Sunday April 18, 1999
Sunday dawned significantly brighter than Saturday had. I grabbed some chocolate milk from the hotel gift shop and got on the road early. I wanted to get back to Epcot and beat feet for Test Track as soon as the gates opened.
Buckle up!
I pulled into the Epcot parking lot a little after 8, secured a pretty good parking place close to the gates, and arrived at the turnstiles at 8:20. The gates actually opened at 8:30 (the park was scheduled to open at 9), and I ran quickly to Test Track. My rushing around paid off, and I got into the queue with only a ten-minute wait. My first ride on Test Track was quite impressive; I enjoyed it as much as any other ride in Walt Disney World... well, maybe not as much as Star Tours, but it was a good ride. By the time I got out of Test Track, the line was already backed up through the queue area and was estimated to be about 40 minutes.
Now I had to trudge back out to the parking lot. In my haste, I had decided to leave my camera and bag in the car and return for them after Test Track. I picked them up, left my bag in a convenient locker at the front of the park, and went off with my camera to enjoy Future World. I stopped at a payphone to make a quick call home on the way.
Picture this...
My camera on this trip was a brand-new Canon EOS Rebel G, an expensive SLR camera that I had bought two months before. I had never before owned a camera that cost more than $50, certainly never an SLR (Single Lens Reflex, the kind with removable lenses), but I had been growing more and more dissatisfied with the pictures I was getting out of my cheap $35 point-and-shoot camera. Instead of buying a more expensive point-and-shoot, however, I decided to spend the extra money on an SLR. My friend Frank, who is a professional photographer, had been schooling me on photogray basics, and had even lent me his old Canon A1 a few times to get a feel for how an SLR works. The A1 is built like a tank, and was once a top-of-the-line professional SLR. It's a little obsolete these days, because it's a manual focus camera, but still takes great pictures and is a very high quality camera. I wanted something similar, though more modern, and with auto-focus, and had settled on the Rebel G, which is a consumer-grade SLR. It has all the features I wanted in a camera, was easy to learn, and was compatible with a wide variety of accessories and lenses made for Canon's EOS line of cameras. I bought it as a kit, bundled with a Sigma 28-80mm zoom lens. This trip to Disney would be a trial by fire for me and my new camera, because up until that point, I had only shot three rolls of film with it.
I started in Innoventions Plaza, shooting a few pictures as I slowly made my way through toward the Wonders of Life pavillion. I took note of the fact that the Centorium, Epcot's largest retail shop, was mostly shut down for refurb. A Cast Member I asked said that it was going to re-open later under a different name. I also took a few pictures of some of the wonderful topiaries scattered about the park as part of the yearly Flower and Garden Festival. Once I arrived at the Wonders of Life, I went to one of my favorite attractions, Cranium Command, and then to Body Wars (not one of my favorites, but any chance to see Elizabeth Shue in that white body suit is a good thing).
After Body Wars, I headed over to Ellen's Energy Adventure. I really enjoyed this attraction; Ellen Degeneress' dream sequence Jeapardy match at the beginning was a big improvement over the older snooze-fest. I can't really remember what the old opening film was; I really did fall asleep whenever I saw it, and slept right through the dinosaur sequence that came next. But since the ride was retooled with Ellen and Bill Nye the Science Guy, I stay awake through the whole thing and enjoy it a lot.
The whole world in my viewfinder
By this time, World Showcase was open, so headed in. First stop, Mexico, where I rode the River of Time. Then on to Norway, where I rode the Maelstrom. I continued on around World Showcase, taking more pictures as I went, until I got all the way back around to Future World. I had to go for the front of the park, though, because I had accidentally left my pocket tripod in the bag I had left in a locker. After I got the tripod, and searched the bag for anything else I might need, I went back to World Showcase, and back into Mexico. My objective was to try taking a picture inside the pyramnid, without using the flash. The flash never lights up the whole place, and it's the low light levels, simulating night, that give the place it's special aura anyway. I set my camera up and took a couple of shots, each with different exposure, hoping that one would come out.
Now I was really getting into this picture thing, so I went over to Canada and shot some pics of the spectacular waterfall near the back of the pavillion. I shot a couple of different effects, trying to freeze the water in the shot. As I exited that part of the pavillion, I noticed that Off Kilter, the Canadian/Scottish band, was beginning a performance, so I staked out a place to listen. They played 3 or 4 excellent songs, prompting me to go back into the Canada gift shop and buy thier Off Kilter CD.
Having been all the way around World Showcase twice, I decided to finish with the Future World attractions I hadn't yet visited. First up was Honey, I Shrunk The Audience, and then the Living Seas. I spent over an hour inside the Living Seas.
Vacation = Rest
The weather that day had been picture perfect; warm and sunny, with low humidity and a fresh, clean taste to the air that was just right for any kind of vacation. But I had been walking all day, and I was tired, so I headed out of the park and back to the hotel a little early, skipping Illuminations, and finishing my day with a little vegging in front of the TV.
Walk miles: 14.3
Drive miles: 67