My Photo Trip Review of the 4-30-11 Sailing of the Dream and our Vacation

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After a very long walk to exit the ride I finally meet up with Kiera where we made our way to our most visited attraction of the day. No not Soarin' or Test Track. The Bathrooms. As Kiera would be using these very often being 18 weeks Pregnant.

 

 

With the Restroom out of the way we decided to see how long the wait for Spaceship Earth was looking. To our suprise it was over 30 minutes with a long line so we decided to wait til later in the day as many guides say the lines drop later in the day since so many people go on it first thing since its the first ride they come to. So instead we looped back around and made our way back to the Land Pavillion where we would now be able to us our Soarin' Fast Passes. The standby line was now showing an hour wait for Soarin' but with our fast passes we were on the ride within 15 minutes.

 

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With our 2nd flight over California finished we made our way over to the other ride located within The Land Pavillion. This ride is called Living with the Land. The ride only said it was a 10 minute wait but the Line was huge. We decided to get into it anyways and to our suprise it really was only a 10 minute wait before we boarded our boat. When Epcot originally opened almost all of its attractions were ment to be educational more so then thrilling. Many of those rides have come and gone over the years but Living with the Land is still one of them thats left. The boat ride takes you thru animatronic filled scenes that talks about agriculture and other things that deal with fruits and vegitables. A large part of the ride actually takes you thru the Epcot green houses where the produced used in most of the Disney restaurants are actually grown at. I'm sure the ride would be boaring to most kids but as an adult I really enjoyed it and the insight it taught us. I wouldn't say the ride is a must do but its also not a skip in my opinion.

 

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After Living with the Land we left The Land Pavillion and made our way next door to ride The Seas with Nemo and Friends and check out its Pavillion. This Pavillion was called the Living Seas before Nemo moved in. But its still probably the best pavillion for young children as in addition to the Nemo ride there is decent sized aquarium. The Nemo ride is really cute. However it essentially retells the Movie as Nemo is lost again and the other fish are trying to find him. The same ride was put in Disneyland a few years ago but instead of being a dark ride like it is in Epcot is located within the Submarines at Disneyland which is a much better version of the ride then the Epcot version. But its still alot of fun and something that shouldn't be skipped when visiting Epcot. And the best part is there was litterally no wait for the ride. We made our way thru the que and boarded the vehicle.

 

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When the ride is over it dumps you into the main aquarim part of the pavillion. We would look at this later but we wanted to hurry and catch the Turtle Talk with Crush show as it was just about to start. The waiting area for Turtle Talk also had some aquariums and the only spot you could see the Jelly Fish and Stingrays they have. Turtle Talk is so cute and cool and a Do not miss if you have young children. Its a short show but basically Crush the Sea Turtle from Finding Nemo actually talks in real time to the children. They can ask him questions and he will answer them and even give them little nicknames. Its very cool and unique and the kids love it.

 

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There are many different types of fish you will see in the Seas pavillion. So much that I don't care to name them all. They also have a little kids play area where you can get your picture taken in the mouth of Bruce the Shark.

 

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The Seas Pavillion was really cool and next to the Pavillions associated with Test Track or Mission: Space it was probably my next favorite one. Being done at the Seas we now decided to make our way back to Spaceship Earth to see if the line had gone down. To get there though we decided to cut thru one of the Inoventions buildings. Theres two Innoventions buildings and inside they have a bunch of different activities for both adults and children to enjoy. When we got to Spaceship Earth we were lucky to find the wait was now 15 minutes. And to top it off we only ended up waiting for 10.

 

 

Spaceship Earth gave me the same Awe feeling that it did when I was a kid. Not that the ride is thrilling or anything but the fact that it takes place within the Epcot Icon. The ride is a dark ride that takes you on a journey thru time showing many animatronic filled scenes talking about how communications have progressed since the beginning of time. Its alot like the Haunted Mansion in terms of ride simularity. The rides slowly creeps up to the top of the sphear before turning your vehicle around and making a slow steep incline back to the lower level while showing you a video of the future that actually has your face on it. In my opinion you can't go to Epcot and not ride Spaceship Earth. Its a do not miss not matter how unthrilling it can be. Its as much of a classic as Pirates of the Caribbean or the Haunted Mansion.

