Saturday, November 22, 2008

What Price Fun?


Two hundred seventy two dollars and fifty three cents. That's $272.53 for those who have trouble turning words into numbers. That's what it cost for us to spend eight and a half hours at Walt Disney World's EPCOT park; and two thirds of that price was just to park and walk through the gate! Pricey yes, but that was not the reason I had for not wanting to go. If you know me at all, you will probably have guessed that I was anticipating hating this adventure.

First, it's in Florida. And what does Florida have? That's right, lots of sun. And what does lots of sun produce? Right again, lots of heat. And heat can be the deciding factor in whether I'm going to hate something or not. Want me at your wedding? Don't have it in June. Think I'll attend your kids graduation? Not likely, if it's outdoors. Considering inviting me for a day of "laying out" by the pool? Think again.

So the mere fact that EPCOT is in Florida meant this "adventure" was already inching its way over to the Never Gonna Happen column. Add to the heat factor the other main component of Disney World, kids, and the chances of me wanting to be there exponentially decrease. I was not about to sit in the truck by myself though, so I gave in and decided to join Ed. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a really nice day (and by nice I mean, not too hot) and the parking lot was barely full (which meant not too many kids) This might not be so bad, I thought as I climbed out of the truck.

Truth be told, I really enjoyed it. We started out by taking the Mission Space ride which is housed in the iconic EPCOT globe (seen above at night). It was very interesting; nice and slow (no crazy twists and turns to make me queasy), fun, informative and ended in an area where we could show you what Eddie and I looked like while in space and then what I looked like right after I landed!

Once you get into the interior of the park, there is a lake in the middle surrounded by Pavillions from various countries; Canada (which we skipped since we were just in the REAL Canada), China (where we had dinner), France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Norway and the United Kingdom.

Of course, if you've been to EPCOT you know the deal, but it's nice to see each Pavillion staffed with native speakers of that country, many of who come just to work and go to school here in the US. We watched a movie called "Reflections of China" which was shown on a screen that circled the room and then saw the film "Impressions de France", which we enjoyed so much we went back to watch it a second time!

We had Bavarian pretzels in Germany, Chinese food in China and pastries and coffee in France; all without leaving the country. The evening ended with one of the most amazing fireworks shows I have ever seen....I will post a photo tomorrow.

Next we tackle The Magic Kingdom!

4 comments:

Smart Mouth Broad said...

I love it. I know you are not excited about this but Disney is one of the only things that makes living in Florida worth being here. Well that and the beach but it sounds like you would really hate that. The parks are so beautiful during the holidays. If you're going to Magic Kingdom tomorrow, be sure to see Mickey's PhilHarMagic. It's a family fav. And I love the Hall of Presidents but I think I might be the only one. Can't wait to see your pictures and hear all about it. Have fun!

Anonymous said...

Shane and I did Epcot on our honeymoon which was during Presidents Day and crowed as shit. Which, if ya know Shane, is bad, very bad. He canNOT stand crowds. not even little ones.

We 'saved' Disney for when we'd have kids. Took them in 01 DURING 4th of JULY week. Urghhhhhh

Stupid or what?????????? But if I have money one day, and we go back, I'll take your advice for this time of the year. Sounded like a great time!

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmm, love me the Bavarian pretzels.

I'm glad you had a good time! We've been talking about going, but I think we'll do Disneyland first - it's closer for us. :D

Fandango Travelers said...

But did you get ears? When we went, the whole extended family all got ears of some kind as soon as we walked in the gate. Wore them for 3 days and had a grand time. Still have my Pooh ears!