July 2013 Trip Report - Day 4

Today will spend most of the day in the park with our Australian friends who have chosen, as their final park for this trip, the only one they have yet to visit ... EPCOT.

Our morning routine is similar as in previous days (breakfast at Pop Century and then being picked up by our daughter), but this time after we are in EPCOT, Iris returns home where she will be back at work since today is an on call day for her.

As we are on the tram heading towards the entrance, I get a call from our friends who are just getting Fastpasses for Test Track and then will wait on the standby line for Mission:Space. While they are doing that, we head to Test Track to get our own Fastpasses which correspond to the return window that our friends received earlier, so we can ride together ... in a manner of speaking. (The vehicle only holds 6 passengers, and we were now 7.)

Once we have gotten our Fastpasses, we find a spot in the shade to sit and wait for our friends to finish the Mission:Space adventure, and we meet and head over to Imagination, where Michael Jackson's Captain EO is their goal. We walk through Innoventions on our way. We ride Journey Through Imagination (or whatever it is called now - I have lost track). Before we head towards the Magic Eye Theater where the 1980's classic is now playing once again, a stop to marvel at the jumping fountains is in order.

After Captain EO, more than two hours have passed since getting Fastpasses for Test Track, so another set of Fastpasses can be obtained, so we decide to check the availability of Soarin' and discover that they are available and at a convenient time, so we all get another Fastpass.

It's now lunch time and since Sunshine Seasons (a food court) is right here, we find a table and have lunch. While some of our party is off getting food, the younger family members ask if they can try out my camera - Miss 9 has told me that she would like to be a photographer - so I let them each take a few shots ... and here are some of the results.

A trip through Living With The Land follows lunch.

There is still some time until our Test Track window, so we ride through Universe of Energy (the whole Jeopardy theme is still getting old) and Spaceship Earth.

It's now time to use our Test:Track Fastpasses, so we head over and proceed to the test/ride portion of the attraction.

From here we decide to walk over to World Showcase and make our first (and only as it turns out) stop in Mexico where we take the boat ride and look around the stands. When we leave the pyramid, we find it is Magarita o'clock so proper actions are taken.

While mom (ooops sorry, she's Australian, so "mum") and dad enjoy their drinks, Miss 9 is given another opportunity to take some photos with my camera.

But brothers being what they are resulted in this shot!

At this point we decide that we would not have any more time to spend in World Showcase but needed to walk back to Future World and The Land to use our Soarin' Fastpasses. Once the ride is over, we all decide that it is time to leave EPCOT. Since we are heading to different destinations, we say our goodbyes here. Sadly, this will be the last time we have to get together, and who knows if/when we will have the chance to meet in person again. For now there will be the internet once again.

My wife and I head back to Pop Century where we have dinner at the food court. Tomorrow will be a relaxing day, giving us a chance to recover from the last 4 days in the parks before we do a few more while we are down here before returning home.