Our Disney Trip: Day Two

Opened in 1982, Epcot is often billed as a “permanent World’s Fair,” and captures both the excitement and imagination that the Fair brought to all that attended. Split into two parts, one dedicated to science and the other to international culture, many people consider Epcot to be the least exciting park, but I have always loved it! And I couldn't wait to share it with Nate.

When you arrive at Epcot, your first view is of the Big Ball, also known as Spaceship Earth. This was my first visit in mid-February, so the first thing we did was check the wait time and talk to the employee about lines. Since the big ball (Spaceship Earth! Nate insists) was only 20 minutes, we decided to give it a go. When you get on the ride you walk into the sphere and sit in a car with a screen in front of you. The screen tells you to look up (taking our pictures), and then asks you a series of questions about what you want to see in the future; what technologies will be most important to you, and which world problems we should solve first. Then, you take a beautifully illustrated ride through the history of human kind.

One interesting difference between going to Disney as a kid with my parents and going with my movie-savvy husband was that Nate was always identifying the star studded narrators at each ride; in this case the wonderful Judy Dench rode along with us as our culture evolved from cave men to the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution to today. We wrapped up our tour with a fun video of the technologies we had chosen at the beginning of the ride, with our faces on cartoon characters that showed us the future. Then, our first ride behind us, we headed out into adventure.

Universe of Energy is one of my favorite rides, and includes Bill Nye (the Science guy!), Ellen Degeneres, and dinosaurs, so we headed that way next. Test Track was on the way there, and the wait was only 10 minutes, so we stopped to do that along the way. With our ID wrist bands, we were able to design cars to our own specifications (mine got GREAT gas mileage) and then as you travel through the test track it compares the car you designed with the other people sitting in your car with you. Delightfully, there was a little girl with us who designed a bright pink car, and hers won overall. She was very proud. We spent some time after that talking about all the cool things that they could do with the wristbands, and what a cool idea they were; Disney was, unsurprisingly, way ahead of us.

We visited World of Energy, Finding Nemo (with an expansive aquarium at the end where they have rescue manatees, dolphins, and all sorts of other cool aquatic life), and Mission: SPACE which Justine did not go on. Then across the central area for the other side of science land. As a dyed-in-the-wool biology nerd, I was super excited to go on Living with the Land, a boat ride through Disney’s botany labs. We were both amazed at the variety of plants as well as the methods for growing them. All manner of edible growth from all around the world was on display and various methods of hydroponics were in use. In one area brussel sprouts hung on a suspended conveyor belt would get dunked in water as they completed each lap. In another section there was a giant tomato plant suspended like a tree (did not know you could do that). And how cool is it that they grow the lettuce for the manatees in Finding Nemo right across the park in their hydroponics lab? And we checked out Soarin, but since the line was pretty long we took a FastPass (basically, each person can reserve a place in line up to three times a day) and headed out. Next Captain Eo, a 3D adventure with Michael Jackson that was reminiscent of Thriller meets Star Wars, and then Journey into Imagination hosted by Eric Idle and Figment, the mischievous purple dragon of imagination. Then, FastPass in hand, we headed to the World Showcase! 

I should note that the science portion of Epcot is, itself, huge and thorough, and could really be its own park. We hit all the major highlights, I wanted to make sure that Nate had the full experience, but there were a number of things that we could have done that we did not do. But the World Showcase is also almost a full day, and I love it too! So we still have plenty to go back for.

The World Showcase is located in a giant C shape around a huge lake at the south end of the park. There are 11 nations represented, and each has a pretty large area with a number of buildings. Intended to be an immersive experience, in each section you enter a shop-lined street with authentic music and atmosphere. Each area has numerous restaurants, and each country is staffed by nationals that come over for 9 months to work and study. It is very impressive.

