PassedTheEndorMoon
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2018
Day 4: Not sure why Mexico signed off on this
I was so excited for this day. As a fan of all things Walt and the simpler times in Disney Parks history, how had I not made a pilgrimage yet to the shrine to all things Disney-edutainment?!
This day was the start of the coldest stretch of the trip. Highs in the 50s and low 60s and lows down into the 40s. With the wind, it was downright chilly by Florida, and more importantly, California standards. Tory had a puffer jacket on under her sweater and was still freezing all day! Even with hot hands!
I don’t think we realized how cold it was going to be until we decided to make the walk over to Sanaa to grab some breakfast. It was blustery and I seriously wished I had a beanie. We grabbed a bobotie to go to hold us over because we knew we would be eating a ton at EPCOT. It was really tasty and well priced. I thought about grabbing a second, but ended up not. I regret this now because what happened next was a rookie learning experience.
Apparently, the EPCOT security screening is a mess. Much messier than the other parks and shockingly even messier than what we are used to out in California. Seriously, the security lines can get absurdly long at Disneyland, but all the cast members are at least pleasant and relatively efficient. At Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, we had minimal waits to get through. This was another level. There were no organized lines. There were cast members yelling that if some of your party uses the no bag line and hands their bags to just one person, it will move faster. This argument holds no water the minute you start thinking about it. The cast members were less than pleasant and it just felt so incredibly disorganized. Apparently, the folks that came by monorail had to go through screening again?
All of this to say two things: Security is a mess at EPCOT and needs to be completely re-thought, (It was even worse on our second EPCOT day, but we were mentally prepared) and I got a little hangry. So despite us already being in our return window for our first FP+, we decided to head out to France to start our snacking at Les Halles. I was so hangry I didn’t let Tory get a photo before I started eating. But, one bite of the Roulade with bacon and cheese, and I was magically transported back into the world of Disney magic and away from the nonsense of the outside world. It was so delicious! The bread was perfectly crafted, the bacon added a nice amount of grease and the cheese just held everything together. I tried to get a second one on our next EPCOT day but they sell out early in the morning, and I got sad. It was that good! We also got a chocolate croissant, which while excellently baked, didn’t stand a chance next to the roulade. Tory and I did our best Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry impressions while eating them on our way back towards Future World.
We were running short on time to use our first FP+ of the day at Test Track. I’ve been trying to put a positive spin on my thoughts on Test Track. While it’s objectively a fun ride, it just not in the same league as Radiator Springs Racers at DCA. I’d put that ride in my top 5 favorite at Disneyland. Test Track? Might not even be in my top 5 at EPCOT. The queue interactivity where you get to design a car is cool. Tory and I opted to build a balanced vehicle that was efficient (Environmental Scientists, for you). We tapped our Magic Bands to the reader in the load area and strapped in. Then, it just got confusing. I understand that we were supposed to be inside the simulation of the virtual test track, but I didn’t understand why everything was so dark. Were the screens inside the ride supposed to show us our car? Why is it so jerky and rough? Is this trying to be Tron-themed? These are but a few of the questions we were left with when getting off. It’s clear that Racers is the next generation of Test Track, and so I can’t fault it too much knowing that the technology is that much older. However, I can’t understand why it sees the wait times it usually does. I think you can see us pondering these things in our on ride photo. Tory wasn’t a fan and was a little disappointed we got a FP+ for it again on our second EPCOT day.
On the big screen after you exit the ride our car appeared and it seemed to score well, so, maybe we should have been engineers instead of scientists? We would definitely be making more money!
We somehow got turned around and confused about how to get to Mission: Space for our next FP+ despite it being the next building over. I guess first-timer mistakes are unavoidable. I opted for the green mission and although Tory suggested trying out orange, we ended up going with green. Again, Tory and I both thought it was so cool that the director was a woman, despite this ride being 10+ years old. The pre-show is well done and we were soon boarding our modules. We both thought the ride was really fun, and the tight quarters really enhance the experience. I knew that the buttons did nothing, but I still had a desire to press them all and toggle all of the switches!
