Day two had us going to Epcot. Ordinarily we get a park hopper pass which allows us to do different parks in the morning vs the afternoon but they have gotten much more expensive so we made the decision to stick to one park per day. The weather for today was going to be the coldest so far with a low of 12 in the morning and a high of 19. Not terrible if you were in the sun but not quite the Florida weather we had hoped for. Breakfast was beignets from our hotel. They were Mickey Mouse shaped which was fun but they still weren't as good as Cafe Du Monde.
After waiting for Callie to get through security as she was stopped once again, we headed for Test Track which pre-dates the cars ride at Disneyland. You get to design your car at the beginning trying to balance performance and looks. Carter designed some crazy looking thing that looked like a small SUV on monster truck tires. Kerry and Carter missed registering their vehicle when we got on which was too bad because we didn't get to compare it to Callie's vehicle which was much more stylish. The ride itself gets up to 104km/h with a G-Force of 2 which you definitely feel.
We attempted to do the Frozen ride next as we know it gets busy and isn't the fastest line up but it was temporarily broken so we headed over to the Italy pavilion to go on the Ratatouille ride. This is a 4D ride where you are experiencing the world from the rats perspective. There was a point where you are in front of a screen that has you scurrying under a table and it felt completely seamless. There is also a point where you are in the kitchen while they are making bread and you can smell the baguettes. It made us very hungry.
Next up was Soarin followed by the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride. The family claims they knew nothing about this ride but I don't believe them. It was new so rather than a separate fast lane, Disney had a virtual queue. You have to sign up at 7:00am and they tell you what time to come back and get in line. The line was still 45 minutes even with the virtual queue. The ride itself was definitely a 'close your eyes ride' from my perspective. It's a roller coaster like Space Mountain except the individual cars spin. It doesn't technically go up side down but it feels like it comes close. Never again for me. The family loved it.
The Frozen ride was open again but now showed a wait time of 65 minutes on the app, and apparently was 75 minutes by the time we were through the front door. Unusual for Disney was that the ride actually ended up being that long. The worst part about this particular line was that it was so incredibly slow moving. They Fast Lane was letting about 5 people through for every slow lane rider. All this for a basic boat ride like Pirates. We followed that up with the boat ride at the Mexico Pavilion that had zero line up and we walked right on. Mexico was better.
For lunch we had reservations at the Italian pavilion. It was good and I think for the first time ever, we ate every bite of food between the four of us. I had a minor issue with a bone in my chicken parmesan. Kerry attempted to hint for a discount but no luck. Although good, in hindsight, these sit down meals are pricy when you factor in inflation, tip, exchange rate and possibly credit card exchange fees. Ended up being $175 on our credit card. We then continued over to the Japan pavilion which I think is the nicest as they've spent so much effort on the gardens.
Next up was Canada house with its cobra chicken topiaries. The gardens are nicely done, the buildings look impressive and people seem to enjoy it there but as a Canadian it was mildly embarrassing. The 'ride' is a 360 degree movie showcasing the major Canadian regions including the east/west coasts, prairies, north etc. All was going well until they finish the movie up with an original song written for Epcot called Canada. (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi_wDsfGp00) Not our finest moment. Thankfully they had some fiddle playing lumberjacks in the evening on stage which were much better.
We then had a fun 'interaction' with Pooh Bear. He was spending some time in a field catching butterflies and as we were going to get his picture, he started to head out to 'get some hunny' as his handler explained. I've never seen a character head for the exit so quickly. He was definitely done and completely avoided interacting with a kid that was trying to say hi as he was leaving. His handler had to clarify that he'd been on the job from 10:00am to 5:00p. Not sure if this was entirely true but it was definitely time for the next Pooh Bear actor. This one was done.
Next up was what I like to call the 'Lettuce Ride'. It's a boat that goes through several green houses that showcase what gardening of the future might look like. Lots of different techniques for aquaculture and fun to see Disney attempt to say that it is a 'research' area when it's pretty clear they grow things off site and bring them in at their peak. I still like it as it is fun to see different growing techniques plus it's a leisurely boat ride that is good for napping or as we are now calling them 'nap train rides'.
After the 'Lettuce Ride' we finally found some manatees. Not as good as seeing them in the wild but they are still fun to watch. It would be nice to think they grow the lettuce for them in the local green houses but it would be tough to keep up. Apparently they eat 75 to 150 heads of lettuce per manatee per day. One of the manatees likes to wander the tank and spends the entire time spinning. Kerry noticed that we saw the same guy doing the same thing when we were here several years earlier. These are rescues but I think they've gone slightly mad in captivity.
We had dinner at the United Kingdom pavilion and Carter and I had fish and chips. Mine was missing most of the batter and I should have rejected it especially after I saw Carters. It was still very good. The last ride as a family was Spaceship Earth which takes you through history from a very American point of view where everything in history was either in Europe or the US. No mention of the rest of the world. The rest of the family also went on Mission Space which simulates a rocket launch. We then headed home after a very long day. Tomorrow is Hollywood Studios.
No comments:
Post a Comment