As my wife has reminded me, the days at Disney have been long and filled with fun Day four found us getting ready to go to Epcot and enjoy the attractions there. After some thought and considering all the things we had planned for the day, we kind of decided we would stick with future world and the attractions there. I think we started a little later in the day because all our days had been long ones up to that point. we didn't have any breakfast plans and we were fairly confident that we could get to the park at opening and do what we wanted to do. So we stayed in bed an extra hour with plans to meet the bus at 9:30 or so. This morning we used a couple of snack credits trying out the beignets and coffee at the quick service restaurant in the French Quarter The beignets were good, sweet and hot, though they really were not nearly as good as the beignets available at the Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans. Cajin and Creole food is available at the table service restaurant at Port Orleans Riverside, not far from the French Quarter. There are so many good restaurants at Disney world We chose not to eat Boatwrights Dining Hall where Cajin and Creole food is served this time around. After grabbing the bus to Epcot, our day four adventures began.
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| Downloaded Photo of the Soarin' sign in The Land. |
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| On Board Soarin' (Downloaded Picture) |
Our favorite Epcot Attraction is probably Soarin' located in the Land Pavilion at Epcot. As soon as we entered the park, my wife, who can move much faster than me, made her way to get us fast passes for Soarin. Because the line was not long we decided to ride the attraction first thing as well. This gave us the opportunity to ride one of our favorite attractions at Disney World twice in succession close together. Waiting for what i would guess about 15 minutes we were at the preflight briefing for the attraction. Soarin' is a Hang Glider simulator that makes the visitor feel as if he is actually hanging from the wing of an hang glider, soaring over different parts of California. After strapping down with a seat belt, visitors are whisked up in front of a huge projection screen. I'm sure the Technology is the same or very similar to the Omni-max or I-Max format. Soarin' simulates most of the maneuvers a Hang Glider can do but in a range that is comfortable to the rider. The attraction pitches and rolls when appropriate giving a true feeling of flight. To make the the illusion even more realistic aromas waft up from the screen. For example, One of the scenes of the flight is over a grove of orange trees. Riders on the attraction would then smell oranges. The wind is constantly blowing across the face of guest. The Imagineers at Disney stimulate as many senses as they can on this attraction. Touch, sight, and smell are all used to give the visitor as extraordinary experience as possible.
Early in the history of Epcot, George Lucas produced a Sci Fi action film staring Michael Jackson. Captain Eo, was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and debuted at Epcot in 1986. The film ran through the mid 1990's. We had just missed seeing Captain Eo because, when our first real vacation with my wife happened in 1985, Captain Eo had not premiered and won't open till the following year. We didn't return to Disney World until The year 2000, four years after Disney closed the movie in 1996. In the year 2010, Disney reopened the movie to celebrate the life of Michael Jackson after he passed away. Unfortunately, Captain Eo replaced one of my favorite shows at Epcot. A few months before "Honey, I shrunk the Audience" closed its doors. I was, however, excited to get the chance to see Captain Eo for the first time. I remember all the celebration surrounding the opening of the movie when it first premiered in 1986. I remembered how it was presented as one of the most technically advanced films of its time. While i don't recall seeing some of the special effects at this showing, the 3D effects were augmented by lasers and motion making the attraction into what was at the time called a 4D attraction. For when the movie was made, The effects were amazing. Though compared to some of the other 3D experiences at Disney world, Captian Eo has a nostalgic feel The dancing and the costumes were defiantly and 80's vision of the future and some of the Characters could have been seen in any of the Star Wars movies. What really brought the 80's back for me in the show was the hair. All of them had big hair, at least all the human cast had 80's hair. The music and the choreography brought the era back when Michael was at his best and at the peak of his popularity. All this makes the show worth seeing, especially if you were born before 1980.
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| Nobody Dances like Michael. |
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| Entrance to mission space. |
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| Not much room is there. |
After seeing Captain Eo, we where in the mood for something a little more adventurous. That led us to Mission Space on the east side of the park. This attraction comes in two different version. For people like me a less intense experience is available. For the more intrepid among us there is a more intense version of the attraction. I rode the more intense version one time and one time was enough. This misadventure really isn't part of this particular trip and perhaps i will write about that experience another time in another post. Every one knows by now that i don't do well with round and round. This particular time, My wife and I chose the less intense training that includes no spinning. Having worked our way through the line we were broken up into teams of 4. Riders are greeted by none other than Captain Dan from Forrest Gump. Actually its the same actor, Gary Sinise playing the role of the head training instructor for your trip to mars. Each individual in the crew is assigned a crew responsibility, Commander, Pilot, Flight Engineer and navigator. Each Crew member is responsible for certain functions on board the craft. Essentially you are prompted to push a button at the appropriate time the buttons execute second stage separation.. or initiate Cryo sleep for the long voyage to mars. Reviewing these activities makes the attraction sound a little lame but actually its quite fun.. the graphics are great.. the motion simulator makes you feel like you are right in the midst of a mission to mars. I won't give too much more away for those that haven't been on the attraction. My 80 year old mother in law loves the ride as much as my 20 year old son. The attraction not too rough but still gives you the experiences you are looking for.
