Day 5: Epcot Revisited

Another of the key differences between Disneyland and Disney World is the multitude of food-based offerings in Orlando, as opposed to Anaheim. At Disneyland, there are--including the hotels--maybe a dozen or so "sit-down" type of restaurants. Most food offerings are from quick-service eateries or assorted carts sprinked around the resort. 

Florida is just a wee bit different. Here, high-class dining is taken very seriously and many people come to the Disney compound solely to eat. This is why, despite exponentially more sit-down restaurants on property, in order to eat in many of the more popular establishments, reservations need to be made months in advance, as opposed to Disneyland, where one can often make a reservation for a restaurant on the very day of visit.

All of this to explain why we were returning to Epcot, despite having not stepped foot on the grounds of Disney's Hollywood Studios, if that is what they are calling it this week.

We had reservations at, quite possibly, my favorite restaurant at Walt Disney World, "Le Cellier," in the Canada pavilion of World Showcase. Unfortunately, I did not make our advanced dining reservations as advanced as I probably should have, and the only times that were available during our stay were for lunch on the fifth day. Ah well. Epcot is our favorite park anyway.

We were roused from our slumber far too early (hey, this vacationing stuff is rough!) headed down to the bakery for our complimentary hot chocolate and continued on to the International Gateway.

Sipping the hot chocolate we made our way all the way through World Showcase, with our initial destination being "The Land" pavilion. We were so enthralled by the "Living With the Land" and the comments from friends who had experienced it, that we booked ourselves into the "Behind the Seeds" tour of the Epcot greenhouses, many of which can be viewed directly from the boats of "Living with the Land." We got into the first tour of the day, which would commence in about an hour or so.

Hmmm. What could we ever find to do with an hour to kill, and World Showcase still closed? Hmmm. Oh yeah! We could walk mere steps from "The Land" to the "Imagination Institute" to see my friend, Figment, again--and actually ride "Journey into your Imagination!"

I had only experienced this attraction several years ago, when Disney decided to cut Figment and Dreamfinder from the ride, much to the anger and disappointment of many MANY Disney fans. Luckily, Disney wised up and re-added Figment and I couldn't wait to see him.

 

The attraction was a lot of fun, with all sorts of optical illusions and other mind tricks throughout. I found it to be quite charming and definitely something to do again. Obviously, it was a dark ride aimed at children, but I feel that it was something adults could--and I did!--enjoy as well.

Leaving the ride we noticed that poor Figment looked lonely in his meet and greet,

so we decided to remedy that situation immediately!

Also, I finally got that Figment hug that I had been offended at being rebuffed at my first attempt, days earlier.

It was about time to get ready for our tour, so we bid Figment farewell and headed back to "The Land." We were the last to arrive for the tour, so we took our nametags and joined the group. 

We were quite excited about the tour and we were not disappointed. Our guide, James, was quite knowledgeable and adept at mixing a lot of information with entertainment. There was ample time to ask questions and they were all answered satisfactorily. Apparently I got more out of the tour than I realized, since at the conclusion, an older gentleman asked if Lauren and I were involved in agriculture, since the questions we were asking were so in-depth.

Also, in addition to the standard produce being grown in the greenhouses, there was a bit of bio-farming going on. We got to see tanks of baby alligators and eels, in addition to huge tanks of fish that we all got to feed and watch the frenzy that ensued. Suffice it to say that I now truly know what a feeding frenzy means.

Another cool thing about the tour was the fact that a majority of the things that are grown in the greenhouses will find their way to many of the restaurants throughout Epcot, and on to guest's plates. Not mine--I don't like doing the "green food" thing, but some lucky person's.

The tour took around an hour, and we stopped and chatted with James a bit, only to find out that he is originally from Whittier--mere minutes from our homestead. I've said it before, I'll say it again. "it's a small world, after all."

We left the pavilion in high spirits and headed to "The Seas with Nemo and friends," to experience Florida's version of "Finding Nemo."

The queue was more detailed than the queue in Anaheim, namely because there was ANY theme at all. In Florida, guests are led along a beach at sunset and eventually "underwater." In Anaheim, guests stand next to metal poles--maybe an umbrella if it is really hot. Point, Florida!

