Family Reunion (Day Two)

We chose to do Epcot on the same day we had reservations to do Disney’s Candlelight Processional. The Candlelight Processional takes place at the American Pavilion Amphitheater in Epcot.

When J-Dawg was in high school, her choir performed at the Candlelight Processional. This is the second time we’ve gone as a family.

We always do the dinner package because that is the only way to get guaranteed seats for the show. Monster just turned three in October, so J-Dawg booked reservations at Tutto Italia at 4 (ish) so we could go to the 6 (ish) show, and hopefully avoid a toddler meltdown due to being out way too late.

When we got to the park, we headed straight for Soarin’ for fast passes. While waiting for our fast pass time, we rode Living with the Land. I love this ride, even if I can never get its name right. I call it The Land ride. This ride is so neat, but there is no use trying to explain it to someone. If they ask, say, “Just ride it.” I tried explaining it to Marina, and she was like, “Pass.” And I was like, “STFU and ride it.” Afterwards, Marina was like, “Damn, that was a good ride.” (Seriously, ok, so it’s a boat ride, and there are vignettes of a rainforest and a prairie and a farm, and then we get to go through actual greenhouses and an aquaculture area and then another greenhouse. I understand that this does not necessarily sound like a good time, but it is, so just ride it, ok?)

Then we headed to Finding Nemo the ride at The Living Seas Pavilion. When I was a kid, my family would spend hours (literally hours) in The Living Seas Pavilion. I liked the ride and could tolerate a few minutes of looking at the aquariums, but then I was ready to move on to something else (poor little me, no patience). My parents have been scuba certified for most of my life and they really enjoyed looking at the exhibits. The Finding Nemo ride now compared to my memories of The Living Seas is disappointing. I remember a lot of natural light and lots of colorful fish. I think the quality has gone down since the ‘80s and ’90s, but I have no way to quantify my opinion. (Has anyone been to the Coral Sea Restaurant lately? They used to make 3 inch tall Mickey butter sculptures for the tables. They were awesome. Do they still?) The good news is that it is still an adequate aquarium. Monster enjoyed it, which was great because she was a little apprehensive about some of the rides and we had to baby-swap often.

Finally time for Soarin’. Monster was too short for the ride, so we didn’t have a choice about baby-swapping her. The first group rode while the other half ate breakfast/lunch. Then we traded. I think Soarin’ is great. Definitely worth the wait for a front row seat (if you’re using a fast pass).

We all headed to Test Track after Soarin’. Test Track had been closed for a few months while it went under renovations. New Test Track is awful! Ok, points for having an interactive portion where we can choose our own car avatars (and modify them to be more fuel efficient or more powerful, etc.). Negatives for keeping the track exactly the same and changing the scenery to look like Tron. Seriously. The entire ride looks like Tron. It was 25 years old the minute it opened.

Sir, J-Dawg, and Monster went to the World Showcase and Marina and I went to Misson: Space after Tron, I mean Test Track. I hate this ride! There is nothing wrong with the ride. It’s all me! I hate how confined you are once the safety bar comes down and then the screen leans in. This is the only ride in Disney history to have two intensity levels because people have actually died on this ride. When I ride this ride, I ride the mild version. Oh no! Marina wanted the intense experience. So, (foreshadowing) I started joking around with the cast member that he better make sure there were motion sickness bags in our Spaceship, because there was a possibility that I would need them. Smart man that he was, he disappeared long enough to grab a handful of bags and hand them to me. (I feel kinda bad because I think I freaked out the little girl who was riding in our spaceship with her father.) Everyone survived and Marina and I headed to World Showcase to meet up with the rest of the group.

We walked around for a while, rode the Norway ride, shopped in the various countries, and then headed to dinner at Tutto Italia. This was my first time here. The food was fine. (I feel so jaded. This was adequate, that was fine. But, really, Disney has trained me to expect the absolute best and anything less may still be good, but won’t be getting a glowing review from me.)

Purchasing the dining option to get the reserved seats is not cheap and we all felt the necessity to eat everything the waiter brought us. At one point, I leaned back and rubbed my tummy, and said that I felt like I was pregnant with a food baby. Of course the toddler hears this and then asks if I’m pregnant. For the record (because this point will be forgotten in the future, I can feel it) I made a joke and then the toddler asked if I was pregnant. She did not see a giant belly and then ask. Dinner was such an event that once we finished, it was time to head to the Candlelight Processional.

We approached the entrance and were let in immediately. The usher told us that the only seats available were in the front, off to the side. There were clearly other seats available so we asked the usher if we could sit there instead. He said no, those seats were reserved. We asked who they were reserved for and he said they were for the people who did not purchase the dining option. We were pissed! The people who did not purchase the dining option were going to get better seating than we were and according to Disney, the only way to get a guaranteed seat is to purchase the dining option. There is no reason to reserve seats for general admission. Grrrrr.

The orchestra is seated when we arrived in the Amphitheater. The show starts with processional of singers: the Cast Members form a Christmas tree center stage and the high school kids fill bleachers on either side of the tree. Then the narrator arrives. For our show it was James Denton, some guy from Desperate Housewives, and begins telling the story of Jesus (Which always makes me think of the first South Park Christmas Special [The one where Mr. Hanky is introduced] “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, an angel of the Lord came upon them, and they were so afraid, and the angel said unto them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, for born unto you this day in the city of David is the Savior, Jesus Christ, the Lord. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill towards men.”) and then the high school singers, Disney Cast Member choir, and the orchestra perform a Christmas song: O Holy Night, Away in a Manger, Do You Hear What I Hear, Little Drummer Boy, etc. They trade off for about an hour, we get to enjoy about a dozen Christmas songs, and then the choirs perform the recessional.

After the Candelight Processional we decide to head back to the hotel. We ride Spaceship Earth on the way out. Monster really enjoyed it and asked J-Dawg if she could ride again. Marina and I played the games at the exit while they re-rode. Turns out, Monster changed her mind once they got to the front of the line and that was the same time J-Dawg realized that her phone fell out of her pocket on the ride and was missing! (Good job Monster! We would have been back at the hotel when she noticed her phone was missing otherwise.) They were able to retreive her phone and we called it a night.

Two long park days and everyone is super tired. Once at the hotel, I set up the pull out bed in the living room and we watch a Disney movie before bedtime. At some point I fall asleep, because I am woken up by Marina screaming for J-Dawg. Monster threw-up in bed and Marina panicked. At this point, we assume it's a tummy ache kinda thing. We assume it's not food poisioning because there is nothing she ate that we didn't try a bite of (we are big fans of sharing). Monster sleeps with her parents and Marina shares the couch with me (poor thing couldn't get the window open to air out the room). We have breakfast reservations in the morning that we can't cancel without getting charged, so we all go back to bed and hope for the best in the morning.