Re: First Time Evah in Florida - DAY 9 (PART 1) DISNEY QUEST
Day 9 continued: Epcot
After leaving Downtown Disney we headed over to Epcot.
As we got there in the afternoon we found a space right down near the front meaning we didn't have to wait for the tram to get to the park entrance.
We crossed over the road under the monorail to get to the park entrance.
The golf ball thing is pretty impressive.
They also have all these plaque things near the entrance that they were making when Maddie went. You could pay to engrave a message or have your photo on one. It's annoying that they still don't do something like this as I'd love to be on something that's become a part of Disney History and millions of people will see. Oh well. I couldn't find the two that Maddie did as she couldn't remember the number so I didn't bother looking for more than a couple of minutes.
Once round the other side of the ball you get to Amanda Thompsons favourite part of the park.
The first ride we headed to was Test Track. The queue was an hour but it said the single rider queue was only 20 so we went for that.
We went straight up into the pre-show building and were right next to the station. We seemed to be stuck in here for ages so it did take about 20 minutes in the end to get on.
Does this count as a hidden mickey? Or is it too obvious?
It's a good job they stop the car after the first corner to check everyone has their seatbelts on as one person in our car somehow didn't realise there were any.
My thoughts...
Test Track
Great ride. I was really looking forward to this and it didn't disappoint. The indoor section is great fun and the first time you feel acceleration it's amazing. I was expecting the chambers with the heat, cold and acid to be better though. They didn't feel hot or cold much at all and I haven't a clue what's meant to happen in the acid bit.
The outside bit is great fun. Shame it takes a while to reach it's top speed as I kept thinking "this isn't fast" but when we got to the corner at the back it really picked up and was great fun.
But overall it's an amazing ride. Decent length and a mix of a great indoor section and a thrilling outdoor section.
The exit through the car making factory and show room are pretty cool.
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This was cool (but really expensive). It moved and had the announcements as well.
It's hard to get a shot of the ride going round the building as it's hard to find a gap to look up and see it and the cars move pretty fast.
Decided to head over to Soarin after this.
It's really hard to find in the park and we ended up at the wrong building first of all. Finally found it though.
It's weird as you go into the building where the ride is...
And you're greeted by this.
And it's like "Urm...Where's the ride?" It's not signposted so I had to ask a member of staff where it was. Turns out the entrance is hidden away down a floor in the corner under the walkway above.
The board outside said the wait was 55 minutes but in the end it took 70. Urgh.
The queue is the MOST BORING THING EVER!. It's just a straight concrete tunnel.
What I don't get is that the ride takes about 60 people at a time. Yet every time the queue moves it only seems to move about 4 people then stops. It's sooooo sloooooowwww.
Then when you finally get to the corner (took us 50 minutes to get there) you realise that it goes further down there as well.
Then once you get to the end you see a member of staff so you must be getting there soon surely?
NOPE.
Once you get down to the end of this tunnel you get told to stand on a number by the doors. You end up waiting here for ages as well.
We FINALLY got onto the ride.
My thoughts...
Soarin'
Out of all the rides at any park this was probably the one of the rides I was most looking forward to doing. After the most boring queue I've EVER been in. I was hoping the ride would be worth the wait.
Shame we ended up on the bottom row at the edge which meant for the whole film we had peoples legs hanging in the way from above us. We were about 10 feet off the floor and you could see the edges of the screen. So annoying that the only place to make it amazing is to sit on the top in the middle as you're further into the screen then.
It was still alright. The film and music is amazing. But I spent the whole ride thinking "this is ****" as the movements didn't sync up with the film at all and all the things like the peoples feet REALLY pissed me off.
Got off wishing I hadn't wasted almost 90 minutes of my life just to see some shoes. Would love to go back on it and get a good seat although sadly you don't get to choose where you sit and I NEVER want to see that bore of a queue EVER again.
We then decided to start going round some of the countries so headed to Mexico.
It looked great inside as well.
This restaurant was pretty cool. I'd imagine it's really expensive. That temple thing in the background looks amazing in the lighting conditions inside.
We saw this boat ride had no queue so decided to go on it.
It started off well...
But then soon after it changed completely.
All these screens just appeared.
Then it changed into It's a Small World.
There were a couple of bits of nice themeing though.
They had one more screen to finish it off.
Yay. Stacking.
My thoughts...
Gran Fiesta Tour
Didn't know what to expect with this. When it started I thought it would be similar to the River Caves at Blackpool. The first bits were nice an going between that amazing temple and the restaurant was cool. But when all the screens appeared it got pretty boring as what was going on made no sense. It was alright but I wouldn't do it again.
Next we headed into Norway.
We went in the little museum they had in the church thing.
Then we got something to eat.
They even had some worms and dirt for the kids.
We then sat down and ate. These really steep stairs reminded me of ones my grandma used to have at her house.
As usual it took a while. Here's a photo from when we started eating.
And another after everyone had finished.
The firework show was starting in the next 10 minutes so we got up. I saw a space right by where we were eating but my dad said he wanted to find my aunt so we were really pushing it. We walked right round to the front of the lake and didn't find them so stood and watched. Although annoyingly we couldn't get near the front.
I still filmed it and managed to push myself near to the lake and film in between some peoples shoulders.
Here's a video of the highlights filmed in HD. Take a look at it as it came out really well and the show is amazing.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cMsjfM1-ZY[/youtube]
After that we left. There was the usual rush of people heading out the park. Lucky our car was close by so we didn't have to queue for the trams or have far to walk. We hadn't finished Epcot so decided to come back another day.
Anyway that's day 9 completed.
Next trip report will be on the
Airboat Ride,
Planet Hollywood and
Mini-golf.
