Epcot

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My visit to the sunshine state is winding down. Tomorrow morning I’ll be winging my way back to Providence and home. It’s been a full and fun vacation filled with new experiences. But there’s still one more evening before I pack up and leave and I’ll be spending  it at Disney in the Epcot Park with my good friend Joe.

It was just about sunset when we reached Epcot. My old legs and feet were complaining but Joe promised I would not be disappointed.

Epcot is different from the other parks. It’s more adult or maybe sophisticated is what I’m looking for. It’s educational.

We admired the fountains and what I like to call the Epcot Golf Ball as the twilight deepened.

 We passed the Nemo exhibit which has a fun little ride where you learn about the sea.

My favorite Sea Gulls must have been motion activated because they set off a chorus of “Mine, Mine, Mine” whenever anyone passed by.

They even have a Manatee in a huge tank.

We went on a futuristic ride that was a gentle coaster through the millenia. You get to see the timeline of human advancement. It was a really good ride. In the beginning you enter some basic information about yourself into the console computer. At the end of the ride you see yourself on a huge map of the world based on the information you entered.

At Epcot you get to visit many different countries in the world. Each little section is created to replicate a small section of the country you are exploring. We were working our way to “France” for dinner because I wanted escargot.

The wait at the restaurant wasn’t too long. It was very loud inside. I kept asking our poor waiter to repeat himself. He thought it was his accent. I still say it was the noise level. But speaking of accent each waiter was really from France so their accents were authentic.  Their name tags not only gave their names but also where they were from in France.

The waiter recommended a nice Merlot wine. It was  very expensive even for a glass but we are in France are we not? So of course , mais oui, I will have a glass. It was exquisite! So smooth. It was like silk!

I got my escargot in a light garlic and white wine sauce for an appetizer and chicken for my main course. Everything was wonderful. We skipped dessert as Joe wanted to go to Germany for that.  We strolled along the lighted streets passing from one country to another. I think we finally stopped at the Swedish kiosk for hot chocolate and a pastry. I passed even though they looked wonderful.

By then it was about 8:30. The fireworks would begin around 9pm so we began to look for seats along the waterfront. Even with a slow week, any seats were going to fill in quickly.

Before the show started the lights were lowered on the streets and huge torches around the lake were lit.

The buildings were outlined in lights as well. This alone was beautiful. Then minutes before the fireworks started the torches went dark as well.

Bam! The first volley was off and for the next 30 minutes the lake surface and sky above it were filled with lights and flashes and smoke.

At the end of the show the park closed so everyone made their way back to the tram for the ride back to the parking lot. Seems so long ago we parked the car and entered another world.

We had one more stop to make. We’d been looking all week for a couple of gifts for my friend’s children and we hadn’t been able to locate them. We were going give it one more try at Downtown Disney. It would be our last chance.

We almost missed Buzz again but as we passed the display I somehow spotted the words “talks” on the box. Joe was ahead of me but returned when I called out that I thought I had one.  Now we just needed the Princess. Joe led me to rack after rack of Cinderellas, Snow Whites, Rapunzels and Ariels. It was almost overwhelming. I selected a Barbie Sized doll and crossed my fingers that it would be the right one.

We’d been in this store 3 times looking so I don’t know how we missed them before but we could now put Mission Accomplished to this search. A perfect end to a great vacation.

Animal Kingdom ~ A Few More Pictures

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As I mentioned in my last post on Animal Kingdom, I love this park. As a result I took loads of pictures here. I couldn’t fit them all in the last post so here’s a few I skipped.

I have to thank Joe for some of these pictures.

 I may have taken them but he’s the one who saved the day. I always carry an extra camera battery and SD cards. I brought both with me to Animal Kingdom but in an effort to travel “light” I left my camera case in the car. You guessed it. I filled my card and didn’t have another one with me! My extra cards were in my camera bag back in the parking lot! Joe saved the day because he had a pocketful of them. Thanks Joe. I wouldn’t have half these shots if you hadn’t come through!

We passed Pelicans on the safari.

But there were lots more birds in the aviary. As you can see, they have first class bird houses.

We also made a detour to Dino land.

Here are a few more shots from the Lion King.

And Finding Nemo

Anyone  want to wrestle a Komodo Dragon? It’s real not a statue even if it stayed pretty still.

Another Tiger stalked the grounds.

One look at these riders on the Mt Everest Coaster and you can see why I stayed on the ground! 🙂

Animal Kingdom, My favorite Disney Park

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No offence to Minnie & Mickey’s Magic Kingdom or Adventure Land or any of the other parks in the Disney World universe but I love, love, love Animal Kingdom. The only thing I would like better is if the safari ride was longer.

In fact I would just spend the day riding it over and over but Joe wasn’t buying that.

We actually met up at my condo so we could use just 1 car. We checked out the breakfast buffet at Sizzler…only $4.99 and quite extensive and then it was off to the parks. On the way we stopped in front of the big Disney World Sign so for a photo opportunity.

 Of course there were signs everywhere that said  “No Stopping” but I just pretended I couldn’t read. Joe did the honors.

Once in the parking lot we hopped on the tram for the trip to the park.

As we were entering Joe spotted some of his co-workers and stopped for a chat. He  spent a “tour of duty” in Animal Kingdom before he was moved to the photography cast and assigned to the Hollywood Studios Park.

We wandered the various “countries” looking a the different animals. I loved the tigers but they weren’t being the most cooperative for pictures. I managed to get a couple through the glass side of the enclosure.

What gorgeous cats.

The bird aviery was really cool too but finally we reached the  Safari Ride.

 Joe was right about it being a slow week. We had no line. The trucks were going out without being full.

