Showing posts with label Epcot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Epcot. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Epcot International Festival of the Arts


Date of Visit: February 5, 2017

When we planned our trip the Epcot International Festival of the Arts hadn't been announced. Finding out we would be able to enjoy it when it was announced was exciting, but we were kind of disappointed it's only a weekend thing because we had already booked our two dining reservations for our week trip 2 of the 3 days we could've enjoyed eating at the festival. We did fit in trying a few things on Sunday for lunch before our early dinner at Be Our Guest, but Mik was disappointed we didn't instead eat at the festival booths on Monday, especially since it was the park we were in for our lunch and it turned out to be our worst Disney dining experience ever (not actually bad, but disappointing...will try to remember to do review later).

On Sunday, Mik and I park hopped by boat from Hollywood Studios and were planning to grab some lunch with my Starbucks gift card on the way over to meet up in Magic Kingdom for dinner. We had forgotten about the festival until we spotted the booth in Canada and then we picked up the little booklet that lists what all the booths have. Mik quickly spotted a picture of doughnuts and when I found the description we knew what we had to have for lunch.


On the way to get the doughnuts, we stopped at the E = AT^2 booth for some cold drinks. Mik enjoyed the Deconstructed Breakfast (non-alcoholic version), which is a spiced apple chai tea shake with maple syrup, a waffle crisp, and candied bacon. It reminded me of the pumpkin one they had at the Food & Wine, which was my favorite last time.


The Trio of Savory Croissant Doughnuts at the Painter's Palate did not disappoint. Mik enjoyed the chicken mousse one and I enjoyed the herb cream cheese with sea salt one. We split the tuna one. Mik's favorite was the tuna and mine was the herb cream cheese.


We also enjoyed the exhibits in the Showcase Plaza where Painter's Palate was located. In particular, we enjoyed seeing the Mary Blair art. However, they were rather small and left us wanting more of a real exhibit to experience.

Overall we enjoyed our little taste of the Epcot Festival of the Arts and hope to enjoy a lot more of it on Friday. In particular, it would be fun to get a photo in one of be part of the paintings displays.

Destination Info:

Epcot International Festival of the Arts
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Walt Disney World: Epcot - Disney Vacation Club Lounge

Date of Visit: November 17, 2016

We meant to check out the lounge last trip, but forgot (and it probably would've been too crowded to enjoy like the rest of Epcot was most of that trip since it was during the Food & Wine Festival). Since not even the holidays had really started at Epcot, it ended up being a good time for regular Epcot stuff including checking out the DVC Lounge.

To access the lounge there are steps and to take the elevator up they have someone bring it down as it apparently is set up to only be called by the button from upstairs, which makes sense as a way to control access to the lounge since check in is downstairs. Mik liked the interior styling of the elevator and it's unique shape (reminds me that I have to take him to the National Gallery of Art East one of these days as he'll really like those ones).


We enjoyed taking a break in the lounge, especially since they have almost more outlets than seating so you can recharge your devices. We also enjoyed that they not only have free fountain soda, but it is the Coke Freestyle machines. They also came around once while we were in there with a snack cart that you could choose something from for free including gummy bears, chips, and Cheez-its.

Destination Info:
Epcot
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Walt Disney World: Epcot - Journey Into Imagination with Figment

Date of Visit: September 20, 2016

I remember going on the ride featuring Figment before, but it's been awhile and this time it seemed different. Thus, it seems we probably haven't been on it since our first Walt Disney World trip in 2001 back when it was Journey Into YOUR Imagination.


Overall we enjoyed the ride. Mik particularly liked that the wheelchair accessible vehicle is spacious while also having a seat for me to ride next to him.


We didn't spend much time in the ImageWorks area you exit into, but Mik did enjoy trying out the conducting music part.

Destination Info:
Journey Into Imagination with Figment
Epcot
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Walt Disney World: Epcot - Soarin'

Date of Visit: September 19, 2016

We said we'd never do Soarin' at Epcot again unless they changed it to Soarin' Over Florida. While that isn't what happened, they did in fact change it so we were excited to give it another try, although we are sad that they also changed it in California.

Like last time, we used Fastpass+ for this attraction. I do miss that there is no aviation hall of fame to go through like in California, but since it's the Fastpass line you don't spend much time in line. However, you do still end up spending time waiting in the ramp hall down to where they assign you to rows and that is annoying because you're often stuck on the incline for awhile.

Overall we still like Soarin' as one of the few transfer rides I can do with Mik. However, we just didn't end up really enjoying the around the world version as much. Mainly, it just didn't seem quite as realistic throughout. Thus, we probably would one do this maybe every few trips and only with Fastpass.

