Trip Log:

Started off the morning heading to Osprey Ridge before sun-up. Played our round and was back at the Riverside around 1:00pm. We grabbed a quick snack at the French Quarter and then hopped on a bus to EPCOT. Wandered around Innoventions plaza and then over to the Seas with Nemo and Friends. The posted wait time was 20 minutes, the actual wait was about 10 minutes. We spent a good hour exploring all the pods and even caught a showing of Turtle Talk. Stopped by the Character Connection since there was no line. Wandered over to Canada and ate Dinner at Le Cellier. After dinner made the loop of World Showcase stopping to see Off Kilter, The British Invasion, and Mo Rockin'. In China we stopped and watched Reflections of China. We also did a little shopping. Made it back to the gateway to Future World with about hour to go till Illuminations so went around again stopping for the final set of the evening of the British Invasion. Made it back to the start again with about 5 minutes till showtime. Found a spot for Illuminations and then joined the herd that headed for the bus stop. Road back to the Riverside and called it a night.

Thoughts & Observations:

• We started off our morning with a 6:00am wake up call. We were out to the lobby area by 6:30am to catch a cab ride over to the golf course. Bell Services was not open so we headed to the front desk (just as we have in the past at other resorts) and they informed us that bell services should be open and to go back outside. We did and looked around and no one was around so I went over to luggage services and found a CM who informed us that we needed to go inside the lobby to get the voucher.. after hearing the story he said he would go get us one and met me in the lobby where he filled out a voucher and called the cab, it was very nice of him to help us out (no clue why the CMs inside could not the first time I was there), anyway the adventure continued when about 5 minutes later a cab showed up but said he did not have our name and some other name instead. He stood there for 5 minutes or so and then went inside and came back and waited a few more minutes then left. He refused to even call his dispatch to see if another cab was coming for us or if he had the wrong name. We went back to find the luggage CM who helped us earlier and he could not believe what the cabbie did, and he called for another cab for us, which showed up in a couple minutes. The moral of the story is to always make sure to leave plenty of time for those early morning tee times (which we did, ours was not till 8am).

• We played Osprey which looked better than ever, too bad in a few years it will no longer be Disney's. For those who have not heard the course will be gotten rid of as part of the four seasons development (well turned over to them) and Eagle Pines will be destroyed. According to the CMs at the course Eagle is slated to be closed in August, which no one was happy about that we talked to.

• While talking to the starter I looked at the tee times for the morning and every slot was full for both courses.

• We spent some time roaming around the Living Seas (I mean the Seas with Nemo and Friends) and it looks like the makeover is complete. All the pods were open again. Turtle Talk is in its new home, one of the old pre-show theaters which really helps with the crowd control and its a larger theater. The old Turtle Talk theater still has the projection screen (which I found a bit odd) and several displays that I believe used to be in one of the other pods. Overall I think the makeover brought some life back to the Seas and is great, I am not too thrilled with the long name, I like the Living Seas still though.

• We also strolled around the World Showcase Lagoon taking in some of the live entertainment and just relaxing after dinner. The Chinese acrobats were inside, acting as a pre-show for the circle vision film. Not sure if this is because of the rehab work or for some other reason but it was a change. I thought it was great to be closer, but much harder for many people to see because of the way the waiting area is configured.

• There were a couple of changes I noticed to Illuminations. The first is the opening comet came from near the American Adventure and not the UK as it has since the show opened. Also the shells that are fired from around the lagoon closest to you did not go off (I saw the show again our last night and these did go off). I have always found the show impressive and the finale great, but after seeing the Peace on Earth Finale in December I found it a bit lacking (don't you just hate when Disney tops itself and leaves you less than satisfied with the original which you have enjoyed for years).

  
  

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