Trip Update

As you discovered in the last post, we were at Epcot yesterday. So I thought I'd tell you about that. :D So we went to the park (the one with the giant golf ball for anyone who's not been there) and it was...96 or so. And extremely humid. Anyway. My parents wanted to go sit down in the shade (at Disney World? Really?) so I got in line for Spaceship: Earth (the golfball) on my own. It was at least a 90 minute line. And the couple in front of me was disturbing. They were eighteen by my estimation and I literally was expecting clothes to start coming off any minute. I tried to just ignore them, except they'd be so caught up in what they were doing that they'd forget to move ahead when the line moved. Holding my tongue to keep from telling them to get a room, I instead would politely remind them to move ahead. And they would glare at me as if I were interrupting. So after 90 minutes of that, I got to ride the 30 second ride, and then wondered why I waited that long. I guess that's just a theme park for you.

With that exception, yesterday was amazing. I went on my first-ever roller coaster! Now, I'm not counting kiddie roller coasters, I did those last time with my cousins. I mean the ones where they tell you "you have to be 48 inches to ride". Thank goodness I'm 65. It was, however, the slowest roller coaster in the parks (Test Track) but I was proud of myself for doing it and surprisingly liked it. After that, I went on Soarin'. It is the.best. ride ever. I'll explain it a little. See, you board these hang glider things that hold eight people, and buckle yourself in. There are six hang gliders, two per row, three rows. When everybody's ready, it actually lifts you up into tiers two stories in the air, facing a giant IMAX-esque screen. It's a four-minute video of different parts of California, and it's complete with scents and breezes and drops and everything. I literally could only ride that one ride all day. It was amazing.

After that I conquered my fear and went on Mission: Space. Mission: Space is a gravity wheel with a virtual panel that simulates a trip to Mars in a shuttle. I was a little freaked out to try it, I don't do too well with spinning things, but I did it anyway. Apparently they even inject cool air halfway through the ride to try to settle people's stomachs. Anyway, that was quite fun, and I, unlike lots of the other people, survived without running to a trash receptacle afterwords. Fear conquered.

After all the exciting things, we went to the World Showcase. There are eleven countries - Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, America, Japan, Morocco, France, The U.K. (mostly England), and Canada. It's so hard to pick a favorite, though Canada was NOT my favorite (they had a nondescript cliche totem pole and not much else) neither was Italy which only showed Venice and nothing of Rome or Pisa. America also was rather boring, with only one plain white building that didn't look like much and nothing else. Mexico was awesome inside, as was China outside and in, Japan was beautiful, and Morocco was probably the most extensive and intricate stop. France was amazing as well, though it was crowded so we didn't get to spend much time there. They have a bookstore, and when we come back I'm going to take look around in there. We went on the Maelstrom ride at Norway and the little one inside Mexico. I was disappointed in the Mexico one however because it was more like an advertisement for The Three Caballeros than a ride about Mexico. I asked one of the worker ladies (they hire only workers from the actual countries which is cool) and she told me with a flat affect that it was like the Spanish version of the Small World ride until a few months back when they changed it. I was disappointed. I was looking forward to Un Mundito, Despues del Todo. I'm aware that was the worst translation ever. I forgot most of my Spanish class. haha

Anyway, yesterday I had another first. We stopped for lunch at a sushi restaurant in Japan, and it was not what I expected at all. It was a lot better, actually, and definitely something I'll try again. I liked the salmon one best. We got fish and chips for dinner at the U.K. stop, and next time we come back to Epcot (I think in 3 days?) we're going to Morocco for lunch and France for dinner at a pastry shop. Should be fun!

So that's my trip update. We're leaving now for the Magic Kingdom. We get to stay in the park until 2 AM because we're staying in a resort hotel. This should be interesting seeing as I was up until 2 AM last night texting Ben. I'll sleep on the monorail. :P