The Honeymoon: Being There, Part 2
I forgot to mention one of Tamara's favorite parts of the Magic Kingdom! In Tomorrowland there was a talking robot garbage can. Yes, you heard me, a talking robot garbage can. The can was controlled by a ventriloquist who just blended in with the crowd. Kids were absolutely fascinated as the can commented on their clothing and thanked them for giving it their garbage.
And on to Thursday, our final day in the parks. We went to Epcot, and we got off to a rather rocky start. Since we had been at Magic Kingdom so late the night before we slept in a little more than we'd meant too. Of course that means that we missed breakfast and got to the park late. By the time we got there the two newest attractions, Mission: Space and Test Track had already filled up so we grabbed a fast pass for Space and went up to check out the countries, only to find out that the World Showcase doesn't open until 11am.
That plan foiled, we cut across to the other side of the park towards The Land. Only to find out that the Land was closed. The whole thing. Tamara had prepared me for the fact that Kitchen Cabaret was gone, but we had no idea that the whole of the Land was closed. They're adding some new attractions (they may actually be open now) and it looks like they may basically be adding an "Air" section to go along with the Land and the Living Seas. But there was some good news...Imagination is back. The last time I was there Imagination was closed and there was no indication that it was going to be back, but it's open again now. It's been completely redone of course, and is different from how we remembered it and so inherently not as good, but it's there and in the end, that's what counts.
By this time I was really hungry and getting very frustrated by all the running back and forth across the park, but it was time for our fast pass on Mission: Space so we went back across again. Space is a very cool ride, but definitely not for small children. There are signs everywhere telling people that it's dangerous and no one susceptible to motion sickness should ride it. Essentially, they put you in a big centrifuge and take you on a simulated trip to Mars led by Gary Sinise. It's very cool! I did get a twinge of motion sickness (and that's never happened to me before) right towards end, but Tamara got off much worse. I knew something was wrong during the ride because she forgot to push her buttons during the mission, I think she was the pilot too so that probably wasn't good. After that she needed to take a break.
While she was resting, I went to get us fast pass tickets for Test Track, we got tickets for 7-8pm! That's how quickly they were going, it was insane. But basically, those two rides were the only crowded thing at Epcot. We went over to the body building next and it was very empty. We walked right onto Body Wars (a simulator ride through the human body like Star Tours goes through space). And caught the Cranium Command show. I never realized how many stars were in that! But the rest of the building had nothing going on and there was no one there. We also had to hit Space Ship Earth, because, well, it's kind of required, you know?
Then we went around to the countries, but we were still both stressed from the week and the hard morning so we didn't really get to do everything we wanted. We did get to go on the boat rides in Norway and Mexico and we ate in Japan. The Japanese food wasn't that great, but the store had some pretty cool stuff.
And later we finally went on the Test Track, which was very cool. They actually take you through a simulated series of car tests like handling, climbing steep grades, ABS braking and then end it with a short speed run, very cool and actually educational. After that, we ran through the Living Seas to make through before the fireworks show started.
It was a little bit of a let down really, I think we were both really looking forward to Epcot, but the stress and closed rides put a damper on things for us. The fireworks, however, were terrific. We were really tired by the time the show had finished, but we got in line (after some confusion) for our stay-late wrist bands because we still had one more ride to hit...The Universe of Energy, another great old favorite. Let me tell you, Bill Nye and Ellen Degeneres are much funnier than normal at about 1am.
It was sad to leave the parks, but we still had a little honeymoon left. Besides, the tickets never expire and are biometrically coded to us, so we're pretty much assured that we'll go back someday.
-Tim
And on to Thursday, our final day in the parks. We went to Epcot, and we got off to a rather rocky start. Since we had been at Magic Kingdom so late the night before we slept in a little more than we'd meant too. Of course that means that we missed breakfast and got to the park late. By the time we got there the two newest attractions, Mission: Space and Test Track had already filled up so we grabbed a fast pass for Space and went up to check out the countries, only to find out that the World Showcase doesn't open until 11am.
That plan foiled, we cut across to the other side of the park towards The Land. Only to find out that the Land was closed. The whole thing. Tamara had prepared me for the fact that Kitchen Cabaret was gone, but we had no idea that the whole of the Land was closed. They're adding some new attractions (they may actually be open now) and it looks like they may basically be adding an "Air" section to go along with the Land and the Living Seas. But there was some good news...Imagination is back. The last time I was there Imagination was closed and there was no indication that it was going to be back, but it's open again now. It's been completely redone of course, and is different from how we remembered it and so inherently not as good, but it's there and in the end, that's what counts.
By this time I was really hungry and getting very frustrated by all the running back and forth across the park, but it was time for our fast pass on Mission: Space so we went back across again. Space is a very cool ride, but definitely not for small children. There are signs everywhere telling people that it's dangerous and no one susceptible to motion sickness should ride it. Essentially, they put you in a big centrifuge and take you on a simulated trip to Mars led by Gary Sinise. It's very cool! I did get a twinge of motion sickness (and that's never happened to me before) right towards end, but Tamara got off much worse. I knew something was wrong during the ride because she forgot to push her buttons during the mission, I think she was the pilot too so that probably wasn't good. After that she needed to take a break.
While she was resting, I went to get us fast pass tickets for Test Track, we got tickets for 7-8pm! That's how quickly they were going, it was insane. But basically, those two rides were the only crowded thing at Epcot. We went over to the body building next and it was very empty. We walked right onto Body Wars (a simulator ride through the human body like Star Tours goes through space). And caught the Cranium Command show. I never realized how many stars were in that! But the rest of the building had nothing going on and there was no one there. We also had to hit Space Ship Earth, because, well, it's kind of required, you know?
Then we went around to the countries, but we were still both stressed from the week and the hard morning so we didn't really get to do everything we wanted. We did get to go on the boat rides in Norway and Mexico and we ate in Japan. The Japanese food wasn't that great, but the store had some pretty cool stuff.
And later we finally went on the Test Track, which was very cool. They actually take you through a simulated series of car tests like handling, climbing steep grades, ABS braking and then end it with a short speed run, very cool and actually educational. After that, we ran through the Living Seas to make through before the fireworks show started.
It was a little bit of a let down really, I think we were both really looking forward to Epcot, but the stress and closed rides put a damper on things for us. The fireworks, however, were terrific. We were really tired by the time the show had finished, but we got in line (after some confusion) for our stay-late wrist bands because we still had one more ride to hit...The Universe of Energy, another great old favorite. Let me tell you, Bill Nye and Ellen Degeneres are much funnier than normal at about 1am.
It was sad to leave the parks, but we still had a little honeymoon left. Besides, the tickets never expire and are biometrically coded to us, so we're pretty much assured that we'll go back someday.
-Tim
posted by tjmcardl | 6:23 PM
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