Ryan's Orlando Adventure Day 1 (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow)

[BoddaH1994]

Hey everyone!

After 6 days in sunny Florida, braving the 85 degree weather and constant sunshine it feels great to be back in northern Kentucky! (Did that sound sincere?)

Anyway - my 6 day adventure consisted of 9 parks and needless to say, I'm extremely tired! I want to give an early shout out to Delirium_guy for being so kind as to opening his home to me for the week and being my tour guide in the parks. He's a great guy and I got to meet several of his fantastic friends along the way.

Day 1 - EPCOT

I landed in Orlando in the early afternoon and was picked up for a quick stop by Delirium_guy's house before heading to the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow - EPCOT.

The first thing I noticed was Spaceship Earth. I had seen pictures of it, but couldn't really fathom how big this thing was before I saw it in person.

The first thing we rode was just that -- Spaceship Earth. It was my first Disney ride experience and some of the animitronics were absolutely amazing. The ending was a bit campy, but apparently the ending's pretty new.

That was followed by Mission Space, which was a good ride experience too. I know I've heard that the ride was made a little less intense, but it's still certainly a lot of fun! The g-forced imposed on you go along perfectly with the animation on the screen in front of you. It's very convincing!

After doing Storm Struck, we went on to Soarin', which was am AMAZING experience. To be honest, I kind of expected something a little more intense but the ride itself gracefully waved from side to side like a real hang glider would. Although it wasn't what I expected, it was definitely the best ride experience that Epcot had to offer.

Following Soarin', we met with some of Todd's friends and checked out the ongoing Food and Wine Festival where we sampled the finer options from around the world. The following photo, however, is one of the finest delicacies from Lake Buena Vista Florida - The Goofy Gummy Burger, which Todd thought he could consume in one bite... he was wrong.

It wasn't long until Illuminations : Reflections of Earth started, promptly at 9:00. I had heard a lot about this show and expected nothing short of perfection and boy did they deliver!

The best part of the show is that fact that it carries a meaning. Even those who do not know the meaning can tell that they are attempting to convey a message with very few words to express that message.

The show begins with this:

Good evening, on behalf of Walt Disney World, the place where dreams come true, we welcome all of you to Epcot and World Showcase. We've gathered here tonight, around the fire, as people of all lands have gathered for thousands and thousands of years before us; to share the light and to share a story. An amazing story, as old as time itself but still being written. And though each of us has our own individual stories to tell, a true adventure emerges when we bring them all together as one. We hope you enjoy our story tonight; Reflections of Earth.

The reference to sitting around the fire reflects that there are 19 burning torches surrounding the lagoon. Each torch reflects 100 years in the Common Era, with the 20th torch (representing the most recent century) lit in the final act of the show. After hearing the announcement of the shows commencement, you hear the faint blow, as if a candle were being blown out, and the torches dime and fizzle out.

The show is broken up into three acts:

Act I - Chaos

Chaos represents the creation of the Earth. To represent the fact that the planet was a lifeless fire-consumed ball, an inferno barge shoots up flames dozens of feet in the air. This intense heat can be felt from hundreds of feet away standing on the shores of the lagoon.

Act II - Order

In the act about order, the gigantic LED globe is first introduced and "cools" from a hot white, then red and finally blue as chaos turns to order. The areas on the globe that are the continents display images of famous people, places and events.

Act III - Meaning

As order evolves into meaning, the globe opens up like an orchard and thousands of fireworks are shot both from the ground and the globe itself. The epic finale is a large torch within the globe (representing the 20th century) being lit along with the 19 other torches along the banks of the lagoon.

An exerpt from Illuminations I found on YouTube:

Although the park closes after Illumations, they left Test Track open because it had been down earlier in the day. I thought the ride had a lot of fun parts and offered a fantastic out-of-control feeling.

Day one certainly went well and was a fantastic first impression of what Disney had to offer.

[Guest TombraiderTy]

Glad to hear you enjoyed Epcot- Disney parks in general don't seem to get too much "love" from most coaster enthusiasts, most-likely because of their lack of thrill rides and coasters.

I agree about IllumiNations- very amazing show; possibly my favorite fireworks show I've seen.

I look forwards to the updates

[Beast79]

Everything at WDW is just amazing! I think Test Track is the closest ride compared to a coaster you can get on in Epcot

[Reclaimer]

Great report, Ryan. EPCOT is truly one of the greatest parks in existence. There is just so much to do (and *gasp* learn!) all while enjoying yourself. Everything about Walt Disney World is amazing, but EPCOT takes the cake for me personally. As for Test Track, it is the fastest Disney theme park attraction ever built (64.8 mph), even beating out rides like Expedition Everest, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, and California Screamin'.

Ahhh...EPCOT is just a great experience. I miss it.

[BoddaH1994]

Oh yeah, I should add... they had a random free Billy Ocean concert too..

"Get out of my dreams! Get into my car!"

[Avatar]

Welcome home BoddaH1994!!!

Thanks for taking the time to share your time line of the trip and in many cases what you thought of the attractions you encountered. I am looking forward to reading a more in depth trip report like the 1^st day at EPCOT you have done this far. I can tell in the first part that you had a memorable time and that you enjoyed experiencing so many parks that you have only heard about. I look forward to the rest of your report when you have the time to finish it.

[Delirium_Guy]

Oh yeah, I should add... they had a random free Billy Ocean concert too..

A-MAZING :-) That's just one of many random acts that we were witness to at Food & Wine 2009 haha. No, seriously though, I am extrememley happy that you enjoyed Epcot as much as you did and definitely glad we made it over there for a second evening of strolling around World Showcase! Epcot is probably my absolute favorite park, even though it really lacks in any time of major major thrill department. It is the one park here in Florida that I never need a break from or never complain about going to. As Ryan got to experience, it's really just a great place to go hang out for the evening.....and Illuminations NEVER grows old for me.

- Todd

[The Interpreter]

I can't wait to read the rest of the reports from this trip! I could easily spend a week at just EPCOT!, but there is so much more to do down there, too!