If you’re a writer you’ve most likely heard of RWA, Romance Writers of America. If you’re not a writer, RWA is a group authors, editors and agents can join that focuses on romance. Every year RWA holds a huge conference. This years conference was supposed to be in Nashville, Tennesee. Unfortuantly must of Nashville has flooded, including the hotel where the conference was to be held. So instead, the conference has been moved to Orlando, Fl. I’ve heard more than one person discuss visiting Disney World. I’ve been there many times and since some of you might decide to visit, I decided for my travels day I’ll take the next four weeks and discuss each of the four parks at Disney World. That way, if you’re thinking of heading to one while you’re at the conference, you can decide which to visit. Today I’m going to discuss one of my favorite parks, Epcot.
Epcot is sort of a donut shape with a pond in the middle. At the front of Epcot is an area loaded with rides. Around the perimeter, is what they call the Showcase of Lands. This is my favorite part. If yo love to travel, but have never gotten around to going to other countries, then visiting the Showcase is the perfect opportunity to see the best of a handful of lands. But we’ll start with the beginning. Epcot usually opens around 9am, although on certain days it may open an hour early. I highly recommend getting there a half an hour before it opens. I know, you want to sleep in on vacation, but its worth it, especially during their busy seasons.
Once you enter the park, you’ll be stopped again for a little introduction show. The front of the part, where most of the rides are, opens at 9, while the lands don’t open until ten. This is perfect because you can get your rides in, then relax while walking through the lands.
There are three major rides that you’ll want to go to immdiately before the crowds get bad: Test Track, Mission Space and Soaring.
Test Track is a ride in which you are sitting in a car that goes through durability testing. You’ll turn sharp corners, go through a heated tunnel, go over a bumpy road and then you’ll fly around a track going incredily fast. It’s a fun ride, but the sharp corners and bumpy road are a bit annoying and not necessarily great for small kids or the elderly.
Mission space had two part, the intense one and the not so intense. You’ll “fly” to space, experience pressure and zero gravity. I haven’t been on it. My husband went on it and said it was great, but he wouldn’t do it again, its that intense.
Soaring is a really fun ride that my son (who is five) loves. You sit in hanging seats that go up in the air while a projector makes you experience flying over Califorinia. It’s a nice, confortable ride, but not for people who are afraid of heights.
All three of these rides usually end up with extremely long lines so go early and if you can, get a fast pass(a ticket that gives you a certain time to come back to the ride with a shorter line). If you don’t understand the fast pass, ask an employee to help you.
Other rides that are cute are but not worth standing in long line for:
The nemo ride. Not too exciting, but nice to get in out of the heat. This is inside an area that has manateas and an aquarium feel.
The Spaceball, anther ride that is nice and relaxing with air conditioning.
Ellen’s Adventure: You will stand for awhile with this one, then you’re led to seats which move. It’s a long ride, and your kids might get bored until the dinosaurs appear.
Figment: another cute ride where you learn about the senses.
Honey I shrunk the Audience: a 4 d movie
The Lands
Extras to do:
Visit the coke pavillian to try samples of soda from around the world. It’s free!
Visit the west and east pavillion for activies for kids; including crafts, all free. Plus you get out of the heat.
Get masks so your kids can stop at each table in each land
Places to eat
Epcot has the best places to eat of any of the parks. But if you want a sit down fancy dinner, call ahead of time and make a reseravtion. Depending on the time of year you’re going you may have to call a month or two. Just about every land has a place to eat with their own food.
Places I’ve eaten:
Mexico: Mexico has a sit down inside restaurant where you can watch the boats float by. It’s dark inside, as if you’re sitting out at night. The mood is pretty neat and the food is good. There is also a place outside to buy cheaper food.
Noraway: Norway has a small cafe type place where you can buy sandwiches and more importantly Bakeries. I usually end up getting a snack there. There is also a fancier sit down restaurant. In the morning you can have a princess breakfast and meet the characters. During the day the food is traditional Norwegian food, which means if you don’t like fish, don’t waste your time. Even though I’m Norwegian and Swedish, some of the fish was so strong it made me gag.
