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Day 7 – Part 2 Flying to Mars,
Soarin’ Over California – All in a Day’s Work!
As
soon as we got back to the van in the Animal Kingdom parking
lot, the rain started to fall. It
was so bad, we even considered pulling over for a few minutes. However,
nothing was getting between Mission: Space and me. After all, weren’t windshield wipers
and ponchos created for such occasions?
We
arrived at Epcot and parked in the diamond lot parking area. The rain had lessened a bit, so Cocoa
bil and I were debating whether we should put on our delightful
ponchos or not. We decided to bite the bullet and put
them on. True to
form, the rain stopped just as we struggled to put those plastic
hot, sticky masses over our bodies.
Next
time you want the rain to stop, just ask me to put on a poncho.
First stop was Mission: Space. I was really excited to give this ride
another go. Last
year, Goofy Guy and I went on it together and we were so terrified
about being sick (I had a death grip on one of those white baggies…),
that I don’t think we fully enjoyed the experience. It
probably didn’t help much that Goofy Guy was sick for the
rest of the day. It likely didn’t help our relationship
that trip much either! ;)
This
time, I was going to enjoy it! Dapper
Dad and Goofy Guy decided to sit this one out. I
don’t blame ‘em! I
wanted their final memories of the trip to be good ones – and
not memories of trying to figure out revenge on Goofy Gal for
dragging them on the ride kicking and screaming. As
funny as that would have been, I decided to forget about it and
ride with Cocoa bil.
There was no line at all; we walked right in. That’s usually a good thing, but
I think Cocoa bil might have enjoyed looking around the queue
area. He couldn’t get over all the warnings
that were posted at every turn.
I
can’t believe I just complained about NO line.
I
need a reality check.
Before we knew it, we were settled in our seats where
I proceeded to grab another motion sickness bag. Better
to be safe than sorry. I
reiterated the rules to Cocoa bil telling him to keep his head
back and despite my stunning beauty, try to resist the urge to
look at me during the flight.
I
pretended not to notice the smirk on his face.
Blast off! What
an incredible rush! I’ve
never known Cocoa bil to be so expressive before. He
may not have screamed like a girl, but he did laugh the whole
time and say things like, “that’s awesome”, “what
a rush” and “throw me your barf bag”.
Okay, so I made up the last one, but the first two were
true. We both felt
fine – amazing even. He
was fascinated with how they created the G-force. It
would be fun if they offered a behind-the-scenes tour of the
attraction.
We
quickly made our way down the looooong hallway after we left
Mars. Cocoa bil wondered if the long hallway
was there so that people had a chance to regain equilibrium before
being seen by the general public. People
looked drunk! Not
that I’d know that from experience you understand. Next
stop was Test Track. We
grabbed a fast pass for an hour later but proceeded to enter
the single rider line right away. This ride will always be a favourite
of mine. I ended
up in a car far behind the others so I didn’t have time
to boycott what was about to happen.
I
neglected to do the math before we got on the ride. Here’s another riddle for you.
What
do you get when you combine 3 car-loving males with 1 know-nothing-could-care-less-about-cars
female, when you enter a showroom of multiple GM cars?
Give
up?
Answer: Four happy males and one very bored female who
is now seriously considering dragging Goofy Guy on Mission: Space. I was outnumbered, and I knew it.
I
think they finally took pity on me so we did leave eventually. Lucky for them - I was ready to start
complaining about feminine problems…;)
Next
stop was Soarin’. None
of us had ever been on it before. We
wanted to go on it to see if we thought the boys and ToT sis
could handle it later that day. We were very surprised to see the standby
line with a 70-minute wait! I
still can’t understand why people would wait in line for
so long. I’d rather go to the dentist. Fast pass wasn’t for 2hrs from
now which wasn’t going to work for us either. We
had to admit defeat. We’d
try to get fast passes a little later once the rest of our gang
had arrived.
Our
fast pass window for Test Track had opened so we made our way
over there again. At
the very least, we were getting a lot of exercise to help counteract
all the food we were eating. Oy! On
the way, we walked by the Living Seas. I was really disappointed that the boys
wouldn’t get to experience Turtle Talk. I
could just imagine the boys imitating Crush. Cool dude! Ah
well, the kids got to be conductors, captains, talk to Goofy
on the phone and spend time with their aunt Goofy Gal….
What more could they ask for?
Test
Track was just as good the second time. Too
bad all the GM cars were still in the showroom.
We
had a few minutes to wait before Fanlover et al. arrived. Why not have an ice cream! After all, it had been at least an hour
since we had eaten anything.
The
rest of the family arrived and we went to Universe of Energy. The boys were excited to see some dinosaurs.
They missed the pre-show so I gave them a quick overview of Ellen’s
dream saga and we were off. My
favourite line in the whole show is still, “Bone-crunchin’,
Human munchin’, Ellen lunchin’ shark”.
We
were glad we saw this AFTER we swam with sharks at Typhoon Lagoon.
After the show, I
made a run to Soarin’ to pick
up fast passes for everyone while everyone else went to Honey
I Shrunk the Audience. I
didn’t know it, but this was among my biggest mistakes
of the trip.
