Something about Epcot just makes me yearn to go golfing. I wish I could put my finger on the reason why. Oh, wait. I just figured it out. It's because they have a gargantuan golf ball right up front. Yes, everyone familiar with Disney World knows about the iconic sphere at Epcot. What I didn't know is that there is actually a ride inside of it. I shouldn't be surprised, but to be honest, I really didn't have a clue that there was anything inside of it. Well, the golf ball is home to the Spaceship Earth attraction and this ride takes you from the earliest days of man, past today and speculates on what our future might be. Despite being a somewhat dated ride, Spaceship Earth is still a fun trip through history.
That was our introduction to Epcot. I did almost no research on our Disney World vacation. This was mostly because I wanted to be surprised as we explored the parks and Epcot was a big surprise. Similar to Hollywood Studios, Epcot didn't seem to have a lot of rides, but it didn't need to. Epcot is about exploring the far off countries of the world, all in one location. One thing you should know before you visit is that you need to bring your appetite because to really experience the world it's going to involve your taste buds. Before I get to that let me tell you that Epcot was a lot better for keeping us entertained than Hollywood Studios. There were enough rides to keep it fun and interesting and plenty of things to do in between. Test Track is a must do. There you get to design your own virtual car, customizing colors, shapes and power and after you design your car you get to race it against other guests to see who comes out on top. I loved it. The problem was that it was so busy we only got one shot at it. Full disclosure, this ride is sponsored by by Chevrolet and they aren't shy about it. It's still fun, though, even if you are a Ford fan.
We enjoyed the new Frozen Ever After Ride but I will say that if you are a larger person or long legged like myself you may want to skip this one. The boats seem to be designed for kids and it was not a comfy ride for me. It was fun, though. Another fun ride was Living With the Land. This is a leisurely trip through Epcot's gardens. Here they explain how they are experimenting with new ways to grow food and how successful they are. In fact, most of the vegetables served in the parks are grown here on site. Way cool. Okay, the best part of Epcot to me was visiting the different lands and being able to experience a little of their architecture and culture. It's like being able to blink and be in a different country. One minute you're strolling down the streets of Mexico and the next minute you're in France buying bread. Each country is built to look just like the country that inspired it. Various shops and eateries reflect the people and their tastes and you can get pretty good insight about each culture. The hardest part is deciding which goodies you want to partake of. We tried so many that by the time we finished I think we were all uncomfortably full. We might not have even had dinner that night.
We closed the park that day and I think there were still a few things that we didn't get to experience. Unfortunately, that sometimes happens. You just can't fit it all in one day. And that is exactly what happened in the last park we visited, Disney's Animal Kingdom. Tune in next time to read about how Animal Kingdom is the best park of the bunch and why we spend more than one day there. Until then, get out there and enjoy the fall. Brandan
