Thursday July 17th 2025

The highlight activity over the last few days was a daytime visit to Disney’s EPCOT. My usual visits are in the late afternoon into the evening, but this time I was on a mission to ride the updated Test Track attraction. It officially opens next week. This week they were offering previews to annual pass holders.

It wasn’t simple to take advantage of this “opportunity”. First I had to make a reservation to visit the park. This is a normal requirement to visit a park with an annual pass before 2PM. Next, I had to reserve a time in a virtual queue for the attraction. This is a timed entry that can be reserved online at 7AM or 1PM. I was up before 7AM only to strike out in my speed of button pushing as the clock struck 7. Being optimistic I arrived at the park around noon thinking I’d have more success at the 1PM online button pushing. I didn’t.

My visit was still enjoyable. I walked around the park taking pictures of the flower blossoms and the birds visiting the park. I didn’t ride any rides, but ate an expensive soft serve ice cream cone and watched the Voices of Liberty sing a few folk and Disney songs in the American Adventure rotunda. Both were very good.

My visit ended shortly before 4PM as I observed a very dark cloud moving in from the southwest. A few rain drops were falling by the time I reached my car in the parking lot. I experienced a few minutes of tropical downpour on my way home. It was all over long before I reached home.