Disney Day 3: Epcot

The next goal to be attained was Mission Space at Epcot. We also wanted to ride Test Track, a goal of Papercup Mixmaster. Epcot was beautiful, and filled with massive space-shaping structures. Much less cluttered with small attractions than the Magic Kingdom style. The downside, is that everything is a long walk from everything else. As the sun finally started to break through the clouds, we encountered Florida Sun for the first time, made soft by the cold New York winters.

That place is huge, and everything in it is huge. We got tired just walking from one ride to another. We get our fastpass for Test Track and go right to Mission Space. We are a little nervous, because caution signs are everywhere. I mean, I didn't think I had trouble with confined spaces, but by the 10th caution sign, I was starting to wonder if I might spontaneously develop a problem. This is one of the brand new rides, and so the line process is much more sophisticated than on the older rides. The idea is, if you make the walkway really long, then people will be mostly walking, and not feel as grumbly as if they are standing still. Also, we are walking through a maze surrounded by cool space stuff, and short video broadcasts preparing us for the mission ahead.

Finally, when we are "on deck" two teams of 3 or 4 line up on designated spots on the floor. Then, as the video is "giving our final briefing" they spotlight each one of us to tell us our job. Wuggie Norple is the Commander, and feels pretty good about this. We each have buttons to push to assure the success of our space mission. As the simulation begins the rocket blasts off into space. Now we are getting used to each "straight up" being followed by "terrifying plunge down" but this one just keeps going, right into space. Eventually there is a problem with the launch and we are forced to go to manual controls. Wuggie Norple yells out instructions to his crew. We land safely. Wuggie Norple is thrilled. We are let out into a "Training Center" that is filled with video games and a climbing gym. I sent a couple you goofy messages from the e-mail message center. We are ready for whatever's next.

For some reason there is also an aquarium in Epcot. This becomes a Nemo attraction, of course. This line starts outside, and there is no fast pass. It is hot now, and the line is moving very slowly. The heat is making us grumpy. The ride is okay, it combines real fish, and movie projections and we head right into the line for Turtle Talk with Crush. We are kind of at the end of our ropes, but it ends up being nice, even though Crush doesn't answer Wuggie's question. We need lunch. We had heard that Norway had good food, and since it was only a mildly long walk, we went for it. Unfortunately, Exploding Poptart was the only one who likes Lefse, and even the live Norwegian music outside could not turn the day around for Wuggie Norple and Papercup Mixmaster.

Fortunately our return route to Future World lead us right through a butterfly garden, which turned out to be Exploding Poptart's favorite part of Epcot. A little butterfly sanctuary that had a quiet peace to it even with one of the sidestreets leading right through it. And, more good luck, there was a playground right next to it, and a set of fountains that shot right up through the ground to help keep those daring enough to run through it wet and cool. We were getting some of our rope back. There were even chairs for parents to sit and enjoy a cool drink. There was a special garden show at Epcot, and they were showing off not only their impressive displays of chemically induced flowers, but also made a number of nods at ecology, including a living dog-house roof, and a water reclamation display. Exploding Poptart pondered the irony, and began noticing the Disney recycle bins all over the parks and at the bus stops, and the "certified green hotel" signs at the hotel. It turns out that something like 30% of Disney World is set aside as open space wetlands. Exploding Poptart was not sure how to feel about the ironic juxtaposition, and decided that ultimately whenever the corporate overlords decide to get on the green bandwagon it is a good thing.

The great disappointment of the day came when we went back to Test Track and found that there were huge lines in the brutal sun, even with Fast Pass. Blerg.

The next part of our plan seemed crazy. We had heard that you could take a boat from Epcot to the restaurant where we had dinner reservations, departing from the "International Port." This seemed crazy and doomed to failure, but in fact we took the first of our lovely ferry rides around the lagoon to the circle of high-rise hotels connected to Epcot. The Swan, where we had gotten reservations because we knew Goofy and Pluto would be hosting, turned out to be very elegant and fancy.

After all the crowds, restaurant almost empty. Pasta Bar! Luxurious mini deserts! Wuggie Norple could get as many helpings of "pasta his way" (plain spaghetti with butter and parmesan cheese) as he wanted. Plus there was a special kids buffet at kid-height with silver lidded containers of chicken nuggets and roni cheese. Plus, Goofy walked us to our table, and Pluto paid a personal visit. This meal serendipitously turns into one of the best parts of our whole trip!

We realized that if we took a boat to Hollywood, we could get the bus home, it would be a shorter commute. We were getting to like this boat thing.

