EPCOT - ONE DAY

Epcot in one day, no problem.  Once again it is harder to do everything during peak holidays, when crowds of people create long lines but this was not the case the first weekend of November.  We had visions of starting our day the minute the park opened, though that was not quite the case.  We (Nick, Leah, Kyle, Dan, Suzie, Heather, Scott Deuce, Scott H, and myself) did get there at 9:15 am which turned out to be early enough.  All had purchased two day tickets, so after parking we headed into Epcot but first, those of us with purses had to go through a security line which took a few minutes.  Food and beverages carry ins are allowed, so I guess they were just checking for any kind of weapon.?  That line turned out to be one of the longest of the day.

Epcot (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) opened in 1982, is ever growing and changing, and occupies 300 acres.  Our gameplan was to visit Future World first, then make our way to the World Showcase and walk counterclockwise (don't know if the direction makes a difference) and enjoy the Food and Wine Festival which was taking place in the World Showcase.
As we entered we all headed to probably the most popular attraction in Future World, Test Track.  It listed a 10 minute wait, but we entered, walked through the building past displays on corrosion and crash tests without ever stopping and right into our car.  Unfortunately Nick was too small for this ride and expectant mothers are asked not to test the track, so Kyle joined them and opted out and instead visited the GM showroom where Nick could hop into cars and pretend to drive on his own.
The six of us filled our own convertible.  I had read that the Left Front seat offers the most thrills as the vehicle moves through the curves, and that the center spots are the easiest for anyone who is wary of wild rides, so I hopped in the center back. 
The 5 minute ride follows what looks to be an actual highway, includes braking tests, a hill climb, tight S curves and a 12 second BURST of speed that reaches 65 mph on the straightaway.  This was MY favorite ride overall, and I am not a person that enjoys roller coasters.  The ride mixed up fast, slow, hot, cold, twists, turns and kept you entertained.  Everyone agreed it was a A+ ride, which is why if you are not there first thing, you will probably wait over an hour in line or have to use the Fastpass, but Fastpass is often in such demand that the last Fastpass time for the day is often gone by 11am.  This day, not only was there no wait, but we could have all gone back to the front and reentered it again, without a wait, but decided there was more to see and joined back up with Kyle, Leah and Nick.
While some visted the restroom, Dan, Kyle, Scott, Nick and myself checked out the watersnakes.

I thought I caught the water jumping over Scott and Nick's heads, and you can just make it out at the top of the picture..
Then onto Imagination!  This pavilion was upgraded in 2001, and I remember the original as one big place for kids to play.  There used to be a couple stages where kids could be in front of a blue screen, and be instructed on things to do (like pretend to walk up stairs, or jump on a horse), and above the area was a tv screen with kids being part of a show, walking up stairs, riding a horse, involved in a shoot out..etc.  No longer there.  Figment, the little dragon, was a mascot of Epcot when it opened and has been resurrected in this ride, unfortunately, it doesn't save the ride.  The ride is a tour of labs "talking" about your 5 senses, where you actually never touch anything.  Then Figment wants everyone to set your imagination free and invites all to his upside down house.  When its over, head for the What If labs, but the only thing offered is some interactive stations that allow you to conduct music.  I would actually say it lacks imagination, and seems much work is needed to create more hands on stations.

Then we went to The Land.  In years past, this has always been a favorite of Scott H.  We actually had to get in line, though it moved pretty quickly and were boarding our boat in about 15 minutes.  This 13 minute ride goes through three ecological environments which show farming methods ranging from hydroponics to plants growing in simulated soil.  There is a area growing sealife and plants growing along lines up to the ceiling.  The ride did start out in the dark, but that didn't last long so Nick enjoyed the boat ride as well.

I don't believe this has changed at all, and actually there is no reason for it to.  Always fun to see the large cucumbers and squash hanging on their vines.  Our garden at home never looks that way.
There are other things to do in the building, the is a 15 minute Circle of Life live action movie and a Soarin, where guests are seated in giant hang gliders and surrounded by a tremendous projection screen dome, you are lifted up, and appear to fly through the sky.  There is sensory effects as well and sounds like fun, but not sure if Nick would have been able to do this, and I guess I dropped the ball in leading our group to this attraction......let's just say we can save this for the next time we come.

Next we all went to The Seas with Nemo & Friends, this used to be called The Living Seas when we visited years ago and more than the name has changed. 