We started on the east side of the lake; Canada, the UK, France and Morocco. Belle was in residence in France, and there were shops full of perfume and wine. Jasmine and Aladdin were available in Morocco, and the smells of incense and Moroccan food were incredible. You can also purchase country specific fun clothes, in this case, belly dancing outfits. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find anything in Nate’s size! Then, after Morocco was Japan. We were pretty hungry by this time, so we put our names on the list for Teppan-Yaki and sat down, which made us very happy. I realized that we should have brought pedometers to see how far we walked in the week we were there. Dinner was perfect; the restaurant was located in a large pagoda with large steps leading in. Our servers were Japanese, of course, and I want you to know that every stereotype about Japanese being happy and adorable is 100% true. We had a blast, and exchanged emails with our server, who was very excited to practice her English. The food was delicious, but the real treat was the atmosphere.

Afterwards, we headed back to the front of the park to do Soarin’, which lifts you up off the ground and takes you hang-gliding through spectacular vistas. While cruising through the Golden Gate Bridge, we saw Mt. Tam, but couldn’t pick out Grandma’s house. Then, we headed back around the other side of the World Showcase. The first stop was Mexico, which is one of my favorites. Instead of a number of outdoors buildings, Mexico is mainly one large building that is shaped like a pyramid on the front and opens to a market place that is filled with color and music. Though the building is roofed, the lighting and vaulted ceiling created the feeling of being in a riverside Mexican town at dusk. We spent some time exploring, did the Rio de Tiempo, and then realized that it was time to find seats for the closing show.

A day at Epcot culminates in the famous fireworks show Illuminations. Nate, of course, had no idea what it would be like, and I wanted to make sure that we would be able to see everything, so we glanced briefly through Norway, China, and Germany and found a bench in front of Italy to call home. We were soon joined by a family with three young girls, who were much more enchanted by the pair of ducks in the small garden nearby than anything else that was happening. We mostly watched them enjoy themselves for the time leading up to the fireworks.

Being an entertainment company, Disney knows how to put on a show. Trying to describe fireworks displays in words is difficult, but suffice it to say, Disney is the largest purchaser of fireworks in the US (perhaps the world), and after watching Illuminations we could see why. We had a wonderful time enjoying the combination of props, music, and pyrotechnics, then stumbled, exhausted, back to our bus, our room, and went immediately to sleep, dreaming of our next day at Animal Kingdom.

Nate Says: Having only been to parks like Busch Gardens or Paramount's Kings Dominion, (theme parks that focus mainly on roller coasters), I wasn't sure what to expect. I was worried my adult self would be too jaded to enjoy what seemed like a child-centric experience. Happily, it turns out Disney does an amazing job of blending activities for adults and children into every experience. Similar to Pixar movies, and the like, there are jokes and nods only the adults will get, and the children will enjoy the colorful characters and fun antics. What I wasn't prepared for was the sheer level of imagination and creativity on display. I kept thinking of the line in Jurassic Park where park creator John Hammond says he spared no expense. Disney spares no expense and that extra level of polish shines through in unexpected ways. The park employees were friendly and helpful. Any actors in the live performances were excellent. The queueing mechanisms at all the attractions were well thought out and often had fun distractions for those waiting in line. The sound system was set up with this cool effect where you would hear music that matched thematically with the area you were in, and right as you left that area it would seamlessly fade into new music, like your own personal soundtrack. A lot of these details are technical, but I was constantly surprised at all the small things someone had thought of. 

One of the things Justine and I love doing is going to museums, especially science museums. Epcot is like a giant museum, half science, and half cultural. I loved all the science topics; space, dinosaurs, alternative energy, technology, botany, aquatic life, and so on. It was also great to see these topics being presented in a way kids can understand. The cultural areas were awesome as well. In 'England' we looked up our European family crests, and in Morocco, for a minute, in the tight streets between buildings, we felt like we were in another country. The sights and sounds all around the park were exciting to discover and explore. All in all, it was an excellent start to our Disney journey.