 

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Our next stop would be our last stop in Future World for the rest the time being. We made our way down to the Imagination Pavillion which houses two attractions. The Jouney into Imagination dark ride and the Captain EO 3D show. Unfortunatly we didn't do Captain EO though. Journey into Imagination was very interesting. Its a good idea and I think most kids would really enjoy it. However I think its something that would be much more popular with a Famous Disney Character attached to the ride then it would with the character named Figment. Yes Figment is an Epcot original. But I rememberd the original ride (before they changed it) being much better then it currently is. It gets even worse when all the cool stuff I remember being in the Pavillion as a kid is gone and even half the pavillion is closed now to the public. These seemed to be the only Pavillion that I thought needed some help and I know alot of people are against putting Popular Disney Characters in everything but I think in this situation it might help.

 

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After the Imagination Pavillion we made our way into the second half of the park. The World Showcase. But before we got to the World Showcase we passed thru the Butterfly Tent they had set up for the Flower and Garden Festival. They also had this cool carving done out of Sandstone.

 

 

Epcot would be worth a visit just to visit the World Showcase in and of it self. Theres not many rides here though. Only 2 rides and 4 movies between the 11 Countrys. However although a new thrill ride or two would be nice the World Showcase is perfectly fine how it is. The attention to detail and authenticity are incredible. The countrys that didn't seem to have a ride or show though seemed to be the ones with a large fancy restaurant. We however didn't watch any of the films or shows being shown in any of the countrys.

 

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We were very hungry by the time we entered the World Showcase so we quickly passed thru the Canada Pavillion and into the United Kingdom. Here we found a couple celebrations going on for the Royal Wedding that happened earlier in the morning. While here we also grabbed some authentic Fish and Chips that were very good. Kiera and I ended up just sharing the one basket we got as it filled both of us for lunch. We didn't spend much time here though as we figured we come back later cause we were still thinking about getting more food in Morroco. Disney Character meet and greets here though include Winnie the Pooh and Friends, Alice, and Mary Poppins.

 

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The next country we passed thru would be France and home to Belle and the Beast. One of the films you can watch is located here in France. We didn't spend any of our time here ether though and would come back later.

 

 

After France we finally made our way into the Morocco Pavillion. We were going to get another item to eat here but decided we were full and the one place they had was a little too pricey. So we walked thru the pavillion looking at the different shops. One thing thats cool in every pavillion is that even the merchandise they sell are authentic to the country they are in. Also we thought it'd be fun to try and take a picture of me wearing a hat in every country we came to. Morocco is also where you will find Aladden and Jasmin.

 

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The next Pavillion was Japan. It also dosn't have an attraction so again we just wondered around looking at the sights within the Pavillion and shops. Here you can find and assortment of Japanise merchandise and Anime. They also have a "Pick your Pearl" counter. They have a bunch of clams and for $15 you can pick whatever clam you'd like and you get to keep the pearl inside. Kiera wanted to do it but for some reason she never did.

 

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Up Next was America. Another show is located in the American Pavillion but the next show time wasn't for another 45 minutes. I wish we could have watched it as I originally planned to but we never got back to this Pavillion in time to. Unlike the other Countrys shows that are basically a film the American show is all done with Animatronics and I hear its pretty cool to watch. Oh well maybe next time. We really didn't spend any more time here once we saw the show wasn't gonna be going on soon.

 

 

We next made our way into Italy where once again we just looked around the pavillion and took some pictures as there wasn't a whole lot here other then the Restaurant and some shops.

 

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From Italy we came into Germany. Germany also didn't have any attractions other then the Restaurant however it did have a large model train type set located on the boarder of Italy. It was very large and pretty cool to see all the detail put into it and watching all the little trains go around. Some of the shops were pretty cool and if you couldn't guess there were many items for sale associated with drinking lol. It was here where you could find Snow White.

 

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Between Germany and China there isn't really another Country. Instead theres the "outpost" which is set up like an African Village. Here you can buy many African type Items including many wood carvings that are done by hand by a guy sitting in the shop area.

 

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The China Pavilion seemed to be farely large and is another country that has a film show. They also have a small area where you can see a replica area of the tarakata solders. Other then that there wasn't much else (not even in the shops) to see considering how large the China area seemed. In this country you can meet Mulan.

 

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After China we finally came to a country that has a ride located within it. Norway. The ride Maelstrom makes up the Majority of the Norway Pavillion other then a Resturant where the Princess Dinners are and some small shops. Maelstrom had a wait of 18 minutes posted so we got in line for it. For some reason I thought I remembered this line being more themed but it was quite the opposite as it wasn't themed at all. The ride it self was fun. Its shorter then I remembered it being but its still fun and something you should go on. Its similar to Pirates of the Caribbean as its a boat ride thru Norwegian legends with Vikings and Trolls shown in Animatronic scenes. It even has a backwards portion and a spot where you look outside. Just like Pirates it also has a couple small drops that are fun. Turned out this was the most thrilling ride Kiera got to go on in the park lol. After the ride we looked thru the Shop before making our way to the next and final Country of the World Showcase.

