Joy's Life with Doug and the Three Turdlers: Day 6

We could either take a boat ride or walk from our hotel to Epcot. We chose the boat ride not realizing how short of a walk it actually was. However, we really didn't mind. Any time off our feet was enjoyable.

In my mind Epcot has always been the pinnacle of Disney World. It almost seemed as if the two terms were interchangable in my mind. So, besides Magic Kingdom I figured this was going to be more than I could have possible imagined. We started off the day at the Living with the Land Pavillion. It was interesting, but Doug was surprised that it didn't seem to have changed since he was there when Epcot opened in 1982. After that we moved on to the Spaceship Earth Pavilion and on the way we got some pictures with a few Disney characters.

Spaceship Earth was interesting. I didn't know what to expect since Doug did all the research for this trip. The ride took you through the history of the earth. I found the 70's to be fun to look at and point out to my kids that that was what it was like when I was young. Also, seeing how large the first computers were compared to what we use today was a reminder of how far we've come in the last 30 years.

The real fun for us started when we went to The Seas with Nemo & Friends Pavilion. As we waited for the Turtle Talk with Crush show to begin, which by the way we talked about for the rest of the day, we explored some things about sharks and the characters from the movie Nemo.

Our next adventures took us to the Mission: SPACE® ride and Test Track. Audrey was to short to ride Mission: SPACE, but the boys road it twice, once with Doug and once with me. On the ride you go on a mission to Mars aboard the X-2 Deep Space Shuttle at the International Space Training Center (ISTC). It spins and tilts to simulate the illusion of speed and gravitational forces where you experience forces up to 2.4G—more than twice the force of the Earth's gravitational pull. It was no big deal for Doug and the boys, but my stomach was pretty queasy afterwards. Audrey was able to ride Test Track and car speed up to 60 mph which is one of the fastest rides at Disney World and that was a lot of fun for everyone.

For the rest of our day we toured the countries which was actually the most disappointing part of my day. The architecture was inspiring and it did feel like you were walking the streets of the country, but there was nothing historical or educational beyond shopping at their stores, eating at a restaurant or watching a movie of their country. Also, by the time we were done seeing a movie from most of the countries it started to lose its appeal. I would have loved to of learned a word or phrase from the country and what their main contributions were; seen paintings, attire, and maps of the countries to show the kids. The things in the stores were interesting to look at, but it lacked the information that a museum would provide. Although, I didn't necessarily think there would be a museum for each country, but something along those lines to provide more information would have been nice. The possibilities could be endless and as much as I enjoyed the buildings it kind of started and stopped there for me.