flclarkkent
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2004
- Messages
- 51
Greetings, DIS-keteers.
I live in Orlando, but I've been reading the boards for the past few weeks to get some pointers for a trip to EPCOT. My mom had really wanted to go after seeing commercials for Mission:Space. She came down just this past weekend, and we ventured to the park on Friday, April 23.
Just a word about us, we're not huge Disney fanatics. And my mom isn't big on theme parks in general. But neither us of had been to EPCOT since the mid 1980s, so we thought we'd revisit.
After getting a little turned around on Disney property (apparently locals can get lost there too) we got to the park around 10:30 a.m. The parking area was about half full, much to our relief. We really didn't want to fight the crowds.
We spent about 30 minutes waiting in line for tickets, and to go through security. No problems there at all. Our first impressions? Future world is a blast from the past..circa 1984. The exteriors of many of the buildings are a little dated.
All that being said, though, we were impressed at how clean and well-kept everything was. No litter. No walls in need of paint. Nada. Zilch. You could perform surgery on the ground. Very clean.
The plan was to start with Spaceship Earth -- especially because once we arrived there was no line. Turns out that there wasn't a line because the ride wasn't working. A cast member said to come back in about ten minutes.
We made our way first to get fast passes for Mission:Space. Such a cool looking building. On the outside, it's just as impressive looking as the commercials.
We then backtracked to Ellen's energy adventure, which we were told was also down for repairs. My mom then wanted to go to the Wonders of Life pavillion...but a sign out front said it was closed (whether for the day, the week, forever,...we don't know).
Slightly disconcerted, we went back to Spaceship Earth, which had re-opened. A short wait, and we were off for one of many trips "back through time.'' Nice slow paced ride that held up a little better than what I thought it would have.
After that, it's off to Mission:Space...now officially renamed Mission
uke. We only waited for about 15 minutes to ride. But in that time, it seemed we were warned 15 times that this is an "intense" ride.
And it was. The blast off was incredible, way more realistic than I ever expected. And all of the flying through space was amazing as well. A little disappointed with the parts where you actually reach Mars as it felt more like a traditional ride simulator. But, as they say, it's all about the journey. And it was quite a journey indeed.
For mom, the ride didn't treat her well. She did not, however, throw up. Kudos for her. She did have to sit on the benches that they have handily placed outside the ride area. And she wasn't alone. There were a few other queasy folks there too. We ran into a very helpful cast member who offered some good advice, and who let mom and those other folks that they weren't the first to get a little motion sick.
Well, they all did better than one poor sould who did throw up down the hallway. Like the warnings said, it's a very intense ride.
But my mom was glad she did it...she thought it was great, queasiness and all.
So, we decided to move on to something less intense. We walked back through future world and did The Living Seas. As a kid, I always thought the whole Sea Base Alpha concept was cool. Still do, actually. I just wish they'd play it up a little more.
We really enjoyed watching the manatees -- one of which was really showing off. The Nemo exhibit was also fun.
We moved on to the Land. Had lunch in the food court at the Pasta and Potato kiosk (strange combo...are they lumped together because they're all carbs?) The food was quite good, as the combos came with a salad and a cookie. We had our own beverages, so lunch for two was only $15. Not too shabby. Did the boat tour, which is really cool. I think it's one of EPCOT's underrated treasures.
Next, we did Journey into Imagination and Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Highly enjoyed both.
We grabbed fast passes for Test Track, and then went to the re-opened Ellen's energy education seminar. My mom really likes Ellen, so she quite liked it.
On to Test Track, which broke down while we were in line. We wound up waiting for about 30 minutes. But it was worth the wait. We both really liked this one. Neither of us knew that much about it, but we both thought it was great. Just a really fun ride and I think the favorite for both of us.
We followed that up by doing the World Showcase. Just for the record, I love the Mexican boat ride. It's so bad, so over-the-top, so Chamber of Commerce-y that it's...great! It has some kind of weird, kitschy charm. I hope they never change it.
To celebrate, we had $7 margaritas. Ay caramba.
We continued walking, and looking at all the details -- btw, the flower and garden show was taking place this weekend. Being able to check out all of these beautiful plantings was a nice bonus.
By this point, it was time for dinner. We had planned to do something nice, like Le Cellier. But we were hot, tired and not dressed for the occasion. So we stopped at the counter service restaurant in America instead.
The food was good. But the one thing I wanted to mention here is that the interior of the restaurant was so spotless that it looked brand new.
Back to the World Showcase, we did some shopping in Japan -- Lucky Cats for family members. Watched the statue performer in Italy. Ran from the mime in France. Browsed the shops in Canada and England.
Finally, it was time for the fireworks show (which I can't remember the name of). In a word, it was great.
All in all, we had a great time. Like I said earlier, we aren't big Disney people. It's not that we don't like it, we're just not all that in to it. And for me, the expense of a ticket to any theme park is, well, an expense.
But everything about EPCOT -- from the rides, to the employees, to the cleanliness, etc -- exceeded our expectations. We both felt we more than got our moneys worth, and left feeling good about our EPCOT experience.
