One last view as we leave - the bowling pin stairway and the parking lot
After DD bought her Yeti, we decided there really wasn't anything else we wanted to do at AK this time, so we instead ran over to Epcot to try and get a few more things we didn't get to do last time done. I also stopped at the Hess station near the Boardwalk to fill the gas tank before returning the car at the airport.One last view as we leave - the bowling pin stairway and the parking lot
We got to Epcot around 10:15am, and went straight to Test Track. It was advertised a 30 minute standby wait and an 11:25 Fastpass return time, so we just got in line. However, if they didn't start the Fastpass return times until 10am, the effect of Fastpasses on the standby line would have only started - and it was painfully obvious that there was an effect. We ended up waiting more than 90 minutes, and the Fastpass line reached all the way to the door from about 20 minutes in for most of the time. This also may be due to a Sunday crowd level, but it seems apparent that they need to work on how the loading is done to not impact the standby line so poorly. Not sure what could be done, but it seems something does.
After we finally rode (and despite GMs situation, the concept car in the show area has apparently been replaced with something that looked like it was closer to a production car), we walked over to Mission: Space again as DD wanted to ride the orange side, but the wait for it was 55 minutes, and even 30 minutes for green - the longest I've seen in years, so we skipped it. A short time later I noticed it up to 110 minutes.
By then it was a good time for us to grab lunch, so we went to the Electric Umbrella, where I don't think I've stepped foot inside in a decade. There was a fair crowd already around the cashiers, with two stations not even manned. It seemed to be moving OK to a point, but unfortunately opposite me was a couple using the Disney Dining Plan, who wanted to get just one meal, but an extra drink, and the woman seemed convinced that there was no way that the cashier understood what they wanted, even though she, and I, and pretty much everyone else waiting did. Even after it was rung through, the woman was still unsure it was done the way they wanted, despite having gotten the receipt with their remaining credits, and the receipt for the extra drink that they paid for...
DD got some chicken tenders (the good ones this time!), while I got a toasted turkey sandwich which was really quite good, although (like everything) expensive for its size.
We walked over towards The Seas, stopping at Club Cool for some quick free drinks, and DD piped up that we should do Journey Into Imagination, since there was never a line - and sure enough there wasn't. We walked right in and rode it. Of course, she hates the Smell Lab part of the ride. There was a girl in the seats in front of us that was definitely scared at the start of the ride to the point of crying, but once we passed the Sound Lab she was fine.
We tried to find one of the Kodak picture stations where we could send a picture to DW, but I couldn't find one that wasn't being used by people making freaky pictures and the keyboard actually worked.
We then went over to The Seas and passed The Land where the wait for Soarin' according to the times board outside (which isn't always up to date) was listed at 50 minutes. At The Seas, the clammobiles were pretty much a walk-on, after which we hung out and checked out pretty much all of the tanks, only skipping Turtle Talk.
Finally, we decided to take one spin on Spaceship Earth before we left WDW. For those that haven't been there in a while, there is a point just as you go into the tunnel where they take your picture for use with the animations on the downhill part of the ride, so we both took our hats off for the pic. After which I put my hat back on, but DD didn't. After we rode, we left right away and walked all the way to the car while it started to rain a bit, at which point I realized that she didn't have her hat - the one she bought on Friday! So we hurried back to Spaceship Earth and went in the exit area and spoke to a CM, who checked but said that no one had seen it. She said to go to Guest Relations right next door, which we did but I knew it would be too soon to have shown up there. The CM there gave me the card with the central Lost and Found number on it. We were leaving shortly, but the CM said they would send it to you free of charge. I didn't have much hope for it though. As we walked back to the car, DD asked me if I was upset she lost her hat - I said no, she paid for it with her money, so it was hers to lose. She still had the other things she bought, so she seemed OK with it.
We took 417 back to the airport without issues, although it seems like you circle around the entire airport before reaching the car rental return, and then there is a sharp sudden turn - almost missed it.
Our flight home was on the "Blue Yorker", and despite rain moving in to Orlando (and radio reports of potential tornados somewhere) it went pretty much without issues and landed ahead of schedule. We took the Silver Line bus to South Station and the Red Line to Alewife where DW picked us up and took us home.
Update: I called WDW Lost and Found the next day. After a fairly long wait on hold, I spoke to a CM and described the hat. I thought it was blue, but the CM said there was a black one. I then described how on the bill of the hat the lines were done to look frayed, and she said that was the one! She sent it USPS the next day, and we had it two days later!