Destination Info:
Soarin'

Epcot
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Monday, January 4, 2016

Walt Disney World: Epcot - Living with the Land

Date of Visit: January 3, 2016

Our plan for the day had been to start with Soarin', but even getting to the park right after it opened still meant an almost 3 hour line. We decided we much prefer to do the little to no line wait for Nemo and Living with the Land before World Showcase opened. Apparently, everyone was already at Soarin' because it was a rainy day and mostly the crowd level was low and for once we actually didn't have to wait in line to use the elevator in the Future World building.

I don't know if it's normal or just because the ride was pretty much walk on at the time, but we were directed to the Fastpass line to go on the ride.


Mik really loves the Living with the Land ride. For one, it is the one nice boat ride at Walt Disney World since the wheelchair part of the boat is level with the loading area rather than you going in to boat and then roll down to the lower area like on the ride in Mexico and 'it's a small world.' Also, the experience is a little bit different every visit because what they're growing and researching changes every so often. This time of year with the holiday decorations up it was even more interesting because there were things like the rosemary decorated like a Christmas tree.


Destination Info:
Epcot - Living with the Land
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Epcot International Food & Wine Festival 2014 - Day 2

Date of Visit: September 26, 2014

On our second and last day at Disney World this trip, we headed back to the Food & Wine Festival and went around to the left insides of the right like the first day.


Our fist stop was for Roasted Verlasso salmon with quinoa salad and arugula chimichurri at the Patagonia booth.


At the Australia marketplace we tried the Garlic shrimp with roasted tomatoes, lemon myrtle and rapini.


Next Dad got a Lamb meatball with spicy tomato chutney from New Zealand, which Mik ended up mostly eating because he loved it when he tried it.


From Poland we got the Kielbasa and potato pierogi with caramelized onions and sour cream. Good pierogis, but they did seem odd to me so mini.


Mik most looked forward to trying the waffles in Belgium, which he had skipped the day before because we had waffles from Sleepy Hollow in the Magic Kingdom for breakfast that day. He had the chocolate one and like the Belgium style waffles. He tried my berry one, but didn't particularly like it because it was mostly blueberry.


Lastly we had Brazilian cheese bread, which Mik didn't really like, but was my favorite thing we tried.

Destination Info:

Epcot International Food & Wine Festival
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Epcot International Food & Wine Festival 2014

Date of Visit: September 25, 2014

The main purpose of this Disney World trip was to check out the Mickey's Halloween Party before our Disney cruise. Mik did not want us to ever go to the Food & Wine Festival before he was 21, especially since it is only one more year. However, since we ended up at Disney World when it was going on this year and it was not specifically for the festival, he decided it was still worth going to for the food.

He started at the Hawaii marketplace with a Kālua pork slider with sweet and sour Dole® Pineapple chutney and spicy mayonnaise. He enjoyed the pork, but didn't really like the sauce.


Next we shared the Kerrygold cheese selection (Reserve cheddar, Dubliner with Irish Stout and Skellig) from the Ireland marketplace.


He was excited to try escargot with the Escargot tart with garlic, spinach, bacon and parmesan at the France marketplace; but he ended up not liking it at all because of the spinach.


Dad and I shared the Regal Springs premium tilapia with coconut lime sauce and steamed rice from the Brazil marketplace.


I got the Apple Maple Spice Latte iced in the American Adventure area. Mik tried it and thought it was pretty good considering he doesn't like coffee drinks.


Mik found nothing that really stood out as great of what he tried today. Thus, his favorite thing about the festival was visiting the miniature Romantic Road, which we almost missed, but went back to when he pointed out we missed his favorite thing to see at Epcot. He loves miniatures and it is also fun to see how they change it up depending on the time of year, such as the square currently having Food & Wine Festival banners.


Destination Info:



Epcot International Food & Wine Festival
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Monday, March 10, 2014

Epcot Flower & Garden Festival 2014


Date of Visit: March 8, 2014

Last year was the first time we got to go to the Flower & Garden Festival and we spent days exploring it, getting all the stamps in the passport, and trying different food offerings.  This year we only had one full day at the parks, so we mainly focused on trying foods we did not try last time whether they were new or we just did not get to them.


My favorite new thing we tried was the lemon scones at the Buttercup Cottage in the United Kingdom Pavilion.


At the Fleur de Lys in the France Pavilion, Mom and I tried the gnocchi with vegetables and mushrooms.  Mik tried the duck confit, which ended up being his favorite thing he tried.


While we did not get much time to take in all the different garden areas, we made sure to show Mom the Bonsai Collection because last year Mik got totally inspired by it.  Dad even bought him a bonsai growing kit and books.  A year later and Mik has not started his bonsai, but he is still planning to.  We just have not finished getting settled in from the move last year and are going to move again this year, so he does not want to start until he knows he will be able to make a real effort at training it.


