Spring Break Day 7: Disney's Epcot

Finally on our last day in Orlando, we went to the last of the theme parks: Epcot.

To cite Wikipedia, the Epcot 'is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, namely international culture and technological innovation', and the word Epcot itself 'is an acronym of Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, which was the name originally given by Walt Disney to a conceptual Utopian city of the future'.

Took the monorail there, the only mode of transport available to reach Epcot.

There was a little aquarium there.

Test Track! A ride sponsored by General Motors, it took us through the simplified process of testing cars before they are sold to the public. 

A very elaborate setup in the waiting area detailing the many tests administered to cars. 

I guess this little showroom was part of the deal.

A major area of the Epcot was the World Showcase, where many pavilions representing different countries were there for visitors to learn more about them, like China, France, Germany and UK. Here is the one for Japan.

Over at the Italy pavilion there was a clown performing street tricks.

The Mexico pavilion looked small on the outside, but actually came complete with an indoor boat ride!

One of the few rides in Epcot, simulating a glider ride over California.

Mission: Space, a ride simulating a manned mission to Mars. The only ride among all the rides I had taken to make me feel a little dizzy by the end.

Like all theme parks, a fireworks cum lightshow to end the night.  This is called IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth.

I didn't have nice photos of the fireworks this time.

Exiting the Epcot marked the end of my theme park tour in Orlando. All in all it had been fun; as far as my memories went, the last time I went to a theme park was during R&R in Taiwan during my National Service days, and the theme parks there were more of a cluster of rides put together rather than keeping to any specific theme.

Indeed, the theme parks of Disney and Universal were top notch; every single detail from the exterior of the structures to the uniform of the staff were carefully designed. My most impressive moment was hands down, the Harry Potter and the Wizarding World. I could still recall my jaws dropping when I reached the entrance the first time. Generally, the Universal parks appealed to me more, but the Disney parks, being more family friendly, were special in their own unique ways.

Spring Break Day 7: Disney's Epcot

Spring Break Day 6: Disney's Magic Kingdom

After two days of visiting Universal's theme parks, we are back at Disney. On this day the destination was Disney's flagship theme park, the Magic Kingdom.

Unlike the Animal Kingdom and the Hollywood Studios where they are only reachable by bus, there are two ways to reach the Magic Kingdom - ferry or monorail.

We took the ferry there.

The ferry.

Arrival at the park! Kinda similar to Hong Kong's Disneyland.

Just in time to see some street performance...

...and more street performances!

The Tomorrowland Speedway. It was actually not that fun; the need to cater to kids meant they put limits on speeds.

Steam powered train that took us around the park.

As night arrived, everyone was waiting at the 'Main Street' waiting for the finale.

A fireworks cum lightshow!

It was very spectacular.

For the return trip, we took the monorail.

Before heading back to our hotel, we dropped by Downtown Disney, which was full of food and music.

As I left the Magic Kingdom, staff lined up near the exits to bade farewell to the park goers. It was at that moment where I had a 莫名的感动. It was the perfect place to bring kids to; for them to have fun, for them to live within the cartoons they grew up watching, for them to have good memories of. I never had the luxury of my parents bringing me to a theme park before, heck I didn't even grow up watching Disney cartoons, but I guess it wasn't too late to get immersed in one now. Among all the parks, this one was definitely the one that stirred the most emotions in me. Finally I could see why some reviews suggest putting the Magic Kingdom as the last park to visit.

Spring Break Day 6: Disney's Magic Kingdom

Spring Break Day 5: Universal's Islands of Adventure

[Getting bored with all the theme park posts? I personally am LOL. I should try keeping subsequent posts shorter.]

Just like the day before, free shuttle service from hotel to the park. Difference was that we overslept, so we went in later than the previous day. Once again photos were not quite in order, because I did not take photos according to the sequence in which we took the rides or watched the shows.

Previous day we turned right towards the Universal Studios Florida. Today we turned left to the Islands of Adventure.

Crowd levels were on the higher side on this day. Could also be because we went in later .

The Incredible Hulk Coaster. The consecutive days of roller coaster riding had taken some fun out of them :/ It was nevertheless fun though.

Highlight of the entire theme park: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

A Hogwarts Express train complete with a train conductor greeted us at the entrance.

Crowd levels within the Harry Potter area was ridiculously high. Amount of effort put into emulating the Harry Potter world was ridiculously high too.

A little choir performance, complete with screams from a roller coaster just behind it.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, the flagship ride in the Harry Potter area. Waiting times were long but the ride was great!

Flight of the Hippogriff. A kids' ride even though we went on it too haha.

I didn't have photos, but we went on the Dragon Challenge as well. We could choose between one of two roller coasters, although we only went on one. Here is a photo of the locker rental area.

