DisneyVillain
<font color=green>On a quest for lime green duct t
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2003
- Messages
- 574
Disney Day 8: Saturday, 7-Jun-2003
On our second day at Epcot, we all agreed that we wanted to see more of the miscellaneous performances around the park, so we scheduled the rest of our day around the entertainment schedule.
Test Track was first again, since Mission: Space wasnt cooperating. I have read that Mission: Space has a 25% higher hourly ride capacity than Test Track (1600/hr for Test Track, vs. 2000/hr for Mission:Space). Test Track loads very slowly, and Im not surprised that the lines get very long there. I dont believe that a 25% increase for Mission: Space will be enough to handle the crowds. FastPass will continue to be a requirement for these rides.
The Universe of Energy was next. We always liked Bill Nyes excited attitude about science. Im not an Ellen fan, but in this case her performance doesnt detract from the overall presentation. We found the radio station segment of this attraction very boring, and thought they should have at least shown a movie during that time. I also noticed some misleading statements in the dialog, possibly related to the sponsorship of this pavilion, although what they were has now slipped my mind.
After the World of Pollution, we rode Spaceship Earth, which seems a little stale. I think this ride could use a major overhaul.
Next, we went back to Innoventions East to see the entire performance of the Jammitors, which we had seen half of on our first day in Epcot. We were the first ones there, about 10 minutes before show time. The Jammitors were late, but worth the wait. The Jammitors are four musicians who play drums on galvanized buckets and 30 gallon trash cans, flower pots, gardening carts, trashcan lids, shovels, and other gardening equipment. They are very impressive, and we really enjoyed their show.
Next I went to pick up a FastPass at Living with the Land, while the family turned toward the Living Seas. You have to go all the way down to the ride to get the FastPass for Living with the Land. It would be much better if the FastPass machines were just inside or just outside the pavilion. We voted 3-1 to skip the Living Seas, because a number of great aquariums have been built in our part of the country in recent years, and the Living Seas doesnt compare well anymore. The ride part is boarded up, and there is no evidence that it is being worked on. The kids think the hydrolators are a great cheap effect, and get a good laugh out of people who dont realize that they havent gone anywhere. We also enjoyed watching the manatees for a little while, but mostly this pavilion isnt up to Disney standards anymore.
The Circle of Life Theater is a very well presented look at the potential unintended environmental impact of our actions. We enjoy this movie, and feel that its message comes across very clearly, without being preachy. Overall, this movie leaves you feeling good.
After the Food Rocks show, my 17 year-old son told me that this was the first time he had realized that this show is funny. He said, I still like the music, but when I was little I didnt know it was funny, too.
Living with the Land is always interesting. They are doing a lot of new things since we last visited 6 years ago. I would like to take a backstage tour here, but I dont think I want it badly enough to give up anything else for the tour.
After riding Living with the Land, on our way out we stopped to talk to the botanist they had on duty answering questions near the entrance to the building. Our 13 year-old son wanted to ask how to tell when a pineapple is ripe. During a summer science program after the second grade, he planted a pineapple top. This year it produced fruit! The botanist told us that the only reason he knew the answer to our question was that as a teenager in Puerto Rico, he worked for a pineapple company. He told us they usually cut the pineapple when it has yellowed half way up, and it is ready to eat when it has yellowed all the way up.
Lunch was in Morocco in the World Showcase. They have very good food, as well as live music and a belly dancer. I bought a cookbook with recipes from the restaurant, but I havent had time to try them yet.
After lunch, we went to Journey Into Imagination to ride again, and to play in the ImageWorks.
Then we spent a while in Innoventions. My advice about these exhibits, is save them for last. After you have seen everything else at Epcot, and been to every attraction enough times that you are not interested in seeing them again. After all the paint is dry, and the grass has stopped growing. Then spend 10 minutes or less in Innoventions.
After we came out of the stupor induced by viewing Innoventions, we went back to the UK and caught part of the British Invasion, a Beatles cover band complete with Beatle haircuts and late-sixties outfits. Then mum (after all, we were in the UK) and the kids watched the British comedy troupe while I chased a wild goose.
