If you've read our review of the Disney California Adventure park, you know we were absolutely dazzled by the Soarin' Over California attraction. Well, it turns out that there is a version being built for Epcot Center, attached to the LAND pavilion, expected to be completed sometime in 2005. Noone knows whether it will be an exact duplicate of the film shown in the California park, or whether they will change it for Epcot center.
Future World
Mission: Space WOW. Anyone remember the old "Horizons" pavilion? Well, they knocked it down and built this spectacular new ride which gives you the thrill of feeling like you are on a mission to Mars. No, really! This is not like the long since gone "mission to mars" in the Magic Kingdom. Board your spaceship, taking one of 4 crew positions, and get ready for blast off-you really feel like you're blasting off into space-the g forces are pretty good, and the viewscreen really gives it a real feeling. After you reach orbit, the feeling of 0 G is cool, too! One of the most innovative rides created by Disney. Test Track General Motors renovated its World of Motion pavilion and came up with something much neater. You get to be the crash test dummy in this super cool ride which takes your car through many of the tests done on the production line, such as extremely bumpy roads, the heat and freeze chambers, and hairpin turns at 65 mph. Don't miss it. Body Wars (Wonders of Life pavilion)-Similar to "Star Tours" in the Disney-MGM theme park. Board a car which is magically shrunken down to fly through the body at a frenetic pace. The car's hydraulics make you think you're really going somewhere. Pretty cool ride. Ellen's Energy Adventure (Universe of Energy pavilion)-They've made this a really cool ride, now. Ellen DeGeneres is your guide on this journey to learn about where different types of energy come from. It's really funny! Honey I Shrunk The Audience (Journey Into Imagination pavilion)-Not for the faint of heart. Not only is this a 3D movie, but it also scares you half to death when you actually feel hundreds of mice brushing by your feet, among other things you'll feel, smell, and who knows what. The Living Seas pavilion-A huge aquarium with all sorts of fish and exhibits about the undersea world. COOL TIP: If you'd like to get up close and personal with the fish, turtles, and other inhabitants of the tank, you've gotta try DISNEY DIVE QUEST! If you are a certified diver, you can pay a fee ($140 per person-if you buy the Birnbaum's Disney World guide in the bookstore, there is a 15% coupon for Dive Quest in it) which will get you a short presentation about the man made reef, and a 40 minute dive. The first 10 minutes of the dive, they guide you around, show you a couple of things, and get you in a couple of places where they are shooting a video you can buy after the dive. The rest of the time, you are on your own and can go anywhere in the tank you want. The most fun is swimming up to the window of the Coral Reef Restaurant, where the diners have a good view of the aquarium, and you! Disney supplies all the equipment you need for the dive, and has nice showers for afterwards. The one thing I wish I could have taken in was my own underwater camera, but they do not allow you to do that. Spaceship Earth-The flagship ride of the park, it takes place inside the geodesic dome. It's a journey through the history of communications, from the beginning to what might be in the future. Afterwards, go through the Global Neighborhood exhibits, which are neat little things to try out. Ice Station Cool-Really, just a thinly disguised shop for Coca-Cola to tout it's wares, but it's still worth checking out. Next to the big fountain in the center of Future World, you'll see what looks like an iceberg-this is the entrance. Be prepared for an arctic blast-the temperature is near freezing, and it's very icy in the hallway that leads to the actual store. It's a great place to duck in when it's hot. Once in the store, there is a FREE tasting station, where you can taste all you want of some of the Coca-Cola company's more bizarre flavors from around the world.
World Showcase
Rides Boats at World Showcase Lagoon-Nice for seeing the layout of World Showcase and a good footrest if you want to get to the far side without walking. The Maelstrom (Norway Pavilion)- Board a longboat which will take you on a voyage through Norwegian history. A miniature log flume ride at some points, but nothing that'll get you wet. After the ride, a short movie showing sights and sounds of Norway will give you a break. The River of Time (Mexico Pavilion)-A boat ride through Mexican history.
Shows/Movies The American Adventure Show (American Adventure Pavilion)-Disney's famous Audio-Animatronics figures are used in the show to take you on a journey through the high and low points in American history. Impressions De France (France Pavilion)-Although it's not a "Circle Vision 360" movie, it's still nice to stop in and check this one out. Especially since the auditorium here has seats. Lots of beautiful scenery. About 15 minutes. O Canada! (Canada Pavilion)- A "Circle Vision 360" movie. You stand in the middle of the auditorium and the movie screens surround you. (If there were seats it would be hard to turn around and see everything.) The Canadian scenery and music are beautiful. About 15 minutes. Wonders of China: Land of Beauty, Land of Time (China Pavilion)- A lovely movie showing all the beautiful sights and sounds of the most populated nation in the world.
