Gigantic Epcot post, Part 1

Matt has assigned me the duty of writing up yesterday’s and today’s excursions. Cripes! How to do it??

Well, I’ll start with basic info. We spent Monday in Epcot’s World Showcase. It was open from 11-9; we were there from 10:45 – 9:30 or so. Pretty much loved every minute of it.

Apparently World Showcase (WS from here on) has a reputation as a kid’s nightmare what with all of its education and only two rides and whatnot. Our kids did GREAT, and I’m chalking that up to four major factors:
1) The new Kidcot FunStops (“brought to you by Sharpie!” Brilliant!). In the WS, you can do two different things there: let your kids color with gigantic Sharpie markers, or have them carry passports to be signed in each country. Wanna guess which route we chose?
2) Decent preparation. We just told the kids straight up it was not a day for rides. And definitely not a day for whining.
3) Penny pressing machines and a newly acquired Hidden Mickey book.
4) Our kids are not normal kids, I don’t think. They seriously seemed to enjoy the WS almost as much as Matt and I did.
So we got into the WS just a breath ahead of its opening, but that gave us some time to grab a late breakfast from a pastry cart. Have you ever been stalked by squirrels? It’s very interesting.

Then shops opened and we began the day in the UK. Brought to you by The Beatles and tea. Cool toy shop. Very cool girl from Wales signed the passports, and told us the four countries of the UK, and the longest-named town in Wales. From memory. Just, wow. But shopping and chatting is pretty much all they have to offer, so we headed on to Canada.

Canada was a sleeper hit, gotta say. It sounds so boring (no offense, Deb). One of the guides I had read said their film (from the 70’s) was basically a lumberjack-dressed guy taking you through a travelogue in 360 Circlevision. When you first walk up, all you see are some totems and a castle. Walk behind the castle, and suddenly you’re at a huge waterfall . Walk past that and you’re trapped in the movie theater watching… Martin Short what the hey? They have a new film for Canada, apparently, and it’s awesome. Deb, when you’re ready to go, I am.

Next for most people is Mexico, but we gave it a pretty thorough go on Saturday, so we moved right along to Norway. Not much there. The boys were VERY excited about the only other ride WS has to offer, so we hopped on “Maelstrom” first thing. Think Pirates of the Caribbean with Vikings and a short spell of backwards sailing. And about 1/3 the length of the ride. They dump you off the boat straight into a theater for a 5-minute film (LOUD FILM). Kinda snoozeville when it wasn’t splitting your eardrums. Shopping was fun, though, what with the costumes

and the SUPER AWESOME album cover for this CD.

More tomorrow! Maybe! Maybe next week!