Our next objective was to see the mime perform in France. I think the only mime our kids had ever seen was the one in the Animaniacs cartoons that the Warner Bros. and the Warner Sister Dot keep dropping an anvil on. (I think they were expecting an anvil to fall on this performer as well.) Le Mime Roland was dressed in more or less ordinary clothing, (a fact that he sometimes uses in his act,) and didnt look at all like the classic Marcel Marceau type mime. He was absolutely hilarious, and we enjoyed every minute of his show. We highly recommend that everyone be sure to catch this act!
When the daily afternoon rains came, we retreated to the waiting area for Impressions de France. We watched the people outside through the door, until time to go into the theatre. One group of teenaged girls ran by screaming 3 times, and then walked by soaked to the skin once. We found them quite funny. The movie is very good, but I prefer Uh-Oh Canada! After the movie, it was still raining, so instead of getting wet going over to Japan for a few minutes, we decided to go to Le Chefs de France and see if we could get in early. The restaurant was not very crowded, and we went right in. We have enjoyed this restaurant very much in the past, but were not impressed with the food this visit.
As we left the restaurant, the mime was just starting a show, so we stopped to watch. The funniest parts were when he would walk along with people who didnt have a clue that they were part of a show. He was also very good with the children he involved in the show.
After the show, we went to look for a place to watch IllumiNations. We decided to see if there was a better wheelchair viewing area near Future World, and we found an excellent spot between the boat dock and the store at the entrance from Future World, (on the Canada side). When viewing from the Future World side of the World Showcase Lagoon, you are much closer to the displays. This was an excellent viewing location on that night, but on our last night we noticed that due to the wind direction, this area caught a LOT of smoke. My number one tip on selecting a view spot for IllumiNations, is pay attention to the wind direction, as this show produces a large amount of ground level fireworks smoke.
We spent 2 entire days, plus a little in Epcot, and we still didnt get to Italy or Japan this trip. I would rather have seen those than spend the time we did in Innoventions and the Living Seas. We wont make that mistake again.
My favorite attractions are in the Disney-MGM Studios, but Epcot is my favorite park.
Sunday would be Day 6 on our 6-day passes, and we decided to spend most of the day at the Disney-MGM Studios, and then have dinner at Epcot and watch IllumiNations one more time.
Day 9: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=402780
On our second day at Epcot, we all agreed that we wanted to see more of the miscellaneous performances around the park, so we scheduled the rest of our day around the entertainment schedule.
Test Track was first again, since Mission: Space wasnt cooperating. I have read that Mission: Space has a 25% higher hourly ride capacity than Test Track (1600/hr for Test Track, vs. 2000/hr for Mission:Space). Test Track loads very slowly, and Im not surprised that the lines get very long there. I dont believe that a 25% increase for Mission: Space will be enough to handle the crowds. FastPass will continue to be a requirement for these rides.
The Universe of Energy was next. We always liked Bill Nyes excited attitude about science. Im not an Ellen fan, but in this case her performance doesnt detract from the overall presentation. We found the radio station segment of this attraction very boring, and thought they should have at least shown a movie during that time. I also noticed some misleading statements in the dialog, possibly related to the sponsorship of this pavilion, although what they were has now slipped my mind.
After the World of Pollution, we rode Spaceship Earth, which seems a little stale. I think this ride could use a major overhaul.
Next, we went back to Innoventions East to see the entire performance of the Jammitors, which we had seen half of on our first day in Epcot. We were the first ones there, about 10 minutes before show time. The Jammitors were late, but worth the wait. The Jammitors are four musicians who play drums on galvanized buckets and 30 gallon trash cans, flower pots, gardening carts, trashcan lids, shovels, and other gardening equipment. They are very impressive, and we really enjoyed their show.
Next I went to pick up a FastPass at Living with the Land, while the family turned toward the Living Seas. You have to go all the way down to the ride to get the FastPass for Living with the Land. It would be much better if the FastPass machines were just inside or just outside the pavilion. We voted 3-1 to skip the Living Seas, because a number of great aquariums have been built in our part of the country in recent years, and the Living Seas doesnt compare well anymore. The ride part is boarded up, and there is no evidence that it is being worked on. The kids think the hydrolators are a great cheap effect, and get a good laugh out of people who dont realize that they havent gone anywhere. We also enjoyed watching the manatees for a little while, but mostly this pavilion isnt up to Disney standards anymore.
