DAY 10
THURS 6th JAN 2000
We are up
at 7:30 and have breakfast in the foodcourt. I have the
French toast which is very good. We arrive at Epcot in
time for the 9:00 opening. The Leave a Legacy monoliths
may not be universally liked but I have to say that I
much prefer the new fountain to that old perspex thing
which was beginning to look a bit dated.
As we walk towards the dancing fountain we are stopped by
a CM who gives the girls a Mickey balloon each. Another
nice touch.
We walk to Test Track for our first ever ride. We
practically walk on and strap in for our ride through the
test facility. Everyone is very impressed, just the right
amount of thrill without being too scary for the little
ones. I don't know about you lot but it has my adrenaline
pumping. A big hit.
On to the Wonders of Life pavilion where Tammy does Body
Wars while the rest of us do Cranium Command. I must have
seen this at least a dozen times by now but it still
makes me laugh. General Knowledge is my hero.
The Universe of Energy is next. This is only the second
time that I have ridden this since they changed it to the
Ellen story line. I still enjoy it, let's face it
anything with Jamie Lee Curtis in has got to be good. I'm
referring to her fine acting ability, obviously. How
could you possibly think I meant anything else?
We head towards Innoventions stopping to watch the
Jammitors (drumming on rubbish bins) and Kristos (alien
acrobats) on the way. Cast in Bronze are about to begin
so we find a bench and relax. We really enjoy this as the
music is played by a 4 piece band including a huge
instrument made up of a large number of bells called a
carallon (sp?). It produces a unique sound and, among
other things, they play part of Tubular Bells.
We are getting thirsty so we head into Ice Station Cool
where India tells Grandma how wonderful Beverley is. I
don't think Grandma agrees, much to India's delight.
Innoventions is next but, after sending an electronic
postcard and playing with the games for a while, we
leave. It is very easy to spend a long time in here and
your time just slips away.
The Imagination pavilion is next for the much maligned
Journey Into Your Imagination. I suppose one advantage of
reading RADP and having everyone telling you how bad it
is, has the positive effect of making me feel that this
is better than I expected. Nowhere near as good as the
original, too many plain areas with nothing much
happening, but there are one or two good effects though.
Tammy thinks it is better than the old version but this
is no recommendation as she hated it. Sometimes I worry
about the woman.
On to the Millennium Village pausing to catch Off Kilter
on the way. The Millennium Village is a great surprise,
much better than I expected. In Scotland I play golf and
manage to reach the top. What a multitalented individual
I am! In Brazil we play football and we toucans trounce
the pathetic jaguars. Saudi Arabia is really pretty and
the Spirit Oasis is particularly nice. We go through the
giant eggs of Sweden which are pleasant but Autumn is a
bit of a bore isn't it? Just a few leaves blowing around.
We start our snacking and drinking in the food court here
with a pulled pork sandwich and coconut cake. What is
that about? Where are they pulling the pork from? Or
pushing it to? Just one of life's great mysteries I
guess.
The Israeli simulator ride is down and the second half of
the Village is mostly standing exhibits and shops. At the
end we play the World Culture Game where Georgia and I
get beaten by Tammy, India and Grandma. Now let's be
fair, they had superior numbers on their side. They
actually are the winners of the whole game which has the
added depressing effect of making Tammy all smug and
superior. Georgia sulks because India crows about her
victory and I sulk just because we lost. I put it down to
a sticky button in the vital last round, well, that and
the fact that I didn't know the answer but we won't dwell
on that.
In total we spent two hours in the Millennium Village and
enjoyed it immensely.
When we come out it has sprinkled with rain. The only
time it has rained in a whole week and we missed it! Nice
one!
From here on in this report is going to turn into a bit
of a food and drink rating session. We marked each snack
and beer out of 10, which wasn't easy when we came
towards the end as every beer tended to taste wonderful!
First is the UK. Now I would not be patriotic if I did
not give this top marks but the truth is that it was very
good. Fish and chips 9/10. Bass ale (for me) 9/10. Dry
Blackthorn cider (for the ladies) 10/10.
On to France for cheese and French bread 7/10 accompanied
by red wine 9/10 while we watch the World Showcase
Players perform Cyranose de Bergerac. The girls are at
the age where they love watching anything like this. We
also buy Epcot Passports for them here and start the epic
trek to get them all filled in.
There are several characters in the area including Esmerelda and Clopin. Poor Phoebus is standing on his own with nobody paying attention to him. Serves him right for being named after a sun god.
The girls
also have a run in with Jafar, who is suitably evil and
cruel.
Morocco has us sampling Chicken Shawarma sandwich 8/10
and Casablanca beer 7/10.
In Japan we have Yakitori (chicken on a skewer with
teriyaki sauce and rice) 9/10 and Light Kirin beer 8/10.
Italy sees us trying some sort of horribly dry pistachio
biscuit 3/10 and Peroni beer 6/10. Tapestry of Nations is
just about to start so we stand on the steps by one of
the statues to watch it properly for the first time.
Whoever thought of this has some imagination. The
colours, the lighting, the costumes and the wonderful
music are all perfect. We will definitely see this a few
more times before we return home.
On round to Germany for chocolate sticks from the sweet
shop 7/10 and Becks beer 8/10.
In China we have Sweet and Sour Chicken, rice and a
spring roll 8/10 (5/10 for the spring roll) and Chinese
beer 5/10. We spend some time looking around the
beautiful shop. There are so many lovely things in here,
it is one of the very few shops that I don't mind
spending time in. Tapestry of Nations is about to start
for the second time at 8:10 so we find a place to watch.
The girls love dancing to this and enjoy the interaction
with the performers enormously.
We find a place to watch Reflections of Earth just to the
right of Germany and have a very good view. New Year's
Eve was so packed that we did not get to see much of it,
so this is our first proper viewing. We have also
forgotten Georgia's earplugs, so a crying, unhappy child
follows.
What an amazing show! This is ten times better than the
last Illuminations. The fireworks are spectacular, the
music more stirring and the globe is the icing on the
cake. Like Tammy said, every time you think it is
finished they crank it up another level. We will see this
again as I was videotaping some of it and you tend not to
enjoy it so much that way.
A slow walk out of the park, a quick bus ride back to
Dixie Landings followed by a swift entry to bed at 10:30.
The girls are both exhausted. I think we need a quiet day
tomorrow to recover.