Day two in WDW was actually our first full day and we had utilized a WDW Passporter to aid in planning and in recollections of the experience. So after an early bedtime Saturday night my wife, Judy, and I were up early to attend 7:30am church services which had always been an enjoyable experience on property at the Poly but now of course is off property an in an actual church setting. We were both amused by the final words of the priest to "use your sunscreen". We opted for an early church time in order to get to EPCOT early and we arrived at around 10:30 and made our way over to Test Track and took the single riders line and were on board in under 15 minutes. This is a great attraction and this single riders line is a great way to get on board quickly and make good use of your time. This was a first for the other members of our group and they came to appreciate it almost immediately and this would mark one of numerous times that we would visit this attraction.
From there we made our way over to HISTA which was also a first for one member in our party and she was delighted and surprised and all the things you are expected to be in your initial experience. Our timing was impeccable in that we walked right in as the pre show was a couple of minutes from starting and thus spent little time standing and/or waiting.
As noted previously EPCOT, while quite large, is easy to negotiate if you know what to do and when and what not to do and thanks to our experience and hints picked up via this message board we truly maxed our time. After HISTA we headed over to the Universe of Energy and had only about a 12 minute wait according to the cast member riding herd on those in line. While Ellen truly grates on me, this is a well produced effort and the experience stands on its own merit. My wife's oldest sister experienced this for the first time as she did most things at WDW having made her last visit there in the mid 1970's when her children were quite young and the youngest was not tall enough for many attractions and so she sat out most everything to be with the undersized daughter. This time it was different and she seemed to enjoy the Energy Experience.
We couldn't get enough so we headed back to Test track for a second ride via the singles line and this time it was only about 29 minute wait and it was barely past noon. Same sensation this time around the track as last. It's a blast and the aforementioned sister of my wife is a NASCAR nut so this served her "need for speed".
We checked Mission Space to see if anything was happening but all was quite in the early afternoon period and made a note to check back later. For now however it was off to World Showcase. A truly beautiful walk if you take the time to take it in. For many who are new to the WDW experience they seem to want to sprint from attraction to attraction when in reality much of the charm, beauty and magic of WDW is in the little things that you see, experience and observe. A walk around World Showcase on this date provided me many photo opportunities and I took picture after picture across that body of water and found that experience to be both enriching and exciting. Not Test Track exciting but in a different way. Cataloging the buildings, the sites, the visuals that make the WDW experience different from just a "theme park" experience. We took some extra time in Italy in honor of our daughter who opted to stay back home and work during her summer break from Indiana University where she will be a sophmore this fall. She took Italian in her freshman year and has now fallen in love with the culture and the country and refers to it as her "homeland" although my wife is German and I'm Irish/English. But she loves Italy and so we took pictures of the buildings and the gondolas and began the thought process of what to take back home to her from her "homeland". En route to Mexico I continued to shoot photos across the lake and confess to enjoying the experience of shooting the pictures, something which I had always planned to do but had never done so, or not done so thoroughly and with as much thought as this time. Did El Rio Del Tiempo and per usual find that to be an enjoyable experience and it can be a romantic place to dine. A momentary departure....has anyone seen the movie ANCHORS AWEIGH with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra? There is a scene in that movie, albeit a brief one, in which they visit a Mexican nightclub while on leave in L.A. and it bears a striking resemblance to the interior of the Mexican Pyramid at EPCOT. Makes me wonder if Disney copied the set design for this attraction.
We backtracked to the American Adventure in order to catch the boat for a ride on the water. Upon docking the busload of characters was pulling up for a visit and I left Judy and the others with the characters and made a quick dash back to see if anything was happening at Mission Space. While I was gone Judy's oldest sister did get her picture taken with Goofy which proved to be a great experience for all and a great photo as well. As for MS, nothing new but did talk to some folks who had been waiting for a spell and they noted that it appeared that something was running inside but they could not tell if live bodies were involved. I told them that I had met a group of CM's from MS while en route. As of 4:20 it was still closed off and showed no signs of change although word of mouth indicated otherwise.
