braindump

I wrote earlier about a crazy trip to Florida just for the purpose of  acquiring frequent flyer status credits. As it turns out, I converted it from a strict mileage run to a quick trip to Walt Disney World, specifically Epcot.

I arrived at the park at about 6:30 pm; some rides were due to shut just half an hour later, while others were open to 9 pm. (I had originally thought I’d be able to take advantage of “Extra Magic Hours”, but it turns out that they are only available if you’re staying at a Disney resort hotel — and I wasn’t.)

Spaceship Earth at Epcot

I managed to take four “rides”: the first was some kind of energy thing starring Ellen (who has graduated to that class of stars that no longer have any need for a surname) in alternately a dream quiz show where she shows her ignorance of energy and a dream time-travel sequence, where she learns about energy (as sponsored by oil and coal companies, I think); second was a space training ride, where they put you in a centrifuge to simulate the g-forces of a rocket liftoff; the third was Spaceship Earth, which is a depiction of human history and is contained within the landmark Epcot crenellated sphere; finally I did the Test Track ride, where they put you on a fake test track and subject you to emergency braking, sudden swerving, extremes of heat and cold, and a final high speed run around the whole building at 60 mph or so. (I can’t remember the exact names of these rides, and the Disney website is currently giving me a Java exception when I try to look them up — a lack of quality control that is rare for Disney, I think.) People say you can easily spend multiple day at each of the four Disney World theme parks, and I can certainly see that being the case.

At 9 pm, just minutes after stepping off the Test Track, the nightly light show began.  This show combines music, flames, lasers, an illuminated spinning globe and fireworks, all happening on the lagoon, for a rather spectacular show. I was sorry I didn’t have a bit more time to get a good viewing position, but I finally found an unobstructed view standing on a wall, and hoping a security “cast member” didn’t tell me to get down. (Disney World doesn’t have staff, only cast members.)

Light show spectacular

The lagoon is surrounded by displays representing a number of different countries; the displays consist of copies of buildings, stores selling goods from those countries, including food and drink, appropriate music, and cast members from the countries. A complete lap of the lagoon stopping at each “country” would probably take a few hours; I imagine that many Americans who do this feel they no longer need to visit the real things, thus explaining how few of them travel abroad. (I know, that’s a very unfair generalisation — no matter how true it might be.)

After that show finished, I wandered further around the lagoon, stopping at “Germany” for a beer and pretzel, ordered in my very rusty German from Kristie, whose nametag said she was from Munich. During this time I noticed a thunderstorm nearby, so moved to another spot to see if I could catch a lightshow even better than Disney’s attempt. Judge for yourself which was the more impressive:

Lightning over Epcot

After that, I wandered through various souvenir stores (filled with parents saying no to their nagging children — I expect I was that annoying too when my parents took me to Disneyland) and then took myself home, to the relative normality of my non-Disney hotel.