Smart Traveller

In this, the second part of our series of posts about the Epcot theme park in Orlando’s Walt Disney World Resort, we will be taking a look at some of the things that you can see and do in the Future World section of the park.

If you’re travelling to Epcot by hire car or arriving from another Disney theme park or hotel by shuttle bus or the Disney monorail, Future World will be the first area of the park that you see when you get through the entrance. If you’re arriving at the park by one of the Disney boats, you will enter the park via another entrance, which will take you into the World Showcase section of the park, so if you want to explore Future World first, you will need to head back through the park towards the main entrance.

The Spaceship Earth Pavilion

The first section of Future World that you’ll come to when you’ve gone through the entrance gates is the Spaceship Earth pavilion, the huge golf ball-like structure for which Epcot has become known throughout the world. Inside the pavilion, you’ll find the Spaceship Earth ride. This 13 minute long ride takes you on a journey through history which highlights the difference that developments in technology have made to our lives. You’ll see scenes from different periods featuring audio-animatronic characters and then, in the interactive final section of the ride, be able to imagine how your life would be in the future. The Spaceship Earth pavilion also includes an interactive area called “Project Tomorrow – Inventing the World of Tomorrow”.

There are several gift shops near the Spaceship Earth pavilion, but you may want to come back to these when you leave the park so that you can take any purchase straight back to your hire car or hotel.

The Universe of Energy Pavilion

To the left of the Spaceship Earth pavilion, you’ll find the Universe of Energy pavilion. This houses the Ellen’s Energy Adventure ride. On this ride, you join Ellen DeGeneres on a trip back to the beginning of universe, through history and into the future to find out about how energy is created. The ride features audio-animatronic dinosaurs and lasts for 45 minutes.

The Mission: Space Pavilion

The Mission: Space pavilion is next to the Universe of Energy pavilion and houses one of Epcot’s most popular rides, Mission: Space.

Mission: Space is a thrill ride which gives you the chance to feel what it’s like to be an astronaut blasting off into space. There are two different versions of the ride - the Orange version will provide you with the full Mission: Space experience, whereas the Green version will give you a gentler experience, as it skips a section involving intense spinning action. You travel in a 4-seater vehicle and each member of your team will be given a job to do during your mission.

Whilst Mission: Space is an excellent ride, it’s important to take the health and safety warnings seriously - it can cause motion sickness and you should not ride on it if you are pregnant, suffer from high blood pressure, have a heart condition, have existing neck or back conditions, or suffer from any of the other conditions listed on the signs near the ride’s entrance.

Queues for Mission: Space can be long at peak times, but you can skip the queues by using the park’s FastPass system.

The Mission: Space pavilion also contains the Advanced Training Lab, where you can take part in a range of interactive space-themed games, including Mission: Space Race and Expedition Mars.

The Test Track Pavilion

The Test Track pavilion is on the other side of the Mission: Space pavilion from the Universe of Energy pavilion. The main attraction within this pavillion is the Test Track ride.

Test Track allows you to become a “crash test dummy”. You’ll travel around the track in a 6-seater vehicle whilst it undergoes a series of “tests”, including suspension tests, which involve travelling over different surfaces, and brake tests, in which your car will come to a sudden stop. The highlight of the ride is the “crash test”, in which you’ll hurtle towards a wall!

There are usually long queues for this ride, so make sure that you take advantage of the FastPass system.

The Test Track pavilion also houses the Driver’s Technology Laboratories, where you can see GM cars on display and a shop where you can be Test Track merchandise.

In the next post in this series, we’ll take a look at some of the other attractions in the Future World area of Epcot.

In the next posts in our series about Orlando’s Walt Disney World Resort, we’ll be taking a look at the Epcot theme park.

The name Epcot stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow and the theme park, which opened in 1982, was originally designed to showcase the possible future development of technology. Although Epcot doesn’t look particularly futuristic today, it’s still a great place to visit. It covers a huge area and is packed with attractions, so ideally you should plan to spend at least a day, possibly two days there if you want to explore it properly.

Epcot is divided into two main sections: Future World and World Showcase. Future World is the first section of the park that you’ll see if you go into the park using the main entrance, and it is here that you will find the rides and attractions based on technology and science.

The Future World area of the park is divided into a number of “pavilions”, including the Mission: Space Pavilion, the Land Pavilion and the Spaceship Earth Pavilion (the large golf-ball style structure which dominates the park). Popular rides within the Future World section of Epcot include Mission: Space, Test Track, Soarin’ and The Seas with Nemo and Friends.