After completing the Harry Potter world we were out and went to the rest of the areas. This was the The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad Stunt Show. 

Jurassic Park! Never really got old. There was nothing much inside though. 

Panoramic view of the park from inside the Jurassic Park area.

Water rides! Something we have never done in the previous days, until we bought cheaper ponchos from outside rather than from inside the park. Pictured here is the Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls. Very fun!

Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges. Much more mild compared to the Ripsaw Falls, but very, very much wetter.

I like this area on comics. Very colorful.

Ended the day with the Seuss Trolley Train Ride, a little train ride that brought us around Seuss Landing area. Wanted to take it in the day so I could take aerial photos, but time wasn't on our side.

With this we ended our visit of the Universal Orlando Resort.

Islands of Adventure was easily my favorite theme park among all the six we went. The first time I saw the Harry Potter and the Wizarding World my jaws dropped; I felt like I was really transported into the virtual world of Harry Potter. The rides, whether the roller coasters or the water rides, were incredibly fun.

Spring Break Day 5: Universal's Islands of Adventure

Spring Break Day 4: Universal Studios Florida

We took a break from Disney's theme parks on Day 4 to visit one of two theme parks belonging to Universal Studios. Unlike the previous days where we had to travel quite a fair bit to reach the Disney parks, our hotel was apparently a Universal partner, so free shuttle buses shuttling between the Universal parks and some of the hotels in the vicinity were available for us. Also, the Universal parks were located much closer to us compared to the Disney parks, so travelling time was much shorter.

Like the Disney parks, the two Universal parks were located in one area which came with a late night entertainment area comprising of restaurants, pubs and a cineplex, collectively called the Universal Orlando Resort. Unlike Disney, however, the parks and the entertainment area were much closer together, eliminating the need for any internal transport system because everything was within walking distance.

This time round, photos are not quite in order, partially because we were walking all over the place and I was randomly taking photos, and partially because I have forgotten the order in which we took the rides haha.

At the entrance of Universal Orlando Resort, after clearing security checks.

After walking through the stretch of retail shops, we turned right towards Universal Studios Florida! 

The famous Universal globe.

At the entrance!

Short travelling time meant earlier arrival time, which then meant lesser crowds. Quite refreshing to see so much space compared to the previous two days.

Almost immediately after we walked in, there was the Simpsons family available for photo taking.

One of the first things that greeted us: screams from the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster. We did not go for it immediately; went only later in the afternoon after we had gone for less scary rides haha. The ride was epic.

Random photos along the way. The roller coaster can still be seen quite a distance away.

Taking photos with Shrek and Donkey.

Restaurant with vintage cars at the entrance.

Terminator 2: 3D. Its more of a show together with live actors and props.

Scooby-Doo and Shaggy.

Some midday performance. Weather was getting hot by then.

E.T. Adventure! It was a  mild, float-in-the-air type of ride when riders sat on a 'bicycle' and flew around.

We hung around this kids' area for quite a while taking photos, then went for this ride: Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster. A very mild roller coaster for kids.

The Simpsons Ride! Never a fan of the TV series because I never understood the jokes, but the jokes in this ride were funny enough for me to laugh, Ride was a simulator which was fun!

Men in Black: Alien Attack! This was a ride where we went around spinning and shooting at aliens.

Shrek 4D show. Apparently it was almost exactly the same, if not similar, to the one in Universal Studios Singapore.

Photo taking with the Minions from Despicable Me!

Seagulls (?) roaming around freely.

Twister...Ride It Out! Modeled after the movie, it was a special effects show simulating a tornado unveiling its fury in front of us.

Revenge of the Mummy ride! Like Shrek 4D this was similar to the one in Universal Studios Singapore.

Little rock wall climbing to keep kids entertained.

Disaster! It simulated a film studio making a film about disasters, and several members of the audience were selected to participate in the 'film'.

Members of the audience taking part in the making of the 'film'.

Jules Verne Train from Back to the Future.

DeLorean time machine also from Back to the Future.

Because we came early in the morning and crowd levels were manageable that day, we completed practically all the attractions in Universal Studios Florida. Before retiring for the night, we walked around the entertainment area for a little while, known as the Universal CityWalk.

A nice waterfront that sort of reminded me of Singapore.

Hard Rock Cafe.

NBA City Restaurant.

Restaurant on a plane.

Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.

NASCAR Sports Grille.

I liked the atmosphere, unfortunately we didn't have too much time to stay.

Universal Studios Florida was a very impressive theme park. Whereas Disney's parks were more geared towards families where children were taken into consideration, Universal Studios Florida was clearly designed for thrill seekers. After two days of relatively 'less fun' days, Universal Studios Florida brought our moods up high!

Spring Break Day 4: Universal Studios Florida