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Day Four – Thursday, January 19 – Soarin’,
Breastfeeding and Mama’s
Up early, coffee on, yada, yada, yada… It’s 42 degrees
but should be warming nicely for the remainder of the week. We
were scheduled for dinner at Teppanyaki tonight but yesterday we
switched it a Fantasmic dinner package at Mama Melrose’s
in MGM . Unfortunately, the only time we could snare is 4:10 .
That’s a bit early for dinner so we plan on a late breakfast,
skip lunch and then the early dinner.
We walked over to the IG a bit early. I shot a few pictures and
then asked at Guest Services about breakfast. I remembered that
the Garden Grill used to offer a character breakfast but I guess
that’s gone away. I asked about the Electric Umbrella. The
CM checked something on his computer and told me that they did
not serve breakfast. Oh, well – it may be pastries at the
Land.
As we went through the turnstiles, I grabbed an Epcot map and
the Electric Umbrella was listed as serving breakfast. Hmmmm. We
walked to the Land and grabbed FPs for Soarin’ ( 9:45 – 10:45
) and then jumped into the Standby line. We were on the ride in
about 5-minutes.
We walked over to the Electric Umbrella and, sure enough, they
were serving breakfast. We picked up a couple of breakfast sandwiches
(bagels) and coffees. The place was almost empty – maybe
2 other tables in use. While we were eating, a woman walked in
with a baby in a stroller and a toddler walking alongside. They
found their way into the center circle dining area and grabbed
a table. Mom began breastfeeding the baby while the toddler began
to wail. Soon, the toddler and the baby were wailing loudly, and
in stereo. Two different CMs stopped by and tried to amuse the
toddler, to no avail. I haven’t checked a map but aren’t
there a couple of Baby Stations in Epcot that offer breastfeeding
rooms? I actually wasn’t bothered by the breastfeeding but
the stereo wailing got old fast.
It was now time for our Soarin’ FP so off we went. When
we exited, I asked Barb if she wanted to go “one last time” so
in we went. This one had about a 20-minute wait but we scored the
first row (actually, I think there’s only a marginal difference
in riding in rows 2 or 3). Can you tell we like this ride? I know
some folks have complained about the scene segues being somewhat
choppy. I watched for that on this ride and I think they’re
fine. They tend to hit a heavy musical note with each scene change
and, in my humble opinion, it works.
As we exited the Land, I saw the third guy on this trip that
was wearing Capri pants. I’ve heard it’s catching on
in the south but not where I’m from. I think they look great
on women but on guys? Not so much. Anyway, they’re certainly
not my cup of tea – I’ll stick to shorts or Dockers/jeans
for casual wear.
We headed over to MouseGear and shopped for some souvenirs for
the kids. Mostly key chains with their initials – and a porcelain
Tinkerbell for Stephanie who already has a Disney key chain. On
our way toward WS, we caught part of the Kristos. They’re
pretty impressive and I like the outfits – especially on
the women. I told Barb that, with a little practice, maybe we could
develop a routine like theirs. She didn’t even laugh.
We were a little hungry but, because of the early dinner, we
didn’t think a full lunch was in order. We grabbed a couple
of soft pretzels and a Coke from a cart and took a table by the
American Adventure. We haven’t seen this in a couple of trips
so I walked over to check the times and found that the Voices of
Liberty (VoL) would be performing at 12:30 (about 20 minutes away)
with an AA show following. We finished the pretzels and walked
in to the rotunda.
I showed Barb the optical illusion in the painting of the WW
II fighter. If you haven’t tried it, it’s the painting
on the far left as you enter the building. There is a row of darker
tiles on the floor about 10 feet in front of the painting. If you
walk on these tiles, while looking at the painting, the nose of
the lane appears to follow you.
We took a seat on a bench inside the ‘dome’ when
an older gentleman, in a wheelchair, told us (quite loudly) that
the singers face toward him and we should move. We did.
Believe it or not, this is the first time we’ve heard VoL
(we have heard American Vybe before) and we were impressed. During
the song ‘Skip to My Loo’ (I have no idea if that’s
how it’s spelled and, surprisingly enough, it’s not
about a UK resident heading to the facilities), Trish, a VERY attractive
female singer, was left without a partner. As she lamented that
she “lost her partner, what’ll I do?” there were
2 male singers arm in arm with the same lady. What’s up with
that? Couldn’t one of these yahoos help out poor Trish? I
know I would. I was about to stand up and offer to become Trish’s
partner when she settled on some 10-year old twerp named Sean.
She actually brought Sean up to be her partner while they sang.
What’s he got that I don’t have? Trish, I could at
least buy you dinner. Ask Sean what he’s got in that piggy
bank of his.
After their performance, we chatted briefly with one of the singers
(not Trish, darn it) and then headed upstairs for the show.
When we exited, we ran into the Goergens (all 5 of them) having
their lunch at an outside table. We chatted a bit and learned they
enjoyed the Luau at the Polynesian last night. Emily told us how
she enjoyed her hula lesson. Tonight, they were headed to Cap’n
Jack’s for dinner. I told Wayne to make sure he tried the
Kalamazoo .
We went back to the room. The camera was giving me a low-battery
signal so I plugged in the recharger. The book says a full charge
will take 90-minutes and that’s about all the time we have
before we have to leave for dinner. I grabbed a beer and headed
to the balcony – it was now quite warm, probably high 70s.