I live in Orlando, but I've been reading the boards for the past few weeks to get some pointers for a trip to EPCOT. My mom had really wanted to go after seeing commercials for Mission:Space. She came down just this past weekend, and we ventured to the park on Friday, April 23.
Just a word about us, we're not huge Disney fanatics. And my mom isn't big on theme parks in general. But neither us of had been to EPCOT since the mid 1980s, so we thought we'd revisit.
After getting a little turned around on Disney property (apparently locals can get lost there too) we got to the park around 10:30 a.m. The parking area was about half full, much to our relief. We really didn't want to fight the crowds.
We spent about 30 minutes waiting in line for tickets, and to go through security. No problems there at all. Our first impressions? Future world is a blast from the past..circa 1984. The exteriors of many of the buildings are a little dated.
All that being said, though, we were impressed at how clean and well-kept everything was. No litter. No walls in need of paint. Nada. Zilch. You could perform surgery on the ground. Very clean.
The plan was to start with Spaceship Earth -- especially because once we arrived there was no line. Turns out that there wasn't a line because the ride wasn't working. A cast member said to come back in about ten minutes.
We made our way first to get fast passes for Mission:Space. Such a cool looking building. On the outside, it's just as impressive looking as the commercials.
We then backtracked to Ellen's energy adventure, which we were told was also down for repairs. My mom then wanted to go to the Wonders of Life pavillion...but a sign out front said it was closed (whether for the day, the week, forever,...we don't know).
Slightly disconcerted, we went back to Spaceship Earth, which had re-opened. A short wait, and we were off for one of many trips "back through time.'' Nice slow paced ride that held up a little better than what I thought it would have.
After that, it's off to Mission:Space...now officially renamed Mission
uke. We only waited for about 15 minutes to ride. But in that time, it seemed we were warned 15 times that this is an "intense" ride.And it was. The blast off was incredible, way more realistic than I ever expected. And all of the flying through space was amazing as well. A little disappointed with the parts where you actually reach Mars as it felt more like a traditional ride simulator. But, as they say, it's all about the journey. And it was quite a journey indeed.
For mom, the ride didn't treat her well. She did not, however, throw up. Kudos for her. She did have to sit on the benches that they have handily placed outside the ride area. And she wasn't alone. There were a few other queasy folks there too. We ran into a very helpful cast member who offered some good advice, and who let mom and those other folks that they weren't the first to get a little motion sick.
Well, they all did better than one poor sould who did throw up down the hallway. Like the warnings said, it's a very intense ride.
But my mom was glad she did it...she thought it was great, queasiness and all.
So, we decided to move on to something less intense. We walked back through future world and did The Living Seas. As a kid, I always thought the whole Sea Base Alpha concept was cool. Still do, actually. I just wish they'd play it up a little more.
We really enjoyed watching the manatees -- one of which was really showing off. The Nemo exhibit was also fun.
We moved on to the Land. Had lunch in the food court at the Pasta and Potato kiosk (strange combo...are they lumped together because they're all carbs?) The food was quite good, as the combos came with a salad and a cookie. We had our own beverages, so lunch for two was only $15. Not too shabby. Did the boat tour, which is really cool. I think it's one of EPCOT's underrated treasures.
Next, we did Journey into Imagination and Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Highly enjoyed both.
We grabbed fast passes for Test Track, and then went to the re-opened Ellen's energy education seminar. My mom really likes Ellen, so she quite liked it.
On to Test Track, which broke down while we were in line. We wound up waiting for about 30 minutes. But it was worth the wait. We both really liked this one. Neither of us knew that much about it, but we both thought it was great. Just a really fun ride and I think the favorite for both of us.
We followed that up by doing the World Showcase. Just for the record, I love the Mexican boat ride. It's so bad, so over-the-top, so Chamber of Commerce-y that it's...great! It has some kind of weird, kitschy charm. I hope they never change it.
To celebrate, we had $7 margaritas. Ay caramba.
We continued walking, and looking at all the details -- btw, the flower and garden show was taking place this weekend. Being able to check out all of these beautiful plantings was a nice bonus.
By this point, it was time for dinner. We had planned to do something nice, like Le Cellier. But we were hot, tired and not dressed for the occasion. So we stopped at the counter service restaurant in America instead.
The food was good. But the one thing I wanted to mention here is that the interior of the restaurant was so spotless that it looked brand new.
Back to the World Showcase, we did some shopping in Japan -- Lucky Cats for family members. Watched the statue performer in Italy. Ran from the mime in France. Browsed the shops in Canada and England.
Finally, it was time for the fireworks show (which I can't remember the name of). In a word, it was great.
All in all, we had a great time. Like I said earlier, we aren't big Disney people. It's not that we don't like it, we're just not all that in to it. And for me, the expense of a ticket to any theme park is, well, an expense.
But everything about EPCOT -- from the rides, to the employees, to the cleanliness, etc -- exceeded our expectations. We both felt we more than got our moneys worth, and left feeling good about our EPCOT experience.
