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October 2007 Florida Trip - Part 2

Part 1	Planning the trip On the Road	Days 1-3, Great Smoky Mountain and Blue Ridge PW	Days 4,5, Kennedy Space Center	Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa
Part 2	Day 6, Epcot	Day 6, Ticket and Transportation Center		Day 6, Magic Kingdom
Part 3	Day 7, Downtown Disney	Day 7, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party	Day 8, Animal Kingdom	Day 8, Animal Kingdom at night
Part 4	Day 8, Magic Kingdom (Night/Wishes)		Day 9, Disney-MGM Studios
Part 5	Day 9, The Boardwalk, Grand Floridian	Day 10, Downtown Disney	Days 10-11, Portofino Bay Resort	Days 10-11, Universal Studios Florida
Part 6	Days 10-11, Islands of Adventure		Days 10-11, City Walk

Please read the notes about this trip report in Part 1.

Day 6 - Epcot

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Our first full day at Disney would be done at Epcot. The weather is unusually warm, and t-shirts and shorts are the order for the day. The plan is to take some pictures. New techniques at joining panoramics wants me to take pans of all the pavilions. The Food & Wine show is also going on, so the other plan is to eat around the world.

Breakfast at the Food Court (which is much better than any breakfast you can get at Epcot...Or just about any other theme park in existence) and catch the bus.

Well, there it is. First time I've seen Spaceship Earth without a sign over it. It looks bald. Gosh, now I won't know what park I'm in. What will I do?

Epcot - Spaceship Earth

Walk around Future World taking pictures. Epcot seems unusually crowded. Go into Universe of Energy, and Stupid Judy loses again. This show is getting predictable. I don't take pictures of Wonders of Life. I should have. It might be gone by the next time I'm there.

I contemplate going on Mission:Spayed, to see what the wimpy version of the attraction is like, but perish the thought after seeing the crowds.

On the other side of Future World, we do The Seas. I'm still impressed with the new attraction. The seamless projections over the water is very cool. Stop in at the Land to take some interior shots, and am still amazed at the crowds here. Have the four new attractions in Future World since 1999 made that much of a difference? Standing on the ramp that forces you to go to the back of the pavilion before you can get downstairs, you can feel the entire walkway shake. I'm sure it's safe and within engineering designs, even though PiC and I comment about it.

Epcot - Future World

We make our way into World Showcase, and starting from Canada, make our way around to Mexico, sampling foods along the way. Stop in England and have the Fish and Chips, even though it's a regular food item here.

Surprisingly enough, Oklahoma is there, nestled between France and Morocco. I casually ask the CM when Oklahoma became a country. I get a dour look like she's been asked that question every 10 minutes for the past month. Oh well. I'd probably be annoyed too.

Sampling foods around the world, I feel like a beached whale by the time I get to Mexico. Go on the new boat ride only to say I been on the new boat ride. It called "Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros." Could they think of a longer name? Rehab was okay, but I miss that Mexican guy trying to sell me stuff toward the end of the attraction.

At last, PiC and I enjoy a frozen margarita to end our day in Epcot. Excellent way to complete a long walk. In the end, we hop a monorail to the Magic Kingdom.

Epcot - World Showcase

Day 6 (continued) - Ticket and Transportation Center

Cinderella Castle in Magic Kingdom...

We decided to go to Magic Kingdom after our visit to Epcot, just because it's a nice day, and I wanted to grab some photos in case the weather turned bad. We weren't going to spend that much time in the park, since we had tickets for the Halloween Party the next day.

The Ticket and Transportation Center

Day 6 (continued) - Magic Kingdom

I took a bunch of panoramics that I wasn't sure would work, but hey, it won't cost me anything extra to try. (Turns out some worked well, some did not. Judge for yerself. :-) Also took a bunch of pictures of the statuary that lines Main Street and the Hub. I've done this before with stills from a camcorder, but I want to do a proper job.

Magic Kingdom

Turn right into Tomorrowland. PiC has never done Stitch. Well, lucky her. She wants to do Stitch. It's a walk-on. Okay, it's only 10 minutes of our life we'll never get back. I still find the chili-dog part disgusting. But I guess that's the point.

Walk across the aisle to Laugh Floor. Now *this* attraction has a line. But the theater holds a lot of guests, and the wait isn't that long. It's an interesting show. Mostly interactive, a lot like Turtle Talk with Crush in The Seas (or California Adventure, depending on your flavor of park.) I can see this type of interactive attraction becoming more widely used. There's no machinery to speak of to wear out, and much of the show is new, if only because the guests change with every show. I vow to see it again tomorrow night.

We walk around the park, and stop in at Haunted Mansion. Wow. Rehab looks great. I really like the Escher room, and everything looks spiffied up and dirty. The ride stops in front of the singing heads, probably to let some disabled person load or unload, and I get a full song set from the heads on video. Cool.

PiC reminds me we'll be in the park tomorrow for the Party, so we don't have to do everything today. And besides, we might have to be up early for the Shuttle Launch tomorrow. So we call it a day and head back to Saratoga.

Magic Kingdom