(aka our trip to Epcot and our comments)
Before we left we searched on the Internet for a ‘adult itinerary at Epcot’ and didn’t find exactly what we were looking for, so we decided to write our own.
We had such a great time at Epcot! Here are our comments on the day.
Parking – bring cash ($9). We didn’t and had to run to a gas station to get some cash out of an ATM. Credit cards accepted most everywhere else (except a few street vendors)
You can skip the big ball. Even though it’s the Epcot trademark, it’s not the most modern. You can, however, allow yourself to be extremely excited upon first seeing this easily identifiable landmark. We were (as the photos will show), hehe.
Grab a coffee and muffin at the Café near the entrance and sit to review the map. We were so excited about our day and it was just nice to take a moment to get our bearings.
Next we headed to Customer Relations to get reservations for a lunch at Marakesk (the Moroccan specialty restaurant). It was nice to know that we had lunch set (even though there were few people there the day we went). We didn’t make dinner reservations, but we probably will next time because we had to wait a bit to get into a nice restaurant for dinner.
We went to The Land pavilion first. It was a nice relaxing start, but not really that great considering the things we saw later in the day.
At this point, in retrospect, we should have gotten a FastTrack pass to Soarin’. Later in the day, the line was fairly long so we skipped it in favor of more cultural delights in the World Showcase.
The Lion King film wasn’t really impressive; in fact, it was slightly ironic considering it asserts that “the problem is that [things] didn’t remain simple,†with regards to technological advancement and buildings that aren’t in harmony with the environment. Simba discourages Timon from building a “resort†in the middle of their jungle home, thereby disturbing the surrounding environment. I thought, “What is Disney World if not a resort in the middle of a jungle?â€
Next we head to our first real highlight of the day: Honey I Shrunk the Audience. The 3-D on this ride/movie is very lifelike! Betsy and I both agreed that we didn’t know 3-D could be this good.
Next we rounded the corner to the World Showcase!!! This is obviously the best part of the park. We followed the walkway first to Canada and around. The most beautiful part of most of the countries is the architecture. Make sure to take a moment to look up and down, left and right as you pass through the countries.
I suppose that what you choose to do once you get in the World Showcase is really up to personal taste, but we went straight for the fish and chips at England. The ice tea that we got at the little street vendor was phenomenal. I think it was real English tea over ice.
We casually walked around the beautiful gardens in England, even the little Alice-in-Wonderland-reminiscent maze garden. The streets are beautiful. In the evening, we came back to the garden to watch the Beatles cover band. They were actually really good.
In France, we walked the beautiful streets, as well. We also hear that the 360 film is really good here, but we didn’t get to see it. France was extremely romantic (hardly lit at all) at night.
Next we went to our lunch at Marakesh in Morroco. Lunch was great, considering that we were entertained by a Morrocan band and belly dancer. The food was really good, too. Betsy and I shared every meal throughout the day because we wanted to taste as many things as possible. Not only does this cut down on costs, but it allowed us to eat a wide variety of food.
The band, Mo’Rockin’, is slightly cheesy (as evidenced by the name), but if you happen to pass by, check out the guy on the hand-held drum machine that is shaped much like a guitar. Watching him play this unique instrument made the stop worth it. (Think key-tar, but with drums.)
Be sure to check out the traditional drum show in Japan.
We are from America, so we blasted through the American part. You are almost sure to run into (possibly literally) the drum and fife band, which is pretty cool. We got our picture taken with some Disney characters here.
In Italy we really started having fun. First we got a gelato. Then we washed it down with an Italian coffee. We hung out in the little courtyard with the half-naked statue for a while. There is a mime that does a juggling show that some find funny, but Betsy found stupid. Here we found the surprise of the day in a little corner that most adults would miss. There is a table called KidCot where little kids hang out to color a free mask. This turned out to be one of the most enjoyable parts of the day, even for us. The idea is this: take a paper mask, color it, take it to each country where you will have to search out the KidCot table (kind of like a hunt), get a stamp representative of the country and some little trinket to hang on your mask. If you want to do this, we recommend starting at the beginning of the park so that you don’t have to backtrack like we did (even though that was fun, too). When you get all of the countries stamps (there are 11), you get a special prize. Sure, the prize isn’t much of anything, but we had a great time doing it. I found that the ladies manning the tables are the cutest in the park (probably by no coincidence).
In Germany we got a bratwurst and sauerkraut, but it really didn’t live up to the hype. Perhaps if we would have gone to a restaurant rather than the popular counter service, it would have been better. But, it was enjoyable nonetheless. For non-drinkers, there’s not really much of interest, honestly. But if you do drink, here you can get shots of Jaggermeister and Goldshlager, and of course, beer.
China was one of the most interesting and exciting countries. The 360 film is stunning. The acrobatic display was one of the highlights of our day.
In Norway, the stave church was interesting. The statue of Olaf II is very lifelike. Betsy commented, “Wouldn’t that be funny if that were a real person?†due to the lifelike qualities of the statue. Some creepy guy next to us said authoritatively, “Olaf II was a real person!†No crap, Sherlock. Stay clear of creepy old guys.
Mexico was beautiful inside of the pyramid. In fact, if we went again, we would probably make dinner reservations at San Angel Inn restaurant along the river ride. The ambience is warm and inviting and made for a magical, relaxing wind-down to our day. The mariachi band played in the background while faux paper lanterns lit the star-lit sky. This is not your typical mariachi band down at the sports bar, but a full 10+ piece orchestra.
There is a little video email machine stuck in the corner near the KidCot table that was hilarious. It records your face and put its on various Mexico-related video backgrounds, which you can then email to yourself and friends for free.
The ride, El Rio de Tiempo, was a Mexico-themed “It’s a Small World,†which has its charms, but is also pretty hokey. Leave your pretension at la puerta and you’ll probably have a good time.
Of course, the huge firework show is the best way to end the day.
Epcot, Disney, Vacation, Orlando
Since Betsy has been away (it seems like forever I miss her so much), kitty has been my little workmate. Dad told me to keep busy instead of moping, so I’ve been grading tons of papers (of course, interspersed with bouts of guitar playing; my fingers haven’t hurt this bad since back in Descarga days). There are always papers to grade. hehe.
