But then Future Gal (who acts as our Chief Financial Officer) said that we could afford to take a day trip down there if I really wanted to, and we quickly made plans to meet Tim and his family at EPCOT on Saturday. We left around 7am and arrived shortly after park opening:
Hello, Spaceship Earth:
We bought our tickets and went inside, but we knew that we were going to have some time to kill before my friends arrived, since Tim is all about taking your time and not rushing while you're on vacation. I was expecting heavy crowds, so when I saw that Spaceship Earth was a walk-on we went ahead and rode. I love what a great job they did on the Animatronics during the 2007 upgrade; their movements are so fluid! Also, they seem to have upgraded the camera they use to take your picture at the beginning of the ride; in the past our pictures have always been a bit fuzzy, but this time they were HD-quality.
Next, we went to The Land. We got Soarin' Fastpasses and rode LWTL, which was also a walk-on.
There were some kids sitting behind us who were just as excited as could be about everything on the ride, and when it was over they were pestering their parents to ride again.
Future Gal was getting a little hungry, so she got some kind of a muffin thing at Sunshine Seasons:
. . . and after she ate she was just as happy as could be!
After leaving The Land, we headed over to The Seas since we were on that side of the park. Since Disney refuses to take the very reasonable step of setting aside the Living Seas VIP lounge for my exclusive use, we had to ride the Nemo ride. After that, we went to Mouse Gear. A family we know moved away to Colorado not too long ago, and we promised their kids that the next time we were at WDW we'd send them postcards from the park. So we bought some postcards in the store (Future Gal brought stamps with her-she always comes prepared!) then went outside to write on them. However, one of the postcards really didn't like ballpoint pens-it was impossible to write on it! The CMs inside the store were very helpful-they replaced the postcard and even lent Future Gal a Sharpie to write on it! While all that was going on, I sat outside the store and took some pictures:
As you can see, the heavy crowds I'd expected were not materializing.
After both postcards we written and addressed, it was time to mail them. The CMs in the store told us that the only mailbox in EPCOT is in front of The American Adventure. I didn't want to drag Future Gal all the way to the back of the park to just do that one thing, so I left her sitting on a bench in the shade and took off to mail the postcards by myself. However, she somehow misunderstood what the CMs said and thought that the mailbox was at the front of the World Showcase. So when I got back, she was a little bit angry and wanted to know exactly where the heck I'd been. Oh, well.
By this time I'd heard from our friends; they got a late start because they'd taken advantage of evening EMH the previous night, and they estimated they'd be another 45 minutes or so. We elected to ride Universe of Energy, even though Future Gal didn't really want to. On the ride, I realized a couple things: The first half of the show (comprising the preshow thorough the dinosaur diorama) is really good. After that it really bogs down. The KNRG piece is just plain boring. Also, a good bit of the ride's film is not HD quality. I'd never noticed it before, but with HD becoming more and more prevalent, Disney really needs to upgrade any films that are still in standard def.
After we got out of UoE I had still not heard from our friends, and our Fastpass return time for Soarin' had arrived, so we headed back over there. While standing in the line (which looked to be at least 20 minutes long) I got a text from my friend Tim saying that they were walking up to The Land right then. Since we were there to see people, not ride rides, we got out of the line and met up with them. After lunch at Sunshine Seasons, we headed out towards the World Showcase. A side note-some people complain that the Imagination pavilion was repainted during the disastrous 1999 refurb. Personally, I really like the building's exterior color scheme; it's like a rainbow. I just can't stand to go inside. I kind of wanted to see Captain EO, just so I could sit there and make fun of it, but Future Gal absolutely refuses to sit through it again. Can't say I blame her.
Anyway, Tim and his wife wanted to get some pictures of the garden outside Le Cellier, so we went over there.
As we walked past the UK, we could hear the new band, English Channel playing. They sounded really good and appeared to have drawn a large and appreciative crowd. In France, the acrobat guys were performing:
Next, we went to Mitsukoshi to enjoy some air conditioning, and so Future Gal could get her customary pearl. While she did that, Tim's wife did a sake tasting thing and Tim and I talked about guests we might want to have on our podcast.
We left Mitsukoshi and stopped at a little stand between Japan and Italy, where Marie and Tim got those frozen snow-coney things, the name of which escapes me. Whatever they're called, they turn your tongue extremely red.
Moving on, we stopped in Germany to check out one of Marie's favorite things: the train set. I thought this picture of a duck bathing in the little pond was funny, because it looks like a giant duck is about to terrorize the tiny residents of the train set's miniature village. Duckzilla!
We continued around the World Showcase and rode Maelstrom. Tim and I agreed that the Spirit of Norway film is like a Norwegian I Love The 80s episode. We also went to Mexico and rode the Gran Fiesta Tour. Say what you will about the content of the ride, but the images on the screens are sharp, colorful, and vibrant. They look great.
By this time, it was getting a bit late. Tim and his wife were signed up for the Tables in Wonderland thing later that evening, and they had to check in at 7:30. However, they wanted to have dinner beforehand, so we went to the Electric Umbrella. After dinner, we took some pictures before parting ways. Here's Future Gal and I:
And here are the future hosts of the Circlevision Radio podcast:
We said goodbye to Tim and his family, and then Future Gal and I went back to Mouse Gear to do some shopping. I picked up this retro EPCOT Center shirt:
I'm a sucker for anything with the classic EPCOT Center pavilion logos on it! Future Gal also spent an inordinate amount of time shopping for gifts for some friends back home. I had planned to be out of the park by 7:30, but it was closer to 9 when we finally got on the road. Still, I couldn't be too upset. After all, my dear wife was just taking so much time because she was carefully selecting gifts for our friends. On the way out of the park, we snapped one more picture of Spaceship Earth:
Usually, when leaving WDW I'm terribly envious of the people heading for the resort buses or the monorail, going back to their resort rooms to continue their vacations. This time, though, I was okay with leaving. I'll be happy to visit again late next year, but I didn't have an overwhelming desire to stay.
And that's all for this trip. We arrive home around 11pm, all stiff and sore. And then the next afternoon I went out and played basketball and soccer with friends. I hope to be all healed in a week or so.
