Third Day: Epcot Center

Our Disney trip was full of surprises and man-made wonders. First stop was Universal Studios, then Animal Kingdom. On the 17th, the third day of our vacation in Orlando, we set out for DisneyWorld Epcot Center.

We had been to Epcot back in the mid-80's, when our son was about nine or ten. Not much has changed about Epcot, except for a couple of great new rides.

The most impressive one was Soarin'. If that was the only ride I could have taken all day, I would have been happy. You are a hang-glider, seated safely in your hang-glider along with five other companions, soaring over beautiful, scenic California. You truly feel the air whipping at your face, your feet dangle freely, and the air smells fresh like you are outside, not in a dark building filled with machinery and computer controls. While you soar, you see only the magnificent majesty of mountains below you and before you; a river passes below only inches from your feet. Truly exhilarating, breathtaking, and wondrous. #1 ride in all of Disney theme parks.

Mission: Space was fun in a geeky kind of way. For the duration of the experience, you become an astronaut (without the uniform, drat!). There is a preparation period as a younger Gary Senise explains your role in the crew of four that you are assigned to. I was assigned Commander, Steve was the Engineer, and the two other people on our ship became the Pilot and the Navigator. Each of us had two jobs to perform during the ride, involving pushing a certain button at the right moment. We had to listen very closely because with all the sound effects and action taking place in the confines of our ship, it would have been easy to miss the instructions. Claustrophobics should avoid this ride. It's tight inside the ship, and the console is lowered over you snuggly. I had no problem with it, however, nausea was definitely a side-effect. The backstory is good science fiction... the launch felt as real as I could imagine... we appeared to be launching straight up into space at the very beginning, and all my senses assured me that we were defying gravity to get into space. I felt the pull against my face... I suppose we were spinning at that point, but the screen in front of us showed us launching into space. It's all very high tech and sophisticated, and twice you are given the opportunity to turn away from the experience. Don't turn away!

The Living Seas was pleasing. It's more than a huge aquarium. Another educational opportunity, air conditioned. Even if you don't have kids with you, you will be amazed at the interactive show, Turtle Talk with Crush. I don't know how they did it, but you see the Pixar animation of Crush, the turtle that says "Dude!" and "Righteous, Dude!" a lot, in Finding Nemo. Crush is an animation, no doubt, and he is on a screen, but he talks to the audience, just like he is alive and present in the moment. He responds with facial expressions, asks questions, answers questions, and reacts with physical turtle-like gestures. The kids weren't the only ones watching and listening with their mouths open.

Finally, the fastest and longest ride at Disney, Test Track. You are buckled into a car that is scheduled to be tested for speed, durability, braking, and crashing. Not a roller coaster ride, but much faster than any ride we have ever been on. Exhilirating. Had we more time, we would have done this one twice.

There were many other rides I didn't mention here, and there were many we didn't go on because Epcot is filled with so much to do and see, it's easily a two day trip. We gave only one day to Epcot, and only saw three countries before the fireworks began in the evening.

I had entered captions to go with the pictures but they don't seem to be showing up here. However, I noticed when I clicked on View Larger, and selected slideshow, the captions showed up.

Next entry: Disney/MGM studios