Trip Report Epcot & DHS - micro reports

Does the story of half a day at a park deserve a report? Well, I thought I'd give it a try... after being really busy for awhile (and with a busy schedule ahead) this past week I had the better part of a day to spare. It seemed like every day I went last year was really warm so the forecasted highs in the mid-50s were appealing. Note to northerners: radio station announcers will tell you the mid-50s is "bitter cold" here. Honestly!

First stop was Epcot. Uh, ok, the only stop was Epcot. Only had a few hours to spare today. Lots of ticket windows open and hardly any people there, got the new AP activated pretty fast. It was pretty obvious there wasn't a crushing crowd there, off-season and everything.

Lots of flowers planted in front of SSE
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When we got there it was about 51° and peaked out at 55°, at times with a stiff breeze. That's the kind of weather that will cause some locals to dress like they're getting ready to go snowmobile racing. Others wear shorts and flipflops. Tourists? No idea how they decide what to wear or even bring with them.

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Here's Mickey
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photoflight

photoflight

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
No crowds. Did I mention that? Between the cool weather maybe shying locals away and the off-season the park was awesomely devoid of crowds.
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These were around 12:30
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Managed to see Spice Road Table finished up
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...not sure if it was open but the tables were set up. Nobody was in the place though.
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photoflight

photoflight

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Meandering around to Japan, had to check out the store. Not much changes there but I like the place.
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Pickles the frog? I don't remember seeing Pickles before.
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Big crowd
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...still energetic and fun to watch though!
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photoflight

photoflight

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just missed the fife and drum show though.
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The massive crowds were overwhelming. Not. What a change from the F&G and F&W seasons!
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Epcot is my favorite half-day place to go. Grab a sandwich at France or Norway, or stop in Germany and grab a bench. Usually I hit one of the vendors at Germany for a pretzel. Hint: Not sure if it's my imagination or not, but the pretzels in Germany are always far better tasting and more fresh than the other places. They always have a fresh buttery taste that leads me to believe they're not the "Super Pretzel" type sold elsewhere.

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...of course they're the favorite of some of the residents too! Mr Duck wanted his share apparently
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...so did Mrs Duck
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A lot of the Benches around World Showcase looked like they'd just been refinished. Actually they looked brand new. They also were tethered to the fences with swaged cables. I don't remember seeing that before, but then again I never looked.
 
photoflight

photoflight

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Passed by China. Can't beat that sky in the winter!
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Usually I check Soarin' and Maelstrom as a benchmark for how busy the park is. So...I had to look. Maelstrom was 5 minutes
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Unless I'm running really late I don't pass up a 5-minute line for most rides! I remember standing in a line that went well out the door a couple of times. This one? Not quite 5 minutes.
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Happy adventurers
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Here we go!
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Had to grab a picture of this guy. He was covered in Disney pins
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Soarin' had a 40-minute line.
 
photoflight

photoflight

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Did I mention it was cold? It was only in the 50s! Ok ok, I'm not judging. Honest (it was colder here yesterday morning than it was in Portland Maine though, so...) This is kind of the rule for a 55° afternoon around here; hats, gloves, coats - or shorts.
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SSE! Have to ride SSE. I'm going ot start keeping track of how many times I ride this thing. Another 5 minute wait but, really, it was a walk-on
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...one day he'll finish that painting!
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Thats all for my micro-report. We're planning a few-days Disney adventure in the not-too-distant-future, with real food and rides and everything! I'll take pictures.
 
wishiwere@wdw

wishiwere@wdw

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the update. It gave me a good laugh after having a family give us some not so nice words about how we dressed our children during a "cold" streak. It was 58! My kids wanted shorts on after coming from teens and twenties lol. Somehow, I kept my cool and shrugged it off.... While also wearing shorts and a tee shirt.

It's so true though because our family that are locals joined us for the day and they had full winter coats, hats and gloves for the kids :)
 
photoflight

photoflight

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Sounds about right.

Funny thing though, typically the kids I see around here don't get into "holy cow it's cold" mode when it hits the 50s. They all stick to their typical Florida garb when I see them. On the other hand, sometimes I see middle-aged adults dressing like nanook when they go to the grocery store to battle 72-degree weather.
 
photoflight

photoflight

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After an mind-bending hectic week I needed to decompress and get some fresh air on the weekend, starting with DHS for a short visit.
Arrived at DHS in the late morning and wandered around. Much larger crowds than I'd had at Epcot recently but not surprising for the weekend. For the past few days the lows have been in the 30s, but ended up around 70 this day. Lack of heat is nice!

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40-minutes? Too long for a quick casual ride. I walked more...
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Around Echo Lake behind some of the shops they had part of one of the "roads" closed off with CMs standing around to make FP+ reservations with guests. Of course I didn't take a picture, but I did get one of Gertie

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...and this
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photoflight

photoflight

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
As I made my way around I found myself at Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. Starting in 5 minutes I decided to pop in and... not a convenient seat available anywhere! Ended up standing in the back near the exit for the whole thing. Ok, actually I started sitting but when I stood up to take a picture someone rushed over and threw his backpack in my spot then jabbered to the rest of his clan to sit. I literally had juststood up so this guy sort of just pushed me away. Absolutely amazing.

This is the picture
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I was looking forward to relaxing a little but stood and took more pictures.
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These people are acting like a crowd
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Fight scene...and the "crowd" giggles
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Ouch
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photoflight

photoflight

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The final scene starts
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Photo-geek comment: I was somewhat amazed how hard it was to keep the propellers blurred shooting this scene. In reality they're not spinning that quickly but the big 6-bladed props give the illusion of speed. These were at 1/100th second and still not getting quite the effect I wanted. Without a tripod or monopod I didn't want to push my handholding skills much more than I already was...still, cool, Indy jumps in the water - splash!

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...and the grand finale' - BOOM!

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