Epcot

16 Dec 09--Weather Alert! Temperature Plummets! Today's high only 75!

Went to Epcot today, and whoever is telling us there is a recession is pulling our collective legs. Again, even though there are a lot of foreigners here, a lot of these people are Americans, so I wonder if anyone is working or going to school anymore.

Our first stop was Spaceship Earth, a title that I thought was more than a little misleading. They rode us through an exhibit where they started with the cavemen and tried to show the progression of humans, but only went thru the 1960s. They showed everything from the Phonecians to the Romans to the Gutenberg printing press, but it seemed to me they could have updated their ride beyond the 1960s. Once they got to the 60s, they put our faces on little cartoon-like things from the Jetsons to show what our future might look like. It really was a little weak!

Another ride called Mission: Space, now this was a much better ride. The premise is that you are going for space flight training, and you sat side-by-side with 3 other people in an enclosed simulator. You were then taken from the earth to Mars like you were an astronaut. It was a very confined space, you actually experienced "G" forces, and truth be told I actually felt a bit claustraphobic. I had to force myself not to concentrate on how trapped I felt in there. But what about these pictures? Do you think I look more like an astronaut with or without the sunglasses?

Another good ride was called Soarin'. You are in a simulator again, but this time you are supposed to be hang-gliding...and they had you soaring over mountains and forests and out to the California coast, etc. I loved it!

Here was a ride that we were trapped on and couldn't get away. It is called Journey into Imagination, and there should have been a sign saying it was for kids 5 and under.This goofy guy talked about the different senses, sight, hearing, etc., and has a little carton character as his cohort...after the "ride", that is Cathy doing some animation movement with her arms. She didn't want to keep doing it, but I insisted on the picture!

Aside from a couple rides, the best part of Epcot is journeying thru the different countries they have set up, called World Showcase. I wish we had more time to go in all the shops and restaurants, but we had to get back to the dogs, so we only stopped a couple times.

I know the whole world loves to hate the French, but this street theater in "France" was probably the best . The guy with the hat is pantomiming everything and was quite funny.

There was a little town made to look like somewhere in Morrocco, and they had everything from Fez hats (Cathy) to belly dancer garb (me). The mental picture of me belly dancing is quite frightening!

In Germany they had an Octoberfest area set up, and of course I had to take a picture of the nutcracker for Kaleigh again.

The Chinese area had a show also, but we could only take a few pictures because we were really running behind at this point.

But I did stop a minute "Down Under" in Australia to throw down a few notes!

And who could pass up a picture of a Mexican Donald Duck?

At the end of the day, after all the walking we have done over the past few days, all I wanted to do was sleep like this little guy!

On to Hollywood Studios tomorrow, weather permitting.