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| General Motors sponsors the Test Track |
After our trip to Mars, the time came to ride the Test Track. For those who don't know, the test track is the fastest attraction in Disney world. The cars on the ride approach speed of 65 miles an hour while banking around the cylindrical pavilion that the test track occupies. Guest are strapped into a 6 passenger car and essentially become the test subjects as the car is put through its paces. Guest are subjected to a number of experiences that simulate real life tests to which new cars would be subjected. The tests range from environmental tests such as cold, heat and even acid rain, to more performance related test such as suspension and breaking. The suspension tests include cobblestones and brick roads, while breaking demonstrates how anti-lock breaking allows control while the breaks are being applied. Finally, guests are treated to a Grand Prix style drive around an outdoor course culminating in a 65 mile per hour romp around a banked turn outside the building. Guests would have to book a Richard Petty Experience in order to get more thrills while being in a car. It had been since 2000 that We had gotten to ride the attraction. Lines are very long there during the summer so this was the first chance to revisit the ride in a while. I've read where the attraction will be closed this summer into fall for a refurb after a new agreement with GM has extended the rides life for a number of years more.
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| From the Lions Mouth comes Pizza fit for a king. |
After a full morning of attractions, Lunchtime arrived. We were pretty hungry and ready to eat. A new restaurant had opened in the world show case that we wanted to try. We had read about a new pizza restaurant opening in the World Showcase earlier in the year so we made reservations to eat there. I must say that Via Napoli served us one of the best pizzas we had ever had. But while the pizza was the main course our meal was not the only delectable thing we ate there. Our meal started with an interesting appetizer. We ordered Fritto Misto which included a variety of fired vegetables, cheeses and Calamari served with a marinara sauce laced with red pepper flakes. I remember the fried Veggies being sort of Tempura like and the calamari was not over cooked as can happen so easily. Over cooked squid becomes very rubbery and not appetizing to eat at all, but this Calamari was perfect. tender and sweet, it well with the dipping marinara sauce. After exploring the possibilities of the fried veggies and enjoying the cheeses and calamari, our Pizza Carcifi arrived. If pizza for you is cheese and sauce and toppings then this may not be the pizza for you. The toppings included Artichokes and that's about it.. the cheese was just mozzarella and Pecorino Ramano cheese, the sauce was pretty much just a drizzling of truffle oil. But this was special. The ingredients were the best that could be obtained. Everything, including the flour for the pizza dough was imported from Italy. The resulting pizza was unctuous and creamy. The artichokes added a rich sour and sweet flavor and the truffle oil gave the whole dish a perfect earthiness that set the whole pizza a level above most other pizzas i had tasted. A more American style pizza is available for those that want pepperoni and tomato sauce. I would just encourage people to consider some of the other choices and find out what a sublime dish pizza could be. Finally, we topped our delicious meal with Zeppole Di Catarina. Its normal to admit that there is nothing at all wrong with fried dough. We all love doughnuts. These round balls of fried dough are covered in powdered sugar and served with a luscious chocolate sauce and whipped cream. The came in a paper cone that was filled to overflowing with these round nuggets of goodness. Dipping them in the warm chocolate sauce then putting a little whipped cream on them made the a wonderful thing to behold. Needless to say, even though we had eaten a bunch of food we soon downed the Zeppole. I have been back to Via Napoli since the Christmas trip and it was every bit as wonderful as it was the first time.
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After lunch we spent out afternoon redoing the attractions that we liked best. We revisited Mission Space and Soarin'. Soarin' is in the Land pavillion which it shares with another interesting little attraction. Living with the Land is Walt Disney World's take on sustainable agriculture. A large portion of the vegetables consumed at the Garden Grill in the Land come from the Hydroponic and alternative growing methods that Disney Scientist have perfected there. I also believe some of the protein in the form of fish and shrimp are raised at the Land. Living gives visitors a glimpse of the agricultural advancements that have been made at Disney. Many might think this sort of lame. Uninteresting, but the information is presented in such a way to keep the visitor interested and , quite frankly, want to eat at the Garden Grill to see what all the fuss was about. The last attraction of the day before we finally succumb to sore feet was the Universe of Energy. This attraction was revamped in 1996 to include Ellen Degeneres as the host of the show. The attraction begins with the audience seated n a theater watching a multi screen show. Surprisingly, the screens open like curtains that large portions of the auditorium split to make large vehicles that trundle through the attraction. Through anamatronics visitors are transported back to the time of the Dinosaurs when most fossil fuels were created.
