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Old 11 Jun 11, 12:50 PM  
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Matt & Sam's Orlando Adventure 2010! - Day 11 - Epcot

Matt and Sam's Orlando Adventure! -Day 11 – Epcot

Today was our first full day in a Disney park since Magic Kingdom five days before, and I couldn't wait to get back to WDW! Today was our first of two days at Epcot, and we'd planned to get there for rope drop and stay to watch Illuminations.

We got up at 6.45, and left for Epcot at 8am after breakfast. En route Matt discovered the car had cruise control – it was like Christmas had come early! After he'd played with it and grinned like a Cheshire cat for 5 minutes, he suddenly began to moan that he'd only just found it now and had wasted time all last week. Boys.



We arrived at the Epcot gates at 8.30, and managed to nab a parking spot in the first three rows, as soon as we spotted the Spaceship Earth ball we both felt giddy! The parking attendants were riding about on Segways, it looked like so much fun. We waited about at the gates for about 15 minutes, before we were let in and ushered to the rope drop area. My ticket decided not to let me in, but after a few attempts and a different gate (kindly sorted out by the CM) it played ball.



We had a great view for the Epcot opening ceremony, which was fun and we were infinitely jealous of the family who got to ride in the flash car as part of it! Everyone was bearing to the right of the waiting area to dash to Soarin, it seemed, so I got into power walk mode. It seemed getting Soarin FPs was going to be as demanding at the Toy Story Midway Mania ones, but I was ready!

The Soarin' CM's led the way from the rope drop up to The Land Pavilion, calling 'stay behind us please!' whenever someone got overexcited and tried to shimmy past. There was one boy directly behind them that kept creeping around as soon as we entered the pavilion, at one point I was convinced a CM was going to throw him back down the escalator.

I grabbed two fastpasses before shuffling my way back out of the building (rather hard with everyone streaming in!) and found a bemused looking Matt hovering in the entrance. Apparently I look rather amusing when I'm power walking alongside all the other hardcore tourists!

We headed round to Test Track, which had a ride time posted of 20 minutes. Once we were in, it was more like 10.



Matt was preoccupied from start to finish with the engine displays and diagrams in the queue, he's such a petrolhead. When we got to the front, the ride had broken down – but before we could agonise over whether to bail or not it started up again. We both loved it – we'd both been on before, but its so cleverly done you have to smile.

Mission Space was next on the agenda, and the orange side was a walk-on.



Matt was slightly nervous as he gets motion sickness on some simulators and spinning rides, but refused to go on the green version. As we 'boarded the capsule' and headed to Mars it drove me mad that I couldn't see his face to judge how he coped, but once back on earth he confirmed that he loved it, thank god! I'd forgotten how intense the G-forces were, but I don't suffer from any sort of motion sickness so I can just enjoy the sensation!

We had some time left before our Soarin' fastpasses were valid, so we decided to go on Universe of Energy.



As dated and cheesy as it is, I love this ride/show – largely because I love Ellen DeGeneres! Matt was utterly confused by the whole thing, and accused me of tricking him onto it. What can I say, I enjoy drawn-out slow moving attractions about dinosaurs…

Finally it was time for Soarin', a new experience for both of us. The FP queue was pretty big, showing how popular it was, while the standby line was massive. We didn't wait too long, however, and managed to jump ahead when they asked for a party of two. We even got the front row, which was what I'd been crossing my fingers for!

We both really enjoyed Soarin, it's such a unique experience. The shot of Disneyland California was a lovely touch too. I won't say anything else as I don't want to spoil it for newbies, but I will say that Soarin is a must-do when you go to Epcot.

As we were in the Land Pavillion, we decided to have lunch at Sushine Seasons. Matt opted for the Mongolian beef and I had the spicy cashew chicken – both rather hot but accompanied by lovely noodles and plenty of vegetables.



I think we'd forgotten what vegetables tasted like! It made a nice change from the usual hamburger/chicken tenders options.

Next up was Living With The Land.



Matt loves gardening and growing things, so he was fairly interested, whereas I was just freezing! The air conditioning was on really strong and I shivered all the way round.




The displays were interesting, but it was so slow – I think it could go round a little faster. Not one I'd do twice, I think, but I'm glad we saw it. Luckily we'd pretty much walked straight on, if I had queued for ages I probably would have been quite disappointed.

