EPCOT Explorer Explores Epcot
Hello everyone and Welcome to my first trip report and thread on WDWMagic!
This trip report will be based off of my feelings and experience at the best park in Walt Disney World, The grand and glorious Epcot which we visited on June 30th in honor of my 16th birthday. But before I get into telling all of you about my fantastic experiences in Epcot, I must elaborate on what inspired the trip and how I even got interested in Disney.
…
Last December my high school band had the honor of marching in The Magic Kingdom’s Share a Dream Come True Parade. We also got to visit all four parks in 3 days. I was so excited to go and march, see the sights, and be the first person in my family to visit Animal Kingdom! However I was most excited to visit Epcot which I hadn’t visited since the Millennium Celebration in 2000,six long years ago. Before this visit I had been a Disney fan,but not completely immersed like I (fortunately? LOL) am now. And so on our first day after a 4 hour bus ride from Miami and a few hours in The Studios we arrived in Epcot.I was so enthralled with the park even though we arrived from the International Gateway, That has got to be the most anticlimactic entrance to Epcot ever, no SpaceShip Earth, no Monorail, just some trees and a glimpse of World Showcase lagoon. Nevertheless I was excited and thrilled to be in Epcot.Unfortuantly my friends were not. They complained that Epcot was boring and said that SSE was a horrible mess,that Future World was for babies and even had the nerve to complain that IllumiNations was the weirdest firework show they had ever seen. Along with that I couldn’t get to do any of my favorite things because we only had about 4-5 hours in the Park. Upon coming home from the parks I reflected that I would love to go back to Epcot and do it the right way. That was the moment in which my new obsession with Epcot and all things Walt began. I came home, feverishly installed my dream upon my parents and began to hunt down anything Disney related that I could read, listen to or watch. My iPod became almost full with park music and tons upon tons of pictures of SSE.I would begin to collect pins and trade them at my local Character Warehouse. My room became a mecca of Epcot memorabilia drawings and posters. It was official, I had the Disney Bug. And then came the day when I logged on to WDW and learned horrific news: My beloved SpaceShip Earth was closing for a refurb. The window of opportunity to experience Epcot the right way was quickly closing. I told my parents and they had the most wonderful idea: Why not go up for your birthday as it was a few days before SSE closed down? I was thrilled with the prospects. They warned me though that we would have to save like mad and it would be possible that we might not even go. I took this as a challenge and in all my homework free moments drew up a budget for the trip and began to research hotels and car rental services. And so, for the next 5 months we saved, worked hard and wished upon a star that our efforts would pay off. Amazingly they did. On the night of June 27th I witnessed my parent sitting up in bed late at night calling hotels and making reservations using the information I had presented to them. The dream in a year that has a million of them was coming true. With a whoop a joy and a wink from Mom and Dad I preceded back to bed only to toss and turn for the next 5 hours. How could I sleep? I was going to Walt Disney World!
…
The next day on the 28th we quickly packed and rented a car from a local Budget office and received a comfortable red Chevy Malibu. My Mom also told me that we would plan to get up to WDW early in the day so that we could see Ratatouille on opening day in Downtown Disney. How cool! After another sleepless night the big day arrived and we were on the on the road heading to the most Magical Place on Earth via I-95 and then to I-4.That was a mistake.I-4 took us terribly out of our way and we got caught up in horrible Friday rush hour traffic outside of Orlando. Unfortunately we missed Ratatouille [/URL]but had lunch at a nice Cracker Barrel and finally made it to our Hotel,a Hampton Inn situated a few miles beyond WDW. The Hotel was very nice and had a Chillies right outside where we would have our dinner. Quick question-Why does the water in Orlando taste so bad? We noticed this trend all through our trip and even in WDW.
Finally my birthday and our Epcot Adventure was about to begin.
