December 2010 WDW Trip Report, Part 4
Please see Part 1 for cast and plot summary...
Day 3: Dec 9th, Epcot and dinner with the Disney Insane.
(At least some of them.)
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Up early, PiC was not. Breakfast at Olivia's. I asked our waitress if the coffee was Nesc... Nesca... you know. I had an ice tea. I hope that answers your question.
Now, have you ever been someplace at Walt Disney World and wonder if another RADP'er is there? Tonight we were going to have dinner with Paul (in NH) and June (and others), and yet it turns out we had breakfast with them as well. Photographic proof, no less.
After breakfast (we both had Olivia's Breakfast, I had the ham, PiC had the thinnest bacon every to be delivered from a pig), our objective was Epcot!
Our Bus was reassigned to another resort, so we were let off closer to the entrance, instead of having to walk all the way from Stop 1. Which may sound close, but it's not.
It's sorta cold (I'm being charitable here) so we have all sorts of pockets and don't have to go through a bag check. Again. It was nice we didn't have to go through a bag check, but I'd rather have it warm.
Spaceship Earth, 10 minute wait, PiC doesn't think it's long, but it's long. We go on it anyway. I silently laugh and applaud the cheerleaders wearing those short shorts. Not that I don't appreciate it, but I'm sure they're more than a little cold. As we transverse the queue on the other side of the main entrance, I tell PiC she can make all the decisions. She doesn't get it until we get to the turnaround. Because of my hat, the face recognition software thinks my hair isn't part of me, so I have a serious hole in my head. Oh well. It may explain those serious memory lapses of late. Sent myself a postcard anyway. (Have you ever noticed that the person in front of you trying to do the same thing is generally clueless?) (I am later disappointed that the postcard is in quicktime. I don't have/want quicktime installed on any of my machines...)
Spaceship Earth
Walked through innoventions, see the Kim Possible exhibit, and I tell PiC we need to do that someday. But we were on our way to Captain EO, and it was on to Imagination. No line, a short wait to get into the theater, and boy, is this thing dated. But it's still not bad for a non-cgi production. Too bad Michael Jackson still has that squick factor for me...
After EO, we bypassed the land and went to The Seas, and sat in on a Turtle Talk with Crush. He's still fun, but this is like the 5th time I've seen Dory get smooshed up against the glass by a whale. They need some new routines. We were going to go back toward the center of the park (through Innoventions again) only this time, we actually stopped and got a ticket for Kim Possible.
We had to go to the UK to get our uh... cell-phone like device, and on the way we stopped at Club Cool, through a partial set of Off Kilter doing Christmas music on a bagpipe, and finally to Tangerine Cafe for food before actually getting our uh... cell-phone like device. We were a little late, our secret agent contact didn't care. She was remarkably well disguised as a Disney CM. Clever, these people.
We ended up saving the world in the UK and in Mexico. Got a tea bag in the UK.
While you've heard others here say these are exceedingly imaginative and entertaining, I have to say the adventures were exceedingly imaginative and entertaining. While some of the clues are in out of the way places, some are in plain sight and must drive the retail CM's nuts. If you haven't done it, try it. It does give you an alternate way of visiting a lot of World Showcase.
It was then back to OKW to pick up warmer clothes and drop off the camcorder, pick up a tripod and actually go back to Epcot. We've got a dinner engagement tonight!
We rested up a couple hours, I made some coffee. Real coffee. With filters PiC remembered to bring.
As we're getting ready to leave for Epcot, I put on my hat and PiC asks why. It's dark. 'cuz, is my reply. Snappy answer, that. We just miss an Epcot bus as we were walking toward our stop. If you've never been to Old Key West, I'll try to describe it for you.
Unlike the other spread out resorts (like most of SSR and all the moderates) there is no circular perimeter bus route. OKW is a main road with several dead end roads leading off of it. That means buses do a lot of slow u-turns, sometimes using guest parking areas as thoroughfares.