Heading back out of the Land Pavilion, we ventured over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. The displays outside were fab, but my attempt to take a good picture was thwarted by scores of parents thrusting their offspring on top of it! It was impossible to get a shot of the fish without a child arm, head or leg getting in the way. I know parents want pictures of their kids, but do they have to stand on the displays?!




The aquarium ride in the Clam-Mobiles was lovely – bit too saccharine for Matt I think, but I was a sucker for it. The music, characters and natural displays are so well put together. Afterwards, we watched the dolphins and other fish for a while to kill time before Turtle Talk with Crush – which was brilliant. The kids at the front were enthralled, but there were also a lot of subtle jokes for adults, which we appreciated. Great fun!

We didn't spend long in the other exhibits as we'd seen most of the marine life already at SeaWorld – so we set off to check out Innoventions. It was good, but a bit too 'young' to hold our attention. We went to a show of 'What's Your Problem', which set tasks for kids to do, and Matt made his own video game, which was hilarious! We discovered he runs like a moron.

We were interested in Sum of All Thrills, but the line was ma-hoo-sive so we decided to save it for Saturday on our second visit. As the line was also growing for Spaceship Earth, that was saved for our last day too.

Having missed it on previous trips, I sought out Club Cool, and even managed to trick Matt into trying Beverley! I found that I didn't like most of the flavours (they shoved melon in everything!) but Matt enjoyed the watermelon one. What was funny was how many savvy kids duped their parents into swigging Beverley, being told it was "the best one".

Next up was Captain EO, which we were excited about - a real piece of Disney history. The making of video in the waiting room was a nice touch – although seeking Jackson on film was bittersweet, I still forget he's passed. The show itself was bizarre, and unintentionally hilarious – a real product of the 80s! And unfortunately it seems Michael can't act for toffee! But the music was fab, and it was strangely entertaining all the way through. We did come to the conclusion that the hair and costume made him look more like Janet Jackson in make-up, however!

I then had to smuggle Matt into Journey to Imagination (I knew if he a) remembered what it was or b) got the gist prior to boarding, I wouldn't get him on). It's so dated, and cheesy, but that song is addictive and optical illusions are clever, despite their age.

We decided to leave the attractions we'd not done yet for Saturday, our last day. It was then that Matt admitted he was a little disappointed with Futureworld – not so much the attractions, but the dated elements and the fact that Innoventions purports to give a glimpse into the future but doesn't feature that much groundbreaking technology. I can certainly see his point to an extent, and I think FW definitely needs some investment – attractions like Figment and the Universe of Energy were there during my first trip back in 2000.

We decided to begin our trip around the World Showcase, and were lucky enough to catch a few minutes of Off Kilter in Canada as we entered, who were great.

Next up was the UK, and Matt had to tackle the problem of separating me from all the Beatles memorabilia in the shop (I'm slightly obsessed with the Fab Four). I'd already tried to buy a $80 Beatles t-shirt from Hard Rock, much to his horror, and now I was swooning at the clothes, books and other memorabilia.

He managed to tear me away, and as we were heading out of the shop, I heard a young American girl, about 16, ask: "So, was the Beatles like, a person?" I think my head nearly exploded. Sacrilege!

Oh, and I had to get this shot done for my Mum, who's a mahoosive fan:






We decided to head through to France and grab a coffee and cake from the patisserie, and I continued my quest to find Duchess and Thomas o'Malley for my sister to go with the Marie toy I'd bought from DHS. Unfortunately, the shops were full of lots of Marie, but no other Aristocats characters.



We found a wall to sit on and I wandered off to find cake – I chose a pain au chocolat (my favourite) and got Matt a slab of thick chocolate cake!




We opted for iced coffee as it was so hot, proper coffee would have melted us. It was lovely sitting with our dessert, watching people wandering around I find Epcot much more peaceful than the other parks. The architecture in France is lovely too.

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Old 11 Jun 11, 12:54 PM  
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We decided that we'd save the rides/shows at WS for Saturday, when we had the full day, and so spent the afternoon wandering from country to country, browsing the shops and soaking up the atmosphere. It was a lovely, relaxing afternoon, but the sun was scorching – we were glad of the gentler place.