June 30th began with a fantastic sunrise and butterflies zooming around my stomach. “What happens if SSE closed down early for rehab? What about Illuminations? Would the pilot lights on the Inferno Barge work? I heard that they had been broken a few days before….Oh, gosh, would it rain?” I was going out of my mind with excitement and anxiety. But the first sight of those big Purple gates welcoming you to a place unlike any other and where dreams come true banished all negative thoughts from my mind. I had arrived in a middle of my dream. We quickly parked and got in a short line at the TTC to buy our tickets. We bought them and my Dad told the CM that it was my Birthday. She wished me a happy one and gave me a large button that I proudly displayed on my pin lanyard. Almost every CM we saw that day called to me by name and wished me a Happy Birthday. It was so cool! After almost no wait (the parks were surprisingly quite empty) we boarded the monorail and glided along the Highway in the Sky. Upon seeing the grand geosphere of SpaceShip Earth I almost cried. The view was incredible. The Wand looks better in person than it does in pictures but I still would like it removed. Soon we stepped off the Monorail and into Epcot.We got directly on SSE where there was absolutely no wait. The ride was incredible. Jeremy Irons saying “Like a Grand and Miraculous space ship our planet has soured through the universe of time” gave me goose bumps. The music was phenomenal too. I’m so glad I have a recording of the ride on my iPod. (Thanks limewire!LOL) I am going to miss possibly the best ride created in Epcot so much. What astounded me was how smooth the ride was and how almost to date it was. The way you guys go on about it I though it would be falling apart and almost destroyed. The ride, although emotional was fun. Next up was The Living Seas…Err…Or as it’s now called the Seas with Nemo and Friends. I was extremely apprehensive about this ride thinking it would tarnish an old classic and was too “kiddified” and silly to have a place in the noble Future World. I was very wrong. Although not the grand and futuristic look into the waters of our world which I sorely miss, the ride was very cool (I loved those projections of Nemo onto the tanks!)And was one of my favourites. Turtle Talk with Crush was awesome. A totally “how’d they do that” kinda ride, dude.The next Pavilion we visited was Imagination. That ride was so cool and creative! Why does that need a rehab? I could find nothing wrong with it except the length of it. It was way too short but it greatly made up for it in effects and most definitely with the return of Figment. That dragon is so cool, I got a stuffed version of him in the gift shop and he now sits proudly on my bed. (Yes,the 16 year-old dude still has his Disney toys.
heheh)Now then onto The Land! We took our whimsical journey on living with the land. Although a bit dry my Mom and I still love it. We then proceeded to have lunch at the Sunshine Seasons. Food was great but expensive. I was kind of disappointed with the new interior of the Pavilion. I miss the big fountain but was pleased to bee that the Hot Air Balloons remain. After lunch it was over to the Universe of Energy. Ellen DeGenerous is so funny but the ride is really outdated. I could see a new version with her in her talk show setting perhaps interviewing Bill Nye who then takes her back in time. I dunno, I’ll leave that up to the Imagineers.After a quick and mournful gaze at Wonders of Life we headed into World Showcase. We caught the Gran Fiesta Tour which was very cute and not at all annoying as I have heard it talked about on other sites. It was a little bit lower than the original boat ride through Mexico’s culture but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Next up was Norway where we waited in line for the first time that day. (Those Tip Boards in future world were really helpful)The ride was great but there was no film at the end. Is that being refurbed? I hope so because the ride needs that little ending down there.Preceeding that we headed through World Showcase where I got many Birthday wishes and exhausted myself in the hot June heat. Finally we reached the American Adventure where we arrived just in time for the 6:45 show. Dead tired I plopped down in a corner unbeknownst that I was about to get a major energy rush. Suddenly a cast member appeared at my side and wished me a Happy Birthday. I thanked him and he got a puzzled look on his face and mysteriously asked me my name and where I was from.Intreeged I replied:Miami, and was astonished to hear him say that I had a call waiting for me in the lobby of AA. When we reached the lobby he instructed me to open a small wooden box on a table off to the side and dial a special number. I obliged and was thrilled to hear Goofy sing "Happy Birthday" to me. I almost fainted! After I was done, He congratulated me and after a quick pin trade (2000 logo, I couldn’t help my self LOL) he escorted my family and I into the theater before everybody else. Still chortling about Goofy’s phone call we were in for another shock: when the CM announced the AA show she also announced us as “Our First Family Today, the W----- family from Miami. We all glanced at each other and began to laugh,very pleased and happy. The crowd applauded and the show began. I enjoyed the show very much and the new footage at the end was quite sad but moving. Thinking that that the days surprised were over we were on our way to dinner at the American Gardens Tavern when the same CM who gave me the call appeared at our side again. We all thanked him and he presented us with a Magical Moment Certificate. How Amazing! Then he took us into the restaurant and formally announced my birthday to all the