We left the park at 5pm and felt as though we had done a lot in a short period of time and were heading back to the room in order to rest for a bit and then hit Boardwalk and the ESPN Zone. This proved to be a memorable evening in that while we breezed right into the parking lot as soon as we prepared to get out of the van and walk to Boardwalk and ESPN Zone the skies literally opened up and it rained buckets, rather barrels. We all had ponchos...a must to pack for a WDW trip...but the rain was so intense and it was too late to turn back, so we forged ahead. We noted that the night would be memorable for this if nothing else. We were all soaked, literally every inch of us by the time we got to ESPN Zone. We enjoyed a great meal...and the portions there are generous. We walked over to EPCOT to catch what we could of illumnations. We had planned to get over there for the start of it but our time at ESPN got away from us and it took a little while to get a check and settle up and then a few minutes to walk over there. We weren't really sure they would even have Illuminations because of the weather but by now it was clearing enough to make it work okay I guess. We saw some of the fireworks and observed that with the rain and humid air the smoke really hung in the air and the smell of the gunpowder was all the more noticeable.
Our first full day was indeed full and full of magic and was made more so by the continued spirit of cast members we encountered. I think the evening, while frustrating to get rained on in such a manner, was every bit as memorable as our day at
EPCOT. Again, I reiterate, oftentimes it's not those big attractions that make the day. They certainly contribute, but the other things help round out the experience. At the end of the day we had to laugh about it. Afterall, you're in WDW what is there to cry about?
We did recognize that by planning in advance what we were going to do and when it made each day more memorable and in a more positive way. This first full day proved that the planning put into this vacation was indeed time well spent. It also reminded us of how glad we were to be staying on property. That trip to the room after EPCOT and before Boardwalk would not have been possible or at best would have been considerably more difficult in many off property facilities. My wife and I stayed off property last year for 3 nights as we bought one of those promotional cruise/Orlando (non Disney company) packages and while we enjoyed the getaway the hassle associated with the trip to and from the hotel...if you haven't stayed on property you can't truly appreciate and for those of you who like us prefer to stay on property, well, you know of which I speak.
Monday is in the next report and AK is the first stop and will report on that in a subsequent report.
Bill Yarbor
Haubstadt, Indiana
From there we made our way over to HISTA which was also a first for one member in our party and she was delighted and surprised and all the things you are expected to be in your initial experience. Our timing was impeccable in that we walked right in as the pre show was a couple of minutes from starting and thus spent little time standing and/or waiting.
As noted previously EPCOT, while quite large, is easy to negotiate if you know what to do and when and what not to do and thanks to our experience and hints picked up via this message board we truly maxed our time. After HISTA we headed over to the Universe of Energy and had only about a 12 minute wait according to the cast member riding herd on those in line. While Ellen truly grates on me, this is a well produced effort and the experience stands on its own merit. My wife's oldest sister experienced this for the first time as she did most things at WDW having made her last visit there in the mid 1970's when her children were quite young and the youngest was not tall enough for many attractions and so she sat out most everything to be with the undersized daughter. This time it was different and she seemed to enjoy the Energy Experience.
We couldn't get enough so we headed back to Test track for a second ride via the singles line and this time it was only about 29 minute wait and it was barely past noon. Same sensation this time around the track as last. It's a blast and the aforementioned sister of my wife is a NASCAR nut so this served her "need for speed".
