Disney 2010, Day 1, Part 1: Epcot

Finally, the Disney 2010 trip recap! It only took over a month (recaps were actually published in April, but will be back-dated to mid-March later). I'm sure I've forgotten many of the details by now, but I'll do my best. I *was* smart enough to write down the rides and restaurants each day, so that will help.

We were in a bit of a time crunch this year. With all the house buying and selling going on, we really didn't know how our finances would look come March, so we chose not to buy Spring Training tickets in case we decided we couldn't afford to go. We've been to a spring training game every year since 1999! But we just could not justify the cost of the tickets in early January without being sure we could use them. Turns out we were okay to go, but with things at work being busy, I could only afford a couple of days off. Consequently, we did something we haven't done in years: we left right after work on Wednesday and drove all the way to Orlando in one night. I think we got in right at 1 AM! Mom went with us again this year, and she was kind enough to check into the hotel (our favorite Country Inn and Suites on Apopka-Vineland) and get the room ready for us, so all we had to do was bring in our stuff and put Luke to bed. Thanks, Mom!

We only had 3 days to be at the parks, which meant either skipping a park, or doing two in one day. Epcot has the least "must do" things for us, with the Studios next on that list, so we decided to combine those into one day. The Flower and Garden Festival also started on Friday at Epcot, which meant Thursday or nothing for it (I had no desire to be there on opening weekend of the festival!). Conveniently, Fantasmic also shows at the Studios only on Thursdays during the slow season, so that worked out great! I wasn't sure we would do that, but at least it was an option if we decided we wanted to. But squeezing all of that in to a single day meant we needed to be there when the park opened to have any chance of making it work, despite the fact that we arrived so late. All we could do was hope!

I think we arrived at Epcot Thursday morning just after they opened. It was easy to get ready in time when we only had to put sunscreen on our faces. It was *so* cold! I've never been to Disney in the cold before, so that was quite an experience. I have to say, though, I loved it! No sweating, no lathering up your entire body before you can go anywhere. Not sure Mom was as happy about it as I was, but she managed. We even parked close enough to the entrance that we didn't have to take the tram (which is windy/cold). We could easily walk!

Epcot primary target #1 was Soarin'. Hey look, something new for *all* of us to do at Disney! I've been hearing about this ride for years, and even though it finally came to WDW from Disneyland, we still had not managed to ride it. It is so popular that they are usually out of fast passes well before 11 AM. We went straight to The Land pavilion, figuring we would either wait in the (hopefully) short early line, or pick up pre-lunch fast passes. The standby line showed a wait time of 15 minutes, so we jumped right in!



Wow, what a cool ride!! I had read articles and seen specials on how it worked, but it was still amazing. You really do feel like you're flying, which of course meant I could only watch about half of it. I did pretty well, though, and being at the bottom and side of the lift mechanism (so I could see the edges of the screen), as opposed to the middle, probably helped. And assuming you're not at the top, you can see people's feet above you, which amused me greatly. We all loved it, and I highly recommend it if the line is short or you can get fast passes.



Next up was, of course, Test Track, which we rode twice, once with Luke and Mom in the front, and once with Luke and me in the front. I wonder what those circles in the center of the outdoor track are for. Anyone know? I'd never noticed them before until they appeared in the photo. I'm usually too busy laughing and being pressed back in my seat! LOL



After that, it was time to eat (as indicated by the *huge* child meltdown as we left Test Track), so we headed back to The Land for lunch at the Sunshine Seasons food court. (I didn't say it was the most efficient touring plan.) Seems like I had the rotisserie chicken, Mom had salmon, and DH had the sweet and sour chicken. I had packed pepperoni and goldfish for Luke, who also decided he *had* to have popcorn with lunch, so DH left the pavilion and the cast members were gracious enough to point him to the closest popcorn stand. I knew we were potentially in for a late night with Fantasmic, so as much as I wanted to take him to one of the pavilions he had never done (either Living Seas or Imagination), we headed out of the park for a nap, though we did hit Spaceship Earth on the way out (calm, relaxing, and on the way out!), per Luke's request. We even stopped for a group portrait using the mirrored columns beneath the geodesic dome, which Luke thought was *very* funny.



After a good rest, it was time to head back to Disney Hollywood Studios!

Next time - Disney 2010, Day 1, Part 2: Studios

Currently feeling: like flying!