Part 5

I am a big dork.  For some reason, I didn’t take any notes about what happened today, so I’m relying on my eighty zillion pictures from the day to get me through!

Today it the day for the Hidden Treasures of the World Showcase tour!  I’ve done two WDW tours before (Keys to the Kingdom and Backstage Safari), and I’d eventually love to do them all, but two per trip seems like enough to me, so this trip it’s this one and Wild By Design at AK later this week. 

We were told to meet up for the tour outside Guest Relations at Epcot, which is apparently where all of the tours meet, because the Yuletide Fantasy people as well as two other tours (Which I can’t remember at all right now) were there, too.  I was on the 9am tour for HT (Typing out Hidden blah blah takes way too long), so we ended up going in the park just a minute before the rest of the crowd. 

We started the tour by going to the area near Fountainview Cafe in with a bunch of giant black and white photos detailing the history of Walt and WDW.  I’m sure that whatever was discussed in here was fascinating, but I was way too anxious to get into the WS to really take any of it in!  After about ten minutes or so here, we set off for Canada.  Since the WS didn’t open for another hour or so, we got to enjoy the lack of crowds, but it didn’t click in my head that no crowds = good photo opportunities until somewhere in France, so sorry for the lack of Canada and UK photos!  In Canada, we walked all the way to the back, where I had actually never been before, to look at the mountains.  After getting a good idea of what they looked like from the front, we slipped through a door that led backstage, and got to see them from behind!  I don’t want to spoil it for those who like to keep the magic in tact, so I’ll just say that it wasn’t at all what I expected!

In the UK, we stopped to look at the herb garden outside the tea shop, and the tour guide (I feel so awful for forgetting her name!  I can tell you, however, that she was a photographer that teaches at the Disney Institute, and has a degree in psychology.  I’m so good with remembering *stuff* about people, but awful about their names!)  showed us how you can squeeze the leaf of an herb to really get the smell of it.  (Keep this herb garden in mind for later in the trip, by the way!)  I really wish I could remember more of what we learned about the UK pavilion, since it’s one of my favorite countries, but I guess this is what I get for not taking notes!

In France, I finally got to see the artist’s easel with the painting near the water, and also finally figured out that taking photos with no crowds is fun, and thus I present this crooked, off-center photo of France.  Let’s just call my photography technique here “artsy”, shall we?

In Morocco, the unintended star of the show was this squirrel, who was perched atop the Tangerine Café sign (Kind of hard to see, I know, but if you squint, you can see his tail sticking out over the top of the sign, and make the rest of him out from there). 

The thing is, this sign is suspended from the side of the building, so we couldn’t figure out how he got up there!  Apparently, neither could he, because he seemed to be searching for a way off!  Finally, after a few trapeze artist-like maneuvers that kept us all enthralled with him, he climbed down the side of the building, Spiderman style! 

We were in Morocco when they background music and sounds for WS were finally turned on, which made me realize what a difference those things make!  The whole area felt weird enough with no crowds, but the lack of music made it feel so incomplete!  I guess that half of what makes WS so great is the whole big hodgepodge of sounds and people and performers and music that you don’t appreciate until they’re gone!

Germany was up next, and as we were stopped outside a store, I noticed this stein in the window- that’s a model of Neuschwanstien in there- the castle the Walt modeled Cinderella’s castle after! 

Since I really can’t remember much of what went on, I think I’m just going to post photos with a few notes in between for most of the rest of the tour.

China:

We learned the differences between Chinese and Japanese water gardens.  I love this picture, with the CM working and the reflections of the buildings on the water. 

The Temple of Heaven.  Is it just me, or is the temple kind of crooked?

For comparison, here’s a link to a photo of the real Temple of Heaven in China. 

http://www.alexandervandergraaf.nl/Welkom/Landen/China/China%20-%20Temple%20of%20Heaven.jpg

The ceiling inside the Temple.  Despite all my trips to Epcot, this was my first time to go inside!  You can see the Imperial Dragon, as well as phoenixes on the ceiling.

I love how this photo turned out all silhouetted.  Taken from inside the Temple looking towards the door- that’s one of the Chinese CM’s in the middle.

Our tour group listening as the guide told us about the temple.  If you stand in the middle and talk, you can feel the vibrations of your voice come back to you. 

I don’t have any photos of Norway for this part, but I really liked the Stave Church.  I’d been in before, but never really understood the history.  The church is kind of a mix of the old Viking pagan influences (thus all the animal carvings in the design), and the new Christianity.  I really felt connected to this church.  I also overheard the cutest conversation between a boy of about five and his mom in here, while he was looking at a carving of Jesus on the cross.

“Hey mom?  Is that Jesus, or is that their god?”

“It’s Jesus.”

“Oh, good.”

Little kids on religion- always cute!  I’m actually pretty impressed that a kid that little understood the concept of there being religions other than his own, though! 