While enjoying the Bonsai Collection, he also tried out the Hanami Sushi from the Hanami booth in the Japan Pavilion.


The final thing Mik tried was the lemon cheesecake from the Primavera Kitchen in the Italy Pavilion. He did not really like it because it tasted more like plain cheesecake and he expected it to be more fruity.


We finished our day at the festival with my favorite from last year - the Frozen Desert Violet Lemonade from the Pineapple Promenade.

Destination Info:

Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Walt Disney World: Epcot - Soarin'

Date of Visit: January 10, 2014

Previously we have always avoided going on Soarin' at Epcot because it just seems wrong that it is flying over Calofornia and your not at Disneyland/Disney's California Adventure.  Since we didn't really have any rides we wanted to use our Fastpass+ selections on, we decided to finally give it a try while also trying out the Fastpass+ with our Magic Bands for the first time.

Overall it was not bad.  It is pretty much the same, but the queue is super boring. I don't know if the regular queue has anything interesting, but the Fastpass one certainly doesn't.  Fastpass is the only way we do it at California and at least there you still walk through the California Aviation Hall of Fame. Of course, we would have thought that odd to have hear, but really thought there would still be something.

While Soarin' remains one of the easiest transfer rides to do with Mik and now that he is big transferring to rides is something we don't do much except these easy ones. However, it just is not the same as doing it in California and we probably won't do it in Florida again unless they ever change the movie to be Soarin over Florida.

Destination Info:
Soarin'
Epcot
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Walt Disney World: Epcot - Innoventions Videogame Playground

Innoventions Videogame PlaygroundDate of Visit: May 29, 2012

Mik loves video games and even though he had the sports video games playable in the Videogame Playground at Innoventions he enjoyed spending some time playing them.  It is also a good place to cool down or escape the rain while getting a console video game fix on vacation. 

Destination Info:
Epcot - Innoventions
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Walt Disney World: Epcot - Reflections of China

China PavilionDate of Visit: July 29, 2011

Reflections of China is a Circlevision show.  You go in and stand in rows separated by hand rails.  The screens are all around you will different images.  In concept the movie was cool, but it did not really work for Mik.

Reflectins of China
For one he was sitting among the crowd of people standing.  This was not too big of an issue, as it was not crowded and we could choose to stop where the people were not too close to be in the way of his view.  The real problem, though, is he could only see about half of the screens.  He not only felt like he was missing what was going on like in the Ellen ride, but in fact he really was missing some of the stuff, as it was not all the same view.

Basically, Mik says no more to Circlevision unless he has a way of turning around his chair when and how he wants.  Technically, he could do that, but in the dark it is hard to know where others feet are and not quite sure there is actually enough room for his turning radius.

Destination Info:
Epcot - Reflections of China
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Walt Disney World: Epcot - Mexico Pavillion

Mexico PavilionDate of Visit: July 29, 2011

The Mexico Pavilion is one of the more interestingly designed ones at Epcot.  The shops and ride are set up inside a Mayan Pyramid.  It is always night in this Pavilion.

Empanada at Mexico Pavilion
Outside the Pavilion Mik and I enjoyed the cheese empanadas at La Cantina de San Angel.  Mexican food is not any special treat considering we can get plenty of that kind of thing at home in Tucson, but Mik was hungry and he had never had empanadas before.

Mexico Pavilion
To enter the Pavilion there is a ramp off to the side to get up to the doors into the pyramid.  Once there you can go around and enter even from the front, but at least the side doors at the top of the ramp do have a button to open them.

See review of Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros Boat Ride here.

Destination Info:
Epcot - Mexico Pavillion
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Walt Disney World: Epcot - Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros

Mexico PavilionDate of Visit: July 29, 2011

Mik and I both liked the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros boat ride in the Mexico Pavilion at Epcot, but the accessible boat is freaky and I doubt we would ever do it again.  The boat is designed so that you roll on in the back and then go down a ramp in the center and park the wheelchair in the front of the boat.



Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros
There are no tie downs or anything to make the boarding process faster, but I wish WDW just had the same wheelchair boat in their boat rides like 'it's a small world' uses at Disneyland.  The problem is that the chair tips backwards when you leave the loading area as well as when you return.  The Cast Member warned us about it happening when we were leaving, but said nothing about it actually being worse when the boat comes back to unload.  Luckily I was paying attention, as we do not even use the tippers most of the time at Disney parks because they get in the way for hopping trolley tracks and like to catch my shoelaces.  We do usually have the tippers in the backpack and I would put them on for this ride if we did it again, but Mik would still freak out and ultimately it would really only work with people sitting on both sides and holding down the front wheels.

