SpecJoe Magic
07-15-2008, 06:03 PM
Day 1 (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=134895)
Day 2 (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=135553)
Day 3 (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=136171)
Day 4 (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=137097)
Day 5:
Something New, Something Old -
We decided that we would split Epcot into two distinct days, one day in Future World and one day in World Showcase. We decided that today would be a Future World day. I’m still very pleased that the hand and wand are gone. Spaceship Earth looks so much better without it in my opinion. It looks like it’s meant to look. I feel that the hand and wand took away from the futuristic appearance, and the geosphere is impressive enough without the added decorations. I was really looking forward to experiencing the updated Spaceship Earth. I had heard so much about it prior to visiting it for myself, but I intended to keep an open mind and not base my opinion on what anyone else was saying about it. My initial impression of the screen in the vehicle was one of excitement. The interactivity brought back memories of Horizons. As we began to ascend, I heard the first words of the new spiel spoken. It was very similar to the old script at this point, but the voice and delivery were very different. I found myself enjoying the new narration as the ride progressed. Judi Dench’s voice was pleasant and the script, although it was noticeably different from the previous script after the beginning part, did a nice job of describing the scenes. Having said that, I do like the previous narration better because the voice and delivery of Jeremy Irons was more majestic and epic, and the script was more mature. I feel the new narration isn’t quite as good as a whole as the previous narration, but it is sufficient and not bad by any means. Conversely, I think the ascent in the new version is a vast improvement over the previous one. The movements of the updated animatronics give the attraction more life and a greater feeling of realism and immersion. There are also several updates to various other parts of the ascent that are big improvements such as the mammoth hunting video and the drawings on the cave walls. There are a few things that were removed that I wish were still there, but I’m very pleased with the updates to the ascent. Now comes the part that so many people have been complaining about, the descent. Before I state my feelings about it, I must say that I never viewed the descent as a great part of the attraction in the previous version. The limited space for scenery made it seem a little anticlimactic after seeing the ascent. That’s not to say that it didn’t have its charms in a few areas. I did enjoy the city scene with the lights, for example. The descent in the new version relies solely upon the touch screens and is also anticlimactic. Answering the questions was a decent distraction from the fact that all of the scenery is gone, and I must admit that I got a kick out of seeing our faces attached to those stick figure bodies. I thought it was a little funny. However, I imagine that the novelty and fun is going to become stale after a few more visits to the ride, and I think the descent in the previous version stayed fresher longer. That being said, I wasn’t a huge fan of the descent in the previous version, as I mentioned earlier. So, the new lackluster descent doesn’t bother me as much as it has apparently bothered numerous others. Overall, I really like the updates to Spaceship Earth, but I have mixed emotions about whether I prefer the new version or the previous version, so I’ll just have to call it a draw.
We paid a visit to a hidden gem in Future World that may not be there for long. Hidden away in a small room near Innoventions (I think it’s West but I‘m not certain) is an Epcot museum. It features memorabilia, models and set pieces from extinct and current Epcot attractions. One of the most notable is the actual robot butler animatronic from Horizons. The memorabilia includes an Epcot Center license plate, poster/map, preview brochure, grand opening dedication ceremony program, monorail preview pass, Figment bank, parking pass, special edition commemorative ticket from opening day, and various other items such as key chains, mugs, and books. There is a model of Spaceship Earth and Dreamfinder’s flying machine. I also noticed an Epcot Center pennant that I own. Eighteen pictures of the museum beginning with this one (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2597015320037455597PbOoHY) are on my web shots account. Seeing that place really brought back a bunch of pleasant memories. I spent more time examining the items than anybody else in my family, and Brooke (my wife) took most of the pictures, so I thank her for that. This exhibit may not be around for much longer, so I suggest that you go see it as soon as possible.
We got to visit everything that we wanted in Future World, and it was still fairly early when we were finished. Seeing as how we had been very active on every day of this trip so far, we decided that it was a good idea to head back to the room in the early evening instead of staying for Illuminations.