I’ll also add in a note here that if you do tours that are big on walking like this one, BRING WATER.  We had lots of bathroom breaks where I had a chance to stop at the water fountain, but I had forgotten to bring a bottle of water, so by Norway, I was so thirsty that I actually asked if we could take a quick break while I bought a bottle.  So, I’ll repeat- Bring Water!  Those tiny bottles you can get in WDW vending machines that are about half the size of regular bottles are perfect for carrying around the park with you, since they weigh so much less.  Too bad I didn’t keep the one I paid $2.50 for on my first night!

Anyway, back to culture and stuff.

Mexico:

After exploring the outside of the pyramid in Mexico, we saw a few things in the first area inside (Finally got to see the displays where the backgrounds change, too!), and then the tour ended.  I snapped a few pictures of the indoor marketplace while we talked about it at the very end of the tour.

So, why is it always nighttime in the market?  First of all, it makes the volcano look really cool.  Second, if we were really in Mexico, people would be off at siesta during the middle of the day, and the marketplace would close down.  Therefore, it’s always night so that no siesta is needed!

I went back out to see the Mexican carvings in the first room.  The carvers believe that there is a spirit in the wood, and by carving it into it’s desired shape, they free the spirit.  The carvings are all of fantastical animals, and I absolutely fell in love with them! 

I really wanted to get one, but the little mouse that was only about two inches long (the smallest) was $22, which was a little out of my budget.  The larger ones are a little more reasonable in price compared to their size, and now I really wish that I’d just put myself in more debt and bought one (Especially when you hear what happened with my finances when I got home!).  Next trip I need to budget fifty million dollars to spend on these guys- they’re all so cool!  I focused on my favorites in these pictures, but now that I look back at them, I keep seeing others in the background that are just as neat!

After some time in the Mexican pavilion, I was *starving*, so I went off to the Land to get my favorite strawberry cheesecake.  It comes with half a strawberry on top, so that totally makes it healthy, right?

Just grab your favorite dessert, I’m sure you’re worn out from reading this far, too!

While I was sitting eating my cheesecake, I noticed that the big hot air balloons were missing from the ceiling!

I’m guessing they were down because of the construction going on for Soarin, but it seemed so weird without them!

I really wanted to do more Epcot, because I was in such an Epcotty mood by now (not to mention that it’s my favorite park, and this was my first visit here this trip), but I was so tired, so I figured I’d better start heading for the front of the park.  It’s so frustrating to be all mentally charged and ready to go, but physically exhausted. 

Overheard from a woman heading towards the World Showcase as I left- “Hey, Susan, come with me!”

Susan: “Why?”

“So we can BUY things!”

On my way out of the park, I decided that I should stop in Innoventions to send a postcard home.  My feet could stand a little more walking, right?  After sending one of the “Remember to feed my fish!” ones to my mom, who was left at home in charge of feeding the fish, I aimed for the exit again.  But wait!  Look at these cool statues at Art of Disney!  Maybe I’ll just pop in there for a minute…

I wish I had a photo of the Figment one- they were awesome!  Art of Disney also has the coolest postcards EVER, which they should be, since they’re $1 each!  Here are a couple that I picked up:

Now, time to get out of Epcot!  But wait!  There’s no line for SSE!  And sitting down sounds really nice about now…

I have to preface this by saying that I have NEVER fallen asleep on a ride (The “briefing room” movie at Living Seas SO does not count).  However, after so much of this hard work called vacation, I hopped in my SSE “time machine”, and something about the darkness, the music, the seat tilting back a little, and oh yes, that wonderful voice of Jeremy Irons, I was ready to just ask the ride operators if they would let me stay on for an hour or so to rest up.  (I forgot how much I love Irons’s voice!  They better not replace the voice track again.  Unless it’s with Alan Rickman…but I digress.)

“So, Crystal!  You bought that fancy new video camera with nightvision so that you could record some of the dark rides!  Did you capture the Iro…err, SSE?”  Nope.  I was a big dork and hardly videotaped at all on this trip, even though I’d just bought the new camcorder just for this purpose.  I do have a few nifty videos to share, but I got home and discovered that my computer doesn’t have a firewire card, so unless you want the poor-quality transfers that I get with USB, they’ll have to wait.  I did, however, manage to snap these two photos (no flash, I was a good girl) when SSE stopped for a minute:

SSE behind me, I was finally ready to exit the park for my afternoon break.  Nap time!

Overheard as I exited the park:

“Do they still have that Tapestry parade?”

“Yeah, it’s at 3:00.”

(Doh!)

My afternoon break was uneventful- bus back to WL, where I had a pizza from Forks while watching soap operas from the 70’s on the Soap network.  Let's make this an interactive trip report!  Go make yourself a sandwich, and then lay down for a few minutes.  I'll wait.

Done?  Feel better?  Okay, back on the Epcot bus!  And...

We’re baaack!

  Since I’d been in WS all morning, it was time for some Future World, so off to the Living Seas!

The first thing I always do at LS is to go check on my favorite fish, “Later” (long story).  So, as soon as I got there, I went towards where he usually is, only to find that it had been totally redone in a Finding Nemo theme, and Later was nowhere to be found!  I searched the whole pavilion, but no favorite fish!  I wonder what they did with the fish that they replaced with the new Nemo fish?  I just want to know that Later is okay!

I did, however, find this guy:

And apparently, so did his dad!

