Fun in Florida! Epcot

I know this has been a bit of a staggered series, but that was generally the idea. I like to mix my posts up a bit to keep it varied.

Today's post is focusing on my day in Disney's Epcot. This was on day 3 of our holiday to Florida, and was my least favourite of all the parks, generally because of the theme of it. It particularly focuses on space and the world, and although that can be interesting at times, I didn't really take to this park but did try to appreciate my surroundings whilst I was there.

I remember going on the first ride which was Misson: Space, and it was one ride I'll never forget. I've never hated a ride so much as I did that. I actually remember walking away feeling rather shaken. Basically first you have the option of taking the 'basic' or 'intense' training - both rides are completely different. I wanted to be brave so opted for the intense training (which came with a few health-related warnings). You then get put into teams of 4 (but never split up from who you are with). You then each get given a role in the spaceship. I was the Navigator. You climb into your spaceship (which is quite claustrophobic). Its all dark but all your controls are lit up along with the screen infront of you. Its similar to a ride simulator but every time your role needs to act, your button lights up for you to press. This wasn't the problem with me.. it was the intense gravity like I have never felt before. I felt like my whole chest was caving and my whole body was being sucked and squashed, but through gravity. It was such a horrible feeling and I'm almost sure if I stayed in there any longer I would have experienced my first panic attack. I couldn't tell Mike what was happening because the air pressure goes all funny (like you are actually in space) and all of the noises on top of that - not that he would have been able to do anything anyway, lol. I just told myself to keep calm and to concentrate on my breathing (which even felt like it altered whilst I was in there). I remember just closing my eyes until it was over. Horrible.

Oktoberfest - Germany

There aren't actually many rides in Epcot compared to other parks. Its more of an interactive learning process. A large part of the park is dedicated to the world, so you walk through different 'countries' to experience their culture - the replicas are really good and as always, they put so much effort into each and every one. In each country you'd find a shop/restaurant that relates to that country and even the staff would match the country, which I thought was rather cool! We stopped off in 'Japan' and got served by Japanese, and indulged in some Japanese food.

Anyone spot which country this is?!

Bit of a rainy day in Japan!
 

The famous Epcot ball against a stormy sky!

 

 



One thing that I noticed that I thought was quite clever and well thought out for keeping children occupied in between is - in every country, there was an indoor place where children could go and colour - they'd get provided a bear to colour in (which might have resembled something). They'd do a little bit of colouring, then take their bear with them to the next country, and pick up where they left off.

The weather was very temperamental whilst we were in Epcot, which didn't help,  but I think if I was to go to Florida again in the next few years, I'd miss Epcot off the list and use that precious time for something else.

 

Have you been to Epcot? What did you think?

If not, does it sound somewhere that you'd like to go?