1988

Instead of exhibits tracing the history of undersea exploration, and a 7 minute flick, now you ride in a "clamobile" and according to the write up about it, guests join in on an undersea field trip led by Mr Ray, who discovers Nemo is missing and it's up to everyone to find him.  The ride slowly moves past undersea scenes, with animation technology swimming right with the live inhabitants of the aquarium.  The problem is, I had no idea that is what was going on.  All I remember is seeing a huge fish tank in front of me, and Nemo (everyone should know that he is the little orange and black fish) appears in each section that you are viewing.  Once again, if there would be some kind of story, recorded in each "clamobile" at least then it would be more interesting than riding by and looking at fish.  I think it would have been cool if the "clam" laid back, and the aquarium was overhead as well.  I felt since you only look in front of you at the aquarium and everything else is dark, it felt closed in or in other words, the aquarium seemed small when in fact its really large.  Nick was not excited about entering the clam, but sat through the ride and thought it was ok.

After the ride, there is a Turtle Talk with Crush, Crush talks to the audience with a digital projection and voice activated animation.  The write up says your kids will get a kick out of it, but I didn't think our group would, so we walked by it.  Heather and I did pop into Bruce's Shark World, which is a play area for little ones, and had our picture taken as we looked out of the Shark's mouth.

We decided to visit Spaceship Earth later and head into the World Showcase.  The 14th annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival was being held there from October 1st through November 14th.  There were seminars, book signings, and merchandise for sale, but what intrigued us was being able to sample food and wine from different countries.
We entered on the west side, and headed for Canada.  It was just around noon time, but there really wasn't any kind of crowd.  It was decided that a sample plate of food and possibly some wine would be bought at a bunch of different countries, and shared by all of us.  In Canada, Nick and I went into a Football (Soccer) stores to check out what was for sale, while Leah, Heather and Soctt got in line to order a plate of food and sample of wine.   We had some Apple Chutney, Cheese and Bread, which was tasty, and sampled some kind of wine, that was not a favorite of anyones, plus the cost of the sample wine was too high for the size of the plastic glass.  Then a photo opportunity representing the Northwest.  The pavilion has a 18 minute 360 degree circle vision film, O Canada.  It would have been a place to stop if rest was needed, but we passed.

Leah, Suzie and Heather

We then walked past Ireland, heading for France.

In France I got a plate of Short Ribs and Mashed Potatoes with a Croissant.  It was really good.  We all walked around Paris, and then found a place to sit down and enjoy some bakery and croissants.  One store Nick liked had a whole area on Ratatouille, with a stuffed Remy which was the rat from that movie.  There is also a sit down theater that shows a 18 minute filme in 200 degree wraparound screen of France's landscapes but we kept moving.

We walked past Belgium, but stopped in at Spain and got an assortment plate.
It consisted of Ham, Olives, Chorizo, Tomato Bread and Cheese. 

As we walked past Morocco, Nick was curious about some of the clothing hanging outside.

Onward we go, walked past Australia and then into Japan.  Time for a little break to watch the golden koi. 

and Dan and Nick by the steps

Well rested, we all headed towards the United States.  As we approached the Spirit of America Fife & Drum Corps supplied a little entertainment.

Time for some food, New England Lobster Roll, Pecan Bread Pudding and Boston Crab Cake with Cabbage Slaw and Remoulade.  After a short break we continued past Italy and into Germany.  A layout of a Bavarian village housed Nicks favorite thing...Trains.

Grandpa and Nick

After watching the trains go into tunnels, and under the walkway it was time for a few beers and some assorted German sausages and of course a pretzel.  Nick and I wandered into Der Teddy Bar store, where he was able to color on a Duffy the Bear cutout.

 

Now it was time for some pictures of the Epcot golfball:

sorry I should have said closer together..my bad

We were rounding the corner as we passed Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, and China.  We noticed more people on this side of the showcase, mainly people entering the area not leaving it as we were.

As we approached Norway, Kyle, Leah and Nick decided to call it a day and head back to our house.  It had been a long day for them for sure.  This left Dan, Suzie, Heather, Scott Z, Scott and myself to visit Maelstrom, a boat ride in a dragon headed viking vessel, which traverses Norway's fjords and mythical forest.  This attraction offers visitors to use the Fast Track, but the wait was only suppose to be 20 minutes and there wasn't anything else to do so we decided to wait in line.  After a wait, we boarded our boat and the fun began.  (On getting in we noticed the seats and floor was wet in the front so we filled the back two rows of seats.  We saw images of polar bears, and then a troll (which casted a spell on our boat...didn't know this while we were on it but I believe from this point the back was now the front of our boat)..then we crashed through a narrow gorge and spun into a storm in the North Sea (the other end of the boat did get splashed).  The storm subsides, and we disembark.  There is a film documenting Norways history, but we didn't stop to watch it.  Overall it was a fun ride.

