DAY 3- THURSDAY 3rd MARCH 2011
Participants: Tam and Kev
The usual first
night on holiday ensues. Wake up – look at the clock –
2.30am. Try to go back to sleep. Look at the clock – 3.15am,
then 5.18am (notice the accuracy of the timings, there’s
attention to detail for you). Eventually we get up at 6.30am for
a shower. To be fair, it is not because the bed is uncomfortable
because it’s fine. It is also the size of a small football
pitch. You could happily get 4 people in here. Hmmm….. now
if I can just find two Hooters girls with low morals and
appalling taste in men .....
It shows the difference between men and women as Tam considers
the bed big enough to hold a large pile of cakes.
We eat
breakfast in the room – cereal we bought in Publix
yesterday. It says that it’s 0% fat, but that’s only
because it’s 100% sugar.
We leave the room at 8.15am and take the walkway across to the
Contemporary to catch the monorail to the TTC and then on to
Epcot. We go to Guest Services first because I found some old
tickets at home and we weren’t sure if there are any days
left on them. Well, it turns out that there are so we get a free
day in Epcot. Result.
We stroll
through the entrance and immediately ride Spaceship Earth as
it’s a walk on. We then walk to The Land and grab a Fastpass
for Soarin’ before jumping on Listen to the Land. I
shan’t bother to give my opinion on any of the rides, as
I’m sure you’ve heard them many times before.
Let’s just say we have a good time.
Tam now feels that the amount of sugar in her blood has dropped
below 75% so we share a cheese Danish (best Peter Kay voice
– cheese? Danish?), which is very nice. We then walk around
a few of the Flower and Garden Festival exhibits before walking
straight on to Test Track via the single rider line.
A slow walk round World Showcase follows until we drop off our
excess baggage (no, I don’t mean Tam, we have long sleeve
clothing in case it turns chilly tonight) in the lockers by the
International Gateway.
On to
Soarin’ where we use our Fastpasses, although we still wait
the best part of 20 minutes. We are now due to start our
exploration proper of World Showcase as it’s approaching
lunchtime. We intend to try the new Mexican restaurant, but are
disappointed to find that it’s only open in the evening.
What’s to be done when that happens? Head for the new
tequila bar! It turns out that this is a lovely new edition to
the Mexican pavilion. Probably only a dozen tables, but very
atmospheric and pleasant. Tam has a Wild Passion Fruit Margarita
and I try the Blood Orange Margarita. Not cheap at $12.50 each,
but very nice. They both have hibiscus salt on the rim. Let me
tell you, if you’ve never had your rim salted with hibiscus
– now’s the time to give it a try. It’s both sweet
and salty at the same time.
Being a bit peckish we also have Guacamole and chips along with
Chicken Tostadas. Both are very nice. Tam asks the server to take
our photo. Just as she does a young lady sits down at the table
next to us and immediately apologises as she’s inadvertently
jumped into our photo. I tell her not to worry as she’s
better looking than us two anyway. Had she been swifter of
thought she could have pointed that could apply to 95% of the
patrons in Epcot today.
Our bill comes to $54.33, which includes an $8 tip (the service
was very good).
A stroll to the
Chinese pavilion sees us partaking of a Tsing Tao beer. It is now
very apparent that Tam is a little sleepy, so I suggest a slow
walk round to the Beach Club where we spend a very pleasant hour
lying in the sunshine – it’s 78°F today with a light
breeze. We shouldn’t be too hard on Tam, she’s had
little sleep for the past two nights, although I suspect the
visit from Mr Margarita and Mr Tsing Tao have also had an
influence.
It’s amazing that a spot only a couple of hundred yards from
a theme park can be so quiet, just the toot from an occasional
Friendship boat breaks the tranquillity.
It’s sad that so many people keep trudging round the park
all day getting grumpier and grumpier when just a brief amount of
downtime can rejuvenate the batteries.
Tam awake and refreshed, we walk back to Epcot where we have a look around in Morocco. I’m sure I’ve read that this is the most authentic of all the countries in World Showcase as when Morocco were asked to participate they sent over a team of their own craftsmen to construct the pavilion. If this is not true I apologise and turn to my second theory – it was built by Hobbits on their day off from their normal Hobbiting activites.
On to Italy
where Tam and I try a Rose Regale for the first time. I know this
is a much-loved drink by the ladies on the DIS, but it’s a
bit too sweet for me.
On to Japan where we have an ADR for 6.00pm in Tokyo Dining. We
haven’t eaten here before, so we think it will be a nice
change. We both have the Bento Box, which is a selection of 4
different things. It’s quite nice, but overall we will not
be rushing back here. The service is very good and there is an
interesting demonstration on how to make sushi shown on a large
screen, it’s just that I think there are better places for
the money.
After eating we head round to the lockers to get our long sleeve
gear for the evening as it’s starting to cool down. I
wouldn’t say it’s actually cold, but you certainly need
a sweater of some description in the breeze.
A wander down
to Canada where I grab a Moosehead and then back to the UK hoping
to see the British Invasion. Well, either I’ve misread the
timetable or they have cancelled for some reason as it’s all
quiet in good old Blighty. I’ve since found out that
they’ve now finished in Epcot for good, so it’s a real
shame we didn’t get to see them one last time. Singing along
to Hey Jude on Millennium Eve with a 6 year old Georgia in my
arms is a memory I’ll never forget.
Tam is in the need of something sweet, so we go to the Caramel
Candy Shop in Germany. We share a Pecan Caramel Bar and a
Chocolate Marshmallow on a stick. The latter is just ok, but the
Pecan Bar is very good.
On to Mexico where we ride the Grand Fiesta Tour before ending up in the shop where a lady is making a glass animal. This is so interesting that we watch the whole process from start to finish. Unfortunately it doesn’t go exactly to plan and a few bits and bobs break off and have to be repaired at various times. The lady jokes with Tam that she is making her nervous. I can see why as Tam has her nose practically pressed against the glass safety screen. The end product is a penguin bride complete with veil and flowers.
It’s now
8.15pm, so we go to find our usual spot by Norway for Reflections
of Earth. I grab a beer and on my return find Tam talking to a
couple that have just got off the Dream. They noticed Tam’s
DVC bag as they’ve just bought into Bay Lake Towers while on
the ship.
It turns out that they are both police officers in a place called
Henrico (pronounced Hen-rye-co) and tell us all about it. You get
the impression from TV shows that all American cops are hardened,
brash characters, but these officers are not the first I’ve
met and they have all been lovely, friendly people.
I ask the gentleman whether his job is getting harder in these
tougher financial times and he says that, yes, crime is on the
increase, but he professes some sympathy for people who really
have little option but to turn to crime to survive.
They give us a cloth patch badge (the same as they stitch onto
their uniforms) from the Henrico police department, which is in
Virginia. The centre piece of the badge is the head of Pocahontas
– how cool is that?
Reflections of
Earth starts and we stand transfixed as always. After the
fireworks are finished we say goodbye to our police friends and
walk back towards the front of the park. This is a strange
experience for us as we normally exit through the International
Gateway to get back to our home resort at the Boardwalk.
The queue for the monorail is shorter than I expect and we are
back at Bay Lake Towers quite quickly. Bed around 11.00pm after
staring out of the window at the lovely view.