Day Four: Epcot

Thursday April 5, 2007:
We started our day at rope drop in Future World and followed the crowd directly to Soarin'. Though there were a lot of people in line it moved right along so we were able to board without much of a wait. I was a little bit nervous about this ride not really sure how much motion to expect or how high we would lift into the air after reading conflicting info online. I'm the one who gets nauseaous if someone rocks the gondola while the ferris wheel is loading and unloading! We were lucky enough to be loaded into the front row and, after a few deep breaths to calm myself as we lifted off, I really enjoyed the view! The little bit of motion was nothing to worry about and I really have no idea how far off the floor we were. I loved this ride and wouldn't hesitate to go on it again! We exited Soarin' and the Land Pavillion and headed across the park for Mission:SPACE FastPasses. While waiting for our return time we went to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Somewhere in the back-and-forth we stopped to taste the beverages at Club Cool. I actually liked Beverly, hated the carbonated apple juice, and wouldn't even try the watermelon beverage! We were near the character connection but Kacie wasn't interested in waiting in line for autographs so we skipped it. By now enough time had elapsed that we were able to get our Test Track FastPasses before entering Mission:SPACE.

Tom chose the orange line for the "more intense" Mission:SPACE ride while Kacie and I chose the green line which I referred to as the "no barf zone". This is where I want to say "THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK AND KEEP YOUR PHOBIAS TO YOURSELF!!!" We had a mother and her about 10 yr old son in line behind us. While making small talk the mother decided to mention that the reason they now offer two lines is because someone died after riding this ride. Hello!!! Maybe you don't care if you frighten my 15 yr old but what about your own kid! I wasn't looking at Kacie but that boys eyes got as big as saucers! I quickly reminded everyone within earshot that the person who died had a heart condition and healthy people had nothing to fear then I turned around and ended the chitchat with that woman. So then we get inside and get shunted into the loading lines. While we are doing this another woman starts questioning a cast member about how much motion and jarring there will be. The cast member says that the green ride doesn't have as much motion but goes on the caution that we will be confined in a small space and, if we have a problem with enclosed spaces, we might want to rethink the ride. Kacie started looking a little nervous but I reassured her that she had never had a problem with claustrophobia and, if she enjoyed Expedition Everest, I really didn't think this ride would be a problem. But the woman started babbling about how she was afraid of dark spaces and maybe she shouldn't ride and blah, blah, blah until she went to one loading dock and we went to another. At this point Kacie turned to me and told me she was NOT going on this ride. I told her I wasn't going to make her ride if she really didn't want to and to go find a cast member who would show her to the exit and wait for me there. Well, she grabbed my arm in a panic and made me exit with her. After she calmed down she told me she would wait for me and I could go ride but I had already turned in my FastPass and there was no way I was going to wait in line for an hour-and-a-half to two hours to ride! I was not upset with Kacie but I was VERY upset with those two thoguhtless women for freaking her out! To top it all off Tom told us that, while there were some jarring motions as they dodged asteriods on the orange ride, there wasn't any spinning.

We intentionally held off on lunch until after Mission:SPACE so next we headed to Sunshine Seasons for lunch. After lunch we went to the Honey I Shrunk the Audience show which was enjoyable but not as good as the Bug's Life 3D show in animal Kingdom. And there is one part of the show where mice are supposedly running through the audience and apparently the woman behind her was afraid of mice because she kicked me quite hard in the back not once but twice! At this point we dicided that we weren't all that interested in anything else in Future World and headed over to World Showcase. We had visited Mexico, Norway, China and Germany on Wednesday night before the Princess dinner so we started on the other side and explored Canada, the UK where we saw Winnie the Pooh and got Mary Poppins' autograph and photos, France, and Morocco before we decided we were ready to return to our hotel for a break.

We took a long rest and didn't return to the park until after 6:00. We headed straight for the Japan Pavillion to see Miyuki, "The Candy Lady", but just caught the tail end of her show/demonstration so Tom and Kacie found a seat near her booth the wait for the next show and watch the drum show that was about to start while I went into the store. I knew that they sold Mikimoto pearl jewelry there and I had been searching for the perfect pearl earrings to wear with my Ren garb so I searched out the Mikimoto pearls. I knew they wouldn't be cheap and was prepared to spend $200-300 but when I saw prices in the thousands I turned right around and walked back out! I watched the rest of the drum show with Tom and Kacie then Miyuki was ready to begin her demonstration. If you've not heard of her, she makes the most fantastic creations from a rice sugar paste that looks like taffy while she is working with it but dries hard as a rock. She usually creates 4-6 lollipops that she gives to children who are waiting in front of her cart though I do know one adult who told me she was lucky enough to get one. She made the most amazingly detailed shark, tiger, unicorn, dragon and giraffe. When she asked Kacie what she would like Kacie hestitated so Miyuki suggested a monkey. Part of her charm is listening to her heavily accented banter while she works. She commented about the "very expensive banana" she put in the monkey's hand and painted yellow and also made a comment that I didn't catch as she painted the monkey's butt red! The monkey is not quite as detailed as the other things we watched her make but it is a wonderful keepsake of our trip all the same. Since the Mikimoto pearl jewelry was clearly out of my price range I went back into the store and did the pick-an-oyster thing. I got a nice unblemished 7mm white pearl so I chose a white gold pendant setting for it. Tom had promised Kacie a pizza for dinner after leaving the park but we were all hunf=gry and in need of a snack by this point. Now you would think that they would be a little more adventurous in the World Showcase and try something they had never eaten but, no, Tom and Kacie wanted chicken strips and fries from the American Pavillion. :rolleyes:

While waiting for and eating our food we were able to hear the Paul Revere and the Raiders concert taking place at the American Gardens Theatre for the Flower and Garden Festival. As we exited the American Pavillion we put on the rain ponchos we had brought along because it had turned chilly and windy and was begining to sprinkle a little. We went back to Japan to pick up my pearl pendant then we claimed a bench in that area to wait for Illuminations to begin. Oh, I almost forgot!: Kacie had been eyeing a Tinkerbell spinning light toy all week and we kept talking her out of it but this night she finally spent the last $13 of her souvenier money to buy one and played with it while waiting for Illuminations. Tom and Kacie seemed to enjoy the show but, honestly, I can take it or leave it. If you decide that you need to skip one of the night-time shows this would be the one. After the show we started to do a bit more exploring but the rain started to come down so we headed toward the exit. We never did ride Test track so I save the FastPasses for my scrapbook.