We left Future World East and wandered over to the West side. Despite the chilly temperatures, the sun was shining and the beauty of Future World really came through. The planters, the red walkways, and the futurist design all work together in a way that reflects what Tomorrowland should be in my mind.
Our goal was to find the tri-flavored popcorn that only exists in Future World that certain vloggers talk about almost constantly. We found the cart only to learn that they were out of all of the flavors and would be so for a few weeks. Tory was a little sad as she tends to prefer savory snacks to sweet ones and Disney skews very heavily to the sweet. Again, we already have must dos for Trip #2!
We stood in a ~15 minute line for Journey into Imagination with Figment. Not having grown up with Figment on the West Coast, all we knew is that this ride was nerfed from the original version and Figment is a cute flying purple dinosaur. That’s about as much as we now know. Also, some people are huge Figment fans and people were wearing Figment hoodies and ears around the park. The ride was very campy, and if you couldn’t tell yet, I’m a huge fan of campy things. Just One Spark was super catchy, but the ride was slightly confusing and really didn’t set up who Figment is. Now I am really wishing we would have been able to see the original version that everyone speaks so highly of.
We sauntered back towards the front of the park for our next FP+, Spaceship Earth. I was sure going in that we would both like this, but I don’t think I expected us to love it as much as we did. Disney Edutainment, great animatronic work, and Dame Judy Dench?! What more could you want? Seriously, this ride hit all the marks for me and is now in my Top 5 favorites across the resort!
Leaving Future World behind, we began our trip around the World Showcase. I don’t want this to get any longer than it will already be, so I’ll just start by saying our goal today was to take selfie in each country. I’ll keep my comments to things we actually experienced or ate, not just my thoughts on each showcase. Trust me, I’ll have plenty more to say on EPCOT Day 2.
Before we could even get to Mexico, we stopped for our first Festival of the Arts treat: the Pop Art Frangipane cake. I’m a huge fan of modern art, so how could I not eat a cake so clearly inspired by Piet Mondrian and the de stijl movement? We attempted to imitate the bloggers and precariously balance the cake on a ledge to take a photo of it. This is was only slightly precarious. The cake was delicious, but clearly had been recently thawed. It was a really great frangipane though. For the second time today, I pretended I was Mary Berry.
In Mexico, we walked right on the Gran Fiesta Tour. Prior to riding, I had thought that some of the online community comments were being a little harsh in their critique of this ride. I was wrong. It was terrible. A disgrace that doesn’t belong on Disney property and has to leave Mexicans’ feeling insulted as they stereotyped the culture so much. Who signed off on this? We both agreed that it needs a full Coco overlay ASAP.
Our final FP+ of the day was for Frozen Ever After. It’s a cute ride with some well done animatronics. Going backwards was a neat treat, and we got some added commentary from the row in front of us who had very clearly been enjoying all the drinks that EPCOT has to offer.
We stopped in Kringla for some school bread which did not disappoint. Tory’s favorite snack of the whole trip. I don’t know how anyone can hate on this. It’s incredibly flavorful, and makes me want to put cardamom in all my baked goods from here on out. Just a few weeks ago, Tory couldn’t deny her craving anymore and so we tried our hand at recreating school bread at home. We nailed the flavor but our bun was really dense. We had problems with getting a good rise. Might have been because of the rainy weather. We will try again, because school bread is that good!
Another yesterland relic that still exists at the world is Circlevision. I have very strong memories of seeing America the Beautiful in the old theater at the entrance of Tomorrowland, so I was not going to miss Visions of China! The Circlevision effect still holds up really well even with a fairly dated film.
We took a bonus photo in the African outpost! Tory thinks it should count as a pavillion, but I strongly disagree. Did we count it when we were Drinking Around the World? Stay tuned for Day 2 of EPCOT!
We headed into Germany to find an amazing German acapella group. We have a friend back home who studied abroad in Germany and is proud of his heritage. On top of that, he loves trains! We may have sent him a ton of Snapchats in the span of 15 minutes throughout the pavilion.
We had just enough time before our ADR to wander into Italy. This was the most disappointing country as most of the area is just food. The stores seem like an afterthought.
