An Epcot Afternoon
Right, so Big-B and I were seated saving a table near Mexico overlooking the lagoon while my Mom (Caribbean or Brazilian kiosk?) and Dad (Bratwurst from Germany) got lunch and brought it back. I got some applesauce out for Big-B, and we spotted Grandmum heading our way with her food. I told Big-B he needed to finish his applesauce before she joined us so we could go eat. Then we looked up ... and Grandmum had vanished. Completely. I went out to the main walkway and couldn't find her. I rejoined Big-B. I went back out to the walkway and headed as far as Norway. I couldn't find her, so I rejoined Big-B. Where the heck had she gone? We were getting pretty hungry by now, so I tried to call her, but her cell phone was turned off. I went back out to the walkway and was seriously contemplating my Mother's possible senility at this point. I rejoined Big-B. It had been about 10 minutes at this point since we'd seen her heading our way, and we finally saw my Dad about to arrive. As he joined us, up walked my Mom from the table she'd been sitting at. Somehow, she'd walked right by us without seeing us (despite the fact that we'd all picked out the table together) and had been sitting for 10 minutes at a table about 10 feet past us. Good grief!
They went ahead and started eating while Big-B and I sprinted over to the Belgian kiosk to get him a mini-waffle with berry compote and whipped cream, and then headed back to the Canadian kiosk. I was quite hungry at this point so I ordered one of each of the smallish offerings available (Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup; Maple and Moosehead Beer-Glazed Salmon with Barley Salad; Chicken Chipotle Sausage with Sweet Corn Polenta). I did share the salmon with my Mom! Thus refreshed, we could finally head around to see the world. I was feeling a bit wobbly still, so detoured to the upper area of Canada in search of air conditioning. Turns out they were doing a mini-plush animal hunt in the store there, and we had fun finding all 5, earning Big-B a "Canadian Junior Ranger" sticker. Next stop was UK for my Dad to help Big-B with a Kim Possible adventure. We knew this one involved a bad guy who wanted to turn the world into a giant golf course (note the large golf ball across the lagoon) so we figured Granddad would be interested, if a bit likely to sympathize with the bad guy. ;) Once they saved us all, we headed on around the world, stopping briefly at the International Gateway where Granddad and I checked out a store (and rested a bit) while Big-B and Grandmum actually exited the park briefly to get to the restrooms outside the gate.
Back in the park we stopped and watched the Serveur Amusant balancing act again in France, then made it around to America in time for another performance of the Voices of Liberty. Only about 3 of the performers were the same as the day before, and none of the songs were. Once again, it was a real treat. At this point, my parents went to watch the Taiko drummers in Japan, while Big-B and I headed around to Germany for another Kim Possible adventure. I did rather like the musical beer steins! Anyway, we went back to Italy and met my folks watching the "juggler," Sergei. He was more of a comedian who did stuff with some audience members and soccer balls than someone with a juggling routine, but that's just being picky. Big-B decided he'd rather head back towards Future World than do another Kim Possible, so he turned in his Kimmunicator. We did stop off in Mexico and ride the Gran Fiesta Tour again.
We decided to stop in the Cool Coke zone for a refreshing break then went to revisit Figment again - another ride through Journey into Imagination and the fun things in the Imagination pavilion. After that we headed back to Innoventions West and this time we all did the Piggy Bank adventure, followed by the Smarter Planet exhibit. At some point I think we did the Fire hazard game again, and walked around to look at hte other exhibits. By then we were feeling a bit peckish, so we went over to the Land and ate dinner in the Sunshine Seasons (making sure my Mom didn't get lost!) comparatively diverse and healthy counter service restaurant. We noted that the line for Soarin' was listed at 70 minutes - yipes! Needless to say, we were glad we'd ridden it in the morning, and we did not ride again. We did make time to visit Spaceship Earth for one final time through the ride before saying goodbye to Epcot for a few more years.
They went ahead and started eating while Big-B and I sprinted over to the Belgian kiosk to get him a mini-waffle with berry compote and whipped cream, and then headed back to the Canadian kiosk. I was quite hungry at this point so I ordered one of each of the smallish offerings available (Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup; Maple and Moosehead Beer-Glazed Salmon with Barley Salad; Chicken Chipotle Sausage with Sweet Corn Polenta). I did share the salmon with my Mom! Thus refreshed, we could finally head around to see the world. I was feeling a bit wobbly still, so detoured to the upper area of Canada in search of air conditioning. Turns out they were doing a mini-plush animal hunt in the store there, and we had fun finding all 5, earning Big-B a "Canadian Junior Ranger" sticker. Next stop was UK for my Dad to help Big-B with a Kim Possible adventure. We knew this one involved a bad guy who wanted to turn the world into a giant golf course (note the large golf ball across the lagoon) so we figured Granddad would be interested, if a bit likely to sympathize with the bad guy. ;) Once they saved us all, we headed on around the world, stopping briefly at the International Gateway where Granddad and I checked out a store (and rested a bit) while Big-B and Grandmum actually exited the park briefly to get to the restrooms outside the gate.
Back in the park we stopped and watched the Serveur Amusant balancing act again in France, then made it around to America in time for another performance of the Voices of Liberty. Only about 3 of the performers were the same as the day before, and none of the songs were. Once again, it was a real treat. At this point, my parents went to watch the Taiko drummers in Japan, while Big-B and I headed around to Germany for another Kim Possible adventure. I did rather like the musical beer steins! Anyway, we went back to Italy and met my folks watching the "juggler," Sergei. He was more of a comedian who did stuff with some audience members and soccer balls than someone with a juggling routine, but that's just being picky. Big-B decided he'd rather head back towards Future World than do another Kim Possible, so he turned in his Kimmunicator. We did stop off in Mexico and ride the Gran Fiesta Tour again.
We decided to stop in the Cool Coke zone for a refreshing break then went to revisit Figment again - another ride through Journey into Imagination and the fun things in the Imagination pavilion. After that we headed back to Innoventions West and this time we all did the Piggy Bank adventure, followed by the Smarter Planet exhibit. At some point I think we did the Fire hazard game again, and walked around to look at hte other exhibits. By then we were feeling a bit peckish, so we went over to the Land and ate dinner in the Sunshine Seasons (making sure my Mom didn't get lost!) comparatively diverse and healthy counter service restaurant. We noted that the line for Soarin' was listed at 70 minutes - yipes! Needless to say, we were glad we'd ridden it in the morning, and we did not ride again. We did make time to visit Spaceship Earth for one final time through the ride before saying goodbye to Epcot for a few more years.