The Circle of Life Theater is a very well presented look at the potential unintended environmental impact of our actions. We enjoy this movie, and feel that its message comes across very clearly, without being preachy. Overall, this movie leaves you feeling good.
After the Food Rocks show, my 17 year-old son told me that this was the first time he had realized that this show is funny. He said, I still like the music, but when I was little I didnt know it was funny, too.
Living with the Land is always interesting. They are doing a lot of new things since we last visited 6 years ago. I would like to take a backstage tour here, but I dont think I want it badly enough to give up anything else for the tour.
After riding Living with the Land, on our way out we stopped to talk to the botanist they had on duty answering questions near the entrance to the building. Our 13 year-old son wanted to ask how to tell when a pineapple is ripe. During a summer science program after the second grade, he planted a pineapple top. This year it produced fruit! The botanist told us that the only reason he knew the answer to our question was that as a teenager in Puerto Rico, he worked for a pineapple company. He told us they usually cut the pineapple when it has yellowed half way up, and it is ready to eat when it has yellowed all the way up.
Lunch was in Morocco in the World Showcase. They have very good food, as well as live music and a belly dancer. I bought a cookbook with recipes from the restaurant, but I havent had time to try them yet.
After lunch, we went to Journey Into Imagination to ride again, and to play in the ImageWorks.
Then we spent a while in Innoventions. My advice about these exhibits, is save them for last. After you have seen everything else at Epcot, and been to every attraction enough times that you are not interested in seeing them again. After all the paint is dry, and the grass has stopped growing. Then spend 10 minutes or less in Innoventions.
After we came out of the stupor induced by viewing Innoventions, we went back to the UK and caught part of the British Invasion, a Beatles cover band complete with Beatle haircuts and late-sixties outfits. Then mum (after all, we were in the UK) and the kids watched the British comedy troupe while I chased a wild goose.
Our next objective was to see the mime perform in France. I think the only mime our kids had ever seen was the one in the Animaniacs cartoons that the Warner Bros. and the Warner Sister Dot keep dropping an anvil on. (I think they were expecting an anvil to fall on this performer as well.) Le Mime Roland was dressed in more or less ordinary clothing, (a fact that he sometimes uses in his act,) and didnt look at all like the classic Marcel Marceau type mime. He was absolutely hilarious, and we enjoyed every minute of his show. We highly recommend that everyone be sure to catch this act!
When the daily afternoon rains came, we retreated to the waiting area for Impressions de France. We watched the people outside through the door, until time to go into the theatre. One group of teenaged girls ran by screaming 3 times, and then walked by soaked to the skin once. We found them quite funny. The movie is very good, but I prefer Uh-Oh Canada! After the movie, it was still raining, so instead of getting wet going over to Japan for a few minutes, we decided to go to Le Chefs de France and see if we could get in early. The restaurant was not very crowded, and we went right in. We have enjoyed this restaurant very much in the past, but were not impressed with the food this visit.
As we left the restaurant, the mime was just starting a show, so we stopped to watch. The funniest parts were when he would walk along with people who didnt have a clue that they were part of a show. He was also very good with the children he involved in the show.
After the show, we went to look for a place to watch IllumiNations. We decided to see if there was a better wheelchair viewing area near Future World, and we found an excellent spot between the boat dock and the store at the entrance from Future World, (on the Canada side). When viewing from the Future World side of the World Showcase Lagoon, you are much closer to the displays. This was an excellent viewing location on that night, but on our last night we noticed that due to the wind direction, this area caught a LOT of smoke. My number one tip on selecting a view spot for IllumiNations, is pay attention to the wind direction, as this show produces a large amount of ground level fireworks smoke.
We spent 2 entire days, plus a little in Epcot, and we still didnt get to Italy or Japan this trip. I would rather have seen those than spend the time we did in Innoventions and the Living Seas. We wont make that mistake again.
My favorite attractions are in the Disney-MGM Studios, but Epcot is my favorite park.
Sunday would be Day 6 on our 6-day passes, and we decided to spend most of the day at the Disney-MGM Studios, and then have dinner at Epcot and watch IllumiNations one more time.
Day 9: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=402780
