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Published: January 24th 2008
Well today we are off to Disney World...looked at the brochures and decided that Disney's Magic Kingdom was the same as the one in Los Angeles that we had visited before so I had heard about Epcot so we decided to go there...not really knowing what to expect but it is Disney World so come on it must be good.
Disney World is located just on the outskirts of Orlando it is quite an area it has it's own freeway system to get you to all the different places and a lot of Resorts and Hotels located within it's precinct.
It was easy enough to find your way as everything was extremely well sign posted as you can see. Our first "shock" was $11 to park the car but they have a captive audience what can you do?
Epcot is the second theme park built at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA. It was dedicated to international culture and technological innovation. The park opened on October 1, 1982, and was named EPCOT Center from October 1, 1982 to December 31, 1993. It was the largest Disney theme park in the world by area
until 1998, until Disney's Animal Kingdom opened.
The name Epcot was derived from the acronym EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow), a utopian city of the future planned by Walt Disney (he sometimes used the word "City" instead of "Community" when expanding the acronym). In Walt Disney's words: "EPCOT... will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise."
Future World consists of a variety of pavilions that explore innovative aspects and applications of technology...
Spaceship Earth
Innoventions
Universe of Energy
Mission: SPACE
Test Track
The Seas with Nemo and Friends
The Land
Imagination!
Each Future World pavilion was initially sponsored by a corporation who helped fund its construction and maintenance in return for the corporation's logos appearing prominently throughout the pavilion. For example, Universe of Energy was sponsored by Exxon, and The Land was sponsored by Kraft, then Nestlé
The entrance is quite spectacular this massive multi facet sphere that houses Spaceship Earth...the queue was fairly long as it is the first "attraction" when you come in the gate so we decided to bypass it for now and come back later.
Our first stop was "Innoventions" where you could build your own robot on a computer screen and then you race 10 other creators...you have to run on a pad that governs the speed of your robot you also have to jump over obstacles we finished 7th and there was also a "popularity" competition where we got 2nd place beaten by a 7-8 year old next to us in both cases. After this you could make you r own little palstic robot out of individual pieces that are actually made there onsite.
From here we went to see Ellen's Energy Adventure.. this is a fun-filled ride starring Ellen DeGeneres. you move through the creation of the universe and see...and hear...the Big Bang. Ride around, between and under dinosaurs. Float far above Earth with satellites and atoms. See what brain power can really accomplish - it was very creative and clever how it moved you through the
building while trying to teach you about energy and energy saving.
Next we went to Mission Space this is as close as you can get to blasting off into space without leaving Earth. Each member of your astronaut team has a challenging role in a dynamic and daring cosmic mission dodging meteors and navigating nebulae. Select exhilarating and intense training and join the Orange Team, or opt for a less intense galactic adventure on the Green Team. Both adventures are out of this world! I chose the Green Team which had less "spinning" as I am not that much of a thrill seeker thought I could handle it...although they kept saying you could opt out and I was getting a bit nervous... but the new "fearless" me continued on and it really was a lot of fun and nothing near as scary as they made out. I was the pilot and Ian was the navigator so we both had a lot of responsibility on our Mission to Mars.
Next stop was The Seas with Nemo and Friends inspired by Disney's "Finding Nemo"
We boarded our own 'Clamobile' and ventured into the sea to join Marlin,
Dory, and the other memorable characters as they search for Nemo who has become lost again. They first journey through a coral reef where they find Marlin the clownfish searching for Nemo. Farther along the reef they come across Mr. Ray and his students setting out to explore and look for Nemo. Dory soon joins Marlin in the search and they come upon a group of jellyfish. Suddenly out of the darkness comes an anglerfish that begins to chase them frantically. Guests dive deeper and come upon the wreck of a massive submarine that sits in the center of a deadly minefield. Peeking out from the wreck is Bruce the Great White Shark, and Chum the Mako shark trying to coax Nemo out from his hiding spot. Unfortunately Anchor the Hammerhead is not part of the ride. They assure him that fish are friends not food in their sneaky voices. Our clamobile is then swept up with Nemo, Crush, and Squirt and the current empties us into a massive aquarium where Nemo is reunited once again with his friends... the Pixar characters "swim" in a real aquarium along with real fish by use of special effect glass.
After the
Sea we of course had to explore the Land...
