What a busy day we had today!

We skipped breakfast all together and ate lunch in front of the cameras around 10 o’clock. Given the time of the day and knowing what was ahead, we kept it fairly light.

Test Track at Epcot was our next stop. We enjoyed it this time round as much as we did on our first day. How could anyone tire of the fast ride and some hair rising hair pin turns? Even the producer could not resist this ride and went for a spin.

As we were free for a while, we decided to try the new attraction, ‘Soaring’. The wait was long, but it did not seem that way, as there were five big interactive screens lining up the walls. Complete strangers, having in common only their desire to experience ‘Soaring’, would team up to play the games on the screen. The thermal heat imaging from our bodies was used to ‘grow landscape’ and spread seeds, or to fly a bird or pop balloons. But everyone needed to pull together in order for the game to work. The teams did get pretty competitive with each other. All the leaning and arms flailing proved to be an excellent aerobic workout

‘Soaring’ was a magical experience. This is a family show for all ages and a true celebration of the beautiful Californian landscapes.

To get to see ‘The Seas’, we walked through ‘Innoventions’ where the boys got hooked on various video games. Fast cars and football were predictably occupying most of their time.

After hearing the story about its inception, I rode a Segway. It is very simple to use, and I whizzed away, apparently quite fast. The boys were a little disappointed that no one under 16 was allowed to go on it.

With this interesting detour, we arrived at ‘The Seas’ attraction. This is a popular one for the younger kids, telling the story from the Nemo movie. What adds extra charm to it is that the animated characters are swimming in a real life aquarium filled with live fish.

To Sebi’s insistence, we went back to Mission Space: Orange Team, switching our roles around. There is a Green Team option for those who prefer an easier space ride.

We were just in time to be picked up by the Production Assistant and taken to the MGM Studios for some more filming. There it got really hectic, as it was getting darker and it started raining. Everything was first shot outside, which, with the weather that was coming, proved to be a good decision.

The Producer found some other ‘victims’ to sign the release and join us in the Tower of Terror twice. None of the stuff is shot just once to the delight of the boys who get to enjoy more rides that way.
This ride is not for the people with a weak stomach (or high blood pressure I would think). The theme is the TV series the’ Twilight Zone’. The cool voice of Rod Sterling and the vision of the hologram ghosts were calling us into the Twilight Zone. After some pretty amazing effects, we plunged into the dark abyss bellow us, just to be pulled up again. I have no idea how the cameraman climbed up where he was standing, but he managed to capture the terror in our faces at that very brief moment before we freefell into the darkness once again.

We finished filming at the Rock’n Roller Coaster, which we (yes you guessed it) rode twice. It was fun, fun, fun. After the countdown, we raced onto the imaginary Californian freeway into the fast paced adventure.

I have no idea where the boys found the desire to go swimming once we were back at the African Lodge, but they did. The water of the hotel pool is so wonderfully warm that a steam could be seen rising into a cooler air. I opted for a quick gym workout.

Tomorrow is a sleep in. We do not get picket up till 1:30. I am looking forward to it!