Sunday September 12th
Well here it was at last, our first real taste of the Disney experience. My carefully planned Itinerary declared that today was EPCOT day. I have to confess here that I did get some help planning our itinerary from a website run by a former Disney VIP tour guide, it cost something like 12 pounds and was chock a block with excellent hints and tips about how to tackle all of the Disney parks. (If anyone wants the address give me a shout and I will send a DM)
So after a light breakfast (I never seemed to be hungry in the mornings in Florida!) we set off early for EPCOT. Our villa owners had told us that Osceola parkway was the quickest route to Disney and so we paid our 75 cents and away we went. Somehow, despite the huge Disney signs everywhere we managed to miss the cut off for EPCOT and ended up at Animal Kingdoms Gates! The smiling Disney worker in the booth pointed us in the right direction with a look that said this happens at least a hundred times a day!!
We followed the disabled blue line and parked up right outside the entrance. Just seeing the big golf ball (What…. that’s what it looks like to me!) got us all excited. We quickly got through the turnstiles and security search and were standing with a fairly large crowd just under the golf ball waiting for the park to open. Suddenly an old-fashioned double decker bus appeared with a whole bunch of characters on board, you should have seen our faces, even I was screaming, and then the park was opened.
We quickly made our way to the Test track and Mission space area. We got some Fastpass’s for Test track and then rode it via the stand by line. The plan was to ride it once, ride Mission Space and then ride Test track again with our Fastpass. (I know it sounds complicated but being a meticulous planner is one of my many faults!)
My in-laws were left with the bags and the rest of us headed in to the ride, straight to the front, as there was no line and straight into our car. We all thought Test track was superb and as we came to a halt my kids were shouting “Again, again”. There was still no line and the Cast member told us to remain seated if we wanted to go again, so that’s what we did. We spent a bit of time in the post ride area where my son went daft over the shiny new Hummer that was there, and then it was off to Mission space.
This one was not suitable for my daughter much too her disgust and so the four of us that could go on headed in with a bit of apprehension. Again no line whatsoever so we went straight in to the briefing room. I must admit my nerves were not being helped by the amount of times they warned us “If you suffer from claustrophobia or motion sickness you should not ride!” Finally we entered our simulator and my fears were realised when they pointed out the sick bag!! Only problem was…. there was just one!!
This ride was fantastic, although if it had lasted a second longer I would definitely have parted company with my light breakfast!
We all came off looking a bit green about the gills, except for my son he loved it.
As I sat down to recover the kids did some shopping and got Disney pins and straps to put them on (By the end of the holiday these straps were to be chock a block with pins, my kids really took to them) My stomach did not feel up to another Test track session so we did not use our Fatpass’s, but to be honest the park was that quite that we would not have needed them.
On the way out of the Mission Space shop I got talking to a cast member about hurricane Ivan (See I hadn’t forgotten about him!) She assured me that he was going to stay out well west of us and that Disney had already crossed him off of their list. This made me feel a whole lot better and we had an extra spring in our step after that news.
Well with the two “thriller” rides done I relaxed a bit, we did Honey I shrunk the audience which was brilliant. I have a slightly wonky eye, which means I do not always get the full effects of the 3-D shows but this one was brilliant. More than once I caught myself reaching
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