Florida vacation day two, part one — EPCOT
Today’s playlist
Let It Go -- from Frozen
Road to Morocco -- movie theme
Marrakesh Express - Crosby Stills & Nash
Mexico -- Jimmy Buffett
So, Disney has discarded the concept of spontaneity. You have to plan, plan, plan your Disney vacation.
Do you stay in a Disney-owned hotel, which costs a fortune but provides all sorts of extra perks, or do you stay off site? (The whole reason we chose to go to Disney this time around was because we could use a friend's vacation home.)
There are four theme parks and two water parks at Disney -- do you buy a ticket that confines you to one park per day, or do you buy park hopper passes, so that you can go to more than one park each day? Do you want to include water parks or not? (We did 5-day park hoppers, no water parks.)
Do you want to eat at any of the table-service restaurants in the parks or at the hotels? You need to make dining reservations in advance.
And then there's Fastpass. It's a system in which you book an appointment to ride one o f the headliners, such as Space Mountain or Tower of Terror. In essence, you skip the line for any ride or show for which you have a Fastpass. You can book up to three Fastpass experiences per day before you ever set foot on Disney property. There are a limited number of Fastpasses for each attraction, and those who do not have a Fastpass must wait in the standby line to ride.
And then there are Magic Bands. Those who stay at Disney hotels get a Magic Band -- a wristband that broadcasts on a radio frequency -- that serves as their room key and park ticket (including Fastpass), among other things. Those who stay off site use a credit-card-sized plastic ticket, but may purchase a Magic Band if they choose. We chose to purchase the Magic Bands, and were glads we did.
So...for our first day at Disney, we chose to go to EPCOT. I'm told EPCOT is an anagram of "Environmental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" , but those of us who've actually been there know it's really "Every Person Comes Out Tired". Seriously. My Fitbit tells me I walked 9.83 miles at EPCOT that first day. (When I meet my daily step goal, I say "My Fitbit is happy." At Disney, my Fitbit was so happy it practically danced right off my wrist.)
This time of year, EPCOT hosts a "Flower and Garden" show, so, in addition to all the usual rides and attractions, there are many garden exhibits, including topiaries. We spent a good deal of our time looking at the topiary displays.
This is Figment, one of our favorite characters --- he's just a Figment of your imagination!
What's Disney without a princess?
Or a mouse?
Goofy, of course.
Buzz Lightyear!
And you have to have a Lion King!
So, Disney has discarded the concept of spontaneity. You have to plan, plan, plan your Disney vacation.
Do you stay in a Disney-owned hotel, which costs a fortune but provides all sorts of extra perks, or do you stay off site? (The whole reason we chose to go to Disney this time around was because we could use a friend's vacation home.)
There are four theme parks and two water parks at Disney -- do you buy a ticket that confines you to one park per day, or do you buy park hopper passes, so that you can go to more than one park each day? Do you want to include water parks or not? (We did 5-day park hoppers, no water parks.)
Do you want to eat at any of the table-service restaurants in the parks or at the hotels? You need to make dining reservations in advance.
And then there's Fastpass. It's a system in which you book an appointment to ride one o f the headliners, such as Space Mountain or Tower of Terror. In essence, you skip the line for any ride or show for which you have a Fastpass. You can book up to three Fastpass experiences per day before you ever set foot on Disney property. There are a limited number of Fastpasses for each attraction, and those who do not have a Fastpass must wait in the standby line to ride.
And then there are Magic Bands. Those who stay at Disney hotels get a Magic Band -- a wristband that broadcasts on a radio frequency -- that serves as their room key and park ticket (including Fastpass), among other things. Those who stay off site use a credit-card-sized plastic ticket, but may purchase a Magic Band if they choose. We chose to purchase the Magic Bands, and were glads we did.
So...for our first day at Disney, we chose to go to EPCOT. I'm told EPCOT is an anagram of "Environmental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" , but those of us who've actually been there know it's really "Every Person Comes Out Tired". Seriously. My Fitbit tells me I walked 9.83 miles at EPCOT that first day. (When I meet my daily step goal, I say "My Fitbit is happy." At Disney, my Fitbit was so happy it practically danced right off my wrist.)
This time of year, EPCOT hosts a "Flower and Garden" show, so, in addition to all the usual rides and attractions, there are many garden exhibits, including topiaries. We spent a good deal of our time looking at the topiary displays.
This is Figment, one of our favorite characters --- he's just a Figment of your imagination!
What's Disney without a princess?
Or a mouse?
Goofy, of course.
Buzz Lightyear!
And you have to have a Lion King!
Oh yes, definitely plan. So much to see. So many things to do. I remember back in the day when it was all lines, no fast passes. Of course, I haven't been in a Disney park in over a decade, so I'm sure quite a bit has changed since I last went (and I've never been to Florida).
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