Day 6:
It's a Small World (Showcase) After All -
This day was the first time we had designated an entire park day to World Showcase in a long time. Our plan was to watch as many of the live shows as possible because there were still some we hadn’t seen. Brooke and I had reservations for lunch at Restaurant Marakesh. We had eaten at Tangerine Café a few years ago and had really enjoyed it, so we thought it would be a good idea to try the table service restaurant at Morocco this time. We ordered the combination appetizer for two to start. It included beef brewat rolls, chicken bastilla, and jasmina salad. We had both ordered the roast lamb meshoui as our entrees prior to eating the appetizer. We agreed that the appetizer was delicious, especially the chicken bastilla. We had never eaten anything like it before and were unsure about it when we found out about the ingredients , but we decided to try it anyway, which turned out to be a great decision. The roast lamb meshoui wasn’t exactly what we were expecting. We both like lamb, but neither of us were thrilled with it, and the orange flavored couscous didn’t complement it well. Notice that I said we had ordered our entrees prior to trying our appetizer. In retrospect, that may not have been a good idea. If we had eaten the appetizer before we ordered the entrees, it’s possible that we might have ordered entrees that contain chicken bastilla, but I can’t be certain of that because we were both intent on eating lamb at the time. We both agreed that the meal was average overall. The appetizer was great, but the entrée was disappointing. It wasn’t worth the money in our opinions, and it’s doubtful that we’ll return to eat there again anytime soon. We’ll probably just stick to Tangerine Café in the future.
We saw the updated version of O’Canada for the first time. I don’t usually like 360 degree films, but there was something about this one that kept me entertained. I like it more than I thought I would. I’m pleased that they kept the original theme song, and I think the new performance of it is well done. Another first for us was seeing the World Showcase Players perform the Romeo and Edna show at Italy. We recognized one of the performers from the King Arthur and the Holy Grail show at the United Kingdom. The show was funny and entertaining, though not quite as good as the King Arthur and the Holy Grail show in my opinion. Other live shows we saw throughout the day included an acrobat at France, Sergio at Italy, and a group of acrobats at China. Once we had made our way around all of World Showcase and had experienced everything that we desired, Brooke and I headed back to the room in the early evening for a special reason. This special reason might sound silly to some of you. We had realized that the two hour season finale of our favorite TV show, Lost, was scheduled to air on that night. Normally, we wouldn’t even think about making time for a certain TV show while at WDW, but this was our second day in a row at Epcot, and we had done everything that we wanted to do at the park. Plus, we are Lost addicts. I’m happy to say that the finale of Lost exceeded our lofty expectations and was well worth the effort to make it back to the room in time to watch.
Day 2 (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=135553)
Day 3 (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=136171)
Day 4 (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=137097)
Day 5:
Something New, Something Old -
We decided that we would split Epcot into two distinct days, one day in Future World and one day in World Showcase. We decided that today would be a Future World day. I’m still very pleased that the hand and wand are gone. Spaceship Earth looks so much better without it in my opinion. It looks like it’s meant to look. I feel that the hand and wand took away from the futuristic appearance, and the geosphere is impressive enough without the added decorations. I was really looking forward to experiencing the updated Spaceship Earth. I had heard so much about it prior to visiting it for myself, but I intended to keep an open mind and not base my opinion on what anyone else was saying about it. My initial impression of the screen in the vehicle was one of excitement. The interactivity brought back memories of Horizons. As we began to ascend, I heard the first words of the new spiel spoken. It was very similar to the old script at this point, but the voice and delivery were very different. I found myself enjoying the new narration as the ride progressed. Judi Dench’s voice was pleasant and the script, although it was noticeably different from the previous script after the beginning part, did a nice job of describing the scenes. Having said that, I do like the previous narration better because the voice and delivery of Jeremy Irons was more majestic and epic, and the script was more mature. I feel the new narration isn’t quite as good as a whole as the previous narration, but it is sufficient and not bad by any means. Conversely, I think the ascent in the new version is a vast improvement over the previous one. The movements of the updated animatronics give the attraction more life and a greater feeling of realism and immersion. There are also several updates to various other parts of the ascent that are big improvements such as the mammoth hunting video and the drawings on the cave walls. There are a few things that were removed that I wish were still there, but I’m very pleased with the updates to the ascent. Now comes the part that so many people have been complaining about, the descent. Before I state my feelings about it, I must say that I never viewed the descent as a great part of the attraction in the previous version. The limited space for scenery made it seem a little anticlimactic after seeing the ascent. That’s not to say that it didn’t have its charms in a few areas. I did enjoy the city scene with the lights, for example. The descent in the new version relies solely upon the touch screens and is also anticlimactic. Answering the questions was a decent distraction from the fact that all of the scenery is gone, and I must admit that I got a kick out of seeing our faces attached to those stick figure bodies. I thought it was a little funny. However, I imagine that the novelty and fun is going to become stale after a few more visits to the ride, and I think the descent in the previous version stayed fresher longer. That being said, I wasn’t a huge fan of the descent in the previous version, as I mentioned earlier. So, the new lackluster descent doesn’t bother me as much as it has apparently bothered numerous others. Overall, I really like the updates to Spaceship Earth, but I have mixed emotions about whether I prefer the new version or the previous version, so I’ll just have to call it a draw.
