NOTE: I was not terribly happy with the first RVS post so I am changing the format and tone a little. Instead of reporting what was different, I am essentially turning this into a Trip Report series.
Without question I would say EPCOT is our second favorite park, due in large part to World Showcase. Future World offers some great rides but, at the same time, has a hefty majority of rides that could use an update or two.
Welcome to this blog post
Getting right into it, we went to EPCOT probably five or six times during our eight-day stay, the first of which was our very first morning there. After getting up all too early and arriving at the park bus stop 45 minutes before it opened, we had no problem finding a turnstile that was empty.
Everybody was lined up at a different entrance
I think the fact that it was a recommended park by easywdw.com helped too. (Side note: we followed Josh’s recommendations while there and they were spot on. Because of a few dining reservations we had to go to non-recommended parks for an hour or two and oh, my, god, were they substantially busier than the recommended park(s))
Everybody else entering the park was under the impression that only one entrance would be open. They were wrong.
If there’s one thing I like more than Disney it’s eating. Naturally, eating while in Disney World is pretty much as good as it gets.
One of the must-do’s for my family growing up was eating in the food court inside the Land pavilion in EPCOT. Officially titled Sunshine Season Food Fair, like most food courts, it offered great options (in the mind of an 8-year-old boy).
I don’t remember a ton about the place because, let’s be honest, even though I love food I ate about a dozen hamburger and fries every time we went to Disney, none were more memorable than the other.
I realize this is a picture from when it was called “Farmer’s Market” but it looked the same.
My fondest memory is of a slushie type stand they had at one point. I have no idea what it was called or whether or not they were actually slushies (they could have been milkshakes or smoothies or something to that affect) but I do remember my brother and I absolutely adored that place.
If memory serves me right, there was a green one that I liked (I believe it’s name had something to do with a grasshopper) and my brother always got a blue one with gummy bears in it. I could be way off but for some reason those two stick out.
Then one time we went and it was closed down and I cried. I cried a lot as a kid. I don’t know why.
Besides that they also had decent food. My mom and aunt always talk about the famed handwich they used to serve there. Apparently there were different kinds depending on your tastes: Tuna, Chicken Salad, BBQ etc.
An ice cream cone full of meat and fat
I was always content with the regular choices. They had your burgers, fries, BBQ: typical Disney counter service staples. They also had baked potatoes and COOKIES. I remember the cookies very fondly because my parents always treated us to them.
If I’m not mistaken they were Nestle cookies (could have been Toll House though).
I’m pretty sure it was my dad’s favorite place to eat. They had basically everything he eats so it was quite the Smörgåsbord for him.
Well, Disney decided it need a healthier dining option and what better place to put it then in the LAND where they grown their own food and sing about nutrition?
It should be called Season: Summer.
There is nothing wrong with Sunshine Seasons. It’s one of the only healthy(ish) options at Disney for less than $12 a person. They also have a very unique variety not found in any other park.
If I had never been to Sunshine Season Food Fair I’m sure I would love Sunshine Seasons. Especially since my palette has matured since I was a kid. But, I did go to Sunshine Season Food Fair, many times. As far Sunshine Seasons goes…I just don’t like it: it’s too fancy.
There are arcs and wings hanging from the ceiling now and everything is modern and the chairs are actually comfortable. It still can’t beat the circle tables with uncomfortable circle stools attached to them though…
Great video. NOT MINE. I did not take this video nor do I own it in any way. It is halfway down on the left hand side. You will also notice a quick shot of my beloved Food Rocks. http://www.lostepcot.com/video.html
It’s hard to not love Figment. He’s adorable. He’s funny. He’s cunning. He’s a dragon. He’s purple. And sometimes he even wears a little sweater.
If I didn’t know any better I’d say that Figment may be playing for the other team if you know what I mean…
Even better than Figment was the original Journey into Imagination. The whole opening scene was one of my favorite parts of a ride as a child. All of the blimps and strange plans and floating bikes really got my imagination going.
Before watching a video of the ride on YouTube, I didn’t remember much about the ride except for that opening sequence and the HUGE blimp/vacuum cleaner that the Dreamfinder drives. Everything else was a blur of over stimuli for my imagination: imagination overload if you will.
I remember there was a lot of color, funky props and an awesome synthesized soundtrack that was very catchy.
It really did serve it’s purpose too. Riding Journey into Imagination always got my imagination running wild. Actually, most of EPCOT’s Future World did this for me in the mid ’90s.