The Best Restaurants
Future World Sunshine Season Food Fair (The Land Pavilion)-Just like the food court at your favorite mall. Lots of counters serving lots of different stuff. Coral Reef Restaurant (The Living Seas Pavilion) A really nice sit down restaurant with an excellent view of the coral reef tank and its loads of fish through huge windows. The food here is excellent-a nice variety of really good seafood dishes. Be sure to make priority seating reservations and get there early. It's always crowded, but well worth the wait.
World Showcase Akershus (Norway)-An all you can eat Norwegian buffet. You've got to try this at least once. Norwegian food is yummy! Biergarten-In the Germany pavilion. This is an all you can eat buffet, with all of your German favorites, which is a pretty good deal, even for lunch. Lots of wursts, saurkraut, german potato salad, spaetzle, and other interesting choices. There is entertainment here in the afternoons and evenings. Bistro De Paris-Located on the floor above "Les Chefs De France" restaurant in the France section of Epcot. Easilly the most expensive restaurant in Epcot Center, however, c'est magnifique! If you want to have dinner here, you should plan in advance-you need a reservation, and it might be a good idea to call at least a couple of days ahead to make your reservation. We suggest going by "dressy casual", as far as what to wear here. The menu here was created by three of France's top chefs-Paul Bocuse, Roger Verge, and Gaston LeNotre. The rich, saucy french food here is wonderful, and the service can't be beat. We started with the Duck Foie Gras-if you've ever wanted to try a fois gras, this would be the one-it's very rich, but very tasty. The Grilled Lobster was also delicious. Naturally, you must have desserts-they are the BEST. They also have a very good wine list. L'Originale Alfredo's di Roma (Italy)-We haven't eaten here, but it gets a good recommendation from relatives who have. It's supposed to be a knockoff of the original one in Italy. Les Chefs De France- In the France pavilion. This restaurant reminds us of one of the little restaurants you really see in France. The same 3 chefs that created the menu for the more upscale "Bistro de Paris" also created the menu here. This restaurant is more casual-definitely a better choice if you have kids. The food here is very good, and the service is very good, also. Nine Dragons (China)-Your favorite Chinese foods are here in a nice sit down atmosphere. Good service here, too. Restaurant Marrakesh (Morocco)-Moroccan food is great! If you're in the mood to try something a little different, come here. If there's just the 2 of you, get the "Diffa", a complete dinner for 2. It's the best deal, and you get to try a lot of different stuff.
Shopping
There is no shortage of shopping here. For traditional Disney souvenir stuff, check out MouseGear, a big store located in Future World. Why be traditional, when you can get cool stuff, though? For the best shopping in Disney World, Epcot's World Showcase is a MUST. Just check out the shops in Italy, England, Mexico, France, Norway, Canada, American Adventure, Japan, China, Morocco, and Germany. They all have shops chock full of items imported from that particular country.
DRINK AROUND THE WORLD
Want to try something fun? Try what we call "drinking around the world". We were with a couple of friends and decided to taste what each country had as far as wine or liquor goes, and we had a blast! You could do something in every country-those who don't have wine or liquor at least had beer. Here's what we tried:
France: has wine tastings in their wine shop, and we ordered a bottle of wine with dinner.
Japan: we tried saki (pretty strong rice wine) in the Yakitori house.
Italy: has a shop that has some wines and liquors, as well as italian chocolates. We tried limoncello, which is a lemon liquer-very strong, but tasty. We also tried Rosa Regale, a sweet red champagne-the taste came with a piece of dark chocolate, which the server suggested should be eaten with the champagne to give it an extra yummy taste.
Germany: has a nice wine shop, which has "wine flight" wine tasting-you could go by the glass if you want, but the wine flight offers tastes of each of either all the white wines they offer, or all the red wines they offer (or both if you choose.)
Illuminations
At the end of the day (9 p.m.) they put on a great fireworks and laser show in the middle of the World Showcase lagoon. Unfortunately, viewing space is at a premium. If you want to find a good space to be able to really see it easily, you should stake out your place by 8:15 p.m. Believe us, people get downright rude about it, too. Of course, the people who run the park didn't help the day we were there either, closing off a big space for a private party. Private party? HAH! We paid full price to get in-they should have had to fend for themselves the same as the rest of us.
Email / knighton@cablespeed.comBack to the Main Travel Terminal Back to our main Disney World page Breeze Back to Florida Back into the Litterbox
Get your own Free Home Page