Places to Go (Vacation) - Disney World 2012 - Part V - Epcot

We spent our final full-day at Disney World in Epcot. As I've stated before, I'm not a huge fan of Epcot, so originally I planned on skipping the whole park. But then my neighbor mentioned how much her children enjoy Soarin'. Further, a man we met told us about Epcot's Holidays Around the World Festival, featuring storytellers from all of Epcot's countries. So I decided to give Epcot another chance. And fortunately, we really enjoyed it this time, partially because the lack of shade isn't a problem on a 75 degree overcast day.

First we boarded Ellen's Energy Adventure, which was a little blah and dated, I spent most of the ride whispering to Dan "wow, she looks so young" and he kept looking at me like "what does that have to do with anything?"

Then we decided to check out Spaceship Earth, which Epcot has updated since we last rode it 8 or so years ago. Anyways, the girls LOVED the ride, especially the end where you can take a quiz which results in a "personalized" video about your sustainable future. F enjoyed it so much that we rode twice (another benefit of no lines).

We then meandered over to Soarin' (where we needed fast passes, which Dan and T got as soon as we arrived, while the girls and I stood in line for chipmunk photos). Claustrophobia usually keeps me from enjoying virtual reality-type rides, but there is something sort of amazing with having your feet hang in the air as you "glide" through Imax images of the world around us. So far, Epcot was looking better (though it will always be my least favorite park).

Next stop . . . the WORLD!!



But first we needed a random swordfight.



First country - Norway, where we picked up a secret agent phone that took us on various missions throughout the grounds. F found this part of the trip nothing short of "awesome." We'd just point the phone at a specified object and bravo something amazing would happen - for example an ordinary troll turns into a robot. I never quite figured out how the whole "mission" came together, but does it really matter? The phone created magic and that's good enough.



The Monkey King told stories of Chinese New Year. I didn't follow the whole plot, but his antics entertained us.



In Germany, Helga spoke of Christmas traditions and the Nutcracker while Dan and I drank various alcoholic beverages. Turns out Epcot can be quite pleasant on a 75 degree day. I think Dan sampled beer from almost every country. We're so cultured.



T fell in love with the soldiers. Obviously.



Free origami in Japan, which made my kids love the whole country. And, of course, more secret agent missions.



Morocco was quite a success, thanks to drums and dancing with Taarji.




Unfortunately we missed the end of the world, as the kids grew exhausted and the rain started to fall. Dan asked "well, I guess, we finally pushed them to the limit?" To which I replied "is there any other way to go?" I love this place.

On our final morning, we spent a few hours at the Magic Kingdom (I NEEDED to tour the Haunted Mansion and T couldn't leave without flying over Neverland) and then drove to the airport for our flight home (beware - security at the Orlando airport takes forever. As in HOURS!).

Here's our trip in summary (for what it's worth):

LEAST FAVORITE RIDES:

F (age 7) - Space Mountain

P (age 6) - Space Mountain

T (age 3) - "I like all the rides" [this is a lie, he cried during a lot of them, especially tramatic were - The Great Movie Ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, Ellen's Energy Adventure (the dinosaurs terrified T), Star Tours, Soarin' (which he seemed to love during the ride, then he cried for 20 minutes after it ended), and the Kali River Rapids

Dan (age 35) - The Great Movie Ride (we couldn't understand the gangster that guided our tour) and the new Ariel ride

Me (age 36) - Ellen's Energy Adventure (long and boring) and The Studio Backlot Tour

FAVORITE RIDES:

F (age 7) - Pirates of the Caribbean, Spaceship Earth, Soarin', Storytime with Belle, Epcot's Secret Agent Phones, and Toy Story

P (age 6) - Storytime with Belle, Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear, and the Haunted Mansion

T (age 3) - Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Playhouse Disney Live, and the Triceratops Spin

Dan (age 35) - Toy Story, The Lion King, and the Kilimanjaro Safari

Me (age 36) - The Haunted Mansion, the Lion King, Mickey's Philharmonic, Star Tours, Epcot's Storytimes Throughout the World, and the Kilimanjaro Safari

I hope you all had a good holiday week, thanks for reading about our trip. Next week, back to random life in Arlington (where it even snows sometimes :)!! HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!