We allowed ourselves to sleep in today, since we were both exhausted from yesterday, so we didn't get out to the park, Epcot, until about 1:30. We had a reservation at the Coral Reef restaurant, which was to be our "table service" meal of the day. (And, again, the free Disney dining plan we got still rocks.) Anna started with an appetizer of crab souffle and I started with a bowl of lobster soup. Mine was fantastic, but Anna didn't care for hers too much, and sent it back in favor of some braised beef, which was excellent.
Photos: today only, all days
From there, we proceeded to walk around the Future World portion of Epcot, where we hadn't really spent much time so far. We both enjoyed the "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience" show, which is much more impressive than the corny name would suggest.
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We also saw an interactive show called "Turtle Talk With Crush" where the audience interacted with an animated turtle named Crush, from the movie Finding Nemo. It was very impressive. Our favorite experience there was a ride called "Mission: Space" which simulates a rocket blasting off, performing a gravity slingshot around the moon, and landing on Mars. We were both a bit concerned about it because we'd heard many negative comments about how it made folks motion sick. Disney offers two different "experiences" there: green ("less intense") and orange ("more intense"), with the biggest difference seeming to be that you don't experience as many G-forces in the green side. On the orange side, several cars like the one you're in (apparently, I'm guessing here) are arranged in a wheel shape, and they revolve around the center to simulate the G-forces. Well, we tried the green side, and loved it, loved it. As soon as we left the ride, we turned around and got right back on, taking the orange side this time, and had a blast! The G-forces were rather strong, though; at one point, you are asked to push some buttons on a screen in front of you, and it was difficult to even lift my arm to do so! If I had to guess, I think we might ride that one again. It was awesome!
Also, we got to ride Segway scooters! There was a small test area inside Innoventions, where you could try them out for a minute. They were so fun I almost couldn't stand it! When I got on, I kept moving backward, apparently because I was balancing that way–the scooter senses minor shifts in your center of gravity and responds with movement. But, after just a couple of seconds, I got the hang of it, and drove it up and down the little test lane with no problem. It was great! Anna got on next, and had no problems at all. How dare she make me look so foolish! 🙂 We discovered that they offer Segway tours of Epcot, where you get to ride the scooter for an extended period of time. Those cost extra, but we might have to book it anyway.
Unfortunately (and strangely enough), the Future World portion of Epcot closed at 7pm (the World Showcase stayed open until 9), so Anna and I decided to head on over to the Magic Kingdom, which was open for a couple more hours. It was almost 8pm when we got there, which was when everyone else in the park was lining up to see the Main Street Electrical Parade, but we decided to take that opportunity to ride some of the more popular rides, and then catch the parade tomorrow. (It't still not busy around the parks, so we probably wouldn't have had to wait more than five minutes anyway, but, with our plan, we didn't have to wait at all.) We rode the Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan's Flight (nifty), and (gulp) Space Mountain. Now, I've been to Disney several times, and never ridden it before, because it's a roller coaster, but I was newly emboldened by my other experiences on the trip. So, I rode it, even though I thought I would throw up while I was waiting in line, just from the anticipation. I've decided that the thing I hate the most on rides are drops, and, perhaps just as much, the anticipation of drops. You know that sensation when you (an obviously normal person in all regards) are riding a roller coaster and you see the crest of a hill coming up? You know how that makes you feel excited? Well, it makes me want to:
- poop, then
- run for the hills.
Anyway, Space Mountain is in the dark so you can't see that well, and I was told it didn't have big drops in it anyway, so I took a chance. How was it? Well, it was too fast, and it really jerked you around quite a bit, but I don't really remember very much about it because I was bracing for a drop the whole time. But hey, now I've ridden it, so no one can pressure me to do it now. Yeah, that means you. Stop it.
When that was all done, we found a spot behind Cinderella's castle and watched the fireworks, which were synchronized with music, and generally just awesome. We plan to find a spot in front of the castle tomorrow so we can see everything even better.
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