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Saturday, June 18, 2016

Walt Disney World’s EPCOT: Stormy Retroactive Future Experience (Walt Disney World Orlando Series 5)

Walt Disney World’s EPCOT 
Stormy Retroactive Future Experience 
(Walt Disney World Orlando Series 5)

We woke up a late on our fourth day in Orlando.We hurriedly 
had breakfast in our hotel room  before heading downstairs 
for the hotel shuttle, that took us to EPCOT Themepark.

 

The park is represented a geodesic sphere, that
also serves as an attraction, the Spaceship Earth.


We were lucky that the theme park was celebrating Fresh Epcot 
during our visit, so we were able to see a lot of green and garden exhibits.

 

Epcot is the second of four theme parks built at Walt Disney World.
It opened as EPCOT Center or Experimental Prototype Community
Of Tomorrow and a more than twice the size of the Magic Kingdom.


We had an eleven o’ clock fastpass to Spaceship Earth,
so we decided to spend our extra time at Project Tomorrow,

 

…and later moved to Innoventions.

 

Suddenly there was a thunderstorm with lightning precautions 
and the guests were advised to stay indoor until the storm is over.

 

It was alright as there were numerous
attractions at the Innoventions Pavillion,

  

 

…that kept us entertained until
the thunderstorm stopped.



The heavy rains stopped after more than 2 hours, we immediately 
proceeded to Spaceship Earth. Our fastpass was more 
than an hour late but they still honored it anyway.

 

After the ride, the thunderstorms returned once
more and we were trapped at Project Tomorrow,
which serves as an exit point of Spaceship Earth.

 


It was getting late and the rain showed no sign of stopping 
and we were getting hungry. We decided to buy raincoats 
so we could look for a restaurant where we could to eat.
It lead us to the Land Pavillion at the east side of the park.

 

We were happy that it was like an indoor theme park on
its own and a perfect place to while away our time during
the thunderstorm that still showed no signs of stopping.
Several attractions are here like the Living with the Land,

 

…the Circle of Life, an environmental awareness
movie featuring the popular Lion King characters.


…and my wife’s favorite attraction Soarin’,
a simulated glider ride but it was closed as
it was undergoing refurbishment on our visit.



It also had a big restaurant called Seasons,


...that serves excellent international cuisine,



…and where we finally had a sumptuous late lunch.


It was almost 6 PM when the rain stopped
and we visited the nearby Sea Pavillion,


…where we tremendously enjoyed the Nemo and Friends Ride,
Turtle Talk with Crush and the numerous aquariums inside.


The Journey Into Imagination with Figment
was a wonderful science- educational ride that
explores and stimulates the various human senses,


…and the kids also enjoyed the sense-
interactive indoor playground at the exit.


The Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
was also a great and enjoyable experience. 

 

On the way out of the East side of the park, we realized
that it was already 7 PM, and we only explored ¼ of the
park that was closing at 9 PM, so we had to forgo the
West Side attractions as we didn’t have time anymore.

 

Instead we decided to enjoy and relax at
the beautiful gardens of Showcase Plaza,

 

 

…that features a lot of green sculptures,

 



…of various Disney characters,

 

 



…as a part of Green EPCOT Celebration.





We then went to explore EPCOT World Showcase
that is often referred to as a "permanent World's Fair". 
World Showcase is a huge area containing eleven
pavilions, themed to represent a specific country,


…that surround the a large manmade
lake called World Showcase Lagoon

 

We did not have enough time to visit the attractions
in the pavilions which started with Mexico, so we just
decided to take souvenir photos as we leisurely strolled.


…this was followed the lovely Norway pavilion,

 

…and the imposing China pavilion.



There were initial plan to build, Israeli, Spanish, and 
Equatorial Africa pavilions but never materialized.
The Outpost, an African themed refreshment shop
was built in a space meant to be for Equatorial Africa.



We extremely enjoyed Germany pavilion,

 

…because of Werther’s Candy Factory,


 
....that sells various flavors and preparations
of our all time favorite caramel candies,



…The kids also feasted of the freshly
popped Werther’s Caramel popcorn.



We also passed by the Italy pavilion,

 

…and the festive United States pavilion.

 

This was followed by Japan,


…and Morocco pavilions.

 

We initially intended to at the France pavilion,

 

…where there are some excellent French restaurants,
but we did not have enough time to do so  when we
realized that the park was closing in less than an hour.


So we breezed into the United Kingdom pavilion,

 

…then to Canada pavilion, 

 

…where my son bought cookies a the Joffrey’s stand,


…and stayed put to watch the Illuminations: Reflections of Earth,
an award-winning musical water fountains show that features fireworks,
lasers and fire at the World Showcase Lagoon before the park closes.



…a large rotating globe with curved LED screens is
the centerpiece of the spectacularly mesmerizing show.


The park closed at 9 PM, took a shuttle back to
the hotel where we had a room service dinner,


…while my son enjoyed his cookie from Joffrey’s and
concluded the night with a milk- cookie dunking snack,


…looking forward for another awesome
day in Animal Kingdom the next day.

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