WDW Day 7 Epcot

Our last full day at Disney and we had several things we still wanted to do at Epcot. We tried to get there before the park opened, but it was extremely crowded at the gate and we stood in lines to get our bags checked and go through the turnstiles.

Bryan took all of our cards and raced ahead to Mission: SPACE to get a Fast Pass, but discovered the standby was only 5-10 minutes, so when we caught up with him we all hopped in line for the Green mission. Mission: SPACE simulates a launch, slingshot around the moon, and "hypersleep" before landing on Mars. The Green mission is identical to the Orange mission, but doesn't spin you on the centrifuge to simulate 2.4Gs.

If you are claustrophobic, this is not the ride for you. The pod seats four with a shoulder harness and the front panel comes towards you, forcing you to look straight at the "viewscreen". We loved it, even Brenna! When we came off, we all wanted to ride it again. This time Bryan and Brenna went to the Green ride and Cameron asked if she and I could ride the Orange. (Bad mommy moment, I agreed.)

Oh. My. Gracious. It was INTENSE!!! All of the warnings are spot on accurate. When it first started spinning I felt pressed back in my seat, but then I felt pressure on my chest making it hard to breathe and my vision narrowed. I remember thinking two things: Cameron! and I can't believe I'm going to black out. All the guidebooks and tip pages say don't move your eyes off the screen to avoid motion sickness, but the first thing I tried to do was look at Cameron.

The ride ended and I wasn't sure we would be able to walk away, my legs were wobbly. Cameron looked like she was going to be sick. We sat down for a few minutes on benches lining the hallway leading us out. I insisted that we get outside for fresh cool air and to find Bryan & Brenna, so we did. She sat for a few more minutes, but didn't feel better.

(She's not saluting, she's blocking the sun.) Cameron and I went to a stand and bought two slushy lemonades and two cookies while Bryan & Brenna went to The Land to get two Fast Passes for Soarin'. When they returned, we ate our cookies and waited for Cameron to slowly start to feel better. At last, she stopped asking to go home to the hotel. Suddenly, Brenna got upset about her hands and we noticed that she'd had an allergic reaction to the cookie. This has happened twice before at home and we identified the source as the frozen ready-to-bake cookies sold as a fundraiser by the elementary schools. Whatever the mystery ingredient is, it was in the cookie we'd bought at the stand.

Bryan and Brenna went off for the First Aid station for some Benadryl since we left ours in the hotel room. Cameron & I picked up two Fast Passes for Test Track before meeting Bryan & Brenna.

After thanking the nurses who treated Brenna we headed into the World Showcase to do another Kim Possible adventure. This time we headed to Germany to stop Professor Dementor from using his evil mind-control device to influence world leaders.

The girls loved finding a shady place to watch the clues. We explored all of Germany trying to solve the clues and unlock the secrets like this one with the beer steins.

While writing the blog, I discovered that the Kim Possible Adventure was in a soft opening while we were there, with the official opening January 28.

After our Kim Possible adventure, we toured Italy, watched the Drum & Fife show in America, and settled down for the American Experience show. Then we snacked on a platter of Chicken Shwarma in Morocco before Brenna and I went to ride Soarin', her favorite ride. Bryan and Cameron picked up another Kim Possible kimmunicator to do another adventure in France.

While waiting on Cameron & Bryan, Brenna took this picture of me. We enjoyed our second adventure in France, even though it made us a few minutes late for our dinner reservations at the German Biergarten.

The Biergarten is supposed to feel like a festive Bavarian village during Octoberfest. All of the tables face the stage where at certain times they have a live band playing. A large buffet offers a variety of traditional German food. This was our last sit-down dinner. They sit you at tables for 8 with another family to visit with, but the four adults downing beers didn't even acknowledge our greetings. I had a beer in Germany and it was the best part of the meal. We tasted a little bit of everything, but didn't care for the food very much. Brenna pouted because our seats were in the far corner and it was difficult to see the stage. Cameron loved when the band played the little bells. I liked the long horn.

After dinner we continued our trek around the world, exploring countries and getting the kids' passports stamped. Every country has a Kidcot Fun Stop where kids can color a mask and add a paper tag from that country. A cast member native to that country also stamps their passport and writes them a message in the native language.

In Morocco, one of the cast members gave Cameron a unique experience, a lesson in belly dancing. (Gotta love the costume over her coat.)

I really liked the UK/England stop in the gift shop full of copies of the original Pooh books, Mary Poppins, and Charlie & Lola. Cameron and Brenna showed off their accents (thanks to Harry Potter movies) which the visiting cast member proclaimed gosh darn accurate.

While Cameron & Bryan used their FP to ride Test Track, Brenna and I visited the last two countries: Norway and Mexico.

After we met up with Cameron & Bryan, we took a short cut through one of the larger gift shops. Though we didn't bring home any Mickey ears, we all took turns trying on the hats and taking a few pictures.

Then it was time for one last ride at Epcot: Spaceship Earth, which wound us up through the Epcot ball showing us the development of technology with Dame Judi Dench narrating in our ear. The slow ride "down" was steep and we were practically lying at a 45-degree angle on our backs. Just as we exited, we heard that the fireworks show had just ended, so we quickly exited the park to ride back to the hotel.

In the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge there was a caricature artist each night and Cameron had been begging us for a portrait. This being the last night, we let them do it.

Most nights we were in our hotel room, in bed, by 9:35 p.m. Each night we could hear the music from the Electrical Water Pageant that has been sailing in Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon since October 1971.

On the first night I promised Cameron that one night during our stay I would take her out to see the event. We could only see the first float from our room balcony, though we coudl hear the music loud and clear. While Brenna was having her caricature drawn, Cameron and I walked down to the boat launch and watched the parade, which ended with You're a Grand Old Flag and all of the sea creature/King Triton displays going to the stars and stripes.

And this ended our last night at the Wilderness Lodge. The girls picked out their clothes for tomorrow and packed their carry-on bags. While they fell asleep, Bryan and I packed most of the suitcases.