LOL I feel like an idiot.
I knew I had heard something about drinking.
One more question here, I called to ask for the illuminations times for our time there and all week it is at 9pm, the park closing hours are at 7pm though. How does that work, would we have to stick around after the regular park closed or would this be when the world showcase came in handy?
Hi, Siobhan -
Think of Epcot as a giant "Figure 8". The bottom circle represents Future World - it's where you'll enter the park, etc. Spaceship Earth is at the front of the park ( the "big golf ball",) and all of the rides are in various pavillions that essentially curve around the sides of the "8" - Ellen's Universe of Energy, Mission Spce and Test Track on the left hand side, and The Seas with Nemo, The Land and Imagination on the right. There's a great fountain in the middle, as well as 2 Innoventions buildings, shops and restaurants.
Then there's a sort of "connecting" walkway, and you get to the top half of the "8". In the center of that part of the 8 is water - that's where Illuminations is staged each night. Around the 8 are all the countries. If you think of that top part as a clock, the country of Mexico is at about 7:00, and Canada is at about 5:00, with Norway, China, Germany, Italy, America, Japan, Morocco, France, and England all the way around - America is in the middle at about 12 noon.
Usually the "front" part of Epcot opens at 9:00am and the countries don't open until 11:00am. The front part closes at 7:00pm, although many of the big rides now stay open unitl 9:00 or even 9:30pm. The back part closes at 9:00pm but Illuminations begins at 9:00pm, so all the peole who are still shopping and eating in the restaurants come out and watch the fireworks before they leave the park.
Hope that helps clear it up for you, and that I didn't confuse you more!!!
