#girlstrip - Day 2 (A Tour and a Downpour)

[wilma-bride]

Monday 26th November

While this trip was in the planning, Linda had mentioned that she and Philip were going to take the unDISCOVERed Future World tour – this sounded like something I would love so I asked if she minded us tagging along and she was too polite to say no, so we booked it for the four of us. The cost was $69 + tax but, as DVC members, we were eligible for a 15% discount, bringing the cost down to $62.47 per person.

Rea and I were up nice and early again, and quickly got ready to catch the bus to Epcot. Since it was only just 7.30 and the park wasn’t opening until 9, we had a bus to ourselves.

King of the Bus!

At the park, there was already quite a large queue for bag check. Once through, there was a separate line for early entry for tours and breakfast reservations. We caught up with Linda and Philip here and, before long, we were allowed to enter the park. Rea and I stopped to take some pictures as we really wanted to take the opportunity to get pictures with nobody else in them. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case - note the impatient looking couple in the background

We checked in at the booth ready for the tour and received our name badges and listening device.

Then we took the opportunity to use the restroom before the tour started. We had been hoping that Julie, our tour guide from the Soarin’ Tour we took in August, would be our guide today but it wasn’t to be. And I’m ashamed to admit I can’t remember the name of our guide, but she was very good. We started by walking towards Spaceship Earth, while our guide was explaining Walt’s original concept for Epcot, based around the plan for it to be a self-contained town. We were given some of the background to Spaceship Earth, including information about the material it is made from and we were even given a piece of the material to hold.

Before we continued with the tour, we were told to stand well back to allow the Frozen 5K to come through. I was momentarily confused as I knew there were no Disney races on this week, until our guide explained that the Frozen 5K is the nickname given by Cast Members to the massive crowd of guests that come swarming/jogging towards the Frozen Ever after ride each morning

Frozen 5K

Next we rode Spaceship Earth, Linda commented that it wasn’t quite the same as when she rode with Daniel in the summer and he changed the language to German.

We were taken through a door from the exit and found ourselves in a room that looked very much like a meeting room. There was a line of chairs across the room and we were invited to take a seat. Again, our guide talked about Walt’s vision for Epcot and the plans for the town, with the multiple layers that would have existed. As she finished talking, the screen in front of our chairs was pulled back and we had the most phenomenal view of Future World, looking towards World Showcase. It was really quite amazing. So much fun to look down at the people walking past who had no idea you were there.

From Spaceship Earth, we walked to the far side of Future World and to the Seas pavilion, where we were taken into another executive lounge which had a fabulous view of the huge aquarium. I could have stayed there all day, it was so cool.

Next up was The Land and we were given some of the information about the design of the pavilion, most of which we had previously learned on the Soarin’ tour, but still interesting nonetheless. We were given some time here to get a drink and snack (not included) so I took the opportunity to have a multigrain croissant from Sunshine Seasons. It looks so boring but it really was very tasty.

We were secretly hoping we would get to ride Soarin' but it was not to be

Instead, we headed out and crossed the park again, over to Mission:Space this time, where we were able to go to another Executive Lounge, this time for Hewlett Packard employees.

I was really excited to get to go into this lounge, as my hubby, Gary, used to work for HP and we would have been able to use the lounge, but he got made redundant before we got the chance. In actual fact, it was somewhat disappointing, but we did get some free sweets here.

Then we walked over to Test Track, but instead of going into the building, we walked around the back where we were shown the maintenance bays for the Test Track cars. We also were able to stand UNDER the track while the cars were shooting over our heads, and see just how much the track moves. Pretty scary really!

Next, we went into the cast costuming department, where we were shown a wall that had art by Cast Members from Epcot and we got to see the many, many different costumes worn by all of the Cast Members who work at Epcot. It is amazing how close the different pavilions are backstage, compared to how far away they are ‘on stage’. The most amazing part was seeing ‘Aurora’ standing talking to another Cast Member, holding her wig. Very, very odd.

Back on stage, we were thanked by our guide and given a special pin to commemorate the tour we had taken. It really was a great tour and I’m sure I haven’t done justice to it with this short summary, but, if you are a fan of Epcot, I can thoroughly recommend it.

With the tour over, it was time to head to Disney Springs for our lunch reservation at The Boathouse. Philip drove us there and we were soon checking in for lunch. I noticed that the speedboat table was empty and asked if we could sit there. The hostess told us there was a $100 minimum spend at lunch for that table, which I knew we would easily do with 3 of us having cocktails, so we agreed and were promptly seated in the speedboat. I was stupidly excited about it.

Us three ladies ordered cocktails, while Philip stuck to water. Our server brought us some fresh rolls and, not long after, the drinks followed. Blueberry Lemonade for Rea, Lemon Drop Martini for me and a Moscow Mule for Linda. We cheersed!

Philip felt a bit left out so I cheersed him and his water too!

