Today I went to Epcot, one of the Disney World Parks. It was pretty amazing. On the walk from our unit at the resort to the reception area where I get picked up, I saw some squirrels. I tried to get close, but they ran up a tree. Rosie would LOVE to chase squirrels, I just know it. Logan saw a raccoon yesterday in a rubbish bin eating pizza, another critter that I’m sure Rosie would love to chase/be friends with if he shared his pizza. There are so many wild animals around here.
I got in to Epcot a little before 10am, and it was already 28c. I got the obligatory photo at the front gate with the Spaceship Earth ball. I also caved and bought Minnie Mouse ears, the rose gold was just too cute to pass up (yes, this is the only ‘pink’ thing I own), and they go great with my All Blacks jersey.
The first ride I went on was Soarin’. The line was about 45 minutes, but the ride was definitely worth it! They have this ride at California Adventure, but when I was there a couple years ago, it was closed for maintence. They strap you into seats like an airplane and your feet dangle, but it’s like you’re on a gondala. There’s a massive IMAX screen in front of you and it flies you around the world, over mountains, through Sydeny, to Canada, Africa, Antartica, Paris. It was amazing! I really enjoyed it.
The next ride I went on was Spaceship Earth, it’s a slow ride inside the giant ball. To be honest, I didn’t enjoy this ride at all. The premise is, you’re time traveling back to see how earth has developed with technology over the years. There are animatronic characters all the way through. It was well done, but I just didn’t like it.
The next ride I went on was Test Track. They had a single rider line, where if you don’t have a group to go with, you go in this shorter queue to make sure all the cars are filled. The first half of the ride was boring, you design your own car, and then they ‘test’ it, lots of sharp corners and sudden stops. It’s quite rough, and all in the dark so you don’t see it coming, it’s more jerky than fun. But then they open the doors and it’s a race track outside! You go 64mph (104kmh). At the end of the ride, there was a bunch of cool cars, the yellow Corvette Stingray was my favorite, it’s with $75,000USD. I went on Test Track twice, if the line had been shorter, I would’ve gone a third time.
After Test Track I had a blue slushy, it was around lunch time, and it was super hot. I made my way over to Mission Space next, which is a space simulator. There are two levels of intensity for this ride, green, which is average, and orange, which is insane. The nice retired couple I talked to yesterday told me about the ride, and recommended I try the green level first and see how I do. So I took their advice. It was a really cool ride, you’re in a test rocket and as you fly around the earth, you have to control your rocket and help guide yourself back down to earth. I know the buttons and joystick didn’t actually to anything, but the illusion of interactiveness was cool. When I got off, I could see all the people who’d gotten off the orange ride, and a bunch were all throwing up, so I decided to skip the orange level, especially considering I’d just drunk a blue slushy a half hour earlier. If the lines for this one had been shorter, I would’ve ridden the green level again.
