Tapestry of Nations December 4, 2000
After dinner, Nate hopped in his chariot and we were going to do inside attractions as it was really getting cold. But as we were arranging our belongings, we heard the Millennium Drums and realized the late show of Tapestry was going to happen after all. The crowd was sparse right in front of Italy, so we got a great spot right there. This was a wonderful surprise as we had resigned ourselves to not seeing it one last time. We sang along with the music and waved to the puppets as they passed. As the last of them went past us, I realized the Sage of Time was standing off to our right a bit. That was one of the places the parade began and ended. Here was the chance to get some better pictures of him. Every other time we had a spot where he simply walked by us. So we found another great spot and got to see the whole parade again. This viewing was different tho. As the puppets pass by the Sage of Time, they bow to him and he to them. We hadn't seen this before and strongly recommend staking out one of these spots.
Nate had managed to save a substantial amount of 'Mickey Money' of his own for this trip, and was determined to get yet another light saber, or some other light up toy before Reflections of Earth. So we were off on this quest. We had a problem tho. He finally got thru to me what kind of light saber he wanted. "A red one Mama, like that lady over there" Hmmm... I told him we would look, but that these weren't for sale. He had pointed to a cast member on crowd control duty. I was right, there were simply no red ones to be found. We did find a toy that he would compromise on and he was a happy camper again. Had I been buying it, I doubt we would have gone to quite the effort we did in our search, but it was his money and he had a right to get what he wanted if he could.
A couple more shop stops, and we decided to split a funnel cake as they were warm and we weren't. It was time to think about where we wanted to watch Reflections of Earth, and we actually found a good view right by the American Gardens Theater. The major bonus was seeing the Candlelight Processional while we waited. I love Christmas music. During the holidays that's virtually all I listen to, but I've never wanted to take the time out to see this show thinking I could see a show like it anytime at home. WRONG!!! It was amazing, and if given another opportunity, I will make time. I was in tears several times, and even called Ed at home, so he could hear it too.
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As much as I love Reflections, it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. It was my fault tho as I hadn't paid attention to wind direction. (and I knew about this too!) We were half frozen by the time it started. I had Nate in a heavy fleece jacket and had taken my leather jacket off and covered him in that too. Fortunately I had worn a sweatshirt or I'd have been in bad shape. We were eating smoke almost immediately and a lot of the water cannons were obstructed by that. Even the music wasn't up to par. I don't know if there was a technical problem, or if it was a freaky quirk of our viewing place, but we could hear about three different speakers playing music and none were synchronized. Note to self: Don't stand there next time. I tried to videotape it again, so I didn't get any new stills. I still haven't watched the tape, but I'm sure it's lousy.
After the show, I let the masses pass by, and made sure that Nate was well covered as the wind had picked up even more. I already had the cold from ....... so if I ended up sicker, well, more time off work right? We started to head toward the exits, and Nate was asleep in the stroller almost immediately. I ducked into several places on the way both to look around and thaw out. One lucky break was when I found the Christmas shop. I spotted the EPCOT holiday limited edition pins, and grabbed both styles for my collection. YESSSS!
I spent the rest of my trip to the exit trying to figure out how to get Nate, the stroller and all our belongings onto the tram with him asleep. I knew it wasn't going to be easy. He can sleep thru anything and was really out. I got very lucky. A wonderful gentleman hopped out of the tram and helped me by folding up the stroller, but not latching it. So all I had to do was shake it out and lock it when we got off. I was able to hold Nate and he took care of the rest before rejoining his wife. We got out before they did and his wife sent him back to help me then too. Thank you Jim! You've earned an extra couple of jewels in your crown some day.
I was on my own at Dixie Landings tho and carried Nate all the way back to the room. As you would expect, he woke up as I fumbled to get the card key in the lock. Although I would have appreciated him being able to walk to the room on his own, this gave him a chance to see the surprises our housekeeper Shawn had left us. Our Santa Mickey and elf hats were stuffed with toilet paper rolls and bed sheets and made to look like they were waiting for us in the window. Nate's dinosaur was on the bed and the Mickey beanie he had gotten from Deb, LB, Tink and Greg was playing cowboy. There were extra towels and wash cloths and all were arranged in nifty flowers, swans and fans. There was also a little note thanking us for all the tips we had left her during our stay.
It was late, we were tired and cold, and I decided that as much as I wanted to go to our planned breakfast at 1900 Park Fare the next morning, We would be better off snoozing late and spending the morning packing up to go home. I hopped online to see if Ed was in the Jacuzzi, chatted a bit with the babes of the night, and hit the hay.
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