guests in the dinning room and had them all wish me a Happy Birthday. Being a shy person I was overcome with joy and nervousness but was exhilarated at the same. I finally found out his name (Lonny from Mount Vernon Illinois and plan to call guest services to commend him) we then had dinner and talked about the day’s fantastic and magical events. All that remained to do was the finale of finale’s Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. We staked out our spot between Italy and AA where we could see the Pavilions, a Torch, and the brilliantly lit SSE.The vantage point was perfect. With the music swelling in our ears we saw the World Showcase Lagoon burst into action as flames shot forward, the Earth emerged in all of it’s glowing glory, and a thousand points of light explode over our heads in testament to Earth’s greatest moments. I don’t know how or why they would make The SkyDance when they have ROE. Nothing gets better than that in all of WDW.The new dream narration by Mr. Cummings is really cool and the colors and sounds of the Fireworks is truly amazing. We had the added bonus of standing right in front of the speakers and a launching pad for one of the comets that flies out of the lagoon’s sides. It was so cool but scary to stand right next a live firework! When it went off all the people in our area screamed and began to laugh! It was truly a magical moment. I hope it Illuminations: Reflections of Earth stays for many more years to come.However the nights experiences were not completely over. On the return Monorail ride we got to ride in the front and received Co-pilot Passes and were wowed at the amazing view of nighttime SSE and Epcot.
The next day was our last day. We traversed to Downtown Disney for a little shopping (Yeah,Lego store!)And had an excellent lunch at the Earle of Sandwich.Saddly it was time to go and end our trip. For me this was the best Epcot visit I’ve had and by far the best birthday ever. Before I go I just would like to thanks all of the CMs who wished me a Happy Birthday and the staff of AA for making Epcot extra magical.FONT]
Thanks for reading this and I would appreciate your posts as this is my first time posting a thread, let alone a trip report. Thanks for your time!
See ya real soon!:wave:
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Hello everyone and Welcome to my first trip report and thread on WDWMagic!
This trip report will be based off of my feelings and experience at the best park in Walt Disney World, The grand and glorious Epcot which we visited on June 30th in honor of my 16th birthday. But before I get into telling all of you about my fantastic experiences in Epcot, I must elaborate on what inspired the trip and how I even got interested in Disney.
…
Last December my high school band had the honor of marching in The Magic Kingdom’s Share a Dream Come True Parade. We also got to visit all four parks in 3 days. I was so excited to go and march, see the sights, and be the first person in my family to visit Animal Kingdom! However I was most excited to visit Epcot which I hadn’t visited since the Millennium Celebration in 2000,six long years ago. Before this visit I had been a Disney fan,but not completely immersed like I (fortunately? LOL) am now. And so on our first day after a 4 hour bus ride from Miami and a few hours in The Studios we arrived in Epcot.I was so enthralled with the park even though we arrived from the International Gateway, That has got to be the most anticlimactic entrance to Epcot ever, no SpaceShip Earth, no Monorail, just some trees and a glimpse of World Showcase lagoon. Nevertheless I was excited and thrilled to be in Epcot.Unfortuantly my friends were not. They complained that Epcot was boring and said that SSE was a horrible mess,that Future World was for babies and even had the nerve to complain that IllumiNations was the weirdest firework show they had ever seen. Along with that I couldn’t get to do any of my favorite things because we only had about 4-5 hours in the Park. Upon coming home from the parks I reflected that I would love to go back to Epcot and do it the right way. That was the moment in which my new obsession with Epcot and all things Walt began. I came home, feverishly installed my dream upon my parents and began to hunt down anything Disney related that I could read, listen to or watch. My iPod became almost full with park music and tons upon tons of pictures of SSE.I would begin to collect pins and trade them at my local Character Warehouse. My room became a mecca of Epcot memorabilia drawings and posters. It was official, I had the Disney Bug. And then came the day when I logged on to WDW and learned horrific news: My beloved SpaceShip Earth was closing for a refurb. The window of opportunity to experience Epcot the right way was quickly closing. I told my parents and they had the most wonderful idea: Why not go up for your birthday as it was a few days before SSE closed down? I was thrilled with the prospects. They warned me though that we would have to save like mad and it would be possible that we might not even go. I took this as a challenge and in all my homework free moments drew up a budget for the trip and began to research hotels and car rental services. And so, for the next 5 months we saved, worked hard and wished upon a star that our efforts would pay off. Amazingly they did. On the night of June 27th I witnessed my parent sitting up in bed late at night calling hotels and making reservations using the information I had presented to them. The dream in a year that has a million of them was coming true. With a whoop a joy and a wink from Mom and Dad I preceded back to bed only to toss and turn for the next 5 hours. How could I sleep? I was going to Walt Disney World!
