After a red eye flight with connector at 4am, it was lovely to spend our first day in Florida taking it easy at our resort and then meandering through Downtown Disney. For our first park day we chose Epcot! I had heard mixed reviews about this being "our favourite park" and "it's okay for grown-ups" so was curious to make my own first impression... and I loved it! The big, silver iconic ball structure is as grand and gorgeous as I expected. I loved walking in the gates and being greeted by such a beautiful landmark! Catching glimpses of it from different parts of the park (which is a big circle, the ball is the anchor) was exciting each time!
After doing a 'travel through time / land of the dinosaurs' ride which my littlest boys loved (and I thought was pretty neat, too), we headed over to the Test Track. Now THIS would become the very favourite ride of the entire trip! First, you wind through the line past a pretty sleek sports car, next past some futuristic cars and then down a hallway with some cool hands-on car designing screens and into a create-your-own-computer-model-car room where you choose the style, engine size, aerodynamics of the car you will then "test" on the ride... the really fast, hold-onto-your-hat, wow-we-are-winging-around-this-corner ride that the kids would have done again and again and again... and that we did do multiple times!
Even though our group is pretty even with 5 boys and 4 girls, and the boys definitely loved looking at the cars (Kyle and Braden, above) the girls were equally happy with this fast ride!
HIDDEN MICKEY!!! Well, Keri said it didn't count but I totally counted it! It was a Mickey where one wasn't supposed to be... even though it was a sticker that some vandal had left there. Whatevs. I'm taking the point! [smile] The heat in Florida, which I had been warned about and was worried about (I'm a B.C. girl who likes clouds and overcast and cooler weather), was not as bad as I expected. Yes, it was crazy-hot, about 93 with 95% humidity many days... but I didn't feel so grossly "hot". What I felt was grossly "dripping with sweat". The minute I stepped into sunlight or out of shade, the sweat would run rivers down my neck, my chest, my back. So disgusting. I just kept thinking, "it's cleansing, it's cleaning out the chemo, it's good for my body to detox this way"... and at every single snack cart or restaurant stop I would grab a 1" or more stack of napkins to wipe the sweat away... and would run out within about 20 feet of the stop! Seriously. Gross. Not all day every day, but a lot. Definitely worse first thing in the morning when we went from air conditioned bus to walking into the park. My body took a while to adjust. But I wasn't hot. Just sweating. Strange. On this first day I hadn't figured out "the bun"... as you may know if you have seen me since we returned, "the bun" is my new favourite hair-do as it blends the new-growing-in front hairs nicely with the up-doing of the long rest of my hairs. [smile]
Ooooh, the C0 ke shop! This shop had C0 ca-C 0la from around the world... and some of it was pretty gross by our standards! One was super perfumey, one was so bitter it left your mouth puckering. Very interesting, but very fun!!!
What I loved the absolute most about Epcot, and would go again and again if I lived closer, was the pavillions! Epcot was built as a World's Fair originally, and so the buildings and themes are of countries around the world! Awesome! In some 'countries' there is a ride, some a film, some just a shop. Shawn and I were blessed to travel through Europe when we graduated university, and I had been to Japan as an exchange student after grade 11... my parents are huge travellers and my kids are very interested in learning about new cultures. This place was a dream for us!
In our family, the plan has been to take each kid on a trip for their 15th birthday (before they start working and we have to juggle around jobs). With Kyle turning 15 this fall that dream is suddenly a reality smacking us in the face of all that the past year has been, and Momma not working and such. So, we will see how the trip thing works out. My dream for Miranda has been to take her to Japan. I loved my time in Japan, loved the culture and tradition and modern and work ethic and the people and want to take my girl there.
Walking into the Japan pavilion at Epcot hit my heart with a big slap of "can cross this off my bucket list" followed by the panic of "if you cross things off your bucket list then do you just be done and die?" and then the panic of "I don't want to die" followed by fighting back the incredible flood of tears that comes if I even dare to think half a millisecond on my kids doing life without me. Gah! And then it was the joy of the trip and the joy on Miranda's face to be "in Japan" with me. And then Braden found the Pokemon and Ponyo stuffies (he is a huge fan of anime and things that are collections/sets). And then we watched the "choose a pearl" which Miranda thought she would do until she found... [trumpet fan fare please]... The Kimono Shop. And she fell in love. And in that instant my daughter, who tends to be a not-into-things person became infused with an inner joy and contentment and assuredness that became her getting fitted for kimono. The girl helping us was beautiful inside and out, so kind, so patient, so pleased that I had been to Japan and had fallen in love with her country. Miranda was beaming. If I could have bottled up that moment, that room, that feeling of pure happy and contentment in and around my daughter, I would have. I will hold that feeling that was exuding from Miranda dear to my heart for always. Such a special moment. And I got to take my daughter to Japan. I am in tears just thinking on it. Such a special, special blessing that moment was. So very special to this Momma's heart. Like, a promise kept.
The pavilions at Epcot are all set around a huge lake. The building above is France. There was a perfumery and library ... and the sweet fragrance coming from the perfumery was the most lovely smell I have ever ever ever ever inhaled in my entire life. Wow. I could have stood there for an hour. It was intoxicating and beautiful. The Canada pavilion had a theatre-in-the-round with a movie hosted by Martin Short (he's Canadian, eh!). It was very fun to note that I had been to every single highlighted Canadian sight except for three. Three! Wow! I've been a lot of cool places... thank you to my husband who has made that happen and who has brought me on business trips! Norway was a boat ride through Viking history and fjords, very pretty. In the lake there was a nightly fireworks and light show that was incredible! A huge globe came out on a barge, video highlights of various countries were shown on the continents... very cool! And then the whole thing opened up and fireworks shot out of it. Seriously, so well done and awesome! My kids all agreed that Epcot was their favourite park. Interesting, right? They loved Test Track (ride) and they also loved the different countries. We would definitely go back!
Sounds amazing! You've definitely got me re-thinking Epcot should I ever have the chance to visit.
ReplyDelete