It was during our tour of the World Showcase that Matt embarked on his hat-based, dressing-up adventure – as can be seen here:








(Ladies and gents, this is the man I'm going to marry. God help me.)

By about 6.30 we decided to head to Japan for our Teppan Edo ADR. Our reservation wasn't until 6.50pm, but we were able to check in early and sat on the steps outside while we waited to be seated. It was rammed; testament to the popularity of the place.
At 7pm we were shown to our table, and delighted to find we were sat with a family from Lincolnshire who actually recognised the town where we live (most people hear where we're from and say 'huh?'). We chatted away with them about their holiday and there plans – I was slightly nervous about being seated with strangers at Teppan Edo, but it turned out to be quite fun. At the other side there was an American mom and her little boy, who looked utterly miserable and couldn't keep still – he nearly spilled my glass of wine a fair few times! While we were waiting with out drinks for the chef she just kept shouting at him to not drink his milk, sit still, and wait for his food. Bit of a tense atmosphere!

Our chef came, and we both opted for the steak and shrimp combo. The performance was brilliant; she was so skilled with the knives and had a great sense of humour too. I'd thoroughly recommend a meal here, if just for the entertainment – it was one of our favourite meals of the holiday too. The food was divine too. Steak cooked perfectly, lovely shrimp and lots of rice and vegetables. The dipping sauces for the meat were delicious too – I could have eaten it every day for the rest of the week! The ginger one was especially nice.
The bill came to $85, and worth every penny in my opinion.



We decided to skip dessert and grab and ice cream instead, before Illuminations started. We had been debating where to watch them from – I didn’t fancy getting to the favourite spots an hour and a half early to secure a place.

Leaving at about 7.50pm, we decided to wander back towards the entrance to WS to scout a decent viewing spot – we didn't want to go back deeper into WS for fear of it taking ages to get out of the park afterwards.

In the end, we ended up in France – a lovely little spot, quite quiet, with walls to sit on and a great view. It apparently is where they sometimes put the easels for kids to paint, if that rings a bell with anyone.

We grabbed a wall (although the place never filled up, even as Illuminations started there was still plenty of room) and I grabbed some ice creams from the little stall in France. Just before Illuminations began at 9pm, I dashed back for a couple of Kronenburgs – beer, ice cream and fireworks, what more could you want?

Illuminations was as spectacular as always, the music gives me shivers everytime. We had a perfect view and watched snuggled up on the wall, I didn't want the moment to end!

But it did, and so we shuffled out of WS with the crowds, managing to get to the main entrance quite quickly. Matt disappeared off to the restrooms, and while I waited, the 'ayla wayla song' (as it's known in my family) began from the Tapestry of Nations parade. I saw it the first time we visited in 2000 with my family, but it was cancelled after that. We loved the music though – and so I just sat there, waiting for Matt, listening to the song and grinning like an idiot.

He finally returned and we were back to the car in minutes (although we couldn't find it on our row!). We arrived back at Orange Lake at 10pm, exhausted, and fell straight into bed.
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Old 11 Jun 11, 04:52 PM  
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Yay, another day posted! And what a lovely one it was too. I can't wait to go to Epcot it looks sooooo nice, surprised you didn't sample any cocktails around the WS though Sam! we are going to Teppan Edo too so your positive review is very encouraging! LOVE the pics of Matt's various hat choices, I hope he bought every single one of them!
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Old 11 Jun 11, 10:02 PM  
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A great long day at Epcot but you got so much done.

at Matt and his hats. I assume they will be making an appearance at the wedding

Look forward to reading the last remaining days
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Old 11 Jun 11, 10:36 PM  
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Great day. Loving the variety of headgear that Matt posed in.
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Old 12 Jun 11, 07:24 AM  
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Fab day! I LOVE epcot :o)

Liking the hats hehe!
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Old 12 Jun 11, 02:57 PM  
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Excellent day at Epcot and great photos.
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Old 29 Jul 11, 04:53 PM  
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Love the hat photos
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Old 29 Jul 11, 10:03 PM  
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Liked all of the photo's except that odd looking red thing you had in your hand!

Best of all was the hat fashion show... we have had a drink in each of the countries, but NEVER a hat!

Showed great sense of humour, wonderful for a long and happy marriage
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Old 10 Aug 11, 08:28 PM  
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great day
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