And look, there’s Dory, too!

(Dory is kind of blurry, because she just kept swimming, just kept swimming…)

I was getting ready to leave Living Seas when a CM announced that Turtle Talk With Crush was starting in a minute, and there were still seats left.  I had been reading about the sneak previews of this on the DIS just before I left, but I had no idea it was actually open!

The show is obviously geared towards kids, but I think I laughed more during this ten minutes than any other time on the trip, except for Epcot with Katie, which you’ll read about later on.  If you haven’t been yet, everyone sits in a little theater, with the kids sitting on the floor up front, and they get to take turns asking Crush (who is up on the screen, and responds in real time, which I have no idea how they do), questions about turtles.  So, the kids are asking what turtles like to do, what kind of turtle Crush is, etc, when it’s a tiny little boy’s turn- I’d guess he was about three?  So the CM hands him the microphone to ask his question, and he takes a deep breath and asks…

“Wu ma flaba damba erma egooo ba ba na na la go go?” 

Insert funniest facial expression I have ever seen on a turtle here.  Crush stares at the kid in absolute bewildered silence for a good ten seconds, which I spent trying not to fall off my seat I was laughing so hard.  Crush finally said something, which I can’t remember, because nothing could possibly hold a candle to that face. 

While I was under the sea, it became night at Epcot!

Is there anything better than Epcot at night?  Okay, maybe Epcot at night with Orlando Bloom and Hugh Jackman and a bunch of Cadbury crème eggs.  But other than that? 

My notes at this point say “Beer!”  I have no idea what that’s about. 

I decided to go back through the World Showcase- I went CRAZY not being able to shop in there during the tour!  I was on a mission this trip to buy MoRockin (the band with the bellydancer)’s cd in Morocco to take back to my bellydance class at home. 

I love the World Showcase at night.  Everything is so beautiful all lit up!  Check out this cool window display in France:

And the City of Lights itself

Some more Epcot at Night photos-

I have no idea what these rodents are, but I really want the one that’s knitting!  They were in a window display in Japan.

There were HUGE floodlights set up over Italy, which made getting photos impossible!  Still kind of pretty, though!

Looking in a window in China

I really wanted to see MoRockin, so I sat out in front of their stage for about five minutes before the show started-  I was the only one there up until about thirty seconds before the show!  Since I’ve only been bellydancing for about a year, it was weird to watch the dancer and instead of thinking “Ooh, she’s so cool!” to think “Hey, I can do that!”  I was amazed when the band even played a song that I actually knew!  There are only so many Arabic songs that I’m familiar with- small world! 

There was a group of high school girls standing behind me, and during one of the dancer’s parts, one of them ran up and stood in front of the stage to do her version of bellydance, pretty much blocking out what the actual dancer was doing behind her.  If it had been me performing, I would have been ticked off, and from her expression at first, I’m guessing that the dancer was, but she instead pulled the girl that had run up and a few others from her group up on stage and made them dance!  They apparently thought very highly of themselves, but their version of Arabic dance looked more like they were auditioning to be strippers.  Bleh! 

After the show, I went over to the little shop next to the stage to buy the CD and the DVD.  Now I regret only getting the one cd, because the other one has the song that I knew on it!  Note for next time: Buy More Stuff!

Speaking of Buying Stuff, in keeping with my stupidity of not taking notes today, I also can’t find any of the day’s receipts, so I have no idea what I bought while I was doing my little night trip around WS.  Oops!

Having walked around the entire world twice in one day (Beat that, HG Wells!), I was worn out and ready to go back to my Lodge!  I stopped near the exit to watch an adorable little girl playing on the light-up sidewalks.  I love how she turned out as a blur in this photo- growing up too fast. 

I took the monorail to the TTC, and the WL bus from there, but the bus didn’t get very far before it started going v e r y    s  l   o    w.  By the time we got to the entrance to WL, it was only moving about 5mph, and then it died about a hundred feet from the bus stop!  Good thing that WL is just across the street from the TTC, or we probably would have had to change busses!

Big Stitch at the TTC in celebration of the new Stitch attraction.

I love coming home to this place after a day in the parks.  I love how the lobby is like a huge public house, or someone’s giant living room.  It’s always abuzz with activity that suits the time of day.  Stories are traded around the fire, friends sip wine from their comfortable chairs, and a cacophony of voices spills out of the Whispering Canyon Café, evidence of the fun being had inside.  I love it here so much that I almost I wish I were staying here the whole trip.  (Quite the confession for a notorious resort hopper!)

I adore the fatigue after this kind of day.  My feet are sore, my stomach is empty, and my head is full of memories of the day.  I plopped down on one of the sofas near the fireplace in the lobby to soak up the atmosphere for a few minutes, and then picked up my usual Lodge meal (pepperoni pizza, milk, and a brownie.  Please don’t ask how many of those brownies I ate in my two nights here!), and went off to my room to sleep.

Tomorrow is supposed to be my lazy day- sleeping in, check out of WL, and maybe spend a few hours at MGM.  We’ll see how that plan goes!

Took this picture of my sewing kit on my desk- hidden Mickeys are everywhere around here!