I was on the right side of the truck on this ride and it seemed like all the cool animals were on the left. Just my luck.

 There were hippos and crocodiles..or was it alligators, I forget which, pelicans, rhinos, giraffes, spring bok, wildebeest and other antelope and lions. Of course lions. What kind of safari would it be without the “King”?

And yes, Hippos do get sunburned.

You had to shoot fast because the truck doesn’t stop so good shots were a challenge with the motion of the truck exaggerating camera shake.

After the safari Joe said it was time for a show. We headed across the park to the theater where the show The Lion King Celebration was presented. We got  some pretty good seats. Loved the music! Hakuna Matata! The sets were amazing as only Disney can pull off!

Lunch time and we visited the open air snack bar. We both opted for Sweet and Sour Chicken. Not bad for fast food.

 There were birds every where begging for tid-bits and snatching up dropped food. A mother duck and her brood were trying to get from the pond to the picnic area but a cast member kept shooing them back to the water. They were very persistent.

The chimps were really going all out in their enclosures. Swinging around the tower in the center of the enclosure. That was pretty amazing to see.

About that time Joe said it was time to go see Finding Nemo the Musical. Ok so we were off to another show. This was just as good as the Lion King. The funny thing is that if Joe hadn’t been with me and insisted we go, I would have skipped both shows in favor of the real live animals and that would have been a shame. Both are outstanding shows and worth taking the time to see.

I saw the Mt Everest coaster ride but was content to just watch and of course there was a parade! 🙂

Animal Kingdom closes at 5pm and the afternoon was winding down. I begged one more ride on the Safari. When we got there it was almost empty but once again my place in line was about to put me on the right side  in the truck. I asked the gate attendant if I could please sit on the left. Since it was slow he said yes and directed me to a different row.

This time our driver actually stopped to give us time to take pictures of the animals. I am sure it was because it was the end of the day and not many people were taking the ride. He didn’t have to worry about a little delay.

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After this ride it was time to leave this park but we weren’t finished with Disney yet. We were headed over to Epcot for dinner and to see one more night of fireworks.

Manatee Festival, Orange City

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Another beautiful day in Orlando and I find myself on the road to Orange City where a Manatee Festival is taking place. It’s a big enough event that it made the local news stations so I’m about to find out what it is.

My GPS came through as good as gold. I spotted the sign for the Manatee Festival just as that annoying female voice sang out “TURN LEFT”.  A bit farther down the road I was directed into a makeshift parking lot by attendants that looked awfully young. Maybe I’m just getting old. 🙂 I think they were high school kids. There were several  lots, one on grass, another on a ball field. I saw picnic tables on a hill and fairly large restroom facility that looked like it might double as a locker room.

I followed the crowd to a huge field surrounded by booths and makeshift barriers obviously to prevent folks from sneaking in without paying the entry fee. Admission was only $8.00 for adults and $2.00 for children but I suppose that can add up if it’s a large family. The entry fee goes to support the Blue Spring State Park.

At the far end of the field was a stage with a constant flow of performers. The volume was pumped up and a real carnival atmosphere prevailed. Fair food abounded, ice cream, hot dogs, popcorn, a minefield of temptation! In the center was a dog agility ring with shows going on throughout the day. Opposite from the stage and the Bubble Ride , Bounce Houses and other amusements were the vendors. They had everything for sale. I stopped by the photo tent to see how they were set up and check out their prices…educational purposes, of course. They even had a sand castle!

There was the booth from the FWC (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). That was a cool booth but none of the “Stars” from Operation Wild were on hand when I was there.

To get to the spring and the manatees you took a bus which dropped you off at the park. It was clear that parking at the Blue Springs Park was inadequate for the number of visitors here today. The bus was very comfortable anyway.

Once they drop you off you are right there. Walk straight ahead and there’s the boardwalk. It was crowded so after some fruitless maneuvering I gave up and moved on down the walkway. There were observation decks every few hundred yards so pretty soon I left the crowd behind and was able to get a peek at the spring.

The water was crystal clear.

 You could see the fish and sure enough, there were manatees…not one  but more like 3 or four. I kept counting  and  in the end I would say between 15 and 20 in all. They come into the springs to keep warm because the spring stays around 72 degrees all year ’round. When it’s really cold they have had as many as 300 Manatees jammed into the spring to keep warm.

They have to leave the spring to eat. The  bottom is sandy and doesn’t support the vegetation the manatees need to survive. The whole section of the river and spring is closed off as a manatee sanctuary but boats were lined up along the border to see the manatees. It was easy to see how  they could be injured by a prop from one of the waiting boats.

So finally I was seeing manatees in the wild. It’s not like the pictures you see because those are all taken from an underwater perspective. Because we were on observation decks we were looking down into the water. You could see the manatees but they were almost like ghosts. Some hardly moved at all while others seemed to patrol the perimeter. One of them came in kind of close and settled to the bottom.

About every 20 minutes you could see it slowly start to rise to the surface. Then just the nose would pop up for a breath of air and back down it went. It was easy to sit there under the trees and just enjoy the rhythm.

Of course we had to keep an eye out for the neighborhood alligators. Like the guide said on the eco-safari. This is Florida , if there’s water there’s ‘gators. The alligators don’t seem to pay much attention to the manatees and vise versa. They were on the banks sunning right next to where the manatees were soaking in the water.

The afternoon passed quickly and although I could have wished for better pictures, it was a great experience. I’m so happy I finally got to see a wild manatee. Maybe next trip I’ll take the tour that lets you swim with the manatees.

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Then I might be able to get one of those iconic pictures like you see in all the ads and on the Nat Geo channel.