On the third morning of our trip, Benji had a surprise visitor. When he woke up there was a new Mickey Mouse in bed with him! Mickey was a perfect souvenir to go along with the Mickey Mouse ears and he quickly became a new best friend. Even now after the trip is over, Benji sleeps with Mickey every night and talks about how much he loves Mickey.
But, when it was time to go to the parks and leave Mickey behind, there were no arguments. After all, who would choose Mickey over more rides? So we went off to Epcot.
At the entrance to Epcot they play a variety of music to set the mood. Among those songs are the theme songs to some of the attractions. This morning they were playing the music from Soarin' as we walked under Spaceship Earth. I don't think Matthew or I noticed it at all, but Benji got very excited and wanted to go immediately to Soarin'. So we sent Daddy to get fastpasses while Benji and I took a ride on Nemo and saw Turtle Talk.
By that time we needed to head over to the Coral Reef for our lunch reservation. Unfortunately we didn't get a seat by the fish tank, but we still had a nice meal. My favorite part had to have been dessert. Matthew and I split the Wave, a chocolate lava cake. Yummy!! It also had a few Mickey sprinkles for garnish and Benji just loved those. We got Benji his own dessert — a make-your-own sundae. He loved it last time and he loved it again. In the process of making and eating his sundae, he got chocolate sauce all over his face. So I told him if he were a Mr. Men book he would be Mr. Chocolate Face. He loved that thought! Now I just need to think of a good storyline for Mr. Chocolate Face.
At the tail end of lunch our window for more fastpasses opened up so Matthew ran over to Soarin' to get another set. Then we all headed over to Nemo and Turtle Talk again. Every time we go he very much wants to talk to Crush during the show and he's never been called on. But after the show was over and the theater was emptying the cast member was asking the straggler kids if they wanted to talk to Crush. So Benji said "hello" into the microphone and he seemed pretty happy about being able to talk to Crush.
By this time our first fastpasses to Soarin' were valid so we had our first thrill ride of the day. Benji loved it as much as ever! Then we had to wait for the next fastpasses. We headed over to Innoventions where we played the "What's Your Problem?" game show again. There were more kids than last time, so Benji had to play with a "team" but he had a blast again! While in Innoventions, we visited Mickey for photos again and played with some of the displays and computer kiosks.
We tend to spend very little time in the World Showcase on our Epcot visits but Matthew and I keep saying we want to do more of that. So we headed to the left side of the Showcase where we tend to spend almost no time. We tried out the boat ride in Mexico where they had recently added Donald and the Three Caballeros to an existing boat ride. It was kind of cute, but not thrilling enough for Benji. I did like the general atmosphere within the Mexico pavilion and may have to go back there sometime for the restaurant. We took a quick stop at Norway thinking we could just walk on to the Malestrom boat ride, but it was a 30 minute wait. Benji was quite angry, but that ride is definitely not worth a 30 minute wait. So we continued walking around the World Showcase Lagoon and eventually stopped for dinner. I walked a bit further to pick up dinner at the France pavilion. They had a delicious little ham and cheese croissant and a creme brulee. The sandwich was the biggest bargain in the park at only $3.25 and so tasty, too.
After dinner it was time for that sweet spot of the day for thrill ride riding. We rode Soarin' twice, Test Track twice, and Soarin' yet again. Test Track is another 40 inch ride and definitely more thrilling than Soarin' so we have to be more careful and hold onto Benji during a few parts (so his head doesn't bounce back against the seat strangely). There's a part inside the building where your "car" is put through its paces on various tests, such as a steep incline, bumpy pavement, and stopping with and without antilock brakes. Then you go outside for a 65 mph figure-eight around the building. It's the fastest ride in any Disney park, but it's actually only as fast as going on a highway in a convertible. Still, Benji screamed with laughter and joy with the wind in his hair. He loved it!
i sincerely do not know what you are doing here. are you lost? were you
looking for your delicate calico cat, and did you follow her up two flights of stairs
to this room? she is not here. she was here, yes. we gave her a warm bowl of milk, we talked with her about campaign finance reform for a time, and then she bid us good day. i believe she was
going to the post office two blocks down, but i don't quite recall.
for surely you did
not find your way from prinsiana, the least traveled site on
the internet. if you did, though, perhaps you are looking for humor. perhaps you are looking for profundity. perhaps you are looking for answers.
i'm sorry, but you shall go naught-for-three.
