We were up early and managed to arrive at Epcot just after it opened at 9am. Mike had been to Epcot once when he was 14 years old but I never had. I was excited. I had heard so many people say how much they love Disney but after today, I doubt I will ever be one of them.
The front part of Epcot is “Future World”. We didn’t know much about any of the rides but saw that Test Track already had a decent line so we grabbed a Fast Pass and then went to find a ride with a shorter line. (Only a few rides have the fast pass option. We enter our admission ticket into the machine and a pass for that ride spits out with a one-hour window of time when we can return and go right to the front of the line. We can only have one fast pass at a time.) Mission Space only had a 10 minute wait time so we went there next.
When we got line for Mission Space, we were asked “less intense or more intense”. Sam and I picked less and Mike and J of course picked more. We were strapped in a four person simulator and took a trip to Mars. Less intense was just fine for Sam and me. The more intense ride spun creating 2.4G effect. The boys were also happy with their choice (crazy boys). This was Jason’s favorite ride of the day.
When that ride ended we were within our fast past window for the Test Track so we rode that ride next. Grouped in individual cars, the GM sponsored ride takes us through a simulation of what the different types of car tests are (ascend steep terrain that's 3 stories high, then let loose downhill, blasting across a bumpy road and roaring through 50-degree banked curves and hair-pin turns that test suspension and brakes at speeds up to 60 miles per hour!) The kids liked the ride but Mike liked the elaborate waiting area that the lines zig zag through. He was impressed at all the high dollar tools being used as mere props.
We wandered from that ride through Innoventions. This indoor area is a hands-on area so we turned the kids loose and Mike and I sat on the parent waiting benches planning our next move. After a while Sam was ready to go we sent her to find J. He was bummed because he had been in line for a design-your-own roller coaster. I wasn’t sure what he meant but told him we would try to come back for it.
Jason gets his laid back and carefree attitude from Mike but his outgoingness is all his own. While in line he struck up a conversation with a woman who told him that she recommended getting a fast pass to “Soarin”. So that is what we did. Unlike Test Track that gave us a fast pass window not too far away, the fast pass window for Soarin wasn’t until later in the afternoon so we decided to go eat.
The back half of Epcot is called World Showcase. Disney’s media describes World Showcase as “a collective of Pavilions that wrap around the World Showcase Lagoon. Inside the Pavilions, find shops, attractions and restaurants that represent the culture and cuisine of 11 countries.” What that meant to us was that we paid a heck of a lot of money for admission to a themed shopping area.
We hadn’t realized that yet when we headed to Mexico for lunch. A rude counter staff handed us nachos for both kids, two tacos with tortilla chips for Mike and an empanada with tortilla chips for me. We had bottled water in our backpack. The food was good, but not $50 good. We knew it would be expensive to eat at Disney, but that was ridiculous.
After lunch we went into the Aztec Temple. What I expected was a museum-ish environment. When we walked in and saw a sit down restaurant and ample shopping, that is when it hit me. This environment was not for us. Fortunately before we arrived, the kids each picked the theme park they wanted to get a souvenir from so there wasn’t any question about the chance of us buying anything. Also, Sam has a stuffed Chihuahua that is homework for the trip. She is to write about Chi-Chi’s adventures in a journal. We brought the dog in our backpack and Sam had a great deal of fun staging Chi-Chi for photos which was also a nice distraction from all the cool stuff we could buy.
Luckily Jason’s keen observation saved World Showcase from being a total wash. Jason asked me what the cell phone looking thing with the box was. He said he saw a kid with one. I asked him to show me and he did. I didn’t have any idea what it was so I told him to go ask. Because Jason is who he is, he did. He walked right over, started up a conversation and we learned about the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure.
We made our way to the Kim Possible booth where the kids picked up a “Kimmunicator”, a Verizon cell phone. The adventure lasts about 20 minutes and is only in one country at a time. The kids were told to go to France and were given directions to a particular location. Each time they found the location they would be given another destination within the country. Sometimes cool things happened when they pushed a particular button standing in the correct spot. Disney missed a great learning opportunity by just making the adventure a cartoon game but the kids had fun. Disney gets credit for dragging the parents from shop to shop. After the kids “won” they could do it again in another country. As long as they were having fun, we were fine with it.
Most of the countries were uneventful but we did happen to be in China at the right time to see a good street show of Chinese acrobats. Sam was also able to get a photo of Chi-Chi in most of the countries.
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| In Mexico |
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| In Morocco |
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| In China |
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| In the United States |
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| In Italy |
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| In Germany |
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| In China |
We left World Showcase and headed back to use our fast pass for Soarin’. This was Mike’s and my favorite ride of the day. This ride simulates a peaceful hang-gliding flight over California. We sat in a dangling seat in front of an IMAX projection screen.
Next we went next door and boarded the boat of the “Living with the Land” ride. It was an interesting float by experimental greenhouses where produce is grown for Epcot restaurants.
Finally we made our way back to the design-your-own rollercoaster “Sum of All Thrills”. Raytheon sponsored this ride and it was incredible. This was Sam’s favorite of the day. Mike and I were going to sit this one out but I was concerned Sam might need help so I jumped back in line. The parents right behind us gave us an quick explanation. Using the easy software on the touch screen table the kids literally create the commands for the simulator. They would have to test their creation to make sure they had enough velocity to complete the coaster. I was so impressed I asked if Mike could come look and the attendant let him in too. Both kids were able to design on their own then I sat in the second seat of Sam’s robotic arm as it executed her design which included going upside down twice. I was really glad Jason discovered this ride and that we went back.
It was dinner time when we left so we had dinner at home again. Having found the perfect easy dinner, we again stopped at Wal-mart for another rotisserie chicken.
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