was cute, but I was curious about the old way that everyone seems to like it better.
It was time to head to Norway. We hadn’t had much luck with this meal in October, but Kristen wanted to dine with the princesses, and she preferred PSB, because she wanted a chance to see Pocahontas. We figured we’d give it a second chance, and boy was I glad we did. The food was better this time, and our server was very efficient. On our last trip the princesses didn’t even start coming around until we were entirely thru eating. This time their timing was much better. Belle, Aurora, Snow White, Jasmine, and Mary Poppins visited us. Belle and Snow White were so good. They really do a great job of taking on their characters. I’ve never seen an Aurora though who seemed to have much personality. Someone suggested maybe that was because her character didn’t do much more than sleep. :shock: She could always be a little groggy. Price for character breakfast $76…pictures and memories…priceless.
http://members.aol.com/aguethlein/snowwhite.jpg
Priceless!
We opted to skip our special fastpass for Maelstrom, since we saw the character bus on its way. There were hardly any people here, and we were able to spend some quality time with Mickey, Minnie, Chip & Dale, and Pluto. Many hugs and kisses were given and gotten. We had just the right amount of time to make it for our TT fastpass, but first John ran over and got new fastpasses for Living with the Land. Anna Kate enjoyed playing near the fountains while we took turns on TT. The kids and I had perfected our poses for TT photos, and though we never bought one…we enjoyed looking at our silly selves after each ride. :P
http://members.aol.com/aguethlein/mmouse.jpg
What's better than the main Mouse?
We made our way over to the Land, and walked right onto a boat. The standby time was 25 minutes, and once again we were tickled pink to walk right on. The boat ride was really interesting. I love the way they are growing those vegetables. What a great way to garden without weeds! I wanted to see Off Kilter, and they were coming on at 1:30. We had just enough time to see Food Rocks. I knew it would be a little silly, but the kids liked it, especially Anna Kate. She was rock ‘n rolling with the milk and cheese. This was also some excellent lazy butt/nap time for mom and dad.
http://members.aol.com/aguethlein/water.jpg
There are even flowers in the water.
We left the Land pavilion, and made our way over to Canada. Off Kilter was just as good as I’d heard, and we all really enjoyed their performance. We crossed back over to Future World and John and the kids rode Body Wars while I let Anna Kate stretch her legs in the little theater in there. It was hilarious, there were a bunch of toddlers in there, and they were chasing each other everywhere. You could almost read their minds…”I’m free, I’m free of the stroller!” They really enjoyed Body Wars, and we managed to convince Anna Kate to leave the theater for Cranium Command. I absolutely love the pre-show here! “Does your mama still dress you boy?” ROFLOL! :lol:
It was time for our lunch in Morocco. We took a friendship boat for the first time ever in the park. Fortunately the timing was perfect, and we made it much faster than walking. Marrakesh was cool, comfortable, and not the least bit crowded. When we first arrived there was a guy playing an instrument, and we enjoyed a few minutes of the music. The food and service were wonderful here. John and I both had the Sultan’s sampler, his with chicken kabob and mine with beef. The kids both had the beef kabobs. Lunch was $66. We’d love to return here, but next time I think we’ll spring for dinner, so we can enjoy the belly dancers. We thought they would be performing at lunch, and Kristen was disappointed that she didn’t get to dance with them.
After lunch we went to see the American Adventure for the first time. It’s amazing how much time you can spend in Epcot and still not do it all. The show was neat, but IMO it needs some updating. I was sitting next to an older couple, and they were doing quite a bit of talking. When Mark Twain came on stage the older fellow said, “hey look, it’s Einstein”, it was so funny, and after he figured out his mistake, they didn’t talk quite so loud anymore.
It was time to leave. We had packing to do, because we moved to the Polynesian tomorrow. We got back to the BCV and got ready for the pool. We spent a couple of hours of the early evening down there. We made sure to also take a good relaxing dip in the hot tub. While I was there I talked to a girl who was getting married the next day. Her wedding was to take place at the wedding pavilion, with an Epcot IllumiNations reception. How cool is that?!! When we got back to the room we packed up the majority of our stuff so we wouldn’t be too late leaving the next day. We were excited to try the Polynesian, but leaving the Beach Club Villas felt like leaving home. We’d gotten comfortable here. We were finding our way around easily, and enjoying all the things the area had to offer. I’d even let Eric run up and throw something in the washing machine I’d forgotten. I wouldn’t normally do that, but it was only up one floor, and I really don’t know how to explain it, but BCV felt like you were staying with family.
Up next…a child in the top 10, and moving to the Poly.
We got to sleep a little later today, because we could walk to EE at Epcot. We’d spent time at Epcot on the prior days, but this was our first time to really get in there and see much of Future World. I will tell you that we did a lot of park crossing today. It might not be the most efficient touring, but it got us where we wanted to be, when we wanted to be there.