Next up: Lunch at Biergarten!
I was so excited for this day. As a fan of all things Walt and the simpler times in Disney Parks history, how had I not made a pilgrimage yet to the shrine to all things Disney-edutainment?!
This day was the start of the coldest stretch of the trip. Highs in the 50s and low 60s and lows down into the 40s. With the wind, it was downright chilly by Florida, and more importantly, California standards. Tory had a puffer jacket on under her sweater and was still freezing all day! Even with hot hands!
I don’t think we realized how cold it was going to be until we decided to make the walk over to Sanaa to grab some breakfast. It was blustery and I seriously wished I had a beanie. We grabbed a bobotie to go to hold us over because we knew we would be eating a ton at EPCOT. It was really tasty and well priced. I thought about grabbing a second, but ended up not. I regret this now because what happened next was a rookie learning experience.
Apparently, the EPCOT security screening is a mess. Much messier than the other parks and shockingly even messier than what we are used to out in California. Seriously, the security lines can get absurdly long at Disneyland, but all the cast members are at least pleasant and relatively efficient. At Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, we had minimal waits to get through. This was another level. There were no organized lines. There were cast members yelling that if some of your party uses the no bag line and hands their bags to just one person, it will move faster. This argument holds no water the minute you start thinking about it. The cast members were less than pleasant and it just felt so incredibly disorganized. Apparently, the folks that came by monorail had to go through screening again?
All of this to say two things: Security is a mess at EPCOT and needs to be completely re-thought, (It was even worse on our second EPCOT day, but we were mentally prepared) and I got a little hangry. So despite us already being in our return window for our first FP+, we decided to head out to France to start our snacking at Les Halles. I was so hangry I didn’t let Tory get a photo before I started eating. But, one bite of the Roulade with bacon and cheese, and I was magically transported back into the world of Disney magic and away from the nonsense of the outside world. It was so delicious! The bread was perfectly crafted, the bacon added a nice amount of grease and the cheese just held everything together. I tried to get a second one on our next EPCOT day but they sell out early in the morning, and I got sad. It was that good! We also got a chocolate croissant, which while excellently baked, didn’t stand a chance next to the roulade. Tory and I did our best Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry impressions while eating them on our way back towards Future World.
We were running short on time to use our first FP+ of the day at Test Track. I’ve been trying to put a positive spin on my thoughts on Test Track. While it’s objectively a fun ride, it just not in the same league as Radiator Springs Racers at DCA. I’d put that ride in my top 5 favorite at Disneyland. Test Track? Might not even be in my top 5 at EPCOT. The queue interactivity where you get to design a car is cool. Tory and I opted to build a balanced vehicle that was efficient (Environmental Scientists, for you). We tapped our Magic Bands to the reader in the load area and strapped in. Then, it just got confusing. I understand that we were supposed to be inside the simulation of the virtual test track, but I didn’t understand why everything was so dark. Were the screens inside the ride supposed to show us our car? Why is it so jerky and rough? Is this trying to be Tron-themed? These are but a few of the questions we were left with when getting off. It’s clear that Racers is the next generation of Test Track, and so I can’t fault it too much knowing that the technology is that much older. However, I can’t understand why it sees the wait times it usually does. I think you can see us pondering these things in our on ride photo. Tory wasn’t a fan and was a little disappointed we got a FP+ for it again on our second EPCOT day.
On the big screen after you exit the ride our car appeared and it seemed to score well, so, maybe we should have been engineers instead of scientists? We would definitely be making more money!
We somehow got turned around and confused about how to get to Mission: Space for our next FP+ despite it being the next building over. I guess first-timer mistakes are unavoidable. I opted for the green mission and although Tory suggested trying out orange, we ended up going with green. Again, Tory and I both thought it was so cool that the director was a woman, despite this ride being 10+ years old. The pre-show is well done and we were soon boarding our modules. We both thought the ride was really fun, and the tight quarters really enhance the experience. I knew that the buttons did nothing, but I still had a desire to press them all and toggle all of the switches!
