Asleep at the Wheel – or in the Queue
I’m getting better at maneuvering on and off the
Disney Bus Transportation with my scooter.
I rented for the entire length of stay from Buena Vista Scooters. Good
company, and I would highly recommend them – they are very reasonable (less
than half price of renting at the parks) and the price includes Damage Waiver
and Insurance. Within 10-15 minutes, we
arrived at Epcot. My finger scan didn’t
work at the entrance, but a cast member with an I-Pad had me fixed in no-time
and we were off to our next adventure: Lunch. We went to Sunshine Seasons
Counter Serve in “The Land”. Lauryn and
I ate a kids meal, just something to hold us over until Dinner. Dennis had a
chicken sandwich, that was 90% bread, and Kelsi ate weird fish taco’s (her
description). Well, not great – but we
didn’t spend a fortune and we were satisfied- sort of, so now to the important
stuff: Soarin’ is OPEN!
Just a quick news byte on Soarin’ to those who
may not be Disney Nerds like me: This ride has been down for the installation
of a new film and redesign, with a re-open date announced for June 17. Two
weeks before we left, I received news from my Disney Travel Agent Site that the
original (old) film would re-open on May 27th! Perfect, just time for our visit. I love the old film – nothing wrong with
soarin’ over California, excited to ride it again. Wait time = 90 minutes; not surprised, and
the wait was in the air conditioned, “The Land” building, so we waited…and
waited…. (foot is beginning to ache
now). At one point after we had been
standing completely still for some time, the man standing beside Dennis touched
his arm to move him along, because, he (Bop) was….. asleep! Ha, standing up.
Think we are a little tired?
Well, the wait was worth it. Love that ride.
at the 15 minute mark
At the hour mark
We decided to go ride the relaxing, slow boat
“Living in the Land” ride, while we waited on our fast pass time. We stopped for a giant warm pretzel with
cheese, to split – it was so good, much better than the microwaved quickie
pretzels from the gymnastic meet concession stands.
Now, time for Dennis’ medical visit to “Mission
Space”. Last time he rode this and had a
kidney stone, it took care of it immediately – let’s see if we can have a
repeat performance. Spinning and G-Force , I’m sitting this one out – I can’t
do spinning. I really wanted a Crème
Brulee for dessert tonight but we are eating dinner in China, at “Nine Dragons”
and France is on the other side of the lake.
Kelsi and I discussed and made a plan.
Since I am not riding Mission Space, I will take my scooter (ECV) to
France while they ride Mission Space, get 2 Crème Brulee’s (Kelsi and I) and
meet them in China at 6:15 for our dinner reservations.
I love walking (or in this case, riding) through
all the countries, so took my time and enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of
each one.
Topiary in France of Beauty and the Beast
The “Spinners” (60’s – 70’s group) were in concert in the “American
Gardens” as I passed by and I stopped to listen to 2 songs : “Making my way
back to you”, and “ I’ll be around”,
they still sounded great, what fun. Passing Germany and Italy, I rounded the curve to
the large, colorful Pagoda. Bop, Kelsi
and Lauryn were walking towards me, laughing and all looking at their
i-phones. They had a recording they
wanted me to see: A Cast member had spotted Kelsi’s birthday button and had
stopped to serenade her. He had stopped her in the middle of the Epcot walkway
between Mexico and China and said, “… wait, let me serenade you“, to which she
looked confused and said “what does that mean” - (hope her English teacher is not reading
this). It was cute as he sang a very
formal “Happy Birthday” to her.
Dinner was good: Kelsi, Lauryn and I had Orange,
Sesame Chicken with Fried Rice (Lauryn had Broccoli). Dennis had Steak and
Shrimp.
Creme Brulee' for desert and Chinese for dinner: Frinese for dinner!
We came out to a wet sidewalk, which meant a wet scooter. The Lotus Blossom Quick Serve stand was
nearby so napkins will dry the seat and we are on the way.
After dinner, we had one more ride we wanted to try and
conquer without a Fast Pass and I knew the line would be long. Kelsi’s app said
75 minute wait, so since this was our last ride at Epcot, we decided it would
be worth the wait. Always sounds like such a good idea, until you have been in
line with hundreds of other people for over an hour, then weariness begins to
set in. Finally, we made it to the
design (pre-ride) staging room. Dennis
and Kelsi designed a sleek powerful car, and Lauryn and I designed a red, turbo
charged sports car with super efficiency; both red. We should have snapped a screen shot of our
car design, but they were both red and looked cool. Doors are opening now and
time to ride. I love the ending of this
ride as hair blowing in the wind, we raced around the track a couple of times.
8:45 p.m. and we were
done! Exhausted and a quick bus ride back to the French Quarter and time for a
swim. The water felt so good and we stayed about 30 minutes when lightening
started in the area and they closed the pool. Tomorrow is our “off-day”. Swimming, shopping and spending time with our
family, the Johnson’s, who live about 45 minutes away from the Mouse.
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