On Monday, January 6th, we had our first foray
into Walt Disney World, and we chose EPCOT as our first adventure.
The park is divided into two main areas: Future World (East
and West) and World Showcase. We spent
most of the morning exploring Future World.
We pretty much let the four older boys go off on their own, while Steve
and I played with the younger boys. And
play we did! Then in the afternoon we
explored the World Showcase.
In Future World East, we rode on Spaceship Earth (EPCOT’s emblematic
big golf ball-looking thing), Ellen’s Energy Adventure, and our favorite, Test
Track. Our youngest was leery to ride on
Test Track because it goes so fast. We
were able to talk him into it, promising that it was really fun. But then we couldn’t get him off the ride! Unfortunately for us, we ended up getting
trapped on the ride just as we were ready to disembark on the third time we
rode it. The ride malfunctioned, and we
were trapped in our “test car” for about a half hour until we were finally
released. Regardless, it was a lot of
fun. We bypassed riding on Mission:
SPACE because I remember riding that on a previous visit, and my head and
stomach didn’t like it too much! Blech!
In Future World West, we enjoyed The Seas with Nemo &
Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush, Living with the Land, and our favorite, Soarin’. We all really enjoyed that simulated glider
ride. We also took some time to enjoy
the aquarium and watched the sharks, dolphins, and sting rays.
Onward to the World Showcase! In the World Showcase, there are eleven
countries represented. We started in Mexico
and rode the Gran Fiesta Tour which is a slow boat ride through Mexico. Then we moved to Norway and rode the Maelstrom,
which is a boat ride through the history of Norway. And yes, I got wet on that ride. Next we went to China where we watched an
amazing show given by Chinese acrobats.
After China we went to Germany and Italy before heading back to Future
World. We missed seeing the American
Experience, Japan, Morocco, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada. We had seen them before on our previous
visits, and this time chose to bypass them because we had the younger boys with
us… AND… the weather was turning VERY COLD.
We started the day at a pleasant temperature, but the wind picked up and
by the end of the night we were FREEZING!
Before leaving for the evening, we hit the store so one of
our sons could buy a souvenir. Because
of the cold front, the store was PACKED with people trying to warm
themselves. When we left EPCOT, we
had to pass through the underside of the Spaceship Earth which was acting like
a huge wind tunnel. I’m not so sure I’ve
ever been so cold in my life! Brrr!
We had a great time on our first day at WDW. I personally love EPCOT because it seems to
be less character-oriented and more “vision of the future” oriented, not to
mention that I enjoy the different “cultures” in the World Showcase. Someday I hope to return without kids in tow so
I can linger and enjoy the park on a more adult level. Nevertheless, we had a grand time!