We then walked past Mexico, time for a kodak moment with Donald

then Argentina, Puerto Rico, Brazil and Chile..some were pavillions some were just food huts, the amount of people entering had greatly increased as we exited the World Showcase.  Lines were longer for food now, and once again entering early really paid off. 

As we walked back into Epcot, we discussed if we should go to Universe of Energy.  There was only a few minute wait so we decided to go inside.  Sure, there was only a few minute wait to enter the building, but a 15 minute wait inside was once again, one of our average waits.  I always associated this pavilion as the one with the dinosaurs and that has not changed.  What has changed is the pre show.  Ellen DeGeneres has always been the featured host, but now Bill Nye the Science Guy is her tutor.  Ellen needs help to be successful as a Jeopardy contestant, and that whole storyline is different than it was when we were here last.  But as I said earlier, the real stars of this exhibit comes after you board your moving seats and go back in time 275 million years into the Mesozoic Era.  Audio animatronic dinosaurs, dragonflies, earthquakes and lots of flashing lights and loud noises, this probably would not have been a favorite of Nicks but was entertaining nonetheless.  At the end you see the continued story of Ellen on Jeopardy and ends with the final Jeopardy question. 

We then all went to Spaceship Earth, with about a 20 minute wait we decided it was doable.  The 15 minute ride inside the silver golfball takes visitors to the distant past, where an audio animatronic figures lead you from CroMagon to ancient Egypt as the alphabet progresses... through printing press and Renaissance.  What I really liked about this ride was the storytelling as you encountered each thing.  This is what I thought some of the rides at Disneyworld should have, someone telling you what about what you are looking at, rather than just thinking you understand what you are seeing.  I believe the first half of this ride is pretty much unchanged but the end is awesome.  Visitors used to just ride backwards, without much to do.  Now there is a touch screen in each two person vehicle that asks you personal questions (What do you like to do in your spare time...What kind of pet would you like to have..etc) and creates a future life for the occupants of your vehicle complete with pictures and cartoon bodies with your individual head on each one (taken earlier on the ride).  Of course, each pair of people have a different story and maybe even in a different language like Suzie and Dan's was.  At the end of the ride you enter Project Tomorrow, Inventing the World of Tomorrow, and up above are huge screens.  You touch a computer screen and there you are, as a cartoon character on one of the screens.

You can even email it back as it asks for your email address.  It was really fun!  I would have rode it again.

Dan and Suzie decided it was now time for Dan to finally have his Turkey Leg, even if it meant going back to the United States pavillion.  Heather and Scott Z decided it was time to have get a treat, and we all decided to meet back in about 45 minutes.  Scott and I decided to check out the Innoventions West building and that is where I found some of the things that used to be in Imagination.  This building was really empty.  There was a full size firetruck that kids could climb on and learn about fire safety, and an area where you can be the star of a video.  There were only 2 kids in line so I think the others may have enjoyed this.  What was interesting to me was the Segway.  I signed up to learn how to ride on one, had to wait a little while since there were only two Segways but with only 3 people ahead of me, I figured it wouldn't take too long.  It didn't and soon I was snailing along learning how to go forward and turn.

Then we went outside to look for the others.  Heather and Scott Z came back with an ice cream and Dan and Suzie showed up with the Turkey Leg in hand

It was 4:30 pm and time to leave.  None of us went on Mission Space.  It is labeled as a simulated flight to Mars, where you assume the role of commander, pilot, navigator or engineer depending on where you sit.  The problem was this ride lists it's not for the faint of heart especially the orange version..and visitors are told the green is far less intense but knowing it has centrifugal force to create the illusion of a launch, as well as visuals and sound effects and spinning that did not appeal to anyone in our group.  So we passed on it.

Besides that, we saw everything and did everything we wanted to do in one day, no problem.  The key is to get their early, especially for the Fast Track, then make sure you enter World Showcase just before noontime, to enjoy it before the crowds pick up in the afternoon.  If you want to shop in each country, there are lots of opportunities and that could easily add an hour to your Epcot experience.  Seven and a half hours of fun, laughs and good eats will be remembered by us all. 

Nick and Grandpa



and one more picture of

and we say good bye to Epcot.