Very Verdant: Epic First Day At Epcot

After two days of crazy walking and closing down two Disney parks, day three found us exhausted. Our feet hurt, our calves ached and we were back at it again.

Only today we decided to take it easy.

We had visited Epcot Center before but much of Epcot, honestly, is not very entertaining for younger children. But our Kayla isn't so small any more and she decided that this time she wanted to see everything that Epcot had to offer. So we broke up our Epcot visit into two separate days.

The plan for the day was this...There Is No Plan.

We arrived just as the Epcot opened for the day. As we entered the park and picked up our park map we noticed that there was NO LINE for Spaceship Earth. The last time we were here, this ride was a devastating failure. The ride itself was not very interesting for our then, young children (ages 2-11) and to top that off, the ride got stuck in position for 20 minutes.

20 MINUTES - Yikes!!!

This time, happily, everything ran smoothly and we were delighted with the updates. Every scene from the cavemen to the future, was opened - no longer behind glass. Each character was beautifully dressed in authentic period clothing and the sets were phenomenal!
What a way to start our day.

The real hits of the day, though, were fast and furious. Yes, fast and furious at Epcot.

The lines at Sum of all Thrills were LONG. I am not much for rides so I held bags and valuables and Kayla hopped into the line with her dad. AND we waited , and waited , and waited.

Soon the two of them disappeared into a small closet like room and again I waited and waited and waited. As I looked up I saw Kayla and Mark on a little stairway which led to a platform where they again waited - but not for long this time. Soon they were buckled in to these little bucket looking seats and a big metal hood was drawn over their heads and away they went. A robotic arm swung them up and down and side to side. Their feet dangled and I could see their hand holding on tightly to the bars on the side of the ride.

When they "landed" safe and sound, they were all smiles. " Oh, my goodness! That was pretty cool! We designed a roller coaster and I picked a high drop off. - Then I picked some sharp turns...then we got into the ride and it did everything we designed..."

They were both talking at the same time, even interrupting each other as they spoke.

This ride was a winner.

Then they convinced me to ride Test Track. Let me just say that

I Do Not Do Rides!

Ever!

We were corralled into a succession of rooms where we learned about engines and road safety and then in our final room we designed our own test car. We were then given a computer key and buckled our seat belts. Our cars were tested in several situations for handling, and safety. These are indoors, in the dark with a few black light surprises...then the cars are tested for speed. Everything is suddenly bright as the doors open up to the outdoor track, where you suddenly go from 0 to 60 in...I don't know...a very short time.

Yes, it was fun!

Yes, I rode it several times!

I was just a little proud of myself.

Mark and I had just visited Sea World three weeks before, but we very much enjoyed The Sea with Nemo and Friends. The little Sea Gulls above Kayla's left shoulder were animated and would cry out, "Mine, Mine, Mine"

So Cute!

Inside this building was a beautiful aquarium and a sweet little room where kiddos could meet and interact with Crush. Everyone enjoyed his quick responses and "surfer dude" dialect.

We found Mike and Sulley between Future World and The World Showcase. I was absolutely enamored with the garden displays in this visit. I think I'll do a whole post about them later.

This was the view looking back The World Showcase into Future World.

We only visited two countries during this visit. The first was Canada. We passed through a lush green area and into a beautiful man made mountain area, complete with waterfalls. O' Canada, was a video tour of beautiful Canada. We were in a cylindrical room and the views of the country were all around us. There were so many breathtaking sites to see.

We also visited England. There were pubs and English tea gardens. The smell, as you could imagine, was just heavenly.

We were also fortunate enough to see Mary Poppins. She stopped and shared a brief story with some small children that gathered around her on the street.

That was it for our world travels today. Storm clouds gathered and we decided we would like to rest a little anyway. So we headed back to Future World.