Originally Posted By NYthrillseeker <All of a sudden 3 or 4 jets came soarin' over SSE / They were so LOUD, miracle the foundation of SSE didn't crack.> bobbelee9, I know what you are talking about. Unrelated to Disney, I was in Miami for a World Series game in 2003, and 4 fighter jets flew over us. The sound was deafening! Probably the loudest thing I ever heard, I seriously thought it'd damage my ears, although it was VERY cool.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad I think the breakfast at Norway is awful, oddly enough this is one of my fondest memories with my daughter at Epcot.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey On one of my solo trips, I loved sitting along the lagoon in Norway and watching Tapestry of Nations, then turning around to watch IllumiNations.
Originally Posted By dixielandings My Favorite EPCOT Memory was in 1983 when I boarded the monorail at the TTC and took my first ride to EPCOT after 5 years of waiting I was in awe of the spectacle of seeing WDWs second park for the first time
Originally Posted By brotherdave My original impressions of EPCOT Center were similar, dixielandings. I remember spending the day at the Magic Kingdom in July, 1983. Around dusk, we exited the park to head over to the brand new park of EPCOT Center. After switching monorails at the TTC, we headed to the 'newest wonder of the world' where 'the 21st Century begins on Oct 1, 1982'. And, boy, were we impressed and not dissapointed by what we saw! As we arrived near the park, it was nearly night and all of the park's lights were shining brightly on all of Future World's pavilions as our monorail train glided by. The awesome lighting on these inspiring, futuristic looking structures really impressed me beyond belief! Spaceship Earth, in all of its 'wandless' glory faced us from the monorail platform. I still get goosebumps when I see it, even with the wand. But, seeing it for the first time, lighting up the Florida night sky, really did make me fall in love with this newest Disney park. We were able to ride most of Future World's attractions that night, and none of them disappointed! Spaceship Earth, World of Motion, Universe of Energy, Listen to the Land, Kitchen Kabaret, Magic Journeys, and Journey Into Imagination. ALL were memerable, and we couldn't wait to return for a full day the next day to see the rest of the park and to re-experience some of what we just saw. As it turned out, that first evening was only minimally crowded, but, the next day, WHAM!, 2-3 hour waits for just about everything ALL DAY LONG! Would you believe El Rio del Tiempo had over a TWO HOUR wait that first year?!!! In fact, we never got to see it that trip and we had to wait 3 years until our next journey in 1986. That trip was equally impressive, since we got to experience Horizons, The Living Seas, and all of the rest of the World Showcase attractions that we missed on our first trip. Needless to say, both trips were perhaps my most memorable trips to EPCOT. Sadly, most of my favorite attractions are gone or updated now. EPCOT Center of the 1980s was TRULY AMAZING!!!
Originally Posted By imtigger2 brotherdave... I feel your pain With the news of them "updating" Spaceship Earth, I'm SO nervous about it. It's pretty much all that's left of the old, take-your-time and dazzle 'em, attractions that used to be there. It's the first attraction we HAVE to go on during our last 18 years of going, and our last at the end of our trip. Something we now like to do with our Photopass is that we have one taken in front of Spaceship Earth.. passes in hand and HUGE smiles. Then, on our last day, after our last ride on SE, we'll go to the same spot near the EXIT sign and ask the photographer to turn around and take a photo of us pouting with the Epcot EXIT sign right above our heads. It's sad, but great to have. Sums it all up for us. Take care! Dan B imtigger2 Carlsbad, CA
Originally Posted By Mr X >>>I think too, the corporate sponsorship in the early days added a real sense of credibility to the park. AT&T, GM, Exxon, Kraft, Kodak et al. What an amazing experience -- and that was just 'Future World'<<< At first glance, I thought I read "Enron" there. Now THAT would have been a hell of an attraction (something like tower of terror would have been appropriate!). Okay, confession time (since Jim mentioned FutureWorld)... My very first trip to Epcot was a marching band trip we took when I was about 12ish, and Epcot had just opened so it was all the rage. Well, it turns out that we dumb kids didn't have the sense to pick up a guide map or anything, and we ended up spending the ENTIRE day in Future World...without even realizing that World Showcase even existed! And, as far as I was concerned, that was just fine and I thought the park was plenty "complete" just experiencing the front half! (back in the day, that was so true) I realized our mistake only at the end of the day, when we returned to the hotel and another kid talked about "eating dinner in Japan", and I was like "huh? what are you talking about?". So, it was actually many years later before I finally had the chance to experience World Showcase, lol! Okay, best memory. We were in the park late after the night show (this was a different vacation many years later), and we were browsing around the shops in Future World long after the park had closed. But, even though they were stocking shelves and whatnot, none of the cast members ever made us feel like we needed to get out. So we finally strolled outside (probably close to an hour after park closing), and the place was DESERTED, and there was the fountain just starting up its show just for us. I had the real feeling that night of being "a guest", rather than a customer...as I felt like we could have stayed as long as we wanted to to enjoy the awsome Disney vibe (of course, I realize we'd have been booted eventually ).
Originally Posted By Mr X One more funny thing about the Future World Only first visit...iirc we had lunch at the Odyssey Restaurant (memory is fuzzy, but I seem to remember that AND seeing the flamingos maybe?)... So it's amazing that noone in my group (there were like 6 of us) ever happened to notice that gigantic OTHER section of the park that was right in front of us!
