Disney Vacation 2008 - Day 2 - Epcot

We started our first full day at Epcot, getting there when it opened. We walked to the nearby Epcot monorail station and the boys got to ride in the front with the driver. When we got in, we split up to let Grammy and Grandpa take Aaron to rides that he was tall enough to go on (Universe of Energy with animatronic dinosaurs and Spaceship Earth). Becky and Alex and I tried to get onto Test Track, but it was down for repairs (not very reassuring by the way). We went ahead next door and rode Mission: Space, which simulates taking off in a space rocket/plane and landing on Mars. There are 4 people per ship and everyone has a job to do to get through the mission successfully. Your ship is really a motion-controlled pod that flips you around depending on what is happening on the screen. Becky and I loved it, but Alex declared that he'll never go on it again (we'll see). We hustled over to The Land where we met Grammy, Grandpa, and Aaron. While we were waiting for our FastPass time for Soarin' to come due, we rode the Living with the Land (showcasing new ways to grow food) and the Circle of Life movie featuring Timon and Pumba from The Lion King teaching us an environmental message. We thought Aaron might just make the 40" height limit for Soarin', but he was in tears when the attendant slipped a card between his head and the height bar. He and Becky waited in the Land Pavilion while the rest of us took a simulated hang-glider ride over California.

We had lunch at the Coral Reef which let us dine next to an enormous fish tank while fish, sea turtles, and sharks swam by. We expanded that experience after lunch by taking the Living Seas ride around that same tank. After that, we got to talk to a live-animated computer-generated version of Crush the sea turle from Finding Nemo. He talked with the kids all sitting in the front rows, taught them some "turtle slang", and answered their questions. He even pulled out something he found on the beach - a polka-dot bikini top and wore it hanging down from his neck. When he asked Alex what it was, he told him it was a bow tie to make a joke and everybody loved it, including Crush. Nearby we found Bruce the great white shark and had to rescue the boys from his jaws. Kids are friends, not food.

We split up again to try to get onto Test Track, but the line was too long. Instead we rode Spaceship Earth, the big golf ball-looking ride in the front of the park that showcases the past, present and future of communication.

Epcot is divided into 2 sections: Future World, where we spent most of our day and which highlights high-tech innovations and rides, and the World Showcase which is set up like a perpetual World's Fair. We took a ferry across the lagoon that separates them and ended up at the American Pavilion where we at burgers and saw the American Adventure - a multimedia presentation of American history as told by an animatronic duet of Ben Franklin and Mark Twain. Outside there we found a topiary collection making up Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Alex was getting to play a Dwarf in the Spring Musical in May, so he really wanted to get some pictures to help him with his part - so I had to get pictures of him taking pictures. We wanted to make it out of the park before the mass exodus after the fireworks show, so we booked it to the China pavilion and saw Reflections of China shown in a 360 degree theater. You stand in the middle while a movie plays on screens all around you - at one point it looks like you are standing on the Great Wall and can see it extend into the horizon on both sides of you. We ended up at Mexico where a boat ride that used to tell the story of Mexico (el Rio de Tiempo) has been transformed into a ride that mostly features Donald Duck being chased all over Mexico as his mariachi bandmates try to find him for the animatronic number at the end of the Gran Fiesta.

By the end of the day, we finally found a Photopass photographer to take a group photo in front of the big Spaceship Earth. He got us into various configurations and poses and this was the best group shot. (After we got back, we went online with a code number he gave us and added the WDW Epcot 2008 logo in the corner). We kept this code number and gave it to other Photopass photogs during the week so all of our pictures would be in one place. Time to rest up - tomorrow we tackle the Animal Kingdom park.