Disney Vacation 2008 - Day 7 - Missed It/Repeat It Day

We had planned all along to save our last day to do the things we missed the first time around or repeat the things we loved.  We felt we had done all we wanted to do at the Magic Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom, so we crossed those off.  We knew we missed a few things at Epcot and we had so much fun at the Studios the day before that we decided to tackle what we could there - no rushing or killing ourselves with the pace today.



When we got to Epcot, Becky, Alex, and I immediately got in line for Test Track as it was up and running today. It put us in the role of test dummies while a car was put through its paces.  After nearly missing the final crash wall (see the look on our faces above), the car sends us racing around a track at over 60mph pulling some G's.  Becky then got her chance to ride Soarin' with Alex and I, which she loved. We all got back together and watched our 3rd 3D movie, Honey I Shrunk the Audience.  We walked counter-clockwise around the start of World showcase, featuring Canada and Great Britain. There we were able to take a ferry from there to a dock in front of Disney Hollywood Studios.



When we got there, we made our way to the ABC Commissary for lunch where we had cafeteria items named after ABC shows (Dancing With The Stars Mambo Combo Cuban Sandwich, Grey's Anatomy The McSteamy Chicken Curry, etc.) which was edible but not amazing.  We split up again so that Grammy, Grandpa, and Alex could do the Animation Academy a couple more times while Becky and I took Aaron to his second day of the Playhouse Disney show which was a montage of the various Disney Channel kids' shows (Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, Little Einsteins) but acted out on a stage with large puppets.



Alex and I broke away after that and did the Star Tours ride for our third time and Alex declared it his favorite ride at Disney World.  Aaron got in a little more of the Honey I Shrunk...playground before we hustled to the Backlot Express burger joint to wait out the rain storm that popped up and to have a little dinner.  When the rain cleared for a bit, the boys posed in front of the water shooting AT-AT from the Star Wars: The Empire Stirkes Back Hoth invasion scene.



We had not gotten to see one of Disney's amazing fireworks shows yet. We hadn't wanted to deal with the after-fireworks crowds getting back to the buses. We had heard that the Studios show, Fantasmic, was amazing so we stayed for the 8:30 show.  We got there over an hour early which was recommended for good seating in a stadium surrounded a lagoon which encircled an island.  The show was wonderful, combining live action Disney characters on the island and on boats in the lagoon with scenes from Disney movies and cartoons projected onto sheets of water sprayed vertically in front of us.  There were also water effects that were timed with the projected movies to look like water was shooting out of the cartoon toward us. And of course there were fireworks.  The show told of a battle between the good Disney characters, led by Mickey in his sorcerer's apprentice hat, and the evil characters including this large snake with highbeam eyes.  I won't spoil it by telling you which side won, but hey, this is Disney. 



The rain that had slowed us down earlier started up again during the show.  We whipped out the ponchos we'd been carrying all week and we were relatively comfortable.  After the show, when we were filing out of the stadium, the rain poured down even harder, prompting us to whip out the umbrellas.  Aaron had had enough by then and let us know it.  He conked out waiting for our bus, exhausted from having so much fun.



All in all this was a dream trip.  Thanks again to Grammy and Grandpa Hardage for inviting us and making this possible.  We resolved that this would not be our last trip as a family.  Besides, they're opening a new Toy Story ride this summer.