To eat, Rea had a burger with mac and cheese (she is a mac and cheese fiend!) Philip and I both ordered the BBQ chicken and a portion of fries to share. I don’t have a picture, but I have a feeling Linda got some kind of salad (which is why I don’t have a picture )

The chicken was delicious. It looks a bit dry in the picture but it really wasn’t. The BBQ sauce was tangy and delicious, with a little bit of a kick. It was an incredibly enjoyable lunch.

After lunch, we parted ways. Linda and Philip were going to Magic Kingdom this evening while Rea and I were headed to Animal Kingdom to see Rivers of Light. You may remember from my summer trip report that Rea had been desperate to see it but hadn’t managed to back in August, so I had promised her that we would definitely watch it on this trip.

We took a pleasant stroll back to Saratoga Springs. It didn’t take long at all – maybe 30 minutes.

We watched a bit of TV and chilled out for the remainder of the afternoon, before getting ready to head out to AK.
Just as we got to the park, it started raining. Not just a drizzle but a full on downpour. We took shelter in a little covered area near the bus stops, along with another family. The rain looked like it was set to continue for a while and a quick check of my weather app confirmed that it was, indeed due to rain most of the evening. Now it’s no secret that I detest the rain. I hate to get wet and, had it been any other day, I would have suggested immediately that we go back to the room or somewhere that we could stay indoors. However, this was to be the only chance we got to watch Rivers of Light. The prospect of sitting in the rain was filling me with dread, but a promise is a promise. So we waited for the rain to ease a little. And we waited. And waited. Eventually, after almost half an hour, the rain slowed down and almost stopped. We decided now was as good a time as any to make a run for it.

I was so impressed with the Christmas tree here. It was huge and I just loved the theming. We stood in awe of it for quite a while, just walking round and taking pictures of various aspects.

The rain had almost completely stopped by now, but we had seen lots of people leaving so I hoped the park wouldn’t be too busy. By now, it was almost 6 and the first Rivers of Light show was due to start at 6.15. We had made the decision to see the first show, rather than the second, because of the rain. The problem was we had a Fast Pass for Flight of Passage for 5.55-6.55, meaning we would have to miss the very end of the show to make it over to Pandora in time to make our Fast Pass. Rhiannon was good with this plan, though, so we made our way over to the theatre. Having only seen Rivers of Light once before, when we had a Fast Pass for it, I didn’t realise that the standby entrance was at the Dinoland end of the theatre, so we had quite a trek.

I was surprised at how full it was by the time we arrived, and we were directed to the end of a row almost at the back to the far left. People were doing the usual trick of ignoring the CMs completely. The CMs were trying to direct people to go right to the end and fill in all available space – it was obvious that the theatre was going to be full – but people were just sitting where they liked. A couple behind us had a girl ‘next’ to them, who had left at least four feet in between her and them, and the CM was practically screaming at her to move down. Eventually, she got the message and moved WAY down, practically sitting on top of the other couple, who then ended up squished together in the tiniest space at the end of the bench.
The show started much more quickly than I remembered, and the floats moved into place. It had started to drizzle again a bit, and it was quite chilly, but Rhiannon was enjoying it, so I was glad that we’d stayed.

Just after 6.30, I nudged Rea and told her we should make a move in about 5 minutes, and at that point the rain got heavier, so we decided we would just leave straight away and get over to Pandora before we got soaked.

We made it just in time for our Fast Pass and took our magical journey on the back of the banshee. I swear I love that ride more and more each time. When we came out, it looked like we’d timed it well and missed yet another downpour, so we decided it might be sensible to leave the park now and head back.

I checked my messages and saw that Linda had messaged us to say that Philip was having the time of his life at Magic Kingdom

This properly tickled me, he looked so fed up. I told her we were calling it a night and she said they were heading back to Wilderness Lodge too.

As it was, leaving the park turned out to be a sensible decision because the rain started again just as we got to the bus stop. Rea made it just in time, but unfortunately I was a little bit further behind and got soaked. I didn’t mind too much, though, as we were going back to the room. So, yet another early night, but that was fine as we had even more excitement planned for tomorrow!

[mick]

A good day shame your evening was spoilt by the rain but glad you managed the things you wanted to see


Joan

[disneypars]

Sounds like a good day. Have to think about the tour as appears pretty good . Think the Boathouse is an excellent choice. Thought ROL was a bit disappointing really - sorry.

[collybird]

The Undiscovered tour sounds fantastic, I didn’t even know it existed. I think we would really enjoy it. Thank you so much for giving

[Palm trees]

I really enjoyed reading about your tour, it sounds great, and not bad value really. The rest of your day sounds like pretty good fun too.

[Dogwalker]

Ah the Boathouse ❤️
Such a great lunch in there and so exciting to sit in the boat
That picture of Philip cracks me up. It was properly pouring down that night

[Cinderella]

Lovely cocktails 👍