The Land" is a 24 hectare (2.5 million square foot) facility dedicated to human interaction with the land itself. It explores both how we humans can use the land for our benefit, and also how we can destroy it. Future Technology in better preserving the land is also explored in the pavilion, along with a focus on the celebration of the land itself. In addition to being an entertainment venue, The Land is also a demonstration, production, and research facility. 0.4 hectares (43,000 ft²) of the pavilion are dedicated to experimental horticulture techniques in hydroponics, irrigation methods, and integrated pest management.
You travel through here on a boat through an enormous greenhouse where they are experimenting on different methods to grow fruit and vegetables...as you can see by the pictures they are very varied in their approach.
Finally we arrived back at the main feature of the park "Spaceship Earth"....Spaceship Earth is the iconic and symbolic structure of Epcot. One of the most recognizable structures at the Walt Disney World Resort, it is not only the centerpiece and main focal point of Epcot, but also the name of
the attraction housed within the 18-story geodesic sphere that takes guests on a time machine themed experience using the Omnimover system. The 13-minute dark ride shows guests how advancements in human communication has helped create the future one step at a time. The attraction involves a timeline from the origins of prehistoric man to the dawn of the 21st century.
The ride begins with the Omnimover ascending into a dark tunnel. A series of twinkling stars surround you. You then see prehistoric man fighting for survival, later on Cavemen are depicted, who developed the first spoken languages. Then on to the Egyptians, who invented a system of hieroglyphs and made papyrus on which to record them; Phoenician merchants, who developed a written alphabet (the Phoenician alphabet); Ancient Greece, where the theater was a popular form of entertainment; and then Ancient Rome, whose leaders built a vast system of roads all over Europe.
After the sacking of Rome by invaders, we then move on to scenes of the Middle Ages, when Jewish and Islamic scholars continued to progress in science, and when monks copied Bibles by hand. The attraction then moves on to the European Renaissance, the development of
Our plastic robots... Noah should have fun with these when he is a bit older...
they pull apart and you can reassemble them that's why we choose so many different colours.the movable-type printing press, and the 20th century communications revolution—newspapers, telegraphs, radio, telephones, movies, television, as well as the computer.
The remainder of the ride is involved in seeing a depiction of Earth from space, traveling through an infinite amount of stars and into another star field where you then use the touch-screens in your Omnimover vehicle to create a possible depiction of your future.
The final part is World Showcase which contains pavilions representing eleven countries and is centred around the massive man made lake in the centre of the park — in clockwise order, the pavilions are:
Mexico
Norway (added in 1988)
China
Germany
Italy
The American Adventure
Japan
Morocco (added in 1984)
France
United Kingdom
Canada
Of the eleven pavilions, Norway and Morocco were not present at the park's opening, and were added later. Each of these contains representative shops and restaurants and is staffed by citizens of these countries, many of them college students living in Walt Disney World College Program housing. Some also contain rides and shows. Unlike the Magic Kingdom, which does not serve alcohol, many stores and restaurants
in the World Showcase do serve or sell alcoholic beverages from their respective countries, so it is extremely popular.
So as the sun was going down we pretty much completed our day at Disney and it was back to the hotel for our free cocktails ....
Some facts & figures for those of you who are interested:
Total cost: $1.4 billion (estimated)
Construction time: three years (at the time the largest construction project on Earth)
Park size: 260 acres (more than twice the size of The Magic Kingdom)
Parking lot: 141 acres (including bus area)
11,211 vehicles (grass areas hold additional 500+ vehicles)
The pavement at Epcot was engineered by Disney and Kodak photography to be painted a specific custom color of pink that makes the grass look greener and pictures look brighter. In addition, the colored sidewalks give an overall cleaner look to the park.
Especially for Uncle Bruce:
Geometrically, Spaceship Earth is a pentakis dodecahedron, with each of the 60 equilateral triangle faces divided into 16 smaller equilateral triangles (with a bit of fudging to make it rounder). Each of those 960 flat panels is sub-divided into four triangles, each
of which is divided into three isosceles triangles to form each point. In theory, there are 11,520 total isosceles triangles forming 3840 points. In reality, some of those triangles are partially or fully nonexistent due to supports and doors; there are actually only 11,324 of them, with 954 partial or full flat panels.
The cladding was designed so that when it rains, no water pours off the sides onto the ground. (All water is "absorbed" through one inch gaps in the facets and is collected in a gutter system - and finally channeled into the World Showcase Lagoon.)
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David
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Wow Kids
How you find time to do all this and write the blog Well done and happy huning