We finished our day with an Authentic Mexican dinner. Okay, I know…. Going from Texas to Florida for Mexican food seems silly. Late set it up, so we went. We were pleasantly surprised: it was, as John put it, “Not Tex-Mex, but real Mex-Mex.” And, it was good. Really. A tasty finish to our day. Once again, we opened the park and closed it.

Returning to EPCOT, we had just one more ride to hit: Spaceship Earth ($ponsored by Seimens, of course). I am so glad we did. Such a better bookend on the day and a classic Disney head-fake. The kids were entertained and learned about how the development of information technology led to where we are today and will be in the future. Very cool ride. There was one piece that would prompt a chuckle from most folks. Right there with the development of papyrus and Gutenberg’s movable type and Bell’s telephone, was a visionary inventor working in a California garage to invent the first personal computer. Nice story. Too bad it WASN’T Steve Jobs, but his buddy Woz who did the heavy lifting of creating the very first Apple Computer. Steve was, is, and forever will be a vision guy and promoter. Those otherdetails can be hired out.

Crafty use of Fast Pass enabled us to do three major rides before lunch and cover most of
Tomorrowland in an afternoon. However, there are no Fast Passes in Toontown and, as you can see in this picture, one member of our party wants to see it ALL. We hit one ride before calling it a night and it was one of those Disney World stories experiences: a 30-minute wait for a one minute ride.

You have seen countless LIABILITY waivers when boarding a ride or doing some adventurous activity. When is the last time you saw a ride that required you to waive intellectual property ownership of anything submitted to or created as a result of your participation in said activity in accordance with corporate governance of the first party hereafter refered to as Big Company? I had to take a picture of this. It isn’t just funny, but these are terms I need to add into some of my company’s agreements. This is great. Now I CAN write the trip off as a business expense.

Like a story told and retold by an elderly relative, Disney’s Carousel of Progress is a look forward from yesterday. Even though they’ve given the “present” a more current flavor, it is such a squeeky-clean image of now that it’s clichéd out of credibility. Still, though, this exhibit has been going since it premiered at the 1964 World’s Fair and has a warn blanket feel like a hug from your grandmother. You’ve heard it before, but you listen again because it fills you with something you can’t get anywhere else.