An October 2010 semi-solo Disney trip

[PrincePluto]

I then headed across Future World, taking pictures as I went:

I then headed for the Journey Into Imagination pavilion:

The line at Captain EO was not too long, so I went in, as the last time I had been here and it had still been open, in 1992, I had not been able to go in; I don't remember if I did not want to go into it, or if my brother, who I was with on that trip, had no desire. Regardless, I decided not to pass up the opportunity this time. It was cute, but probably something I don't need to do again.

I then took a couple pictures of the Imagination pavilion fountains:

Fountain of the Nations:

I then headed into Club Cool to sample the various international Coca-Cola flavors:

Anyone who gets punked into drinking Beverly must not be reading the drink description - it clearly says "bitter"...

It was time to enjoy some of the Food and Wine Festival. First, I took a picture of the 15th annual Food & Wine Festival topiary:

I took pictures of the various crops on display for the Festival:

Pineapples growing amongst the spearmint:

 

[PrincePluto]

I continued around Future World, taking pictures of the special Food and Wine Festival plantings:

I then walked around the lagoon, toward World Showcase, and stopped in the Mexico Pavilion. I took a picture of La Cava De Tequila, which I have yet to visit:

I then rode "Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Amigos" with no wait:

(Continued)

 

[PrincePluto]

When the ride was over, I looked around the pavilion a little bit but did not take any pictures, then when I left the pavilion I took a couple of pictures of it.

Next: Norway

 

[PrincePluto]

I then continued on to the Norway pavilion, and looked at the museum exhibition in the stave church reconstruction:

Olaf II

10th Century steel and silver sword:

Ax blades:

I then went into the Puffin's Roost gift shop:

As I walked out of the stave church, I took a picture of the viking statue outside it:

Next, it was off to China!

Next: China

 

[PrincePluto]

Continuing around the lagoon, I came upon the Temple Of Heaven, which told me I had arrived at the China pavilion:

I then took a picture of the gardens:

And the entryway:

I went inside and saw the film, then took several pictures in the gift shop. Some of the stuff that was for sale is a little pricey for a souvenir of Walt Disney World.

Take this jade artwork, for instance:

On the other side of this arch was the more reasonably priced merchandise:

Child-sized dressing gowns (What's the Chinese equivalent of a kimono?)

At this point, my camera battery died, so I do not have any more photos. I walked around the gift shop a little more, then took the Friend Ship across the lagoon to Future World, and left the park.

I drove back to the timeshare, met up with my parents, and we had dinner.

Next: October 29, 2010 - Downtown Disney

 

[PrincePluto]

This was the last full day of my trip, and I had used up all my days of theme park admission, so today my parents and I decided to take it easy, relax and go to Downtown Disney for some souvenir shopping and lunch.

After breakfast, since it was a nice day, we decided to take the opportunity to go swimming, as we did not get the chance to do that in late October in New Jersey! Then, we went back to our rooms, got ready and my parents drove us to Downtown Disney. We parked near Planet Hollywood, and walked over to the Marketplace shopping area. First, we went to the Lego Store, where my mom bought a Lego kit for my nephew, whose birthday had just passed. We browsed through World of Disney, where I bought a couple of CDs, a DVD and a book about Epcot behind the magic. We also shopped in Once Upon A Toy, where my parents bought a container filled with various Potato Head accessories, for my nieces, who already had a Mr. Potato Head.

We then stopped for lunch at The Earl of Sandwich, which really hit the spot.

After this, we headed back to the timeshare, and I watched some TV and packed my luggage, then we had dinner and I dropped my rental car off at a Hertz rental location in the lobby of a motel on Route 192 (across from Old Town). My father, who had followed me in his rental, drove me back to the timeshare. We had done the same thing the year before, as it made check-in at the airport the next morning much simpler.

I then went to bed as we had to get up at around 6:00 the next morning to get to the airport in time for check-in, allowing for traffic.


10/30/2010 - Going home

We got up, got ready, used the rest of our cereal, juice and milk, and took our luggage, locking the door behind us; we didn't need to check out, as the room keys expired at noon.

My Dad took Route 4 to the airport, we didn't have any traffic to speak of, and we got to the airport with time to spare. We checked in the rental, and walked to the JetBlue checkin kiosk. We did the e-checkin at the kiosk, thus we got on the shorter line. I don't know why everyone doesn't do this. We checked our luggage, got our boarding passes, and went to security, where we had no problems. We went to the boarding gate and waited for our flight, which was on time. The flight back was uneventful, and too soon, I was back in New Jersey.