the obligatory 12 week mickey pic

year of a million mice - trip 2, continued

day 2

Saturday was our EPCOT day. It began like any other park visiting day for us... up at the crack of dawn, ready to attack.

Future World opened at 9:00, so we were in the parking lot by 8:20, ready to get in line. According to the crowd calendar, Saturday was a "5," very reasonable crowd levels. From our last trip, we learned that you don't have to break your neck trying to get in the turnstiles... they have developed a very orderly system to park entry.

At 8:45, they began letting people into the park, past Spaceship Earth (into the gift shops, surprise!) and to the fountain area between the Innoventions buildings (formerly Communicore) for a rope drop. After they drop the rope, cast members walk you to the various top tier attractions through the Innoventions walkways.

We headed first to a ride that we discovered in Anaheim, Soarin' and promptly FastPassed it to ride it again. Even though it was only about 9:10, our return times on the FastPasses were after 11:00.

From there, we hopped a bit ahead of our touring plan because we didn't really care for Mission Space the last time we were there and headed to another favorite, Test Track. Again, following the touring plan, there was little to no line for the attraction.

We hit the rest of the Future World attractions that interested us, riding both Journey into Imagination and Ellen's Energy Adventure for the first time for both of us. Well sort of for the first time. I had ridden the original Universe of Energy ride many years ago.

We had lunch at the Lotus Blossom Cafe and then stopped by the Mexico pavilion for the newly refurbished Gran Fiesta Tour featuring the Three Caballeros. The boat ride is a hunt for Donald, and is a neat sound and light tour through Mexican culture. It continually amazes me how immersive Disney can make its ride experiences, even with the limited space and technology that this pavillion has.

When we left the park, for the second day in a row, we thought it would be quicker to walk to our car than take a tram... and got passed by the tram. Especially at Disney's Animal Kingdom (which... is the proper name of the park... not just "Animal Kingdom," lest you forget whose it is...) the bizarre parking lot topology (note that only the blacktop is guest parking... the white concrete is cast members) means that inevitably, the tram is your best bet.

During the afternoon, we headed back to our "resort" for a quick nap, and that evening, headed out to procure washcloths (see the trip advisor post...) and check out the Disney's Character Premiere outlet store. If you're looking for last year's souvenirs at half price, this is the place for you. Lots of "2006" things, and winter clothing. It was worth the trip though... we did find a few things we couldn't pass up. We had dinner at the very quiet and relatively kid free Outback Steakhouse near the mall. It was also nice to see "real world" prices on a menu!

Our TripAdvisor ECP review

Hot, hot, hot showers. VERY hot. Like keep your toddlers out of the bathroom hot.

year of a milion mice - trip 2

Day 1

Mickey trip number two this year was a spur of the moment choice, spurred on by two frequent flier tickets on Southwest that were ready to expire. We decided early on that this would be our "cheap trip..." and we did pretty good on that count.

Thursday afternoon, we flew down to Orlando, rented our discounted car from Budget (thanks again for those years in the Navy, Dad) and checked in to our luxurious accomodations: the Econo Lodge Polynesian. Lydia summed up our feelings about the hotel when we got back, "I didn't feel like I had to change hotels in the middle of the trip." That's about as nice as it got. The upside: HOT showers. The downside: too many to mention... but no washcloths and "bring your own shampoo" come to mind. Luckily, we were focused on park time, not "resort" time... but we did end up having a great Polynesian experience in a different location.

Friday morning, we headed for Disney's Animal Kingdom to do something we'd been trying to do for about a year: ride Expedition Everest. It was first on our list, and an awesome experience! Disney's "imagineers" are famous for taking a ride concept, a food concept, a hospitality concept... whatever... and, to use a Walt Disney term: "plus-ing" it. They don't just put a newspaper in the lobby of the hotel at "Tower of Terror," they make sure it's a reproduction of a paper of the time period, with interesting stories and real copy. They don't just give you a waffle shaped like Mickey Mouse, they put it on Mickey Mouse-shaped sprinkles that melt beneath it and create rainbows in the syrup left on your plate. Everest's "plus-ing" is evident in every dimension... from the elaborately designed queue to the innovative ride system itself.

The rest of the morning we spent doing some of our favorite rides - Kilimanjaro Safari and Dinosaur, and then we went to the newest attraction at the Kingdom, Finding Nemo - The Musical. Disney has always done a great job with shows that build on their movie properties, and this one is no exception. From the clever, yet simple pre-show that had kids yelling, "Nemo!" to the amazingly fluid and believable puppet/person combinations for all of the characters, it was a fantastic experience.

We retired to our posh hotel for a breather, and returned to the AK resort area for dinner at Jiko, the Animal Kingdom Lodge's marquee restaurant. Because our Advance Dining Reservation noted that we had a member of our part with lactose intolerance, we were presented with a special menu created especially for Lydia... not just an explanation, but a complete menu! We began with the "Taste of Africa" appetizer, and split the Lamb Shank for our entree. The combination was more than enough for the two of us. Jiko was, and will probably be a highlight for future visits to the World.

(three more days posts coming...)