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WDW 3 – Back in Epcot

December 12, 2007

Somehow we managed to sleep so late on Tuesday that we ended up having to rush to make our lunch reservation in World Showcase, and it was for 2:15. I never thought when we booked it that it would be an issue. But we did get there and got to try the restaurant in the Italy pavilion for the first time. The thing I remember best about our meal at Tutto Italia is the limoncello I had with dessert; it was very strong and not as sweet as I’d hoped.

The best surprise of the day was the movie in Canada. Unbeknownst to the guidebook I read before we came, it’s been updated. It’s much funnier now, and they wisely kept the theme song, doing a new version of it instead of dumping it the way the Imagination song got booted when they updated that attraction the first time. Parts of the old film were incorporated, too, and they blend in quite nicely.

We knew that The Living Seas had been updated; even if we hadn’t before our trip the cartoony additions to the entrance and the name change to The Seas with Nemo & Friends on the sign would have tipped us off. The ride portion at the beginning seemed longer, and there was no movie and no hydrolators. Unfortunately our first time through was somewhat marred by the idiot in the next clamshell taking flash pictures throughout the ride. Dude, those fish are behind glass. Glass your flash is bouncing off of. Good luck with that.

We tried the Candlelight Processional for the first time this trip. This event is hugely popular, and we’ve seen very long lines for it well before performance times, so we booked a dinner package which guaranteed us a seat (though not a good seat, unless we wanted to wait in a slightly less long line than people without the dinner package, which we did not). Having now experienced it, I’m glad we didn’t invest more time in it than we did. It’s a choral concert. One with a full orchestra and a celebrity narrator (we saw Dennis Franz), true, but it didn’t seem to have any special Disney magic about it. Maybe Mr. Karen and I have just seen so many good choirs and orchestras (and church services—this was like Christmas Eve service without a sermon or a collection plate) that this one didn’t stand out. It wasn’t horrible or anything, just not as special as I’d hoped given all the hype.

We ended our day watching Illuminations, snagging a spot close enough to the lagoon that we could feel the heat rolling off the inferno barge. Unfortunately, the magic was diminished by multiple squads of teenaged cheerleaders pushing their way through the crowd during the whole show. Where did all the cheerleaders come from? It was Pop Warner football championship week in Orlando. I didn’t notice a lot of football players around, probably because they blended in. The cheerleaders were easily identifiable by their hairdos, though, adorned as they were with huge bows and high ponytails of curls (sometimes the curls were in curlers covered with a net cap decorated with glitter). I wonder if it would have been better to come the next week—perhaps the lines for the thrill rides would have been a lot shorter.

Next episode: We get a little wobbly.

*****

One year ago today, I had a squirrel in my birdfeeder. The squirrels have long since broken the birdfeeder. I still think they’re cute, though.

Two years ago, I reminisced about April.

Three and four years ago, I was gone skiing.

Five years ago, I was all about window treatments. I like the top-down, bottom-up Levelor blinds we ended up getting. Someday maybe I’ll buy or make valances to complement them and give the rooms a more finished look.




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