Nov 25 - a long day

Not the longest day, but a long day, we left at 8:30 and returned around 11:30. That beats the days that we used to have with the kids going to the Magic Kingdom, but of course that's because the MK fireworks start at 11 pm while Epcot's begin at 9 pm.

It was easy driving both ways. I've discovered that the best route is the route south on I95 and west on 528. The NAV recommends that we drive the hypotenuse route SR 44 & I4 which of course is slightly shorter but goes right through Orlando and always takes longer. I did the driving both because I knew the route and that gave Bill a chance to look at the scenery -- rubberneck as Collette puts it.

I estimate that we saw about 1/4 of Epcot. Here's what we covered:

-- one of the little technology buildings on the way in, I forget what they're called

-- The Living Seas, most of the pavilion although there was another level that was not handicapped accessible

-- The Land, we took the boat ride as they had a boat that Collette's chair could pull onto, eating lunch here too. We did not wait for the show, nor could we take the high-flying thrill-type ride

-- the Circle-vision 360 show at the Canadian pavilion.

-- we watched a drum show at the Japanese pavilion -- this was fascinating -- picture a 6 foot x 10 foot drum, mounted horizontally on a frame, being beaten on both sides by very athletic drummers, with another drummer beating a tympani / kettle drum at the side. This lasted perhaps 20 minutes

-- the Circle-vision 360 show at the Chinese pavilion

-- the boat ride at the Mexican pavilion

-- one of the two shows at the American pavilion

-- dinner at the upscale Bistro restaurant upstairs at the French pavilion

-- Illuminations, the laser / light / fireworks show that more-or-less closes the park.

It doesn't sound like a lot, nor did we ever wait in line. There were a couple of times that we might have stood in line but since Collette was in a chair we were able to use the FastPass line. Having said that though, oftentimes we boarded the ride or watched the show at the same time as people getting into the normal line.

Why do I think that we only saw 1/4 ? Well, we did not see:

-- Spaceship Earth, the big globe at the entrance

-- the technology building on the left side (as you come in)

-- Test Track -- more of a thrill ride, not suitable for Collette anyway

-- several country pavilions, many of which are only browse around / eat around anyway

Most of the buildings have either sidewalk shows or rides. We browsed around, took our time, but didn't wait for the sidewalk shows other than the drums at the Japanese pavilion. If you truly want to see everything you really have to take your time.

When in the China pavilion, we visited the extensive shop, browsing the myriad of goods. I joked that while in any other pavilion we might see things made in China, the only thing that we would see that didn't have a "Made in China" label would be something "Made in Taiwan" -- since China considers Taiwan to be part of its dominion. Sure enough, I found some candy made in Taiwan, proving my point. That's the lighter side. No, I didn't find anything "Made in Tibet" -- of course they would not let something out of the country so-labeled !!

On another note -- I wonder if the makers of the China Circle-Vision 360 movie realize how poignant the view of Tienanmen Square is to many Westerners and of course to many Chinese ? Perhaps over time with the spreading of the billions of Chinese around the world, history will be re-written and future generations will not remember those events in their collective consciousness ? I digress, but with the economic crisis I've been more sensitive to the "Made in China" labels that appear on almost everything that we have or buy. Cars are not really made in USA any more ... they are assembled -- most come from Japanese companies; nothing much comes from Europe -- other than cars !; everything else comes from China, including some of the food we eat or at least the melamine-infused wheat gluten ... hmmm.

Dinner was good. The highlight for me was the mussel/saffron soup. It was way over the top. The rack-of-lamb was ok, the olive risotto was so-so -- really creamy, not what I'm used to. Bill had the same dinner; Sandy had grouper on a bed of leaks & broccoli; Collette had fillet. It was pricey -- with tip it came to $150 per couple. It's not often that we spend that much on dinner -- Jakes in Port Loring and Swiss Chalet are more our style -- so I guess that we can make up for it once a year!

Collette's scooter held out but only by taking advantage of several wall receptacles while we waited for movies to start. In the American show she was able to park the chair on the upper tier plugged in the entire time -- a full half hour of charging which got us through the rest of the evening. There is no way that the batteries would have gotten us through the day without some charging along the way -- contrary to what the rental place said.

That's about it ... perhaps I'm still tired, brain-fried from being with so many people over a long day. Epcot wasn't particularly busy, which was great. I hate crowds. It made me thing again that we might get a season pass one year -- there is one quite inexpensive pass that is Epcot-after-4pm that is little more than the cost of a two visit pass. Over the course of several days, spread out over a season, we could see every show, dine at every restaurant, and probably do some shopping in Orlando at the same time. After all -- it doesn't take much longer to get to Epcot than it takes to get to Sudbury !!

Today ... I don't know. Sandy just got up. We haven't talked about anything other than a possible trip into the Merritt Island wildlife preserve and a drive up to see Daytona Beach. There is also the Kennedy Space Center -- if they are interested in that we might send them off on their own. I take that back -- we would send them off on their own. Bill and I will probably run over to the rental place and pick up Collette's chair and make arrangements for the return of the rental chair. They are closed Thursday through Sunday so special arrangements need to be made for a return on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.