We left Future World East and wandered over to the West side. Despite the chilly temperatures, the sun was shining and the beauty of Future World really came through. The planters, the red walkways, and the futurist design all work together in a way that reflects what Tomorrowland should be in my mind.
Our goal was to find the tri-flavored popcorn that only exists in Future World that certain vloggers talk about almost constantly. We found the cart only to learn that they were out of all of the flavors and would be so for a few weeks. Tory was a little sad as she tends to prefer savory snacks to sweet ones and Disney skews very heavily to the sweet. Again, we already have must dos for Trip #2!
We stood in a ~15 minute line for Journey into Imagination with Figment. Not having grown up with Figment on the West Coast, all we knew is that this ride was nerfed from the original version and Figment is a cute flying purple dinosaur. That’s about as much as we now know. Also, some people are huge Figment fans and people were wearing Figment hoodies and ears around the park. The ride was very campy, and if you couldn’t tell yet, I’m a huge fan of campy things. Just One Spark was super catchy, but the ride was slightly confusing and really didn’t set up who Figment is. Now I am really wishing we would have been able to see the original version that everyone speaks so highly of.
We sauntered back towards the front of the park for our next FP+, Spaceship Earth. I was sure going in that we would both like this, but I don’t think I expected us to love it as much as we did. Disney Edutainment, great animatronic work, and Dame Judy Dench?! What more could you want? Seriously, this ride hit all the marks for me and is now in my Top 5 favorites across the resort!
Leaving Future World behind, we began our trip around the World Showcase. I don’t want this to get any longer than it will already be, so I’ll just start by saying our goal today was to take selfie in each country. I’ll keep my comments to things we actually experienced or ate, not just my thoughts on each showcase. Trust me, I’ll have plenty more to say on EPCOT Day 2.
Before we could even get to Mexico, we stopped for our first Festival of the Arts treat: the Pop Art Frangipane cake. I’m a huge fan of modern art, so how could I not eat a cake so clearly inspired by Piet Mondrian and the de stijl movement? We attempted to imitate the bloggers and precariously balance the cake on a ledge to take a photo of it. This is was only slightly precarious. The cake was delicious, but clearly had been recently thawed. It was a really great frangipane though. For the second time today, I pretended I was Mary Berry.
In Mexico, we walked right on the Gran Fiesta Tour. Prior to riding, I had thought that some of the online community comments were being a little harsh in their critique of this ride. I was wrong. It was terrible. A disgrace that doesn’t belong on Disney property and has to leave Mexicans’ feeling insulted as they stereotyped the culture so much. Who signed off on this? We both agreed that it needs a full Coco overlay ASAP.
Our final FP+ of the day was for Frozen Ever After. It’s a cute ride with some well done animatronics. Going backwards was a neat treat, and we got some added commentary from the row in front of us who had very clearly been enjoying all the drinks that EPCOT has to offer.
We stopped in Kringla for some school bread which did not disappoint. Tory’s favorite snack of the whole trip. I don’t know how anyone can hate on this. It’s incredibly flavorful, and makes me want to put cardamom in all my baked goods from here on out. Just a few weeks ago, Tory couldn’t deny her craving anymore and so we tried our hand at recreating school bread at home. We nailed the flavor but our bun was really dense. We had problems with getting a good rise. Might have been because of the rainy weather. We will try again, because school bread is that good!
Another yesterland relic that still exists at the world is Circlevision. I have very strong memories of seeing America the Beautiful in the old theater at the entrance of Tomorrowland, so I was not going to miss Visions of China! The Circlevision effect still holds up really well even with a fairly dated film.
We took a bonus photo in the African outpost! Tory thinks it should count as a pavillion, but I strongly disagree. Did we count it when we were Drinking Around the World? Stay tuned for Day 2 of EPCOT!
We headed into Germany to find an amazing German acapella group. We have a friend back home who studied abroad in Germany and is proud of his heritage. On top of that, he loves trains! We may have sent him a ton of Snapchats in the span of 15 minutes throughout the pavilion.
We had just enough time before our ADR to wander into Italy. This was the most disappointing country as most of the area is just food. The stores seem like an afterthought.
Next up: Lunch at Biergarten!
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