We paid a visit to a hidden gem in Future World that may not be there for long. Hidden away in a small room near Innoventions (I think it’s West but I‘m not certain) is an Epcot museum. It features memorabilia, models and set pieces from extinct and current Epcot attractions. One of the most notable is the actual robot butler animatronic from Horizons. The memorabilia includes an Epcot Center license plate, poster/map, preview brochure, grand opening dedication ceremony program, monorail preview pass, Figment bank, parking pass, special edition commemorative ticket from opening day, and various other items such as key chains, mugs, and books. There is a model of Spaceship Earth and Dreamfinder’s flying machine. I also noticed an Epcot Center pennant that I own. Eighteen pictures of the museum beginning with this one (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2597015320037455597PbOoHY) are on my web shots account. Seeing that place really brought back a bunch of pleasant memories. I spent more time examining the items than anybody else in my family, and Brooke (my wife) took most of the pictures, so I thank her for that. This exhibit may not be around for much longer, so I suggest that you go see it as soon as possible.
We got to visit everything that we wanted in Future World, and it was still fairly early when we were finished. Seeing as how we had been very active on every day of this trip so far, we decided that it was a good idea to head back to the room in the early evening instead of staying for Illuminations.
Day 6:
It's a Small World (Showcase) After All -
This day was the first time we had designated an entire park day to World Showcase in a long time. Our plan was to watch as many of the live shows as possible because there were still some we hadn’t seen. Brooke and I had reservations for lunch at Restaurant Marakesh. We had eaten at Tangerine Café a few years ago and had really enjoyed it, so we thought it would be a good idea to try the table service restaurant at Morocco this time. We ordered the combination appetizer for two to start. It included beef brewat rolls, chicken bastilla, and jasmina salad. We had both ordered the roast lamb meshoui as our entrees prior to eating the appetizer. We agreed that the appetizer was delicious, especially the chicken bastilla. We had never eaten anything like it before and were unsure about it when we found out about the ingredients , but we decided to try it anyway, which turned out to be a great decision. The roast lamb meshoui wasn’t exactly what we were expecting. We both like lamb, but neither of us were thrilled with it, and the orange flavored couscous didn’t complement it well. Notice that I said we had ordered our entrees prior to trying our appetizer. In retrospect, that may not have been a good idea. If we had eaten the appetizer before we ordered the entrees, it’s possible that we might have ordered entrees that contain chicken bastilla, but I can’t be certain of that because we were both intent on eating lamb at the time. We both agreed that the meal was average overall. The appetizer was great, but the entrée was disappointing. It wasn’t worth the money in our opinions, and it’s doubtful that we’ll return to eat there again anytime soon. We’ll probably just stick to Tangerine Café in the future.
We saw the updated version of O’Canada for the first time. I don’t usually like 360 degree films, but there was something about this one that kept me entertained. I like it more than I thought I would. I’m pleased that they kept the original theme song, and I think the new performance of it is well done. Another first for us was seeing the World Showcase Players perform the Romeo and Edna show at Italy. We recognized one of the performers from the King Arthur and the Holy Grail show at the United Kingdom. The show was funny and entertaining, though not quite as good as the King Arthur and the Holy Grail show in my opinion. Other live shows we saw throughout the day included an acrobat at France, Sergio at Italy, and a group of acrobats at China. Once we had made our way around all of World Showcase and had experienced everything that we desired, Brooke and I headed back to the room in the early evening for a special reason. This special reason might sound silly to some of you. We had realized that the two hour season finale of our favorite TV show, Lost, was scheduled to air on that night. Normally, we wouldn’t even think about making time for a certain TV show while at WDW, but this was our second day in a row at Epcot, and we had done everything that we wanted to do at the park. Plus, we are Lost addicts. I’m happy to say that the finale of Lost exceeded our lofty expectations and was well worth the effort to make it back to the room in time to watch.