After a late night at the Christmas party the night before, we knew we weren't going to make it to the park right at opening. We still wanted to be fairly early though, so we were at the bus stop around the same time the park opened. It worked out well, because we arrived at the park after the initial crush of rope drop people had already made their way in. The plan for today was to do most of the front of Epcot, leaving the World Showcase for the next day.
We started in Innoventions, where we tried to watch a tornado movie of some sort. The attendant talked us out of it and sent us down to Sum of All Thrills. We never did make it back to the tornado thing, but the Sum of All Thrills recommendation was appreciated! There were only a few people in line so we got to do it several times.
Sum of All Thrills allows you to create your own roller coaster (within the limitations of basic physics) and then get in a simulator and ride your coaster. The kids loved it and created Cloud Screamer, Roaring Rocket, Thunder Eagle, and Turbo Twister.
We got sucked into a REALLY cheesy healthy heroes exhibit at Innoventions before we made our way back out. I think there was a lot of cool stuff that we could have explored in the building, but it seemed a little more science museum and less amusement park.
The next stop was Club Cool on the way over to Test Track. I got the kids to try the bitter apertif soda, which was not a hit but made for some amusing expressions.
Obligatory picture with the Epcot sphere...
Test track was another huge hit. Rudy didn't think of it as a roller coaster, so had no qualms about riding it. (We didn't know at the time that it was one of the two fastest rides in all of Walt Disney World!) The first time through, they designed their cars at random. On subsequent trips, they understood the concepts better and chose designs to maximize different features like efficiency, speed, or handling.
The ride itself was a huge hit with everyone. We also enjoyed the interactive exhibits after the ride, where you could create your own commercial for your car and pose with your car in a variety of backdrops. The lighting is rather unfortunate, though, making the final product darker than it should be.
The next ride was Mission: Space. The ride is covered with all sorts of dire warnings about the "orange" level. Brady really wanted to do orange the first time, but we convinced him that we'd all be better off if we started with green. This ride is a simulator as well, where you're in a small compartment with five other people. You "blast off" into space and land on Mars. The green level wasn't too bad, but it was enough for Rudy. James and I would have been satisfied with just green, but Brady was not! We took a little snack break before round 2.
The boys loved being able to be independent and pick out and purchase their own snacks.
James couldn't get too excited about returning to the claustrophobic little simulator chamber, so I took one for the team. According to Disney, "the Orange Team experience uses a centrifuge that spins and tilts to simulate speed and G-forces during launch and re-entry." I thought it was pretty cool, actually. I didn't feel like I was spinning at all, just like I was actually blasting straight up. I don't think I've ever experienced g-forces like that!
Brady, before the ride...
Immediately after the ride, Brady thought it was great. We made our way over to Ellen's Energy Adventure. Once we sat down on the ride, I think the g-forces caught up with him. He said he didn't feel well, but made it through the ride. Once we were out, though, it all came crashing down for the poor kid. We didn't take any pictures of the Brady, after the ride...
I'm not sure exactly how the day went down. At some point, we rode the boat ride and watched the movie in the Land. The kids were particularly impressed with the 9 pound lemons (which we found out later are used to make lemonade). We ate lunch at Seasons, which was great mostly because it wasn't hamburgers and hot dogs, which had essentially been the only counter service choices at Magic Kingdom. James had an Italian panini, Rudy got pizza, Brady had Mongolian beef, and I had spicy cashew chicken! We had dinner at the counter service Mexican restaurant, which another tasty choice. We thought we might start a few of the countries in the World Showcase, but the kids crashed hard and fast and we had to wrap it up.
Looking back over the World...
Pretty terrible picture on the way out, but no one had the energy to ask another person to try again...
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