…
The next day on the 28th we quickly packed and rented a car from a local Budget office and received a comfortable red Chevy Malibu. My Mom also told me that we would plan to get up to WDW early in the day so that we could see Ratatouille on opening day in Downtown Disney. How cool! After another sleepless night the big day arrived and we were on the on the road heading to the most Magical Place on Earth via I-95 and then to I-4.That was a mistake.I-4 took us terribly out of our way and we got caught up in horrible Friday rush hour traffic outside of Orlando. Unfortunately we missed Ratatouille [/URL]but had lunch at a nice Cracker Barrel and finally made it to our Hotel,a Hampton Inn situated a few miles beyond WDW. The Hotel was very nice and had a Chillies right outside where we would have our dinner. Quick question-Why does the water in Orlando taste so bad? We noticed this trend all through our trip and even in WDW.
Finally my birthday and our Epcot Adventure was about to begin.
June 30th began with a fantastic sunrise and butterflies zooming around my stomach. “What happens if SSE closed down early for rehab? What about Illuminations? Would the pilot lights on the Inferno Barge work? I heard that they had been broken a few days before….Oh, gosh, would it rain?” I was going out of my mind with excitement and anxiety. But the first sight of those big Purple gates welcoming you to a place unlike any other and where dreams come true banished all negative thoughts from my mind. I had arrived in a middle of my dream. We quickly parked and got in a short line at the TTC to buy our tickets. We bought them and my Dad told the CM that it was my Birthday. She wished me a happy one and gave me a large button that I proudly displayed on my pin lanyard. Almost every CM we saw that day called to me by name and wished me a Happy Birthday. It was so cool! After almost no wait (the parks were surprisingly quite empty) we boarded the monorail and glided along the Highway in the Sky. Upon seeing the grand geosphere of SpaceShip Earth I almost cried. The view was incredible. The Wand looks better in person than it does in pictures but I still would like it removed. Soon we stepped off the Monorail and into Epcot.We got directly on SSE where there was absolutely no wait. The ride was incredible. Jeremy Irons saying “Like a Grand and Miraculous space ship our planet has soured through the universe of time” gave me goose bumps. The music was phenomenal too. I’m so glad I have a recording of the ride on my iPod. (Thanks limewire!LOL) I am going to miss possibly the best ride created in Epcot so much. What astounded me was how smooth the ride was and how almost to date it was. The way you guys go on about it I though it would be falling apart and almost destroyed. The ride, although emotional was fun. Next up was The Living Seas…Err…Or as it’s now called the Seas with Nemo and Friends. I was extremely apprehensive about this ride thinking it would tarnish an old classic and was too “kiddified” and silly to have a place in the noble Future World. I was very wrong. Although not the grand and futuristic look into the waters of our world which I sorely miss, the ride was very cool (I loved those projections of Nemo onto the tanks!)And was one of my favourites. Turtle Talk with Crush was awesome. A totally “how’d they do that” kinda ride, dude.The next Pavilion we visited was Imagination. That ride was so cool and creative! Why does that need a rehab? I could find nothing wrong with it except the length of it. It was way too short but it greatly made up for it in effects and most definitely with the return of Figment. That dragon is so cool, I got a stuffed version of him in the gift shop and he now sits proudly on my bed. (Yes,the 16 year-old dude still has his Disney toys.
