The monorail ride around Seven Seas Lagoon is always spectacular, gliding in and out of resorts and having the Magic Kingdom in view, but the Epcot monorail we’re riding now has its own charms. Maybe it’s because we pass by undeveloped, wooded land, or that we are alongside a roadway for most of the trip, but it feels more like… actual transportation, but magical. We get to see the trees go by, and more importantly, we watch buses and guests in private cars dealing with each other on the roadway below, while we float above it all, seemingly on air.
This day’s weather is a repeat of yesterday’s, with clear, deep blue skies, cold temperatures, and a chilly wind. It’s beautiful, but much more enjoyable from the inside of a monorail compartment than standing out in the cold. We’re reminded of this as we turn towards Epcot and look down at the entrance below. Scores of people are standing around, bundled up against the cold, waiting for the gates to open. There’s twenty minutes to go until that happens.
Hmmm… let’s look at our options here. We can either go stand (on my sore feet) at the park entrance in arctic conditions for twenty minutes, or we can stay on the monorail for an additional loop and ride around above Walt Disney World some more, enjoying the scenery while seated in climate-protected comfort.
No contest.
It feels odd to just stay sitting when we pull into the Epcot station and the doors open, but we do. The family that was already here when we boarded stays on also, for their third time around. No one is getting on at the Epcot station at this hour, and before long we’re on our way again.
As we travel we chat with the family across from us a bit about what we’ve experienced and what our plans our. They want to head right for Soarin’ but the mom of the family is a little apprehensive – she doesn’t like thrill rides. I try to set her mind at ease, letting her know that Becky is the same way but she loved Soarin’.
They also ask a question that neither Brandon nor I have a ready answer to, in spite of our extensive Disney knowledge. “Can you get a Fastpass in more than one park?” I ask them to clarify, and basically, they want to know if, say, they got a Fastpass for Soarin’ with an evening return time, could they leave Epcot, go to another park, and get a Fastpass for another attraction right away? I honestly don’t know. I’ll have to ask my CM buds online after I get back home.
When we reach the Transportation and Ticket Center, it’s obvious that the proverbial floodgates (or the literal crowd control gates) have opened, and there are hundreds of people waiting at the station for the ride to Epcot. The boys and I stand to let someone else have the opportunity to sit. I don’t mind standing on the monorail – in fact it’s kind of fun – but I’m just tall enough that it’s hard to see much out of the windows but the ground below us without stooping.
We pull into Epcot a couple of minutes after nine o’clock. We’re not carrying our backpack today, so none of us have to go through the bag check. That’s a nice time saver, especially given the hundreds of people who arrived with us. We find an entrance gate with relatively few people, but it soon becomes apparent that they’re having trouble with it and we have to change to another line, but we’re still in the gates and ready to ride at 9:10.
The only question now is which we will do first – Mission: Space or Test Track?
No comments:
Post a Comment