Saturday, 31 October 2015

Day 5 - Epcot rides and Magic

A belated post for day five, caused by a late finish. We had fastpasses for Soarin' so no prizes for guessing where we started the day. Who knows, it may be the last time that we will go Soarin' over California, as soon it'll be time to go Soarin' all around the world, not to mention the arrival of a third screen. I wonder if Patrick will be back to record a new introduction?

Anyway, as good as ever, with the pine and orange smells as delightful as ever, and we all ducked for the golf ball.

We still had our fastpass left over from the other day when Test Track broke down, so that was our next stop ..., but it was down again! So, we went left and to the 'Festival pavilion' as it seems to be officially known now (Horizons) and enjoyed the Ghiradellis display and the film about the making of the F&W festival.

By the time we came out, TT was back up and running, and so we were able to have our ride, and once done we were ready for more F&W time, and headed towards the World Showcase. Highlights included a return visit to the mussels and the beef bourguignon, and finding some Scottish haggis and some Canadian cheese soup. And we finished off with a waffle cone from the ice cream store in France.

Back at the hotel, we checked the route (I4 to 82B) and then the boys headed off to the Amway Center for the the Orlando v Oklahoma NBA game (the girls headed back to Epcot later in the evening for a meal at the French restaurant followed by Illuminations).

The game was fantastic. The Magics were up from the start, and by the beginning of the 4th quarter had an 18 point lead, but somehow Oklahoma fought back and tied the game with some amazing play in the final seconds. Then, in overtime, Oklahoma quickly went 5 points up, but the Magics wouldn't give up, and released a buzzer-beating 3-point shot with 0.1 second left to tie the game up again and take the game into a second overtime. Sadly, they couldn't quite repeat the feat, and the game ended up 139-136 to Oklahoma. So, whilst the home fans went away disappointed, as a spectacle, it was tremendous.

We were home just before 11, only a few minutes after the Epcot trip, after a very quick and easy exit from the 'Geico Garage' (parking garage connected by covered pedestrian bridge to the Amway which was about 100 yards from I4) and a 25 min drive home.

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