Okay, so where were we?
Oh yes, Soarin is done and I have my KP tix tucked away in my pocket.
Next stop across the Fountain of Nations Plaza and on towards Mission: Space!
Ive never done this ride since Ive only been to Epcot with kids since the Green Team was opened.
And they were never tall enough.
And I never had any desire to do the Orange team.
So, it was time for a new experience!
I entered the International Space Training Center and passed through the two thousand or so warnings about this intense attraction.
And I started to have second thoughts.
But I told myself I could do this and pressed on.
I really liked the history of space travel on the wall from Galileo to the first men on the moon to the first family in space and so on.
Very nice little touch.
Finally I arrived at the briefing room, listened to the instructions, and received my assignment.
Figures Im on vacation but Im still the engineer.
The ride was great and basically no worse than Star Tours.
The X-2 shuttle is a lot smaller so you can feel a bit more of the turbulence on your rocket to Mars, but all in all, nothing too bad.
And the interactivity of pushing the buttons at designated intervals was kind of neat.
My only knock on this ride was the small size of the screen.
Too bad the whole front panel didnt turn into an HD video screen for a more immersive experience.
Nevertheless, this was definitely one to bring the kids on next time around.
Outside, I explored the post-show area by entering the Mission: Space Advanced Training Lab.
This place is an attraction all by itself and you can spent lots of time in here if you need a baby swap or just a place to relax.
First, I tried my luck at the Mission Space Race.
Its a fun video game with a whole room of people working together to defeat the other team.
The game itself was a basic logic puzzle as you build various colored pieces to replace the broken parts of the ship.
The key is to predict what color your team will need so that the correct pieces will be ready and waiting when your teammates need them.
Across from the race, is the Mission Space Base.
What a find this is.
Its basically the standard hamster trail for kids you find at a McDonalds Play Place.
However, its themed to the Mission: Space attraction with rockets and engine sounds and the kids
love it.
Basically, an inside, air-conditioned, play place for the kids to unwind.
Hows that for a hidden gem for all those families out there?
I decided to skip Expedition: Mars which was another video game of sorts and tried out the Postcards from Space.
You take a picture of yourself and then it makes a video of your choosing with you in it!
They came out really good and I even was able to email them to myself.
Here are the clips. First, I got my astronaut uniform and was assigned to the Mission: Space program.
Then, its one small step for man and one giant
Oops.
So maybe Im not cut out to be an astronaut.
With that, I headed towards the exit or rather gift shop.
Mission: Space Cargo Bay is loaded with Mission: Space stuff as well as Star Tours merchandise.
And theres some great picture opportunities.
From Astronaut Mickey himself:
to the Fab Five on Mars in a great widescreen backdrop:
Finally, it was time to head out.
But this is definitely a great place to beat the heat and enjoy a fun pit stop.
Whether you are waiting with kids, rider swapping, or just having fun or shopping, the post-show and gift shop make this one very complete attraction.
I will definitely be back.
But for now, it was back across Future World.
My mind kept reminding me about this one little spark I needed to check out.
And little did I know I would be greeted with surprise special guests (and I'm
not talking about a certain little purple dragon).
Stay tuned
Nice pictures of the fab five !
Popeye looks like he's about 12 years old!