So, our bus stop is Peninsular Road, the first bus stop in the complex, and the bus has to make three other stops before they finally get to the stop near the main entrance. We walk to the main entrance, it's not that far. We beat the bus we just missed by 7 minutes. (PiC timed it.) We play stupid camera tricks.
Waiting for the bus at OKW
We're the only ones on the bus. This bus is reassigned to Pop, so we're let off at the closest stop to Epcot's entrance. I don't understand why all the busses can't let guests off close to the entrance before being reassigned. (Yes, I know it's because of the unloading of handicap, but if you don't have any, give our legs a break. :-))
Spaceship Earth looks spectacular. Flippin' Disney Photopass Photographers are taking the best spots. All of 'em. We walk under the golf ball and I point out there isn't a line for the attraction now. It's a walk on.
I'd like to stop and watch the fountain for a couple of sets, but we've got a dinner to get to.
I've set up the tripod to take a couple of pictures of Epcot's tree (I was probably in the way of a photopass photographer), and one of those damn ecv's tries to run me over. I look at this incredibly rude person, and she knows me. Ugh. The memory's trying really hard, and it's coming up empty. It's Sandi! And Amanda is with her. Introductions are made. Recognition was by the camera and the hat. (I think I heard someone say "funny looking", too. But that might have been PiC.) Oh and PiC standing around waiting for me to take the picture. But it was the hat. I feel justified in some insignificant and meaningless way.
We make our way to Mexico. It turns out we all have little things to do around Mexico.
Epcot at Night
20 minutes later, Kitty and Rocky make their appearance, with Paul and June not that far behind. PiC has seen them before, but can't remember where. It's not until June says they were at Olivia's that morning that PiC makes the connection. (That I have the photo to prove it just makes it more ironic.) I find out Chuck has bailed on us.
Kitty brings penguins, and Amanda brings Conchitas, which is not, I find out, an insect. It's a lime corn chip, and I can't decide if they'd be better with beer or tequila...
We order, the food is served, and the first thing we do? FOOD PORN! I have pictures from Paragon's little weenie things to pictures of Bashful taking pictures of her food for her blog. So not only do you have a picture of Bashful taking the picture that's on her blog, but proof positive Rocky doesn't do the vegan thing.
Dinner is pretty good, it isn't your taco/enchilada/burrito type Mexican food. I think it's pretty good, PiC isn't sure she'd go back.
Service wasn't all that good. PiC wanted more water, and couldn't get a waiter's attention. It took forever to get the bill paid. So long, in fact, Illuminations started while we were still in the restaurant.
La Hacienda de San Angel (Mexico Pavilion, Epcot)
We get out as the countries are being lit and PiC and I eventually get to the Showcase Plaza for the rest of Illuminations (and the Christmas tag.) Still spectacular. (I should also mention the finale can be easily heard every night at OKW. As a matter of fact, I asked PiC one night how I could have missed hearing the finale, only to have the fireworks start back up for the finale.) On the way out, we notice that the lasers on SE are projecting images of the Earth on it. How appropriate.
We're stopped where the Leave A Legacy cameras used to be, and we're asked to take a survey. Sure. The surveys are all on laptops, and they have touchscreens on them. And unlike Universal Orlando who asks about Disney, this was Disney only asking about Epcot.
What attractions we saw, what I thought was outdated (cough...imagination...cough), rating attractions (that was fun), etc. I feel I've done my Disney duty for the day.
At the bus stops, we see a bus at the OKW stop, and we walk a little faster. We actually make the bus, due to 2 ECV loads. Here's the odd part. We made the bus and got on it. Sure, we had to stand up, but we were at the front of the bus, and we get off first...
Was Epcot that empty tonight? The survey didn't take that long, and we left from Showcase Plaza, so the entire World Showcase crowd was behind us.
Back at the hotel room, I dump condensed notes from the brain to the laptop. I answer a couple of posts on the newsgroup and call it a night.
End December 2010 Trip Report - Part 4.
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