May 22nd ‘01 Tuesday Day 2
The Cast:
Sean Yoda age 36
Pamela ‘meeko’ age 32 ½
Biscuit Meeko stuffed raccoon age 5 1/2
Brer Bunny (Biscuit’s stuffed buddy) age
1 ½
The day started out rather slow. We had planned to head out to Disney MGM, but the curse of Ralph’s had still lingered. Although Pamela felt better, Sean was still sick and spent most the morning resting in bed.
Pamela here:
I picked up some Imodium at the PO-R gift shop. You get 6 tablets for 5 bucks, btw, so if you think you might need it, bring it from home. While Sean rested, I sat out on the balcony enjoying the light breeze that was blowing through the magnolias and sipping on my cherry coke from the DxL refillable mug.
Sean eventually felt a little better and we headed out for Epcot. We still had a 2pm PS at Le Cellier. Sean really wanted to try that cheese soup! =) (Yeah, I know, I really shouldn’t have had it.) I was looking forward to it as well. After refilling our mugs, we walked out to the South Bus Stop, which is closest to the Lobby. The Epcot bus was nowhere to be found, but, when a Disney-MGM Studios bus came by, we took that instead, intending to transfer to the ferry to Epcot.
Once we got to MGM-Studios, we saw we just missed the ferry, so we went into the park to get a cinnamon roll from “Starring Rolls” bakery. From the outside of the entrance gate you could see how huge & inappropriate that BAH (aka: the Big-*ss Hat) is. It totally obscures the view of the Chinese Theatre. I thought it was very sad!
Sean & I walked around some and looked in a couple shops, including Sunset Couture and shared a cinnamon roll. The ones at the Norway Pavilion are much better, IMHO. After having our cinnamon roll, we headed out and jumped on the ferry.
Last time Sean & I took the ferry, (Dec 2000) we got a Jungle Cruise Skipper wannabe and this time we were spared. The Skipper this time was very professional and announced each stop as we went and didn’t try to amuse us with really bad lounge jokes.
At Epcot, we entered through the International Gateway. We made sure to stop at Rose & Crown to cancel the PS I had made a couple months prior, as we were to attend eRide night at MK. We then headed to the Canada Pavilion. The Canada Pavilion might very well be my favorite. I am not certain yet. I got very excited to be there though and we went in and caught the CircleVision film “O Canada” which I’ve seen a few times already. The film is showing its age, but I still enjoy it. I love the soundtrack and wish they would sell it somewhere. Until then, my MP3 of “Canada” will have to suffice! =)
*Special Note: When we left the theatre I heard one of the teenage boys we saw laying down in the front row of the theatre say to his adult guardian, “My neck is killing me!” I got a giggle as she replied “Well that’s because you were laying down in the theatre when you should have been standing.” The funny thing is, she was with them the whole time, and even when the CM announced to please not sit on the floor, the kids remained and the mother said nothing to them. So maybe they learned on their own not to do that again. =)
Well, after the film we headed right into Le Cellier, where we were seated about a half hour early! We started off with ice tea and cheese soup. Sean ordered the special, which was Buffalo Stroganoff and I had the sweet potato hash. Our server, who was from New Brunswick, brought out our soup and some bread sticks. You get three (3) different ones: pretzel, multi-grain, and sourdough. Each bread represents a different aspects of Canada. The bread is wrapped in paper and stuffed in a lovely glass cone in the center of the table. The soup was excellent, if not a little salty. I don’t salt my food at all, so I am rather sensitive to it I think. We finished our soup and didn’t leave any for the dishwasher to clean out. <joking>
The tables on either side of us had ordered sandwiches (Cheeseburgers and a Toronto Chicken sandwich) with french fries. The sandwiches looked very bready with their English Muffin buns. We got our food pretty quick as well. My sweet potato hash looked wonderful! It was a little larger than a hockey puck and had deep-fried onions strings sprinkled in a small heap on top. The sweet potato was swimming in a creamy sweet spinach sauce with tiny purple onions. It was so incredibly delicious and so hard for me to leave half of it for Sean to try.
