Friday, January 4, 2013

Christmas Vacation - EPCOT

We told the boys that this vacation would only include one Disney park and asked them to pick. 
There wasn't really much debate - they really wanted to go to EPCOT. 

The park was open from 8am to 10:30pm. 
Parker's goal? To be there from open to close.
He's a boy after his Momma's heart. 
We were at the turnstiles lined up at 7:45am. 


First up was Soarin' and we grabbed fastpasses to do it again later. 
Then we walked right on to The Land boatride. 








Another walkon to see Figment. 


Then we hit Soarin' again with our fastpasses and headed over to the Living Seas with Nemo, 
followed by Turtle Talk with Crush. Since that show is interactive, we always learn something
new about turtles every time we go.


As we were walking over to the other side of Future World, 
there was a high school marching band going by. 


Mission Space - Green side again this time. 
The boys LOVE having jobs to do on this ride. 
Their favorites are pilot and commander. 



While the boys played games in the after show area, I headed for the single rider line at Test Track.
It was recently refurbished and I have never done this ride.
I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and to see if the boys would like it.

There were some cool concept cars in the pre-show area.
The ride itself was good and FAST, with some sudden starts and stops.
Not quite sure the boys would like this one, but I'm glad to have satisfied my curiousity.



After lunch at the Electric Umbrella, I got to do a little shopping. 
I haven't had mouse ears in years and picked up this spiffy pair on a headband. 


Then it was time for Spaceship Earth. 
Things had warmed up and Daryl converted his pants to shorts while we were in line. 



Space Driver game.


We finished up Future World with the Circle of Life movie and Daryl's favorite - Captain EO. 
Then we were ready to hit the World Showcase. 

There's a new game called Agent P's Adventure, 
based on one of the boys' favorite TV show, Phineas and Ferb. 
That's why we were all wearing their gear for the day! 




We picked up our FONE communicator outside Norway and then headed off to Mexico for our first mission. Each mission takes 30 minutes and you follow the video clues on the FONE to help Agent P (the platypus) save the world from the evil Dr. Dufenschmirtz. They have embedded all of these cool elements into the different country pavilions. Pushing buttons on the phone activates certain features in the exhibits. Here in Mexico, the FONE made this skeleton in the case dance. And also made Dr. Dufenschmirtz appear above one of the buildings (with his sombrero laser). 



Our second mission was in China. 
They had us everywhere in the exhibit, from the market,
to the fake window dressing for the "hotel"
to the display of the tomb soldiers and 
 out in the garden, where a delightful little statue popped up in
the lake on cue with our FONE.







Our final mission was in Germany. 
This one involved balcony windows, items inside the gift shop
and one of the largest cuckoo clocks around! 





We could have done more missions but we were getting a bit weary. 
So we told the FONE we were done and it pointed out this secret drop off spot in Germany.


We went back to China to explore on our own. 
The boys were excited to see a little bit about the country that their brother is from. 
We took in the 360 degree movie "Reflections of China" for the first time.... 
all we could say was "WOW!" especially the scenes from the Great Wall. 


As we left China, it started to rain. 
We ran next door to Mexico because we had dinner reservations for 7:15pm. 

Goofing off waiting for our table. 


We ate at the San Angel Inn inside the pavilion. 
This is right near the boat ride and with a view of the "volcano."
Even though the restaurant was packed out and no longer taking walkups, 
the food was wonderful and the service was great. 




Then after dinner it was time for the Gran Fiesta boat ride. 
To Wesley this is the Three Caballeros ride - the name of the song that Donald and his friends sing. 


With dinner and our boat ride done, we headed back to Future World.
Parker wanted to go through Innoventions but it was closed. 
So we took one more trip on Mission Space. 
The guys opted for the Green side again and I opted for Orange. 
You can REALLY feel the force on that side - loved it! 

We did some pin trading and shopping before heading back to the World Showcase for the 10:30pm fireworks.
They were really spectacular - 
a few times there was so much happening that the boys said it looked like daylight outside again!







And so we headed to the car. It was 10:56 when we got inside. 
We ALL made it - open to close! 
It was a really awesome day. 

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