Epcot... Part 1 (Thanks to Blogger)

After visiting the beautiful Animal Kingdom, we took a Disney bus over to Epcot. By the way, park-hopping is a totally different experience in Disney World. It's easy enough to figure out, but it takes forever! Even though security lines tend to be longer at Disneyland, I do appreciate that you only have to go through security once there. We went through at least three security checks each of the two days in Disney World. Slightly annoying.

While we are on this topic, let me also say that Disney World definitely has a better ticket-scanning system. At Disneyland, you stand in line, hand the cast member your ticket to be scanned, show your hand stamp if necessary, and walk through the turnstile. This process requires one cast member per turnstile, leaving many turnstiles closed on less busy days. At Disney World, they had every turnstile open because you scan your own ticket. You put it into a feeder which scans the ticket by itself. Then, you may have to put your finger on a fingerprint scanner. I don't know how it decides this. We had to do it once (at Epcot) and then once the next day when we re-entered the Magic Kingdom. Then a little light flashes green and the turnstile unlocks for you to walk through. Or, it flashes red, which I assume means you have a problem. Anyways, there are no hand stamps, and since they can open more turnstiles, it seems to go much, much faster! There are also less lines to get into each park since people are spread out in different parks and don't all hop parks around the same time. In California, there is usually a line to get into California Adventure starting at around 1pm. Then there is a huge line to get back into Disneyland between 6pm and 9pm. Usually. I guess when you have four huge parks, people either park-hop less, or just at different times. ANYWHO...

Epcot.

Epcot was awesome. We had been warned that it was a "boring" or "old person" park, but we both enjoyed it. No, there are not a ton of rides. But it is very interesting. I can see the World Showcase being something you either think is totally lame or totally awesome. I thought it was totally awesome. Anyways let's get to some pictures.

We grabbed fastpasses for Test Track when we got into the park. Then, we rode MISSION: Space. I rode the Green Track (aka the Wuss Track, Chicken Track, Sissy Track, take your pick) while daring Morgan rode the Orange Track. The difference? The Orange Track spins you around to make you feel like you are in zero gravity. The Green Track doesn't make you puke your guts out. I do NOT do spinning. It was a pretty fun ride, but I wouldn't wait over 30 minutes for it. Epcot and Disneyland have the least in common so I'm not even going to bother with Disneyland ride comparisons for this park.

Then we headed over to the World Showcase. Oh my goodness. LOVED this place. Wouldn't recommend it for the kids, but I personally loved it. It's not very "Disney" and you kind of forget that you are in a theme park, but I did feel like I was traveling the world. :)

First stop: Mexico

Mexico was awesome. I was laughing at all the stuff they sold that I hadn't seen since... well since I'd been to Mexico! Mexican vanilla, those ugly painted cat things, blown glass, leather wallets, turquoise necklaces, goat's milk candy, those huge paper flowers, mu-mus with the pretty embroidery, etc. It was awesome. There was a mariachi band and they were DANG good. There is also a ride, "Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Gay Caballeros." It was a boat ride and was actually a lot of fun. :)

Next up: Norway

Norway was fun. There is a ride called Maelstrom. It was... wow. It was hilariously un-Disney. It was like a history lesson on water. It was interesting though. I just thought it was weird. I was slightly confused the whole time. Probably because I missed the History of Norway lesson in school. Must have been absent that day. AFTER the ride, there is a movie. AFTER. That is soooo weird. The movie was a bit less confusing, but a bit more "made-in-the-80s." Hilarious. Overall though, the ride was fun.

Moving on to China.


China was cool. Did you know Disney World still has Circle-Vision 360? Well it does. In China, we watched "Reflections of China" in Circle-Vision 360. I do not remember Circle-Vision from my childhood, but I learned two things. 1. It's really awesome. 2. It makes me kind of sick.

We also ate in China. Morgan and I split a thing of potstickers and egg rolls. I think it cost us about $4 each. Not bad for Disney. (Disney World has much more affordable meals than the land. They also tell you right on the map what kind of food each restaurant serves and the price range of the menu items. So smart!)

We then headed over to Germany.


Evidently, Germany didn't make that big of an impression on me because not only do I not remember this picture being taken, I also scarcely remember visiting Germany. I DO remember that they sold Happy Cola candy. This is Brad's favorite. I almost bought some for him, but then remembered that you can get it at Target for $1.50 or so.

Next was Italy. This country DID make a big impression, as evidenced by the amount of pictures we took. I LOVED Italy.

The thing that impressed me most about Italy was the architecture, although the Italian cast members who spoke only Italian and all the Ferrari merch was pretty impressive too. ;)

Alrighty, well after working on this post for over four days, Blogger decided to erase the rest of it. So I'll get to the other half of Epcot later I guess. THANKS BLOGGER! Uhg.