We switched plates and I tried the buffalo stroganoff while he finished the hash. I thought the noodle part was excellent, but the buffalo meat was way too meaty for me. I had one cubed piece of meat and left the rest for Sean after sucking down a third of his noodles. After that, neither of us had room for dessert. So we skipped the beaver tail stand and headed straight for Future World.
As we headed over to Future World, we stopped and checked out the Flower & Garden exhibits along the way. There was a seminar going on in the white tent that we are used to seeing filled with Christmas ornaments and giant bears during our usual trip time. =) We took a look at the plants and then headed out. Over near Innoventions East, (by Fountain View Café and the former Pasta place) we saw some more exhibits for the Show and some cool banners and giant framed prints celebrating Walt Disney and Disney Innoventions like the multi-plane camera and digital animation.
At Pin Central, they were just setting up for a pin talk and Sean & I took a look at the new pins out. One CM was putting out some of the new 2-sided Epcot pins and the spinning World Showcase pin. Super Neat!
At Innoventions East, we looked at a couple exhibits, including the Space exhibit where I met an older CM named Bill, who I pin traded with for a cool Fantasia 2000 pin (it is one of the humpback whales from "Pines of Rome" and the Fantasia 2000 logo) and had a chat about trading and Sean got engrossed in a Space quiz. Finally we took our leave and met up with our pal & CM Art. Art works over in an undisclosed location there and we said, “hi” to him and made plans to meet up the next day for the special Magic Carpets of Aladdin pin release at MK. He said he was planning to get there at 5am, but we thought that was a little early for us! =)
At Ice Station Cool, we got our favorite drinks. Mine of course is the Mezzo Mix from Germany, ( I got hooked on that while stationed there many years ago, and drink it whenever I can, which is only at Atlanta's World of Coke and WDW it seems.) Sean tried almost all of the drinks except for Beverly. In case we needed to be reminded to not drink Beverly, we saw a mother tell her son, “Don’t drink the one from Italy.” Later on though, the child ignored her mother’s warning, and uttered an “Ick!” and started making spitting noises. The child’s father asked what happened. A girl said, “He tried the stuff from Italy.” His mom then said, “See! I told you not to try it.”
Over at Innoventions West, we made an electronic postcard to send to folks and played a racing game where you race on a track, trying to collect as many electronic devices as possible. I basically kept crashing into the wall. Of 14 players, I placed 13th and Sean placed 8th. I only was able to get the MP3 player and a GPS system. Lucky Me.
Next stop was Fountain View for a strawberry shake. IMHO, this has got to be the nastiest shake I’ve ever tasted. Sean liked his ok, but admitted mine tasted different but we didn’t know why. Both of ours came from the same blender. I thought mine was made with bad milk or something. Sean had figured out that the shake was made with daquiri mix and milk, which gave it a funny after-taste. I left over half of mine.
After the questionable drink, we headed to the Living Seas where I almost passed out a couple times during the film. The ride was ok, but I don’t remember it being so short. The last time I’d ridden it was in 98 when I came to WDW with my best pal Rebecca. Sean & I sat and watched the Atlas show and I started to drift just as it was ending.
Next came the semi-comatose ride to MK for our eRide night. The thunder & lightening was going off in the distance and it started raining by the time we got to MK. Sean & I dashed to the little courtyard by City Hall where we got our wrist bands for the event. We then attempted to do the Zazu challenge, where we found out Bruce wasn’t in that day. The train wasn’t running as it was raining cats & dogs, so we hung out inside the station. I rested my feet while Sean walked around video-taping the deluge (and the poor guests getting soaked) from inside the station.
Next we headed to the Emporium where we window shopped ‘til the rain slacked off enough for us to walk over to Pecos Bill, home of the World’s Best Fixin’ Bar!!! <vbg> We both had a regular cheeseburger with fries and split a large soda. Sean got funny looks at he videotaped the fixin’ bar for our doubting Thomas friends back in California. Yes, they do have fresh hot mushroom slices & hot melted cheese; I put both on my fries. Yum!
