Flashback

We're in and out of our rooms quickly, ready for the parks.

We’re headed back to Epcot today. Yes, we just spent seven hours there yesterday, but I have my reasons. For one thing, I’ve made us lunch reservations at the Garden Grill, a revolving restaurant (and character meal) at the Land pavilion. None of us had eaten there before, and it looked interesting.

But there’s another reason why we’re headed back to Epcot. I know this is one of the busiest days of the year, but we really would like to ride Soarin’ – which is in the same pavilion as the Garden Grill – and I have a plan. Since we’ll be arriving at the park fairly early, I figure we can either go immediately into the Standby line, or maybe the Fastpass return time will work out with our lunch schedule. I don’t know if the plan will work, but it’s worth a try.

We’ve decided to walk to the TTC to catch the Epcot monorail. Did you know it’s much easier to keep your sense of direction in the Polynesian during daylight?

We reach the TTC plaza and stroll towards the ramps. As we do we pass a man who I’m guessing is on his first visit and has just stepped off of the parking lot tram. Completely flummoxed in spite of the huge signs all around reading “Monorail to Magic Kingdom,” “Monorail to Epcot,” and “Ferry to Magic Kingdom,” I overhear the man muttering a bewildered, “How do we get to the rides?”

Heh. There’s one to report to StupidGuestTricks on my return.

As we wait for the monorail to arrive, I can’t help flashing back to my very first visit to Walt Disney World, on tour with a singing group from Baylor University in 1986. We only had one day in the parks, I’d been to Disneyland just four years before, and Epcot was new, so I (and most of the group) went to Epcot.

I still have a picture I took on this very monorail platform over 21 years ago. (For the record, at the time the single day admission set me back $21.00, plus a $2.00 “Transportation Pass” so I could ride the monorail.)

Now I’m here again, with my wife and her parents and our teenage and near-teenage sons. It’s hard to grasp how quickly time has passed. On the inside, I don’t think I’ve aged a day since that first trip.

My wife would probably agree.