We were exhausted, but mom was a little sad to leave before the famed fireworks display, so she went down to the main beach at the hotel to see if the lifeguard was right, that from just the spot fireworks could be viewed. What a perfect ending to the day, fireworks in a hammock at a private beach. No crowds, no lines. She vowed to bring the family the next night, and everyone turned in early. Wuggie Norple is bright red with sunburn, and we are all exhausted. We decide not to get such an early start in the morning.

Disney Day 2: Hollywood

We start the day waiting for groceries. We had placed an order online before we left NY. We have ordered fruit and yogurt, and the other kinds of things it can be hard to find when you are far from home. We brewed some Ithaca coffee, and breakfasted on bagels and yogurt, and made a late-morning start for our first full day.

Every day starts at he bus stop, where the family of ducks that live in our lagoon ask Papercup Mixmaster for a piece of his orange. (Yes, PM occasionally eats a piece of real fruit.) We are still getting used to waiting for a bus to go everywhere, because we are spoiled car-drivers by habit. By the end of the week, I realized that this Disney bus system is far more reliable than any municipal bus I have ever ridden, or waited vainly for. but this first day it seems like buses are going everywhere except Hollywood Studios which is where we want to go.

We go right to Star Tours, Wuggie Norple's pick for the day. You have to go through the Ewok forest to get there, and there we adopted his new Ewok, Teebo. Expding PopTart and Papercup Mixmaster picked Muppet 3D, which was every bit as charming as going to the Muppet Show in person. Later Wuggie Norple asks "When that guy says 'Everyone else thinks I'm talking to them, but I'm really just talking to you' how does he do that?" We try to explain that 3D looks that way to everyone, but he remains skeptical.

Exploding Poptart's boss mentioned that last time she went to Disney World she went to "the one with all the shows" I realize what she means. Most of what to do here at Hollywood Studios are is some version of sitting and watching. We are not used to this from our brief visit to Disneyland. We are more ride-centered. We are generally not in favor of waiting in any more lines, so we slip into "Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular" standing room only and watch cool acrobats and stunts, and some lame banter by the host. It is still pretty breezy and overcast, but warmer than the day we arrived. We notice that Disney seems to be doing a brisk business in fleecies.

After our lame dinner the night before, we got reservations for "Hollywood and Vine" which had a great buffet and a yummy dinner was had by all. Poor Wuggie was flagging at times. Perhaps the late night the night before and all the walking were catching up to us. We Went home to get ready for "Fantasmic," the famed evening show at Hollywood Studios. We had been warned that seats filled up, and were not interested in another SRO event. So we got there almost an hour early, general admission, like watching a show at shoreline. We read our new Star Wars book ("Last of the Jedi") , ate popcorn, and got a cool Buzz Lightyear toy that spins light-up tenticles and looks really cool in the dark.

The show was the strangest mix of things: Disney meets Las Vegas meets Burning Man. It was a Gesamkunstwerk using live action, lights, fire, puppets, and (most originally) animated projections casting light on huge sheets of spraying water. And for the finale, all your favorite Disney characters riding illuminated boats (like a moat-parade around the stage) and fireworks. We went back to our hotel happy and tired.

Disney Day 1: Arriving

First of all, we love Jet Blue. Direct flight, leg room, TV in every seat. Wuggie Norple watched the map channel the whole way.

Our experience of the famed Disney lines began at the airport waiting for our hotel shuttle, but we also find that the lines move pretty quickly, and everyone is very nice. We realize that there are staff whose only job is to be friendly and answer quetions.

We arrive at our hotel (named "Carribbean Beach Resort" which feels like I'm telling a fib every time I say it, cause of how it's inland and not in the Carribbean, and resort makes me think of rich people). The lines are mercifully short, we are given magic cards which are room key, park ad mission, and credit card. We discover we are "Family of the Day" which means we get a maracca, and our photo is taken in the middle of the hotel entrance with colorful straw hats, and later the photo is delivered to our room with an autographed photo of Micky and Minnie congratulating us.

Our hotel is very spread out, and carefully landscaped with palm trees and hibiscus flowers. There are many separete buildings in the complex, and each “island” has its own pool, playground and sand beach. We realized later on that this hotel is in the suburbs of Disney World. Hotels closer to the action are huge high rise buildings. All these buildings are two stories, with lots of rolling lawns, ponds and gardens (it reminds me a little of the corporate campuses in Mt. View CA) and there is more of commute in to the parks than from other Disney World resorts.

We take the shuttle bus to the building that has the restuarant, food court, gift shop and bar to eat a very late lunch at the only place still open. We resolve not to eat there again.