Sean & I had never done an eRide night and I wasn’t sure how it would work. I was happy that when we got off Splash about 8pm, the CM wasn’t letting anyone else into the queue area without an wristband. We had a very nice private (and GLOW-free!) ride on HM and a super fun & fast ride on Big Thunder later in the evening, (our last ride). We rode Buzz twice and Space once. The lines were virtually non-existent. The only thing I was sort of bummed about was the lack of dessert places open. You could get a turkey leg and character cookies at a snack bar in Tomorrowland and Pecos Bill was open til 10pm, but no dessert. Casey’s Corner was open til 11pm, but had only a brownie. I guess Sean & I were really wanting some ice cream.
*Special Note: When Sean & I were at the hub, we noticed how extremely deserted Main Street was. Not a soul, but maybe a couple people lingering around the entrance to Casey’s Corner. I took a couple photos and Sean got out the video camera to get all the evidence. Also we saw they had switched the Main Street Cinema sign over to announce they now were showing a sneak preview of “Atlantis.”
After riding BTMR, Sean hit the bathrooms by Adventureland and I waited outside. There was a CM guarding the pathway through Adventureland to prevent guests from observing workers finishing the final touches on Aladdin’s Magic Carpet ride. Repeatedly the CM mentioned how great the new ride would be and how it differed from Dumbo. The new ride would fly higher and seat four (4) people. The front riders controlled height, and the rear controlled front & back tilt. There would be camels that spouted water at you if you didn’t maintain a certain height. It sounded really neat. The CM also mentioned that, for the next few months at any rate, the ride would not have FastPass.
Sean came out and we headed for Main Street and the exit. Before we left, there was one more stop. Sean took out the video camera and taped the windows of the Emporium. Each window represented a Disney film: Snow White, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, and Pocahontas. Then we left.
As we exited, we saw signs announcing a special pin release for the opening of the Magic Carpet ride and that to purchase the pin guests would need to pick up a voucher. With a limit of two-pins per purchase and a production run of 1000 pins, 500 people would be getting vouchers. We asked a CM where we could obtain our vouchers. He pointed to a small kiosk outside the entrance to MK. He also told us that a few people had told him that they were going to line-up after getting coffee from The Contemporary. Even our friend Art told us that he was going to arrive at 5am. We like pins, but we’re not that crazy! We decided that we’d aim to be in line at 7:30am.
Anyway, we then caught our bus back to our resort. During our bus ride, we had another “critter experience.” Near Fort Wilderness we passed by a deer. Because it was just standing next to the road, and not startled by our passing bus, I was not sure if it was real; other folks in the bus assured me that it was. We were dropped off at the South bus stop and refilled our mugs before heading back to the room. I got some hot chocolate, which dispensed rather different than I am used to. At the ASMu foodcourt, you press the button and it dispenses a specific amount. For a refillable mug, I would press the button once, then again to fill the mug. Here at the PO-R I had to hold the button down once pressed to keep the liquid filling in the mug. I got nervous, as the machine shook when you served yourself. I watched as Sean got his, the coil in the back of the machine looked to want to shake itself off and the machine vibrated.
Once back at the resort I had a wonderful surprise awaiting me! While we were gone some 12 hours, the cleaning staff was busy. The shade in our window was pulled up about a foot and Biscuit, Bunny & our new plush Brer Rabbit sat in the window, reclining on little tied washcloths. Once inside, on the spare bed, Wedding Minnie & Mickey reclined against an extra pillow opon which sat my Bridal Minnie ears. One of our water glasses was wrapped in a washcloth and our towels were beautifully fanned. I took a few pictures and Sean was already busy videotaping it. They sure did do an extra effort for us! =)
Finally, I drank most of my hot chocolate and fell into deep sleep with
Biscuit and Bunny skampering nearby while Sean caught up on his email
and
listened to his new WDW official album.