Trip Report for Walt Disney World – Day 1 – EPCOT
Hey, it’s Merlin. I’m sitting here with Mr. DAPs after a fun-filled day at EPCOT and we would like to share our day with you. We started our day with a quick breakfast in our room at the Old Key West resort before taking the bus to EPCOT. Once inside, we made our way to what is possibly the most iconic figure in all of Walt Disney World, Spaceship Earth. After enjoying the attraction, we walked on and the fountain on the other side happened to start doing a quick, little show to a pretty tune that I soon recognized to be from “The Rescuers Down Under.” When the show was over, we continued on our way towards Discoveryland and saw a tiny lizard, which Mr. DAPs shot a great picture of. Once that brief detour was complete, we hit Journey Into Imagination with Figment, followed by a boat ride on “Living With The Land.”
Leaving Mr. DAPs to take a couple of pictures I enjoyed Mission: Space at the more intense, orange side. I successfully navigated my team to Mars and somehow came out to rejoin Mr. DAPs, who had been enjoying the rhythms of the Future World JAMMitors. Now that we were back together, it was time to join Ellen and Bill Nye (the science guy) at the Universe of Energy. While this attraction is a bit longer than others, it kept me entertained enough that I hardly noticed its length.
After our time in the future, it was time to return to the present and journey around the world. This of course meant we would journey through the World Showcase, where we spent most of the rest of the day. The first country we visited was Canada, where we enjoyed their CircleVision tour through more than just snow and more snow. Heading over to the United Kingdom, we happened upon the World Showcase Players, who gave us some of the best entertainment of the day with lots of energy, some jokes (and groaners) and of course, audience participation! After thoroughly enjoying the performance, we then stopped and took our pictures with Alice, who wasn’t actually lost in Wonderland, but was right in front of our eyes in England. Afterwards we greeted Marie, the little white cat from the Aristocats, and then Belle and Snow White.
We then headed over to China and their CircleVision show, stopping to take some pictures along the way, as we did many times during the day. Leaving China, we then went to Norway and experience Maelstrom, with its forwards and backwards “plunge.”
At this point, we were getting a little hungry, and so decided to head over to France, where I had a ham and cheese sandwich, but on a croissant. Mr. DAPs enjoyed a turkey and brie sandwich. Finding no tables available, we consumed our meal just outside of Impresíons de France, which we then went to once we were finished.
Later, we heard a commotion in America and rushed over to hear the Spirit of America Fife & Drum Corps, who performed admirably with a mixture of patriotic tunes, both old and new. Once they were finished, we headed indoors, where we were entertained musically yet again, and after a shorter wait. This is because the Voices of Liberty acapella group was there and gave us absolutely beautiful melodies and harmonies under the dome, which just added to the acoustics of their wonderful sound. Once they were finished, we then turned upstairs to the American Adventure Attraction, which was quite enjoyable.
Now it was getting to be a little later, and although neither one of us was terribly hungry, we decided that it would be best to get some dinner before we found a spot for IllumiNations and had to eat super late. Therefore, we walked back to the United Kingdom, where both of us got some fish & chips. It is a great testament to the English food to say that we both polished off our meal when neither of us was too hungry to begin with. Now that we had been fed, we traveled to a spot between Japan and America and settled down to wait for EPCOT’s fireworks. The waiting wasn’t terrible, though, as we were not far from where the Pointer Sisters were performing, giving us some fun music to wait by. Their songs included “I’m So Excited” and “Jump.” Finally, IllumiNations began and I thoroughly enjoyed it, after having only seen it once before almost a year and a half ago.
When IllumiNations concluded, we started towards Mexico and the Gran Fiesta Tour, taking more pictures along the way, as the nighttime lighting had made many of the structures we passed even more beautiful than they appeared in the daylight. After Mexico, we headed back the other way around the World Showcase for more pictures until we got all the way around to Spaceship Earth, where we enjoyed our last full fountain show of the night. After a few more pictures, we decided to head back to our hotel via the bus and this is where I now sit, with many new experiences and fun memories of EPCOT. After a day like this, I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring!