However, the actual ride goes hands down to Anaheim. There is actual water and submarines in Anaheim. In Florida, only "Clam-mobiles." The one aspect that was pretty neat was the fact that there was real sea life within the show scenes, so the characters from the film were "interacting" with real live fish and things. That was a neat effect.

Following the ride, riders are dumped into an educational area where Nemo and his friends help teach about marine biology--and also where "Turtle Talk with Crush" is located.

Lauren made a new friend too.

We spent a bit of time looking at the actual clownfish and blue tangs, but there were a lot of pushy little kids, so we left and realized that we both felt a bit parched.

Now, where does one go, when one needs a quick liquid pickup in Futureworld? Why, to Coca-Cola's Ice Station Cool, of course. In this lovely building anyone can get several free samples of some of Coca-Cola's international beverages. We enjoyed most of them. I encouraged Lauren to try to wonderful "Beverly" drink from Italy.

 

Suffice it to say that I was not a very popular fellow after that little trick. In addition to the Beverly, there is also a watermelon-flavored drink from China, a lemon drink from Israel, a lychee drink from Thailand, a healthy vitamin-laden Vegibeta from Japan, a fruity punch-style drink from Costa Rica, an orange and Coke mixture from Germany, a ginger ale from Mozambique and an apple drink from Mexico. All were delicious, and I don't know if maybe my taste buds are going, but I actually kind of enjoyed the Beverly. In fact, I had a second glass full. In addition to the free soda, the store was filled with all sorts of American Idol junk. Hooray for synergy.

Following our soda sampling, we headed to Innoventions which seemed to have a lot more to do than the Innoventions at Disneyland. At the one in Disneyland, it seems that the point of the thing is to showcase a limited selection of the Disney websites aimed at kids. At Innoventions in Florida, it is still clearly aimed at a younger demographic than either Lauren or I encompass, but there is still stuff to do. I liked the Florida version much better than the one that I am used to, back home. It's a great way to kill some time. I was going to build a robot, but there was a long line and it was a 20+ minute process. Oh well, gotta save something for next time.

We still had a little bit of time before it was time for lunch, so we wandered over to the Mexico pavilion to try and track down someone that I had been seeking for quite some time. As we entered the marketplace, there he was! Senor Donald, from the Three Caballeros!

After a brief wait, it was our turn. Luckily there was a Photopass photographer there, as well as the character handler who took pictures with my camera. It was great. Also, the handler informed me that Jose Carioca and Panchito Pistoles would be returning this fall to join Senor Donald. That was all the invitation I needed to ensure that there would indeed be a return trip in the not-too-distant future.

We looked around the marketplace for Three Caballeros merchandise, preferably a vintage-style T-shirt but the only thing they had was a kid's shirt with the name of the attraction on it. No thanks!

Before we knew it, the time was almost right for our reservations at Le Cellier.

We slowly made our way over and arrived right on time. Our Canadian hosts were very friendly and talked with us as we waited for our table to be ready. As we were sitting in the lobby, a family walked in and asked if there were any tables available, either for that day or one of the next few. The host looked at him and stated that there were no tables available until mid-March. This occured in late January. Quite a popular place to be!

We were seated in a timely manner and were brought out the delicious breadsticks--2 sourdough, 2 wheat and...two pretzel. These were said to represent the various regions of Canada. The pretzel bread is one of my favorite things in all of Disney World. In fact, I was able to get the waitress to wrap up a few for me in tin foil, and they served as a nice treat back at the room.

For an appetizer, I ordered the wonderful cheese soup, and it was delicious as always. I have a Disney cookbook with the recipe and I cannot wait to try it! Lauren had a mango-cranberry smoothie that she seemed to enjoy a great deal. We both ordered the 5 oz. filet mignon, which came with a cherry sauce and mashed sweet potatoes. This was quite possibly the best meal I ate all week. The steak was perfect and the cherry sauce was the ideal topper for the mashed sweet potatoes. Even Lauren, who claimed to not like sweet potatoes ate a lot of hers. Then, to top it off, we decided to forgo the popular moose-shaped mousse, in favor of something called Campfire S'mores. It seemed to be marshmallows covered in sprinkles on a dowel and some fruit dessert sauces. It was wonderful. I think quite literally that all of my dishes were licked clean. 