We made our way to Test Track, and were able to ride it twice. I just love when you hit the open road on this ride. What a thrill! Once we got off the second ride we picked up a fastpass that would be good for around the time we finished our breakfast. Something interesting happened when our fastpass tickets come out. They had a ‘bonus’ fastpass with them. It was a second fastpass with each ticket that was good for the Maelstrom for between 11:00 and 12:00. I don’t know if that was their way of trying to divert traffic to the WS once it opened, or not, but it was a nice surprise.
http://members.aol.com/aguethlein/minswing.jpg
The flower decorations were so well done.
Next we headed over to the Imagination pavilion, because we wanted to catch HISTA before the lines got long. To our surprise it was under a brief refurb. They said it should be back open by Friday. I believe they were re-working the pre-show. We decided to take in JIYI since we were over there, and none of us had ridden it before. It was cute, but I was curious about the old way that everyone seems to like it better.
It was time to head to Norway. We hadn’t had much luck with this meal in October, but Kristen wanted to dine with the princesses, and she preferred PSB, because she wanted a chance to see Pocahontas. We figured we’d give it a second chance, and boy was I glad we did. The food was better this time, and our server was very efficient. On our last trip the princesses didn’t even start coming around until we were entirely thru eating. This time their timing was much better. Belle, Aurora, Snow White, Jasmine, and Mary Poppins visited us. Belle and Snow White were so good. They really do a great job of taking on their characters. I’ve never seen an Aurora though who seemed to have much personality. Someone suggested maybe that was because her character didn’t do much more than sleep. :shock: She could always be a little groggy. Price for character breakfast $76…pictures and memories…priceless.
http://members.aol.com/aguethlein/snowwhite.jpg
Priceless!
We opted to skip our special fastpass for Maelstrom, since we saw the character bus on its way. There were hardly any people here, and we were able to spend some quality time with Mickey, Minnie, Chip & Dale, and Pluto. Many hugs and kisses were given and gotten. We had just the right amount of time to make it for our TT fastpass, but first John ran over and got new fastpasses for Living with the Land. Anna Kate enjoyed playing near the fountains while we took turns on TT. The kids and I had perfected our poses for TT photos, and though we never bought one…we enjoyed looking at our silly selves after each ride. :P
http://members.aol.com/aguethlein/mmouse.jpg
What's better than the main Mouse?
We made our way over to the Land, and walked right onto a boat. The standby time was 25 minutes, and once again we were tickled pink to walk right on. The boat ride was really interesting. I love the way they are growing those vegetables. What a great way to garden without weeds! I wanted to see Off Kilter, and they were coming on at 1:30. We had just enough time to see Food Rocks. I knew it would be a little silly, but the kids liked it, especially Anna Kate. She was rock ‘n rolling with the milk and cheese. This was also some excellent lazy butt/nap time for mom and dad.
http://members.aol.com/aguethlein/water.jpg
There are even flowers in the water.
We left the Land pavilion, and made our way over to Canada. Off Kilter was just as good as I’d heard, and we all really enjoyed their performance. We crossed back over to Future World and John and the kids rode Body Wars while I let Anna Kate stretch her legs in the little theater in there. It was hilarious, there were a bunch of toddlers in there, and they were chasing each other everywhere. You could almost read their minds…”I’m free, I’m free of the stroller!” They really enjoyed Body Wars, and we managed to convince Anna Kate to leave the theater for Cranium Command. I absolutely love the pre-show here! “Does your mama still dress you boy?” ROFLOL! :lol:
It was time for our lunch in Morocco. We took a friendship boat for the first time ever in the park. Fortunately the timing was perfect, and we made it much faster than walking. Marrakesh was cool, comfortable, and not the least bit crowded. When we first arrived there was a guy playing an instrument, and we enjoyed a few minutes of the music. The food and service were wonderful here. John and I both had the Sultan’s sampler, his with chicken kabob and mine with beef. The kids both had the beef kabobs. Lunch was $66. We’d love to return here, but next time I think we’ll spring for dinner, so we can enjoy the belly dancers. We thought they would be performing at lunch, and Kristen was disappointed that she didn’t get to dance with them.
After lunch we went to see the American Adventure for the first time. It’s amazing how much time you can spend in Epcot and still not do it all. The show was neat, but IMO it needs some updating. I was sitting next to an older couple, and they were doing quite a bit of talking. When Mark Twain came on stage the older fellow said, “hey look, it’s Einstein”, it was so funny, and after he figured out his mistake, they didn’t talk quite so loud anymore.
It was time to leave. We had packing to do, because we moved to the Polynesian tomorrow. We got back to the BCV and got ready for the pool. We spent a couple of hours of the early evening down there. We made sure to also take a good relaxing dip in the hot tub. While I was there I talked to a girl who was getting married the next day. Her wedding was to take place at the wedding pavilion, with an Epcot IllumiNations reception. How cool is that?!! When we got back to the room we packed up the majority of our stuff so we wouldn’t be too late leaving the next day. We were excited to try the Polynesian, but leaving the Beach Club Villas felt like leaving home. We’d gotten comfortable here. We were finding our way around easily, and enjoying all the things the area had to offer. I’d even let Eric run up and throw something in the washing machine I’d forgotten. I wouldn’t normally do that, but it was only up one floor, and I really don’t know how to explain it, but BCV felt like you were staying with family.
Up next…a child in the top 10, and moving to the Poly.