Barb came out and said she had just seen on TV that NASA had launched
a rocket. This is the probe they’re sending to Pluto and
has been scheduled and canceled the last two days. I quickly scanned
the sky but it was Barb that noticed the very large vapor trail
off to the east. We had a good view of the trail, but that’s
about it. A side note – CNN reported that it would take this ‘ship’ 14
years to reach Pluto. However, NASA was attempting to use the gravitational
pull of Jupiter (or was it Saturn?) to shorten the trip – by
5 years! I quickly did some math in my head (always a dangerous
thing) and concluded that if Southwest would adopt this technology,
they could use the gravitational pull of…say, Newark … and
shorten my commute to Orlando to 11 minutes. I’m writing
a letter.
We called Stephen and learned that we had just spent $438 on
his books for this semester. I may need to return the key rings.
We needed to leave the hotel around 3:30 and, at 3:25 , the battery
charger’s light shifted from amber to green. We loaded up
and headed out intending to take the boat if it was there or within
sight. It wasn’t so we walked to MGM , arriving at about
3:45 .
As we entered, the parade was going on. I snapped a few pictures
of Kermit and Miss Piggy, Luke Skywalker and Leia, and R2D2. I
got a really nice close-up of Darth Vader as he walked by, very
close to me, and looked right into the camera. We headed up through
the shops on the right side to get around the remainder of the
parade and made it to mama Melrose ’s in plenty of time.
I checked us in and we were seated in just a couple of minutes.
The dinner package deal gives you a salad, flatbread pizza, entrée
and dessert for $28.99 each. Our waiter asked us to choose a flatbread
so he could put the order in (implying that it would take few minutes).
We ordered a Grilled Pepperoni - with charred bell peppers and
sweet onions and 2 glasses of Barbera d’Asti (an old favorite).
He brought our salad (family style) and the wine. As we were dishing
out the salad, he brought out the flatbread – sheesh. Anyway,
the salad, flatbread and the wine were all very good.
For entrees, Barb had the Eggplant Napoleon (eggplant, fresh
mozzarella, tomatoes over a warm cannellini bean ragu). She liked
the eggplant but was not a big fan of the ragu. I had the Spicy
Italian Sausage with rigatoni pasta, peppers, onions, and a tomato
basil sauce topped with caprino cheese. It wasn’t the best
Italian meal I’ve had and the sausage could have been a bit
spicier but, overall, I was pleased. A quick scan of the Allearsnet
menu says I would have paid about $65 plus tax for this meal. If
I remember correctly, the bill was about $80 with tax, so there’s
a $5-$10 premium for the Fantasmic passes.
We had some time, thanks to the early dinner, for a few attractions
so we hit the Muppets first. We walked in to about the mid-way
point of the pre-show and then enjoyed the show, as always. We
then took a spin on Star Tours with absolutely no wait at all.
By my recollection, this ride’s now had the same film for
17 years – CHANGE IT! We then took another ride on the Great
Movie Ride. Our Guide, Debbie, was one of the most refreshing I’ve
had on this attraction. Most of the others come across as just
trying too hard or not at all. Debbie was enthusiastic without
being gushing. Anyway, I enjoyed her and the ride. And, by the
way, ‘ Pearl Harbor ’ is another new film clip at the
end.
It was getting to be close to 6:30 and we were told to be at
the entrance by Oscar’s Filling Station “no later than
6:30 ”. I think we made it around 6:33 and made the long
walk up to the stadium. As we neared the stadium, a CM came over
and had us place our ‘pass’ into a plastic bag he was
holding. He never looked at it, nor at the others he was accepting.
I could’ve brought in 20 people with me.
We made our way in and took seat about 2/3 of the way up in the
right-most section (Witch?). The stadium filled with the exception
of the left-most section – that was about ¼ full.
With 5-minutes to show time, a throng of people were let in to
our section. I’m guessing several hundred. I don’t
know how this works but, I’m guessing, these people hold
back waiting for these seats because they’re closer to the
exit. Sure enough, with about 3-minutes left in the show, several
hundred people in my sections stood up and left. It was very distracting
and I really thought it was rude. Does getting out of the stadium
5-minutes earlier really matter that much?
We still enjoyed the show. I had some difficulties with the camera
here. The 3X zoom was not really strong enough to get any good
pictures of Mickey. I shot on automatic and the shutter speed must
have a bit too slow because several shots came out blurry. Next
time I’ll adjust.
We exited with the masses and walked back to the BW and on through
the IG to Epcot. We stopped in the UK to pick up a couple of beers
(Bass Ale and Harps – there was no Stella at the outside
bar for Barb). We found a bench and people watched for a bit before
walking over to France . I took a few shots of the restaurant – I
think it’s very attractive when lit up at night. We walked
down to Morocco and took our spot by the wall for IROE. Took lots
of pictures here with better success – I’m getting
the hang of this thing. Throughout IROE, there were lots of squeals
and screams from the party area near the bridge to France . As
we walked out, we saw lots of teenagers, mostly girls (that explains
the screams). Many were wearing Mickey Ears with a tassel. Some
kind of January graduation?
We strolled out of Epcot where we encountered yet another walking
style. I’ve termed this one Luke Sidewalker. This is the
guy that’s walking in the other direction, on your left,
and with each step he’s angling toward you. Probably should
have named it the Drunken Sailor.
We spent a few minutes on the BW watching a juggler and then
called it a night.
Things I Think I Think – I think I’m
going to have to invest in a digital camera. I really like being
able to shoot many, many shots and delete all but the keepers.
I think the Electric Umbrella makes a pretty good breakfast sandwich
(although it’s accompanied by Nescafe). I think I really
like Soarin’, Fantasmic and Illuminations and never tire
of seeing either. I think that getting the Fantasmic dinner package
in the off season is a frill that’s not really needed.
Day 5...
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