The only bad thing about Le Cellier is the small size of the restaurant. It feels like an exclusive steakhouse, which is great once you are seated...I just worry about getting a table next time!

Following our feast, we figured that we owed our host country some gratitude, so we enjoyed "O! Canada," newly revamped to feature Martin Short as your host and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very entertaining, and it rekindled my desire to revisit Canada and maybe actually spend some time there. I think it sparked Lauren as well.

Following the film, we began another tour of the world, making it to France right in time to see Marie, from the Aristocats, Lauren's favorite movie, walk backstage. We knew that she would be back in a few minutes, so we bided our time by the French perfume garden, relaxing, and Marie returned, right on schedule.

No sooner had we bid Marie "adieu" than who should we stumble across, but both Belle and the Beast, from Lauren's other favorite movie, Beauty and the Beast. Of course, we hopped in line to get our photos with them as well.

Following that photo-op, we headed to Italy for a bit more exploration, when who should we find, but the World Showcase players from the other day, about to conduct a performance of "Romeo and Edna." I wanted to be selected to participate in the show, but despite my rouge-ish good looks and pithy remarks, I was to be shut out. 

The show was amusing with lots of audience participation, and a lot of yelling, which I love to do. Any excuse to yell, I always say...or yell, as it were. 

Following the show, we did get our chance to spend a bit of time poking through the shops. Lauren found a fizzy fruit candy that she really enjoyed and we have been seeking since our return. Thus far, no luck.

We stopped i China to try their other uniquely flavored ice cream, carmel ginger. It was, in a word, interesting. Flavor-wise, I certainly enjoyed it. However, to achieve that flavor, there were several pieces of ginger throughout the ice cream. I can't handle that.

To remedy that unpleasant experience, Lauren needed another helping of the strawberry jam waffles from Norway. I did NOT have any more lefse. Also, unless I am mistaken, we did not have a Norwegian with a bad attitude this time. Too little, too late, Norway! I still wanted something delicious to snack on, though.   

Another treat that we had heard of was a delicious drink in Mexico called "Conga Juice." It was a combination of pineapple, lime and orange juices and was incredible. We knew that the British Invasion, Beatles cover band, was to be playing soon, so we took over our Conga Juice and Lauren grabbed some chips from the fish and chips stand, while I staked out seats, right up in front for the show. The chips doused in vinegar alongside the Conga Juice were quite a treat and to be enjoying those things while watching reasonable facsimiles of the Fab Four, well, I tell ya. Things don't get too much better than that!

As the show ended, I was able to get a picture with the John Lennon character and we went over to Futureworld.

We found Spaceship Earth had a nice short line, so we hopped in line, with the hopes of getting some good pictures inside. That was a task, easier said than done. The atmospheric lighting within the scenes made it difficult, even with my ISO at the maximum allowed by my camera.

Oh well, I just need to get some better lenses and try again! However, with a little post-production, some of the pictures became usable.

This is still a great ride and I always enjoy experiencing it. As previously stated, I even enjoy the new ending. We enjoyed ourselves and as we exited, suddenly realized how tired we were.

We headed to the "Imagination" pavilion to get some photos with us and the fountain.

Since we were so darn close--and it was kind of, sort of on our way out, we stopped in to visit my pal, Figment again. This time, Lauren took a ride-through video of the attraction, while I took the still pictures. 

It was as good as I had remembered it, from almost twelve hours prior! We were pretty beat at this point. Although we had previously discussed returning to Maelstrom, we decided to just call it a day. We did, however, stop in at the UK pavilion and get a few more snacks. Toffos, crisps and shortbread all made their way back to the room, in addition to my delicious pretzel bread. We uploaded pictures and video to Lauren's laptop and went to bed nice and early, in order to be well rested and hopefully not sore for the Studios the following day.