Our 2002 Vacation, Continued…
Welcome to the 100th “issue” of richard’s ramblings...
Despite the best of intentions, we haven’t made it back to Magic Kingdom yet. We had intended to go there first, then we changed our mind and figured we’d do a half day of Epcot followed by a monorail trip to the Magic Kingdom for the remainder of the afternoon. Turned out instead that we spent all of Sunday at Epcot. OK, so it’s Wednesday now, and I’m just getting around to filling you in. Sorry!
It was a lot like I remembered it; a few extra rides, attractions and activities as compared to my last visit, but still very similar. Oddly enough, I can remember that I ate steak and kidney pie at the Rose & Crown pub in the United Kingdom section of Epcot about seventeen years ago, but it took several minutes for me to remember what I ate three days ago at the same place: sausage rolls with chips and brown sauce. Great! Alzheimer setting in already!! Whatever “brown sauce” is, it was good; it seemed to be a vinegary, tangy Worcestershire sauce. The flaky pastry that served to function as a sort of hotdog bun was fried to perfection, but very filling. The brown sauce was an extraordinary dip for the second (unwrapped, this time!) sausage. Yum!
Karis (rhymes with Paris), direct from England, was our barroom wench, no disrespect meant. To me, she was the epitome of the working-class serving girl one expects to find in urban London. Apart from the obvious of the overly Disney “costumes” that inadequately represent the reality of life in the various lands, Disney’s only other departures from authenticity was the mistake in hiring Karis because she is far too well-mannered, she was too patient with our boisterous party of five, she was helpful and prompt, and she had a beaming smile with a mouthful of perfect teeth — all very un-British qualities! That atypicalness (a brand new word!), to me, is what made her stand out, worthy of mention. I wish I could have brought her home with me! I find it more likely that she was a student of international relations or political science, but, in typical Disney style, the illusion of rural pubdom was perfectly maintained — and, as it turns out, she’s actually an aspiring actress. All the same, the overall atmosphere, the decor, the typical fare, the authentic British accents (rather than the on-screen fakes by today’s overpaid American actors) made me a bit homesick. And not for California…
We had food of some kind in each of Epcot’s “lands” except for Canada, the USA, and Italy. In the UK, I and the kids had sausage rolls, Kim had fish and chips, very authentic. I found a confectionery store and just had to have a Flake, a Nestle Aero, jelly babies, and soft Callard & Bowser English Toffees. No, I didn’t eat them all myself; I shared them! A bakery in France provided us with a peach tart, which Cortney declined, not listening as usual and thinking it was something else. She regretted it later. Morocco had Grecian-style baklava, but we passed on that and ate more traditional finger-shaped, baklava-like pastries. The honey was applied lighter than run-of-the-mill Greek baklava and I prefer it that way, otherwise it’s just way too sweet! We drank tangerine and mango smoothies in Japan, and I was way too full to continue eating there and try their sushi. I missed my one chance! Italy, I think we just forgot to visit. Must have run through it or gone blind, because none of us remember it at all. Have to visit it again later. Germany? Ritter milk chocolate bars and Hit cookies — similar to Oreos, but larger, with a more cookie-like cookie and a softer, airier chocolate filling. Surprisingly, especially considering my family, we ate dinner in China, mostly egg rolls. We passed on Norway and Mexico as the park was closing. Hopefully we’ll hit those later this week, maybe tomorrow.
Yesterday revolved around MGM Studios. It’s a lot like Universal Studios in California; same type of rides, a backlot tour, live shows, etc. Still, a no-miss themepark. Of note, the Tower of Terror was very cool! The entire “service elevator” car rose up about 12 stories, rode on a preset track through the “hotel”, showing scenes and images inspired by the Twilight Zone, and bunjee’d up and down the far side of the hotel. At times, in the pitch black, I couldn’t tell whether I was going up or down, very disorienting! But the neighboring Rock ‘N Roller Coaster, in my opinion, was the absolute best ride in the park! Shot out from a standstill like a cannon to full rollercoaster speeds, hurtling along loose representations of local freeways, the ride took the guise of a high-speed, super-stretch limousine on its way to an Aerosmith concert. I wasn’t expecting loops, although I should have, considering the type of shoulder harness used in the cars, and the upside-down moments took me by surprise. The Who Wants to be a Millionaire attraction was enjoyed by everyone. The scenario, very realistic and using an exact copy of the televised sets, lasted only 20-30 minutes; we all expressed our regret that it couldn’t continue on for hours! I was mad at myself during the first half for missing out on the cues that all of the audience members could play along too, and when I finally realized it, I was more than 75,000 points behind everyone else, far too many to catch up. But, when I started playing, I didn’t miss a single question. Of course, the nearby Indiana Jones live show would have been a complete flop, despite the carefully controlled pyrotechnics, the trained stuntmen, the exact replicas of props used in the movies, if it hadn’t been for my stunning performance as a citizen of Cairo, dutifully shopping at the local bazaar, cheering on Indy from midstage. Thankfully, there is no known video of me during my impromptu on-stage “audition”, vamping and prancing my way across stage, dressed as myself but more an animated imitation of Rupaul than an out-of-work web guy. I knew the casting manager was going to shamelessly pick on me when she picked me dead last out of the ten candidates humiliating themselves in front of an audience of more than a thousand. Reeboks and ankle socks sure add to the realism of the period costumes, eh?!
