Scott Hart & son Joshua preview Mission Space
August 2003

Cast Members- Me- Scott Hart(34) DS- Joshua Hart(7)

When I first opened the AP invitation to preview Mission Space August 1-3, I knew my son and I would have to be there. The tough part was convincing my wife, since we had just been to WDW in May. This was surprisingly easy, after carefully instructing DS on how to look pitiful and whine while I did the same. It also helped that we had just enough DVC points left to cover the room, and enough frequent flier miles to cover airfare.

Day One- Flight out of Houston was uneventful and on time. Our driver from Tiffany Town car was on time as usual, and by one o' clock we were checked in to Boardwalk and on the boat to Disney Studios. Although our goal was to ride Mission Space as many times as possible, the Studios is my sons favorite park so we thought we spend our half day of the trip there. We made a beeline for Star Tours, DS favorite ride, got a FP, and then grabbed a quick lunch while waiting for our FP window to open. After Star Tours we hit Muppets 4D, Backlot Tour, Great Movie Ride, and Indiana Jones Stunt Show. I was very surprised at how light the crowds were. We have never traveled to WDW during the summer and I had heard horror stories about the crowds. We had the Fantasmic dinner package at HWBD and then made our way into the amphitheater for Fantasmic. It began to rain though and about fifteen minutes before showtime it was canceled. Drat! Fantasmic is my absolute favorite WDW attraction, but fortunately this was probably our only disappointment on this trip. After a long walk back to BW, we fell into be exhausted.

Day Two- Our plan was to hit the Animal Kingdom first thing before Future World opened at Epcot. We arrived at the gates one hour before opening, somehow I had accidentally set the time on the alarm clock ahead one hour the night before. Being first in line does have its advantages, we were able to hit Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl (three times), and Kali River Rapids all before 10:00! We decided to head on over to Epcot as the crowds were definitely getting heavier by the minute. The entry lines at Epcot were very long but seemed to move quickly. Now, on to our entire reason for coming: Mission Space. Our AP's were checked by CM's as we entered the MS area, Joshua seemed to think it was very cool that we were allowed in while others just stared wistfully at the attraction. Now, I could spend a lot of time describing MS, the outside of the attraction, the queue area, the debriefing area, the ride itself, or even the post ride attractions. Instead of wasting three pages, let me just say this: This ride is everything that WDW is supposed to be. It is by far the most detailed, intense theme park attraction I have ever experienced anywhere! This is an absolute don't miss attraction. One word of warning, DO NOT TURN YOUR HEAD TO THE SIDE WHILE RIDING. The third time that we rode I turned to check on DS, and it was instant nausea. I never and I mean never get sick on any type of ride or attraction, and that almost did me in. After MS we had a lunch of fish and chips at the UK Pavilion. We headed back to Futureworld for a spin on Spaceship Earth, then on to the Land for Food Rocks and Circle of Life. I had scheduled Mickeys Ice Cream Social for a suprise, and it was a huge hit with DS. This is a great money saving alternative to a character meal. After our ice cream it was off to the World Showcase. We took our time walking around as we had several hours before our PS at Le Cellier for dinner. We saw the new circlevision movie in China, it was nicely updated. Then the rain came, and came, and came. Even with our rain ponchos we were soaked in no time. We decided to head back to the room for dry clothes. After drying off, we headed back to Le Cellier for our dinner. I had heard lots of great things about this restaraunt and was not disappointed. It was easily the best meal of our trip. After dinner we staked out a spot for Reflections of Earth, which was wonderful as always. Once again we trudged back to the room, exhausted.

Day Three- Normally we are both early risers, but neither of us was able to get out of bed until almost eight o' clock. This was to be our last day, and DS was just dying to get to Disney Quest so we packed our bags, put them in storage at the hotel, and caught a bus to Downtown Disney. Disney Quest was not open yet, so we walked over to House of Blues for lunch. I was surprised at the quality of the food and the service. I will definitely dine there again. As soon as the last bite was gone, DS practically dragged me out the door and into the heaven on earth that he calls Disney Qwest. After 4 hours of non-stop gaming I convinced him that we needed to do some shopping for Mom and his two DD's, lest we face them at the airport with no souvenirs. After about an hour in Disney's Marketplace, we had all of our souvenir bases covered. We walked back to bus stop in the rain, again, and headed back to the Boardwalk. The bus we rode stopped at all other Boardwalk area resorts before stopping at Boardwalk. Ordinarily this is not a problem, but when the bus got to the Yacht Club, the driver could not get the rear doors to close. After about ten minutes, we decided to go ahead and walk around the Boardwalk to our hotel. We stopped at ESPN Club fordinner, again it was better than was expected. We checked our luggage out of storage and went outside to meet our driver. The only problem was he was not there. I had thought he had told me 6:30, but in retrospect I do think he may have had said 6:00. Regardless, we would never make our flight now, so after quick phone calls to Mom and Continental Airlines we were checked back in to Boardwalk for one more night. We debated heading over to MGM to try and catch Fantasmic, but it was already raining and I did not want to waste two hours sitting on the bleachers only to have the show canceled again. We decided to head back to Epcot, were we saw the American Adventure and then watched Reflections of Earth again. Another tired and wet walk back to the room and we were fast asleep. Our flight home the next day was uneventful once again, and although we were sad to be leaving, it was wonderful to see Mom and DD's again.