Remember how I kept
expecting ToT sis to react to things like It’s Tough to Be
a Bug but nothing happened? Apparently she finds snakes scarier than
bugs. The ONLY time
I wasn’t with my family, ToT sis apparently screams and
jumps in her chair during Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Where’s
the justice I ask you!!?? There
I was getting fast passes for everybody and ToT sis decides to
put on a show for everyone else while I’m gone! I’ll
have to remember that when I blindfold her and take her back
to Tower of Terror.
Since we were right there, we decided to give the Imagination
ride a whirl. None
of my family had been on this ride since the original had been
replaced.
A
moment of silence please while we mourn the loss of Dreamfinder.
They
were so disappointed with the new one. Even
the boys were bored! I
usually try to defend Disney at every turn, but I just couldn’t
in this case. Please
bring back the fun!!
It
was almost time for dinner (I know, we were eating yet again)
so we made our way to Le Cellier by way of the rose garden path. It
was so beautiful! On
the way, I mentioned to Splashboy that there was a Hidden Mickey
on one of the totem poles in Canada. I
hadn’t learned my lesson I guess because I was still planning
on showing it to him when we arrived.
He
pointed it out to me.
Not
only is he faster than me, I also learned that I’m becoming
forgetful. In the short walk to Canada from the
Imagination pavilion, I had already forgotten to look for Hidden
Mickey’s.
Now
I’m slow AND forgetful.
We
were seated within minutes at 2 tables of 4, side by side. This was everyone’s first time
eating at Le Cellier. I
was excited to try the pretzel bread and cheddar cheese soup. Both
were delicious! It
was a very interesting dinner in general. We
were at a steakhouse, but found the steak not to be so great. Ducking from rotten tomatoes being
thrown at me. Mine
was overcooked and Goofy Guy’s was undercooked. Hopefully
this was just a fluke experience. I’ve
heard other people rave about the steaks here. Conversely,
the lobster was incredible – possibly the best I’ve
ever had. The maple
crème brulee dessert was unbelievably fantastic. Splashboy
had the moosehead dessert. It
looked so good, that he didn’t want to eat it! He
had some willing family members around to help him out however.
Prior to the trip, ToT sis and I had been talking about
how we could thank Dapper Dad and Fanlover for their financial
gift to us which allowed this trip to take place. The
plan was to take them out for dinner once we returned home to
Canada.
Um,
not Canada-in-Epcot-Canada – the other one.
ToT
sis took this opportunity to make this announcement to Dapper
Dad and Fanlover. She
started off by saying how much we all appreciated their generosity. But
then she went off course.
She
then started to thank Goofy Guy and myself too! Wait,
this wasn’t part of the script! She
went on to say how much she and Cocoa bil appreciated all of
our planning for this trip and how it really helped make this
trip so magical.
Oh
wait, she’s complimenting us…
please continue…
I
was really touched. She
and Cocoa bil explained that instead of going out to dinner when
we got home, they’d like to have us all over for a nice
dinner at their place followed by a slide show of all of our
trip pictures.
Do
I have a great family or what?
I
had actually run out of tissues and had now resorted to using
napkins. Goofy Guy’s sleeve was next.
Our
fast pass window opened up for Soarin’, so we rolled out
of Le Cellier and slowly walked over. While
we all were anxious to try this ride/show, there were concerns. We had had some bad motion sickness issues
this trip and we weren’t crazy about repeating this pattern. ToT sis and Dapper Dad were really worried
about riding. Insert
yet another wonderful cast member.
At
the entrance of Soarin’, was a wonderful cast member who
noticed Dapper Dad and ToT sis’ reluctance to ride. She
did a wonderful job of reassuring them by saying it was a gentle,
relaxing ride. Success! We
all got in line.
The
wonderful cast members didn’t end there. Another
CM noticed that the boys didn’t have Mickey Mouse stickers
on their t-shirts. She
just happened to have some with her so she gave some to the boys. They were happy to get a little more
Disney magic in before they left for home.
sob
We
board the ride and buckle in. We
were all excited but a little nervous as well. They
don’t supply motion sickness bags for this ride so we were
on our own.
You
know how in movies they often use slow motion to help illustrate
a big scene? I wish
we could have slowed down that ride. It
was exhilarating. Each and every one of us loved the ride. Not only were we not sick, we were in
awe. Cocoa bil gasped
at the ski hill. Fanlover
marveled at the orange smells. Everyone
sighed with amazement with each new picturesque scene.
I
was all choked up.
If
that surprises you, you haven’t read this report very closely. You
better go back to the beginning! I’ll
quiz you later.
We
were all pretty sentimental right about now. Here
we all were, at the end of a wonderful family vacation, all riding
a ride together for the first time. We
were all seated side by side, and were in absolute awe of what
we were witnessing. I
couldn’t have planned a better ending no matter how hard
I tried. The ride
ended far too soon but our enchantment with it will never end. We
are still talking about it – 3 weeks later.
I
may miss Food Rocks – but Soarin’ now has a very
special place in our hearts.
Our
family has never been so close. Thanks
Disney. It was hard
to believe we only had a few more hours left together. We
were determined to make the most of it.
Day 7 - Part 3 & Day 8 - Part
1...
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