The second part of Epcot, World Showcase, is set around the huge lake and features eleven “pavilions”, each of which is themed on a different country: the Mexico Pavilion, the Norway Pavilion, the China Pavilion, the Germany Pavilion, the Italy Pavilion, the American Adventure Pavilion, the Japan Pavilion, the Morocco Pavilion, the France Pavilion, the United Kingdom Pavilion and the Canada Pavilion. These pavilions feature restaurants, gift shops and attractions based on the culture of the countries upon which they are themed.

There is a large car park outside of the main entrance to Epcot, so if you are travelling by hire car, you can park there. If you are staying in one of the resort’s hotels, you can take a shuttle bus to the park and Epcot is also accessible by boat from several of the hotels, Disney’s BoardWalk and Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park, and by monorail from the Magic Kingdom. However, Disney transportation can be very busy during peak hours, so travelling by rental car may be the easiest option.

Make sure that you pick up a park map as you enter Epcot, as the theme park is huge and can be disorientating.

In the next post in this series, we will take a closer look at some of the attractions that you can see in the Future World section of Epcot.

Image: Quinn Norton

In the final part of our series of posts about the Magic Kingdom theme park at Orlando’s Walt Disney World Resort, we take a look at the Mickey’s Toontown Fair and Tomorrowland areas of the park.

Mickey’s Toontown Fair - Rides and Attractions

Mickey’s Toontown Fair is the smallest area of the Magic Kingdom, but it still has a number of rides and attractions there. These are: Mickey’s Country House, Minnie’s Country House, the Toontown Hall of Fame, the Judge’s Tent, Donald’s Boat and the Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm.

The Mickey’s Country House and Minnie’s Country House attractions enable you to take walk-through tours of the characters’ homes. You can meet Mickey Mouse in the Judge’s Tent and meet other Disney characters in the Toontown Hall of Fame.

Donald’s Boat is an interactive play area for young children, whilst the Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm is a mini-rollercoaster designed for children.

Mickey’s Toontown Fair - Dining and Shopping

There are no restaurants in the Mickey’s Toontown Fair area of the Magic Kingdom, you can buy snacks and drinks from Mickey’s Toontown Farmers Market.

There are two shops in Mickey’s Toontown Fair which sell Disney merchandise: County Bounty and Mickey’s Toontown Fair Souvenirs.

Mickey’s Toontown Fair - Developments

According to wdwinfo.com, Disney has announced that most of Toontown will be removed during the next few years in order to make room for the additional attractions that the company is planning as part of its Fantasyland expansion. wdwinfo.com states that Mickey’s Country House and Minnie’s Country House will eventually be moved to the front of the park.

Tomorrowland - Rides and Attractions

The final area of the Magic Kingdom theme park, Tomorrowland, includes the following rides and attractions: Space Mountain, Tomorrowland Resort Indy Speedway, Tomorrowland Resort Transit Authority, Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress, Stitch’s Great Escape and Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor.

The most popular ride in the Tomorrowland area of the Magic Kingdom is Space Mountain. This space-themed rollercoaster is more than 30 years old, but still pulls in the crowds, so make sure that you take advantage of Disney’s Fastpass system if you want to ride on it. Venture into Space Mountain and you’ll enjoy a high-speed trip that begins in the dark and takes you on a journey through the galaxy. There aren’t any vertical loops on this ride, but if you suffer from a neck or back condition, it may not be suitable for you due to the twists and turns.

The Tomorrowland Resort Indy Speedway is a miniature speedway track and you can race on it in a petrol-powered car. However, for a more relaxed journey, you can take a trip around the Tomorrowland area of the park on the Tomorrowland Resort Transit Authority ride.

Astro Orbiter is similar in style to the Magic Carpets of Aladdin and Dumbo the Flying Elephant rides, but is space-themed whilst Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin puts you in the middle of a video game-style shoot-em-up, in which you score points for hitting targets with your laser gun.

Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress, one of the park’s older attractions, is a 20 minute theatre show in which you can see an audio-animatronic American family demonstrating how technology has changed since the 1920s.

Stitch’s Great Escape is an 18 minute show featuring animation and audio-animatronic figures, in which you will join an intergalactic security firm transporting criminals - young children may find this attraction frightening.

Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor is a family comedy show featuring characters from the Disney movie. You can text a joke into the show beforehand and it may be used during the show.

Tomorrowland - Dining and Shopping

The main restaurant in the Tomorrowland area of the Magic Kingdom is Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe, a counter service restaurant which serves hot dogs, burgers, chicken dishes, fries and other meals as well as drinks and desserts.

You can also buy drinks and snacks from The Lunching Pad, noodle bowls, stir fries and other Chinese food from the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station, or ice creams and drinks from Auntie Gravity’s Galactic Goodies.

There are a number of shops in Tomorrowland where you can buy souvenirs.

Don’t forget to stop off at the shops in Main Street USA to stock up on Disney merchandise before heading back to your hotel or hire car.

Image: William M