Disney World-finally

Get yourself a cup of coffee, tea, or better yet, a highball/cocktail and get ready for a long post as I want to chronicle this day for myself to have for the future. I inserted all the photos as thumbnails as there are so many of them - but you can click on any photo to enlarge it to see more details.

Oh, happy day!!!! We visited Disney World last Friday, January 23rd. Lucky for us we have Escapee friends, Nancy and Chuck Geno, as Nancy works at Disney World. She graciously gave us two of her free passes and we got in free. That saved us $150! Going to Epcot is an item on my "bucket list" and when we first arrived and I saw the signs I got heart palpatations - felt giddy like a kid!

That sphere at the entrance of Epcot is very big and very beautiful.

We went first to get a Fastpass for Test Track (Jim's number one choice) to minimize wait time, only to find out the ride was closed because there was frost on the rails and it was shorting out the ride. One of the attendents said they didn't know when the ride would open. This was 11 am and we got our Fastpass for 3:30-4:00. Then we heard the roar of the cars going around the track (maybe in an attempt to heat up the rails and melt the frost). So we decided to wait and see if the ride would open. Sure enough, after about 15 minutes the doors opened and we got in line.

What a fantastic ride. Chuck and Jim got in the front with Nancy and I behind. Unfortunately, Nancy got the inside seat and she got pretty frightened. The ride is super with fast turns, various accelerations, quick stops, racing toward a barracade only to have it open up at the last second and you are on the race track going down a hill and around the track with many turns. It wasn't a very long ride but very thrilling. Nancy screamed in terror and I scream in pure joy! I loved it. Click on that last photo to see Nancy with your hands over her eyes and me laughing my head off with joy. Sorry, Nancy, you took all the leanings to the left and you got scared.

Next the guys went to Spaceship Earth and Nancy and I went to World Showcase to visit the different country villages. First off was Mexico, which was very colorful, but since I've seen so much Mexican things through travels I didn't want to use the time to go through much. Next came Norway where we bought a pastry called lefse - a thin tortilla-like pancake with butter, sugar and cinnamon spread on it. We also got School Bread which was a sort of bismark type donut style filled with custard...that was good. Then came China with it's beautiful buildings
By then the guys came back and we went to Soarin to try to get a Fastpass for later in the day.Soarin is a ride that simulates hang gliding from Florida to California and then the various scenic vistas of California. The wait was only 65 minutes so we decided to wait it out. "PlayMotion was commissioned to create a series of 5 interactive experiences totaling 25 minutes, upon five massive projection screens installed along the main queue line hallway. The goal was to give guests a fun and invigorating activity to break up the boredom of waiting in line." When you raise your arms and move around squiggly images are projected onto the scenery. It is very amusing and entertaining.

So we get to the front of the line and are about to enter the final line to get inside when this guy comes almost running by telling the attendents "get everybody out of the building immediately - immediately! So we were all escorted out quickly without explanation. Come to find out later that there had been a small fire inside and they wanted us out fast.

So we all started walking on the other end of World Showcase to see Canada. Not much to this village----pretty disappointing.Then we ate fish & chips in United Kingdom. UK was pretty cute with a Tea Shoppe and shops selling various English products that I remember from living in Bermuda for ten years, married to an English Bobby (husband #2) and we ate many imported English products.

All around Disney World there are many musical entertaining troups that play a little ditty, or perform a show. They have weekly schedules that advertise what is being performed where. While we were at the English village of World Showcase they had a performance of The Beattles. They were very good and entertaining. Next came France and even though we had just eaten lunch we indulged in going to the French pastry shop. Oh my, the selection was fantastic with French speaking clerks.Jim and I got a Napolean which was the richest danish I have ever had. Nancy and Chuck had an almond pastry that was also very good. From France we walked through Morocco. The buildings were pretty. That last photo was of the Moroccan market and it was very realistic looking.

Then came Japan which had a very interesting building that looked like a grand home in Tokyo. It was fun going inside and seeing all the Japanese merchandise. There were many foods I use to eat when I lived in Japan with husband #1.

On to The American Adventure with a colonial home, folks in 1700 military uniforms with a fife and drum group playing patriotic songs. It was a little hokey.

Next came Italy which was very interesting with beautiful buildings and an ornate fountain with a statue - very nice.

In the Italian shops there was a man making masks. Those masks were beautiful and so intricate. He certainly was an artist.

By then our feet were about to fall off, back ached and Jim and I were getting visions of working 10 hours on our feet at Amazon.com. We decided to call it a day and go home....we never got to Germany. Another day.

On the way out of the park Nancy decided to go to Guest Relations and see if they would compensate us in some way for not being able to ride Soarin because of the evacuation. Sure enough they apologized profusely and gave us a four-party Fastpass to any attraction....our tiredness forgotten we raced to Soarin. Thankfully it was close to the entrance. With the Fastpass we quickly got in.

Here is how Wikipedia describes the ride:"The attraction takes 87 guests [in two theatres each with three carriages] at a time on a simulated hang glider tour of the Golden State, flying over San Francisco, Redwood Creek, Napa Valley, Monterey, Lake Tahoe,Yosemite National Park, Palm Springs, Camarillo, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego, Malibu and Los Angeles. The ride ends with a flight over Disneyland at Christmas, with a Christmas parade traveling down Main Street, U.S.A., decorations on Sleeping Beauty Castle, and fireworks. Here is a YouTube video of the experience-pretty cool! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw6zu6KWAv8.

The vehicle (called a carriage) consists of three rows of seats under a wing-like canopy.

After guests have been...restrained in the vehicle ..., the canopy descends and a cantilever system lifts the chairs forward and into the air with the guests' feet dangling free. The vehicle is lifted forward so that guests look into a large, concave movie screen onto which scenes of California are projected. Since the vehicle is moved forward into the dome, the effect is such that guests can only see the images projected on the screen and are given the sensation of flight.

That's the technical explanation....my personal explanation??? Eeeeehhhhhhhhhh (that's a scream of absolute JOY. It was the greatest ride I've even been on. You really felt like you were soaring over the tips of snow drifts, and ocean waves....you pull back your feet because you think they are going to get wet! A golf ball is shot straight at you and you instinctively duck! You look straight down on the Golden Gate Bridge. It is a winner, great, awe inspiring. If you ever get a chance to ride Soarin take it!!!!

There were so many pretty places at Disney World - scenes from the boat trip around the center lake, flower beds, everything so nice, clean and picturesque.

Throughout the park there are Disney movie characters that pose with the public so kiddies can have their pictures taken with the likes of Aladdin, Mary Poppins, Donald Duck, etc. It is very cute to watch the children's eyes grow big when they see Cinderella and Goofy.

After leaving the park at about 5:30 we drove north and ate at a new Olive Garden - if you know me well you know Olive Garden is my favorite chain restaurant - along with Red Lobster. We ate in the bar area as there was a 60 minute wait for a table. The three bartenders entertained us. One kept giving Chuck samples of the different drinks she was making. The chocolate martini made with ice cream base instead of cream was to die for. It tasted like a thick milk shake. It went down so smooth and easy. That could be dangerous when you tried to stand up and walk. We got home about 9:30 pm to excited pups and tired people!!!!! What an experience - it will be well remembered and treasured.
Remember - you are loved.