About the time we were finished with the Dinosaurs it was getting close to dinner time. Our reservations were for the Flying Fish on the Boardwalk. The easiest way to get to the Board walk from Epcot was by boat. So we walked over to the boat launch at the South East corner of the world show case. We caught the launch after a brief wait at the dock and traveled to the Flying Fish. We arrived about 45 minutes early for our reservation and got into the system. Disney reservations can sometimes be a little odd. When you arrive a the restaurant, you get into the restaurants system. The reservation is already there, the Host or hostess just checks the diner into the system. After some time a piece of paper pops out of the printer. I think paper has a table number on it along with your name. Soon a host or hostess calls your name and a pager the restaurant gave you goes off, and you are seated at your table. We wanted to sit at the bar where we could watch the chiefs in action so it took a little while before we were seated. I'm going to take a little time to make a comment about the pagers restaurants give out. The serve a purpose, giving diners a little bit of freedom to go outside the restaurant or mill around with out having to listen constantly for their name being called. However, I am always half afraid to go out of the restaurant because i never know the range of the pager. i suspect its not very far so going to an adjacent shop or building really isn't an option. So for the most part, Even with the pager, i would find a place to sit if possible or stand if i can't sit somewhere near the hostess stand.
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| This fish will make your mouth water |
Anyway, With that random rant out of the way ( its my blog..i can rant a bit if i want.) we were seated at the bar that faces the kitchen. we could watch the cooks do their magic. We even spoke with them while the worked. Even the chiefs hired by Disney have to have that something that lets them deal well with the public. The chiefs we spoke with were charming and funny and happy to share their evening with the diners. While the decor of the restaurant is beautiful and the staff is certainly friendly, but, the real attraction for me was the food. We started our meal out with a selection of artisanal cheeses that varied from semi soft, like triple cream brie, to firm, like cheddar to hard, like parmigiana. The restaurant served 5 cheeses along with some sort of accompanying jam or fruit or bread. We had done this before at Jikos earlier in the week and we were delighted to find out that the Flying Fish served different cheeses. Along with the cheese, my wife and I bought a three wine flight of different vintners versions of Pino Grigio. There was quite a difference in the taste of each wine. I like wine but I am far from an expert. I do know what i like and i liked the wine I was served. One was a little tarter the other a bit sweeter and the other a bit dryer, all of them delicious. next up was the Main Course. My wife is very fond of a well cooked scallop and we were certain we could find one at the Flying Fish. They served her scallops grilled on celery root puree. I had the potato wrapped snapper. It may have been some of the best fish I had ever had. The fish was perfectly cook and the wine reduction from which the sauce was made was wonderful. Slightly crispy potatoes gave the dish a slight crunch that was a perfect counter to the firm flesh of the snapper. For desert my wife had the No Sugar added cheese cake which was really very good.. I had the Trio of Sinful chocolate Indulgences. This desert came with three smaller bites that included a flour-less chocolate cake, chocolate bread pudding and a white chocolate almond Creme Brulee. It was amazing.. and not so cloyingly sweet as you might imagine, but, I needed coffee to drink with the desert because it was so incredibly rich. After dinner we grabbed a boat to Disney Hollywood studios and we picked up a bus for our resort and returned happy, fed and were ready for sleep.
About the time we were finished with the Dinosaurs it was getting close to dinner time. Our reservations were for the Flying Fish on the Boardwalk. The easiest way to get to the Board walk from Epcot was by boat. So we walked over to the boat launch at the South East corner of the world show case. We caught the launch after a brief wait at the dock and traveled to the Flying Fish. We arrived about 45 minutes early for our reservation and got into the system. Disney reservations can sometimes be a little odd. When you arrive a the restaurant, you get into the restaurants system. The reservation is already there, the Host or hostess just checks the diner into the system. After some time a piece of paper pops out of the printer. I think paper has a table number on it along with your name. Soon a host or hostess calls your name and a pager the restaurant gave you goes off, and you are seated at your table. We wanted to sit at the bar where we could watch the chiefs in action so it took a little while before we were seated. I'm going to take a little time to make a comment about the pagers restaurants give out. The serve a purpose, giving diners a little bit of freedom to go outside the restaurant or mill around with out having to listen constantly for their name being called. However, I am always half afraid to go out of the restaurant because i never know the range of the pager. i suspect its not very far so going to an adjacent shop or building really isn't an option. So for the most part, Even with the pager, i would find a place to sit if possible or stand if i can't sit somewhere near the hostess stand.