We checked Mission Space to see if anything was happening but all was quite in the early afternoon period and made a note to check back later. For now however it was off to World Showcase. A truly beautiful walk if you take the time to take it in. For many who are new to the WDW experience they seem to want to sprint from attraction to attraction when in reality much of the charm, beauty and magic of WDW is in the little things that you see, experience and observe. A walk around World Showcase on this date provided me many photo opportunities and I took picture after picture across that body of water and found that experience to be both enriching and exciting. Not Test Track exciting but in a different way. Cataloging the buildings, the sites, the visuals that make the WDW experience different from just a "theme park" experience. We took some extra time in Italy in honor of our daughter who opted to stay back home and work during her summer break from Indiana University where she will be a sophmore this fall. She took Italian in her freshman year and has now fallen in love with the culture and the country and refers to it as her "homeland" although my wife is German and I'm Irish/English. But she loves Italy and so we took pictures of the buildings and the gondolas and began the thought process of what to take back home to her from her "homeland". En route to Mexico I continued to shoot photos across the lake and confess to enjoying the experience of shooting the pictures, something which I had always planned to do but had never done so, or not done so thoroughly and with as much thought as this time. Did El Rio Del Tiempo and per usual find that to be an enjoyable experience and it can be a romantic place to dine. A momentary departure....has anyone seen the movie ANCHORS AWEIGH with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra? There is a scene in that movie, albeit a brief one, in which they visit a Mexican nightclub while on leave in L.A. and it bears a striking resemblance to the interior of the Mexican Pyramid at EPCOT. Makes me wonder if Disney copied the set design for this attraction.
We backtracked to the American Adventure in order to catch the boat for a ride on the water. Upon docking the busload of characters was pulling up for a visit and I left Judy and the others with the characters and made a quick dash back to see if anything was happening at Mission Space. While I was gone Judy's oldest sister did get her picture taken with Goofy which proved to be a great experience for all and a great photo as well. As for MS, nothing new but did talk to some folks who had been waiting for a spell and they noted that it appeared that something was running inside but they could not tell if live bodies were involved. I told them that I had met a group of CM's from MS while en route. As of 4:20 it was still closed off and showed no signs of change although word of mouth indicated otherwise.
We left the park at 5pm and felt as though we had done a lot in a short period of time and were heading back to the room in order to rest for a bit and then hit Boardwalk and the ESPN Zone. This proved to be a memorable evening in that while we breezed right into the parking lot as soon as we prepared to get out of the van and walk to Boardwalk and ESPN Zone the skies literally opened up and it rained buckets, rather barrels. We all had ponchos...a must to pack for a WDW trip...but the rain was so intense and it was too late to turn back, so we forged ahead. We noted that the night would be memorable for this if nothing else. We were all soaked, literally every inch of us by the time we got to ESPN Zone. We enjoyed a great meal...and the portions there are generous. We walked over to EPCOT to catch what we could of illumnations. We had planned to get over there for the start of it but our time at ESPN got away from us and it took a little while to get a check and settle up and then a few minutes to walk over there. We weren't really sure they would even have Illuminations because of the weather but by now it was clearing enough to make it work okay I guess. We saw some of the fireworks and observed that with the rain and humid air the smoke really hung in the air and the smell of the gunpowder was all the more noticeable.
Our first full day was indeed full and full of magic and was made more so by the continued spirit of cast members we encountered. I think the evening, while frustrating to get rained on in such a manner, was every bit as memorable as our day at
EPCOT. Again, I reiterate, oftentimes it's not those big attractions that make the day. They certainly contribute, but the other things help round out the experience. At the end of the day we had to laugh about it. Afterall, you're in WDW what is there to cry about?
We did recognize that by planning in advance what we were going to do and when it made each day more memorable and in a more positive way. This first full day proved that the planning put into this vacation was indeed time well spent. It also reminded us of how glad we were to be staying on property. That trip to the room after EPCOT and before Boardwalk would not have been possible or at best would have been considerably more difficult in many off property facilities. My wife and I stayed off property last year for 3 nights as we bought one of those promotional cruise/Orlando (non Disney company) packages and while we enjoyed the getaway the hassle associated with the trip to and from the hotel...if you haven't stayed on property you can't truly appreciate and for those of you who like us prefer to stay on property, well, you know of which I speak.
Monday is in the next report and AK is the first stop and will report on that in a subsequent report.
Bill Yarbor
Haubstadt, Indiana