I’d love to roll down the street in that bad boy
The ride went through room after room after room of unfinished art projects or literature. Everything was designed to make you think; to let your imagination take over and run the show.
There was even a laser light show conducted by the Dreamfinder himself which rivals Illuminations in the World Showcase.
Some of the best parts of the attraction weren’t even in the ride itself. For a 8-year-old boy, the entire section after the ride was like Heaven. There were so many games to play and things to make and videos to be in that I never ended up doing them all. There simply wasn’t any time. I could have spent the entire day in the after-ride ImageWorks area.
Another great part of the ride were the jumping fountains outside. I could sit there and watch them for hours as a child. I always waited for one of the rockets of water to fall short or miss its mark but it never did: amazing. Without knowing it, Disney was showing me how wonderful physics can be.
Physics at it’s finest.
The line for the ride was straight out of Las Vegas. There were so many colors and neon lights that even the most eccentric person would blush.
This must have been popular during Gay Days at Disney
You know the rest of the story. It was refurbished into an abomination of a ride title Journey into YOUR Imagination. Well, apparently MY imagination sucks. The only good thing going for it was Eric Idle (“Bring out yer dead”). For once Disney listened!
After thousands (millions?) of complaints about the new ride, they went back and made some changes, most notably adding our friend Figment back into the ride and changing the name to Journey into Imagination with Figment. The ride is still inferior to the original ride. It stinks, literally…like burnt coffee.
Retrofitted poster. I’d like one please.
I suppose the best we can do for now is take solace in the fact that Figment is back. He is still lovable. He is still a dragon (or maybe an alligator with wings). And he is definitely still purple.
I apologize for the poor quality in the video. It’s the best one I could find that encompassed the entire ride. Imaaaaaaaaaaginaaaaaaaaation.
I would like to preface this post by saying that Horizons was my absolute favorite ride at Disney World as a child and I still haven’t found a suitable replacement since it’s closing…
Whichever Imagineers dreamt up Horizons should be immortalized with plaques and bags of money. They got it all right. From what I can remember and from watching YouTube videos they had every part needed for a perfect ride for 6-year-old James.
As a 22-year-old this still makes me giddy
Slow-moving? Check.
Inside? Check.
Dark? Check.
Lots of animatronics? Check.
Voice-over narration? Check.
Getting an inside look into the lives of imaginary families? Check ( I don’t know why I was so fascinated with this but it always caught my attention).
Futuristic? Check (Most important aspect).
For the same reason I loved so many of the rides in Tomorrowland, I loved Horizons because it tried to predict the future. All of the robots and weird building and neon lights amazed by little-boy eyes. Most of all it grabbed my imagination and plopped it down on a bar-stool in an all-you-can-eat buffet. (Side note: Have you noticed the all-you-can-eat buffets have morphed into all-you-care-to-eat-buffets?) It gave my ever-hungry imagination fuel, and lots of it.
As I’ve already noted in this blog before, I have an affinity for animatronics. The fact that a man-made machine can be controlled and molded into a life-like creature resembling a human being blew my mind as a child and still does as an adult. Granted, the animatronics of today are of a little higher quality than the ones of the 60s, 70s and 80s but I tend to filter that fact out of my memory.
If this doesn't capture the 70s I don't know what does.
And Horizons had a lot of them. My favorite was the vacuuming robot. I don’t know what made me choose him but the image of that family in the futuristic house, the robot vacuuming and another robot washing the dishes has haunted me for years. When I say haunted it isn’t because it was a bad memory. On the contrary, it was a splendid memory I couldn’t place; I could remember that part of the ride but had NO IDEA which ride it was.
It wasn’t until I started writing this blog that I actually discovered which ride that scene came from. Until a few months ago I always thought it was from an old attraction in Tomorrowland.
I can’t say enough about how the futuristic feel of the ride was what grabbed me as a kid. Every new representation of cool TVs or kitchens or cars or anything was a huge draw. I honestly wish I could remember more of the ride. Interestingly, while looking through pictures and videos I realized why the rocket-in-the-eye-of-the-man-in-the-moon imagery from the recent movie Hugo looked so familiar: a very similar image was used in Horizons.
Is that Boy George in the moon?
Of course there was much more than a robot vacuuming that attracted visitors (If nothing else, it was a great ride to take a nap on). One of the biggest draws to the ride was the rider’s choice of ending: Sea, Space or Desert.
I don’t even remember which one I liked the best I just know I liked them all. Giving the rider some control was a brilliant idea on the part of Disney. Also, it made them want to ride it three times so they could see all the endings.
