Thursday November 2, 2000

Last Day

Tomorrow I would be flying home. But today I wanted to see Illuminations 2000. As with yesterday, I started my day early, but paced myself carefully to make sure I could stay awake for this new incarnation of the Epcot fireworks show.

Knowing that I would be finishing the day at Epcot, that's where I parked in the morning. But before I went into Epcot, I first took the monorail to Magic Kingdom. When visiting MK earlier in the week, I hadn't been able to do all of my favorite attractions in Tomorrowland, so today I made a beeline for Space Mountain. After Space Mountain, I made another beeline for Alien Encounter. But then I got a little sidetracked, shopping all over Tomorrowland.

While walking around Tomorrowland, I caught a glimpse of the Contemporary Resort in the distance; this reminded me that I wanted to resort hop today, so I went back to the monorail station at the front of the park and rode around to each of the three monorail resorts in turn. I stopped at each resort, took pictures, browsed the gift shops, and explored the grounds.

Rest, Regroup, Return

By 3pm, I was starting to feel the fatigue that often accompanies long, hot, sunny days at WDW (it usually means I'm not drinking enough water, too), so I decided to take a break. I took the monorail back to Epcot, picked up my car, and drove off Disney property once again to drop some film at Walgreens for developing. Then I went back to my hotel for a nap.

After 2 or 3 hours, I woke up, splashed some cold water on my face, and returned to Epcot. I got a great parking space; late in the day, the spaces grabbed by early arrivals first thing in the morning are often vacated when those early arrivals run out of steam and can't finish the day. I stopped at the Electric Umbrella for a leisurely counter service dinner, and staked out a good spot in Canada to await Illuminations 2000.

Illuminations 2000 was a totally new version of the venerable Epcot fireworks show, using more fire and fewer laser effects than the original version. I enjoyed the show, even though I had to stand up the whole time, and I recorded it with my video camera, although I didn't think the tape turned out very good.

The Way Out

After Illuminations was over, I made my way slowly toward the front of the park along with the rest of the crowd, pausing a few times here and there to tape a few seconds of the exodus. I love the end of the evening at a WDW park, when the theme music is off and the people are quietly moving towards the exit. The atmosphere is calm and tranquil, as the park tucks itself in for the night, and the Guests are muted by their exhaustion. Epcot in particular is my favorite park after closing. I love the feeling I get as I walk out the gates, past the monorail station, with the monorail train softly whooshing past every so often on it's way to Magic Kingdom, and all the while Spaceship Earth towers protectively over me, lit up in soft purples.

Before going back to my hotel that night, I had to stop at Walgreens to pick up my pictures, and while I was there, I picked up a new duffel bag to hold all the extra stuff I had bought on this trip!

I finished my day by packing for the trip home tomorrow, winding up in bed at about 11:30.

JOURNEY 7/AMAZE 34
Walk miles: 13.6
Drive miles: 308