heheh)Now then onto The Land! We took our whimsical journey on living with the land. Although a bit dry my Mom and I still love it. We then proceeded to have lunch at the Sunshine Seasons. Food was great but expensive. I was kind of disappointed with the new interior of the Pavilion. I miss the big fountain but was pleased to bee that the Hot Air Balloons remain. After lunch it was over to the Universe of Energy. Ellen DeGenerous is so funny but the ride is really outdated. I could see a new version with her in her talk show setting perhaps interviewing Bill Nye who then takes her back in time. I dunno, I’ll leave that up to the Imagineers.After a quick and mournful gaze at Wonders of Life we headed into World Showcase. We caught the Gran Fiesta Tour which was very cute and not at all annoying as I have heard it talked about on other sites. It was a little bit lower than the original boat ride through Mexico’s culture but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Next up was Norway where we waited in line for the first time that day. (Those Tip Boards in future world were really helpful)The ride was great but there was no film at the end. Is that being refurbed? I hope so because the ride needs that little ending down there.Preceeding that we headed through World Showcase where I got many Birthday wishes and exhausted myself in the hot June heat. Finally we reached the American Adventure where we arrived just in time for the 6:45 show. Dead tired I plopped down in a corner unbeknownst that I was about to get a major energy rush. Suddenly a cast member appeared at my side and wished me a Happy Birthday. I thanked him and he got a puzzled look on his face and mysteriously asked me my name and where I was from.Intreeged I replied:Miami, and was astonished to hear him say that I had a call waiting for me in the lobby of AA. When we reached the lobby he instructed me to open a small wooden box on a table off to the side and dial a special number. I obliged and was thrilled to hear Goofy sing "Happy Birthday" to me. I almost fainted! After I was done, He congratulated me and after a quick pin trade (2000 logo, I couldn’t help my self LOL) he escorted my family and I into the theater before everybody else. Still chortling about Goofy’s phone call we were in for another shock: when the CM announced the AA show she also announced us as “Our First Family Today, the W----- family from Miami. We all glanced at each other and began to laugh,very pleased and happy. The crowd applauded and the show began. I enjoyed the show very much and the new footage at the end was quite sad but moving. Thinking that that the days surprised were over we were on our way to dinner at the American Gardens Tavern when the same CM who gave me the call appeared at our side again. We all thanked him and he presented us with a Magical Moment Certificate. How Amazing! Then he took us into the restaurant and formally announced my birthday to all the guests in the dinning room and had them all wish me a Happy Birthday. Being a shy person I was overcome with joy and nervousness but was exhilarated at the same. I finally found out his name (Lonny from Mount Vernon Illinois and plan to call guest services to commend him) we then had dinner and talked about the day’s fantastic and magical events. All that remained to do was the finale of finale’s Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. We staked out our spot between Italy and AA where we could see the Pavilions, a Torch, and the brilliantly lit SSE.The vantage point was perfect. With the music swelling in our ears we saw the World Showcase Lagoon burst into action as flames shot forward, the Earth emerged in all of it’s glowing glory, and a thousand points of light explode over our heads in testament to Earth’s greatest moments. I don’t know how or why they would make The SkyDance when they have ROE. Nothing gets better than that in all of WDW.The new dream narration by Mr. Cummings is really cool and the colors and sounds of the Fireworks is truly amazing. We had the added bonus of standing right in front of the speakers and a launching pad for one of the comets that flies out of the lagoon’s sides. It was so cool but scary to stand right next a live firework! When it went off all the people in our area screamed and began to laugh! It was truly a magical moment. I hope it Illuminations: Reflections of Earth stays for many more years to come.However the nights experiences were not completely over. On the return Monorail ride we got to ride in the front and received Co-pilot Passes and were wowed at the amazing view of nighttime SSE and Epcot.The next day was our last day. We traversed to Downtown Disney for a little shopping (Yeah,Lego store!)And had an excellent lunch at the Earle of Sandwich.Saddly it was time to go and end our trip. For me this was the best Epcot visit I’ve had and by far the best birthday ever. Before I go I just would like to thanks all of the CMs who wished me a Happy Birthday and the staff of AA for making Epcot extra magical.FONT]
Thanks for reading this and I would appreciate your posts as this is my first time posting a thread, let alone a trip report. Thanks for your time!
See ya real soon!:wave:
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