Our 2nd full day..Time for some Disney Magic @ Epcot

[NatOwls]

Woke up this morning at 3.40am (which is progress) but with Steve still knocking out Zzzzz (becasue he's normal, unlike me) I decided to make even more use of the hotels free wi-fi by going on The Dibb to ask you lovely people for the best way to get to Disney from the Rosen Inn. As usual, you guys were as helpful as ever and as a result of your help I had a better idea of where we should be heading.
Getting to Disney via public transport
After having abit of breakfast, we left the hotel at 7.30am and headed to the bus stop just outside our hotel (on the same side of the road)
The No.8 Lynx bus arrived at approx 7.45am. We got talking to a lovely Scottish couple who asked us where we were heading. they were off to DHS today, so they said they'd show us where to go! (Everyone seems soo friendly in Florida..even us Brits!...Must be the Magic that gets to everyone)
We were on the No.8 bus for only afew minutes before we approached the McDonalds opposite Orange County Convention Centre. As instructed (by our new travel guides) we requested to stop as soon as Mcdonalds was in sight and got off at the stop just after crossroads.
We waited at the bus stop for approx 5-10 minutes until the Lynx No.111 arrived. This took us all the way to the Disney Ticket and Transportation Centre. Throughout the journey, the lovely couple told us all about what to expect at certain parks and also where other buses transfer to. Upon entering Disney I was visably excited...I know this because the very kind gentleman very wisely informed me to hold my excitement for a wee while longer, as "this was just the entrance to Disney" ? Surely not ? This is when we found out just how much land Disney covers! WOW ! This place is huge!
We carried on chatting and obtaining as much information as possible (i wish i was sponge bob at this point so i could absorb all this useful information) We thanked the lovely couple for all their help (I cant recall their names... I blamed the excitement, rather than my shocking memory)
We eventually arrived at the Disney Ticket and Transportation Centre at approx 8.50am. We looked around at all the Park transport areas and options..(for future reference) and then headed towards the sign for EPCOT ! We jumped on the monorail (only 5 people on this, including us) and got the the park entrance at around 9.10am.
We had our Photo taken infront of the Epcot ball and admired the floral creations! (WE ALREADY LOVE THIS PLACE)

We headed straight for Spaceship Earth as there wasnt a queue at all ! (TBH i thought this was Mission Space initially (no idea why) but it soon become clear i was wrong) lol This is actually a cool ride, so we weren't disappointed at all !. We loved the little video it creates for you at the end.
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We then headed over towards Test Track to get a Fast Pass - Return times 9:30-10:30 = happy days ! With this we decided to make the short trip over to Space Mountain! We walked straight on this ride and headed for the 'less intense' green ride. (we learnt our lesson from the Simpsons ride so wasnt 100% sure that this wouldnt turn our tummys too much). Really enjoyed this and it didn't make us feel ill, which is a bonus! lol
It was now just after 9.30am so we headed over to Soarin to get a FP. This is obviously the biggest attraction in the park as our FP time slot was 12.40 - 1.40. It was time however for us to ride Test Track. As you approach this ride you hear the cars zooming past the front of the ride...this made me alittle unsure, but i shouldn't have worried at all. With our FP we were only waiting for approx 10 minutes for this ride. The ideas behind it is very good, however i feel this could be developed alittle more if the ride was updated. we did love the outdoor track bit though. Some of the cars in the showroom on the way out of the attraction are pretty cool however:
We noticed that The Living With The Land ride only had a short queue so thought we'd give that a go. This was very interesting and a great opportunity to relax for a while to aid our aching feet...(and my knees).
we then had a walk around the different countries in order to find some food. This provided many photo opportunities & allowed me to increase my appreciation of Disney's creativity in regards to their flower arrangements!

We eventually decided to have lunch at a shack in China. This is where my frazzled Disney brain lead to a slight error we liked the sound of hot dog and chips with an ice cold drink, so i ordered it...this is what we got! lol Yeah I know, Must remember that chips are actually FRIES over hear ... Oh well, both the 'chips' and the hot dog were lovely and the hot temps meant the ice cold drinks were a must ! HOT HOT HOT
We then carried on walking around abit before realising that it was nearly time for our next FP to validate. We caught the boat back over to China and then made the 'short' walk over to our next ride...
Soarin ! Only a 5 minute wait due to the FP. Well that can we say about this ride...err ... WOW WOW WOW ! We loved this ride soo much ! Such creativity is magnificent. Every aspect about this ride impressed us. the simulation, sounds, smells, special effects... Brilliant!
Having remembered about a Dibb thread about the Coca-cola store we decided to go in search for it. found it pretty easily and samples some unique and wonderful drinks...and some not so wonderful ! lol:

After a short walk around again we were ready to put our feet up for abit. Steve managed to find a brilliant hat: (I love Buzz you see)
The queue for the character meets was mental, so we decided to make sure we met our favourites at other Disney parks over the next 2 weeks.
The Journey Back ...
With that, we left the park at around 1.30pm, catching the monorail back to the TTC. We caught the Lynx No.50 from there and got off at Sea Harbour Drive (The first Seaworld Stop you get to) This tip was given to us from the lovely Scottish couple, as if you got off at the other SW stops further down the road, the bus would often already be very full with little / no seats left. The Number 8 Lynx bus was fairly regular and took us right to the stop outside our hotel, taking approx 10-15 minutes. We were back in the hotel at around 2.55pm where we where able to Relax and freshen up.
After we have restored our energy levels we decided to make the short walk across the road to the Hawaiian Rumble Mini Golf course. We had a good laugh navigating our way around the crazy gold holes. I got 2..yes 2 hole in Ones and Celebrated each one as if it was my greatest achievement in life...its all good fun! I won in the end (this never happens usually, first game won abroad..woo hoo)

[pudge]

Loved reading that and the way you have done your photos

[NatOwls]

[B][B][B][B][B]All the hard work put in at the crazy golf course gave us a big appetite, so off to Millers Ale House we went (2 minute walk away). We ordered 2 Bud light draft beers whilst we were deciding what we wanted. We both decided that the '4 Mini Burgers with FRIES' sounded the most delicious (we don't have adventurous pallets you see).

As you can see, we also found the special offers for Huge Glasses of Miller Lite for only $2.95 each...it was rude not to at those prices!

WE WERE STUFFED after our evening meal so decided to try to walk it off abit by having another look around the Pointe Orlando complex again (but we were avoiding the Adobe Gilas bar this time)
We found the Ben & Jerrys shop which smelt AMAZING but the queue was huge so decided to return at a later date. We we returned to our hotel room later in the evening there was a fire engine and an Ambulance outside the next block from us. No idea what had happened though. We went for a nightcap at Zebras Sports Bar for happy hour - 9pm - 10pm - all draft drinks are $2 each = happy days all round!
Still no idea what has happened in the next block. we watched abit of TV before falling asleep at approx 10.30pm... Shattered!

[NatOwls]

Originally Posted by pudg

Loved reading that and the way you have done your photos

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THANKS! Its actually quite alot of fun re-living these experiences!

[Guest]

Great report!

[Jockey]

Great report

[Milner]

Excellent read and photos.

[liverbird]

Great day at Epcot, love the photo's.

[summersun]

great report

[k l is excited]

I'm enjoying reading your trippie, thanks for writing it up for us to read.

Karen