Some people may not know that Horizons was actually developed as a sequel-of-sorts to the Carousel of Progress attraction in Tomorrowland. In fact, Walt himself designed much of the ride, which has to be the primary reason it was outstanding – that and the fact that my love for Carousel of Progress is so great I was not deterred from riding it one time I was at Disney World, even while the rest of my party would not go on it. Horizons was intended to be the next chapter after the last phase of the COP.
Unfortunately, you know the rest of the story. The ride was either deemed outdated, too expensive to operate or not popular enough and was replaced by a new, fancier ride. While Mission: SPACE is a cool ride, it doesn’t come close to Horizons. Most importantly, it’s not a family ride. Three-quarters of the park guests can’t go on it without risking vomiting. Plus, it doesn’t have that Disney charm Horizons had.
I don’t know how to explain it but a lot of the older Disney rides just feel like Disney. Sure, they are dated, but that is what makes them great. Do the Disney executives honestly think people don’t want to go on all these beloved rides because they are outdated? It’s fascinating to look and what people thought the future would be in the 80s.
Going on a ride at Disney World leaves a mark on you. Not only do you have fond memories of that ride but you want to ride it again and again. Even as an adult you still go back to those same memories when you rode if for the first time as a 7-year-old.
I wouldn’t care if, going on Space Mountain 5o years from now, nothing was changed. I remember it like it was when I was a child; I don’t want that to change. I’m sure space-travel technology will improve vastly in the next 50 years (unless the constant reduction of funding continues) but I would still want Space Mountain from the past. Enough things change in our lives, can’t the nostalgic rides at Disney at least stay the same?
Of all the shows at Disney, Cranium Command had to be my favorite. I always loved watching both the pre-show and actual show. Maybe it was the idea of being inside somebody else’s head or maybe it was how funny (at least to an adolescent) the show actually was.
Use your head, don't lose your head
I still have trouble deciding if I enjoyed the pre-show or the main show more. The whole drill-sergeant-barking-orders aspect of the pre-show was always appealing to me, except, of course, the guy yelling at all the guests was a General (General Knowledge no less, har har), not a Drill Sergeant.
The pre-show is of course where we meet our good pal Buzzy (of Fuzzy or Scuzzy as the General likes to refer to him). After General Knowledge yells at everybody for a few minutes we are show the twisted world of human heads bearing a strong resemblance to lightbulbs.
The obsession with Cranium Command most likely came from the excessive amount of times I saw it as a child. That was THE first thing I wanted to do when I got to EPCOT. Spaceship Earth is my favorite ride at Disney but Cranium Command was first on my list. Watching the Youtube video of the show brought on a flood of emotions.
General Knowledge must be one of those guys that only works on his upper body
The actual show itself was, by my 8-year-old standards, awesome. All the different video screens for the different body parts were almost too much to handle. The fact that all of the body parts had their own personality and voice was my favorite part. Sure, seeing everything the body sees was cool but all the different characters that played a role in the show were the bomb.
The left (Charles Grodin) and right (Jon Lovitz) brain were perfectly cast according to what the functions were. Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon as Hans and Franz in the heart was hysterical. At the time I had no idea they were actually characters on SNL but found it funny nonetheless. The hypochondriac that was the bladder was played by Jeff Doucette. The super hyped up, ready to blow at any minute, excited-as-a-dog-when-his-owner-comes-home adrenal gland was played by Bobcat Goldthwait. The poor, depressed, self-loathing hypothalamus was voiced by Kirk Wise and represented as a robot similar to Wall-E that only appears when he has something negative to say.
The best character, by far, was the stomach. Played by George Wendt (At my age I did recognize him from SNL), the stomach was always worried about getting something to eat, much like a real 12-year-old’s stomach would be. When the food comes into the stomach and floats in the misty water it always made me wonder if my own stomach was similar. My favorite part of the show was towards the end when he is talking to the learing lady and he starts to get butterfly’s in his stomach. As a kid, I thought this was the most clever thing in the world.
It’s been nearly 10 years since I’ve seen the show. Those darn Disney executives pulled the plug on the show and the rest of the Wonders of Life pavilion around 2004, or 2005 or maybe 2006, I’m not exactly sure. For a while it was open, then closed, then open, then seasonally open, then closed, then open, then closed forever.
Now it’s used a couple of months of the year as a festival site for the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival in the Spring and the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival in the Fall.
After watching the video of the entire show I realized it really was my favorite show at Disney. I loved everything about it. What I would give to see it live in person again…
Disney from Michigan 