Disney World, Day 4

Day 4 was an interesting one. We had planned our big, day-long trip to Universal Studios for Day 5, and knew that was going to be an early morning and probably late night (since we had to take a cab both ways, and didn't have FastPass options to avoid lines, so we had to be there when the park opened to get to popular things -- Harry Potter -- early). So we scheduled all of our Day 4 activities in the morning and early afternoon, and (since it was supposed to be a nice day) figured we'd go to the lodge pool in the late afternoon.

We went to Epcot, which according to the literature "Celebrates the Human Spirit." It had two main areas: Future World, which showcases technological innovations over the years, and World Showcase, which partitions the park into different areas celebrating the culture (and food) of different countries: Canada, Mexico, Japan, Italy, etc. We had a lunch reservation at Via Napoli in Italy, so there was a lot of Future World to get out of the way first.

Two rides stand out (there were others, no doubt, but these ones made the notes). First was Space Mission, which was like you were going into outer space as an astronaut. It was pretty funky and all looked real; you watched an introductory video narrated by Apollo 13's Gary Sinise and then strapped yourself into a shuttle which seemed to rocket you off into space. There was a lot of pressure -- very intense -- and I wasn't really sure how much I was actually moving. It recommended that younger kids do a less intense version of the ride, which Emily and Kate did while Jack and I were in the high-intensity one. I got through it fine and Jack loved it. Future astronaut? Who knows.

The second ride was one basically everyone had recommended, Soarin'. You strapped yourself into a chair and seemed to fly across the globe, over fields and mountains and oceans. Pretty fantastic. I'm really not sure exactly how much you move and how much you only seem to move, but it was very cool.

Noteworthy rides completed (Jack and I did another one that was only so-so, spinning out promises of future developments and technological advances that probably seemed pretty cool a number of years ago, although I should mention that Jack thought it was awesome, so good show), we headed to lunch. To get there we walked through a bunch of other areas devoted to different countries, being tempted by Mexican food (and margaritas), Oktoberfest style dancers, and various music, dancing, and comedy acts (including mimes!). By this point we were kind of hungry and had a reservation to catch. Food was fantastic and we all liked it; pasta for Kate, pizza for Jack, something delicious for us and awesome desserts. After that we didn't mind walking around just a little bit more (debating doing Soarin' again but the line was pretty long...) and heading back to the lodge.

It was a nice swimming day, so we all went in the pool. Best thing about this was I managed, finally, to convince Kate to go down a slide she did not want to go down. And she finally did, LOVED it, and went down again and again and again. Laughing each time. We also went in a hot tub, their first time in an outdoor hot tub, and both giggled wildly at the jacuzzi jets. Then back in the pool for more swimming and more going down the slide. Jack and Emily knocked off before we did. Kate had to get one more run in for the day. Thrill seeker.

Dinner was a wretched experience as some sort of mishap in the kitchen resulted in our order getting lost. Not gonna dwell on it but after that we didn't eat in the cafeteria anymore. Fortunately the whole experience was magically washed away by Day 5, The Best Day of Vacation. Oops, I'm out of time for now.