I typed this up yesterday (31/12) our time, but didn’t post it until 1/1 due to our amazing but exhausting 17 hour day at Epcot! Enjoy....
Today we were up bright and early to drive to Epcot, one of the four Disneyworld parks. Epcot was originally an acronym for ‘Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow’, a utopian city of the future planned by Walt Disney.
Disneyworld first opened in the early 70s (Magic Kingdom 1971, Epcot 1982, Disney’s Hollywood Studios 1989 and Animal Kingdom 1998). Walt Disney had a huge vision for Epcot, but was not allowed to start work on it until he built the Magic Kingdom here first (the park with the famous castle etc). He died in 1966, five years before Magic Kingdom would open, so he never saw his vision in Florida come to life unlike in California.
Disneyworld’s land is HUGE. Looking online, it appears that Disney owns way more land than what is taken up by the four parks here. Apparently it’s 30,000 acres (approximately 120 square kilometres) which is 80 times the size of Monaco. That’s insane! Only 7000 acres of the land is developed, so I hate to think how big it’ll be one day!
When Walt Disney purchased the land in Anaheim for Disneyland, he regretted not buying much land as it was quickly surrounded by hotels, restaurants etc. That’s why when he purchased the land for Disneyworld, he bought up big vowing not to make the same mistake again. He bought the land here in Florida under many false names and false company names. Then the rumours started in the papers etc about all this land being purchased, and once people realised what it was being purchased for, the surrounding land sold for 10 times more than what Walt had paid per acre. Everybody wanted in to build hotels and more nearby. I know I’ve only spent one day, but I actually like the size of Disneyland and how many rides there are. There are many more rides in the park so the queues overall are shorter, and I think it’s more special as Walt was alive to see it come to fruition.
We knew that today would be ridiculously busy, we were prepared for that. I had done a lot of research and thankfully realised in advance that the fastpass system here is different. You can only book three per person for the day you’re visiting, and they open a month in advance. So one Sunday night a month ago I sat up on the couch and snapped some up. I got on at the time they started, and some of them were gone within minutes. We got three each though. I overheard a man in a queue today say that if people don’t turn up for their fastpass reservations today and don’t cancel them, they are charged a $10 fee.
We were in the queue by 7.15am and it built up extremely quickly. Once the park opened, we walked straight to Test Track. This was a ride in which you first designed your own car (colour, features, engine etc) and then rode in a vehicle around a fast track. The ride is the fastest Disney ride ever built, getting up to speeds of about 105 km/h. Our car won the race overall because we made it really powerful! I think we waited ten minutes in line, and when we exited the ride already had a two hour wait at 8.20am. Absolute insanity!!
Then we went on Mission Space. We queued for about 20 minutes thinking it was an easy space simulation ride. Right at the front of the queue, the intro video told us it was intense, spun a lot and we shouldn’t ride if we got motion sick. We looked at each other in a bit of a panic then, because both of us are full of cold. Then a man near us said that people have died on the ride, and his daughter told him off and told me they were older people with preexisting heart conditions.
The couple next to us chickened out, but we still went on. It was spinny in the way that it simulated a space launch, a slingshot around Mars and a landing. So the ride had to spin to provide the necessary g force. We felt a bit weird afterwards, but once out in the fresh air we were fine, particularly when we saw it was now a 65 minute wait. Apparently NASA astronauts helped Disney to create this ride and make it as realistic as possible.
Then we used our first fastpass which was for Spaceship Earth, a slow moving ride showing us the history of language and technology. It reminded me a bit of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ because there were lots of real looking animatronics as you went through. This ride is within the white geodesic sphere (affectionately referred to as ‘the golf ball’) that is the symbol of Epcot. It has 11,000 triangles on its surface apparently!
We used our next fastpass straight afterwards for Living with the Land. I found this ride incredibly ironic - it was all about sustainability and respecting the environment. We’ve only been here a day, but everyone here in Florida seems to drive a monster truck, and at the supermarket they give you plastic bags for your entire shop without even asking. I don’t think the message of the ride has sunk in yet! But we enjoyed it nonetheless. We saw lots of fish and plants growing that the park use in their restaurants.
Next, we went on the ‘Finding Nemo’ ride. It was similar but not the same as the Disneyland one. It was weird, as every queue seemed to build after we left. We waited 25 minutes, but while we were in the queue the app jumped and showed 65 minutes.
At the end of this and every ride there were lots of games and exhibitions you could look at. At the Nemo ride the exhibition at the end was an aquarium, and we saw lots of fish, sharks, turtles, dolphins and even some rescued manatees being fed. One of them was found orphaned, and one had many cuts and scratches on it due to being involved in a boat strike.
Next we did a boat ride across the Epcot lake. We did a full circuit. After eating the lunch we brought with us, we then began our loop around the World Showcase. This is the lakefront area in Epcot that has 11 different countries represented, it’s like a permanent World’s Fair.
We started off in Canada and then the UK, and as we went we recognised a lot of famous landmarks we had been to in real life. Next we went to France and each enjoyed a yummy ice cream. It was here that we realised the people working in each “country” were actually from that country! A lovely French girl in the shop picked up that we were Australian.
Next was Morocco, which apparently the king of Morocco sent architects over to help design some of the buildings and mosaics for. Then Japan where we enjoyed a drumming show. In the middle of World Showcase was ‘The American Adventure’. Here we watched an acapella group who were fantastic, before watching the animatronic and video show ‘The American Adventure’ which centred around important events in the United States’ history such as the Boston Tea Party, Civil War etc. By this point we were feeling pretty tired, and Rob even dozed off!
Next was Italy, then Germany, then China. We watched another show, but this one was a 360 degree movie about different landmarks in China.
Then we got to Norway, which holds the ‘Frozen Ever After’ ride that opened in 2016. By this stage it had a three hour wait, but thankfully we had a fastpass tucked away for later in the day. I did have to experience one queue in Norway though - the toilet. The crowds were heaving by this stage so you even had to queue for a while to use the toilet.
Finally we walked through Mexico, and then sat down to have a rest for a while. After this time, we went and rode the ‘Frozen’ ride. It was fantastic! Really well done. In the queue for it, a family from New York told us they have been here for a week and it’s rained every day. We are so lucky to have clear weather today!
Afterwards, we went and watched the early fireworks. They were really good. Then to fill in time before the midnight fireworks, we went and watched some Pixar short films in 3D. One was about Mickey and Minnie, one about a bird at the beach, and the last one about a dog.
Then we found a spot and camped out for the main event - the New Year’s Eve fireworks. At 9pm we were already in place waiting, as we wanted to secure a space at the front. We were told that there would be 80,000 people at Epcot today, and that over 2000 firework effects are used in the show costing US $25 000. While waiting we took it in turns checking out the dance parties (DJs, live music etc).
The fireworks were amazing! Happy new year all!! Here’s to the 20s xx
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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