One of the main selling points of this hotel had been the possibility of boat rental at the dock. Hoping I had not seriously misunderstood, we headed to the dock to investigate. We ended up taking a paddleboat around the whole lagoon, under 2 bridges, while Exploding Poptart obsessively snapped pictures of alll the wetland birds. It was lovely, and a nice way to get to know this place where we would be staying.

Soon it was time to take the bus to Magic Kingdom for the “Spectra Magic” parade. We were impatient with the long wait at the bus stop, and the long bus ride to the Magic Kingdom, but when we arrived, we walked right up Main Street to the castle where a live performance was just beginning, and felt finally we had arrived.

Next we headed right to Tomorrowland to ride Wuggie Norple's top 2 rides: Buzz Lightyear and “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.” We were disppointed to discover that the Pooh ride was not as good as at Disneyland, but more, Wuggie Norple had heard about hidden Mickey's on the Travel channel, and had heard there was one on the Pooh ride, but no luck finding it.

Buzz Lightyear, on the other hand, is GREAT! It's a brand new ride where riders can shoot their laser guns at targets, and the red light coming from the gun really is read by the computer which tallys your score. The middle-seat rider rotates the car too and fro. Also, there were cool graphics and stuff that lights up. We checked out the Monsters Inc show that integrates live audience response with unseen actors voicing computer animations.

We also learned that we love Fast Pass. It lets you choose between "planning ahead" and "waiting in line." If you "plan ahead" you can pick up your magic ticket, and when you come back later, you can go right to the front of the line. That was cool.

As the sunset, people started claiming their spots for the Spectra Magic parade. By the time the parade began, there were huge crowds. Papercup Mixmaster forged out a spot by a fence, Wuggie Norple rode on dads shoulders as much as he can, conducting furiously as the music rose and fell. Exploding Poptart has her usual short-lady partial view, but the huge illuminated floats in the parade are still wonderful to behold.

Dog is 10

Today is Dog's 10th Birthday!
We so lucky to have such an easy-going, sweet, fun dog in our family.
Happy Birthday Dog!

Teaser

Our time in Disney world was fun, tiring, overwhelming, exciting, crowded and lovely. We had no access to WiFi, so now that we are home we will have to compose our thoughts and look through the 1000 photos Exploding Poptart took to share only the best with you.

In the mean time, here are our top 10 things from Disney World:
Mission Space (Wuggie's Favorite)
Dinner at the Swan with Pluto, Goofy and Pasta Your Way
Muppets 3D
Buzz Light Year's Space Ranger Spin
Free Arcade Game night
Paddle boats in our hotel lagoon
Crazy looking birds
Fireworks at Epcot

More to come!

Another Grand Adventure

Tomorrow Wuggie Norple and his family depart on our biggest adventure of the year. We are going to Disney World! After last years journey of 3000 miles from California to New York through the wilds of North Dakota and the back woods of Canada, we are thrilled to be leaving our car behind this time, and to be staying in one place for a whole week. For today, however, we are all a little anxious. We have stopped fretting over our worries about selling out to our corporate overlords, and the fact that all the lunches with Winnie the Pooh were booked months ago and right now I (the mom) am anxious about packing the exact right thing for every occasion. Wuggie Norple is worried about finding foods he can eat in the wilds of Disney, and Dad is worried about how he is going to stand the waiting until we leave for Syracuse tomorrow night.

Wuggie wants you to know, however, that he is very excited about the rides, and about the secrets he has learned from his research, and about the hidden Mickies.

We will try to stay in touch throughout our journey. They have Wifi in Florida, right?

The Strike X-2

The Strike X-2

The Strike X-2 uses alien technology to create a hybrid ship for deep space exploration. Alien crystal power allows humans to travel deeper into space than ever before.

Crew

• Pilot (forward compartment), controls the engines and navigation.
• Gunner/Droid Operator (middle compartment), controls weapon systems and launches droids.

The crew stays in the ship at all times for safety .

Engines

• Alien rotary drive for deep space missions (rear)

Alien crystal fuel generators (throughout the ship)

Weapons

• Forward laser cannons
• Rotating center backfire missiles
• Tractor beam offshooters (one on each wing)
• Super-dynamic rocket missiles (left side)
• Side shooter and super blasters (right side)
• Enemy weapon systems disabler (right side)

All weapons powered by alien crystals

Droids

• Two servo-droids can be launched from the rear cargo compartment
• Droid-1 has a power gun
• Droid-2 has an alien thermal detonator

Droids can also be used for exploring outside the ship, while the crew remains safely inside.