 

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That Country is Mexico. And unlike all the other Pavillions almost everything in the Mexico pavillion is inside. So in we went. Its set up just like many Mexican towns with a bunch of little stands selling Mexican toys and such instead of one large shop. The Mexico Pavillion also housed the Gran Fiesta Tour. When we got in line the wait was only 10 minutes. But that grew drastically due to Forign Line Cutters. When we got in line there were a small group of hispanic looking kids in front of us. No big deal there were many groups of kids in the park this day because of the DECA competition in town. However there adult supervisor soon turned there group of 8 kids into a group of no lie like 40 kids. She just stopped the line and let all of her group in. It kinda pissed me off and I'm sure it did everyone else as well. The ride itself can be best discribbed as being like Its a Small World. Its a boat ride thru Mexican scenes that have Donald Duck and the other Cabalaros in it. I think small children would love it and it was a pretty nice and relaxing ride. After the ride though we quickly left Mexico as we would be going to the Real Mexico in just a couple days. I commented to Kiera that it was interesting that we would be going to the Real Mexico, Epcots Fake Mexico, and Layed over in New Mexico on this trip hahahaha.

 

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After looping the World Showcase we made our way back into Future World. We still had one more attraction we needed to do here so after stopping to see the Cars 2 themed Topiarys we made our way back to nearly the front of the park.

 

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To get to where we were going we cut thru the other Innoventions building. In here we came across the ride The Sum of All Thrills. For those who have rode the Forbidden Journey ride at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal this is the same technology that that ride uses. Your attached to a big robotic arm that moves you around. However unlike the Harry Potter ride Sum of all Thrills stays in one place and uses a motion simulator screen. Basically you design your own ride making it as mellow or extreme as you like. They then program it into the Robot Arm and you "ride" your ride. Its pretty cool as unlike the Forbidden Journey you can mke this arm take you upside down. The wait was only 15 minutes and it was pretty fun so check it out. Of course only I went on it though and Kiera waited it out again for me.

 

 

The attraction we went to was The Universe of Energy. And I'll just say it is on the skip list for me. The "ride" is more of a show then it is a ride. It features Ellen Degenerus (who I think is typically pretty funny) and Bill Nye the Science guy as they talk to you about our earths energy sources. The ride system is kinda cool as the theater seating turns into ride vehicles and takes you thru a small part featuring Animatronic Dinosaurs. However the ride portion is very short and the rest is a movie. Its not that the show was bad or the info it gives wasn't good. Its just extremely boring. So much that Kiera even fell asleep in it. If you do decide to do it keep in mind that its a very long attraction (over 45 minutes). I think Disney could utilze the space better by replacing or even updating this attraction.

 

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Kiera had to run to the Restroom again and while she was in there we noticed this sky writer. He wrote something earlier that washed away. However from this picture it was clear that it was some Religous group that hired the guy to write specificialy over Disney World.

 

 

By this time we were getting hungry again so we started making our way back to the World Showcase where we would spend the rest of our evening. However before going back there there was one last thing I wanted to do. I wanted to ride Test Track again. We walked over to find the Single Rider line posting a 25 minute wait. I debated if it would be worth it and I also didn't want to leave Kiera alone agian for that long. But she insisted I go and it turned out better then I thought. Once again within 10 minutes I was boarding the ride vehicle and off I went on another incredible ride.

 

 

Kiera was very suprised to see how quickly I was thru the ride. So we made our way thru the small Pixie Hollow area and to the World Showcase Lagoon where we would ride one of the boats across to Morocco instead of walking.

 

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Once in Morocco we tried to decide what we wanted for Dinner. I decided I wanted a Brautwurst from Germany so we began our walk to Germany and got in line for one. I have to say it was very, very good. However it wasn't something Kiera was in the mood for. After looking over the map she just decided to go back to America and see what they had to offer where she ended up getting a Vegtable Burger that even I thought was pretty good (I don't like most veggies).

 

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It was now nearing time for Epcot to be closing and for there nightly Fireworks show call Illuminations to begin. We found a good spot along the Lagoon in America so we stayed there to watch the show. The show was really cool with a mix of low flying Fireworks, Fountains, Lasers, and Fire. It was a very cool show and something that You shouldn't miss. Its really cool and unique Fireworks show.