Destination Info:
Epcot - Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Walt Disney World: Epcot - Living with the Land

Living with the LandDate of Visit: July 29, 2011

Living with the Land is a boat ride through greenhouse rooms.  There is a wheelchair boat that you can roll right onto.  They kept insisting to wheel Mik on and off, but they we like training someone that day and took way longer to maneuver him off than necessary.  Would have been much smoother if they had just said he has to go on and off backwards and let me do it rather then the inexperienced them.  Mik was a trooper and actually did not fuss, but that is the kind of thing that would usually annoy him.  Instead he got annoyed at the elevator taking so long to get down to the ride and back out of the building after.

Living with the Land
Both Mik and I did not know what to expect from the ride, but ended up really enjoying it.  Mik like the view he was able to get with the chair being on a platform level with the edge of the boat instead of being down like the seating.  It was actually quite smooth and he would later learn that the other boat rides at WDW were not.  Good thing we did this one first, though, as otherwise he might have been too freaked to do it and this was actually a very interesting ride we were surprised we had never checked out before.

Living with the Land
As you go through the greenhouse the narration talks about the various plants being grown and the fish being raised.  A lot of it is experimental stuff and quite interesting, such as the growing of normally ground plants in a way that they hang down and with hydroponics instead of dirt.

Destination Info:
Epcot - Living with the Land
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Walt Disney World: Epcot - Ellen's Energy Adventure

Ellen's Energy AdventureDate of Visit: July 29, 2011

Ellen's Energy Adventure is an interesting ride, but it is also rather long and not exactly something we would do more than once a trip or maybe even less often.  It was worth checking out, but Mik ended up not really liking it much.  The beginning part is a movie with you in a waiting area.  The area is pretty roomy and the screens are easy to see.

Ellen's Energy Adventure
After an intro movie you go into a giant circlevision movie room with ride vehicles.  There is plenty of places of wheelchairs to be loaded into the back with the rest of the group sitting on the benches next to the wheelchair seating area.  The ride is mostly a movie on the screens around the room, but you also leave the room and go into set ups.

Ellen's Energy Adventure
Mik found that the screens being all around made him feel like he was maybe missing something since he cannot really turn around and see stuff since his spinal fusion.  However, he really did not, as the action was always only really in on the screens in easy view in front and slightly to side.

Destination Info:
Epcot - Ellen's Energy Adventure
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Walt Disney World: Epcot - Norway Pavillion

Mik eating LefseDate of Visit: July 28 & 29, 2011

Pretty much the only thing we did in the Norway Pavilion was go into the Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe two days in a row.  The first time was when we were leaving Epcot for the day and Mik thought we were going to just rush past the countries we were going to come back to the next day.  However, I made him wait outside the bakery and got him all pissed until I brought out lefse.  Then he was quite happy.  The next morning we had to each get an order of lefse.

Lefse
Mik and I both love lefse having grown up having it for holidays.  A few years ago I started making it myself, but I still stink at it and last Christmas totally failed and ended up with none.  I just cannot master rolling it out thin enough.  Anyways, the lefse at Epcot is totally worth the price when it takes me so much effort to make substandard lefse and it is actually a very affordable snack (~$2, I think) considering the price of most things at Disney World is expensive.

Kringla Bakeri og KafeDestination Info:
Epcot - Norway Pavillion
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Walt Disney World: Epcot - The American Adventure

The American AdventureDate of Visit: July 28, 2011

The American Adventure is the film shown in the American Adventure Pavilion.  There is an elevator to go up to the second floor and enter the theater.  The seating area is kind of disappointing with it being along the back and the companion seats are movable chairs and not like the rest of the theater chairs like they normally are for the other shows at Disney parks.

The American Adventure
The show is totally worth it, though, and the view is good.  Mik and I both really enjoyed the show.  The show features a variety of animatronics and scenes played out from American History with Ben Franklin and Mark Twain hosting.

Destination Info:
Epcot - The American Adventure
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Walt Disney World: Epcot - Japan Pavilion

Mik PosingDate of Visit: July 28, 2011

The Japan Pavilion ended up being Mik's favorite Pavilion to explore in Epcot.  For one, he loved checking out the various anime things in the shops.  His favorite part was the Spirited Beasts: From Ancient Stories to Anime Stars exhibit.  Mik loved that there was an automatic door button for going to the Spirited Beasts exhibit and the button was even framed with wood to make it blend in with the architectural style.

Spirited Beasts Exhibit
The Spirited Beasts exhibit is a great little exhibit about Ancient Spirits and how the ancient Japanese culture has inspired the more modern Anime art.  Mik enjoyed finding many references to the various anime series he has watched on television and online.

Destination Info:
Epcot - Japan Pavilion
Lake Buena Vista, FL