Epcot and Spaceship Earth

We all know Epcot as the park with the huge ball in the center that looks like a golf ball, right? Well the actual name for that golf ball is Spaceship Earth, as that is the name of the ride inside of the big sphere. Epcot is actually an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Kind of glad that it was shortened to Epcot, otherwise that would be a really long name to say.

Attractions

Epcot's centerpiece: Spaceship Earth

Epcot is more than twice the size of the Magic Kingdom park at spanning 300 acres and Epcot is dedicated to the celebration of human achievements by hosting some of the most well-known attractions in Disney. Some of the rides in Epcot are the Test Track ride where you can customize a car, then race it against other players vehicles. Another ride is Mission: Space where you and three other people get into a ride car that is designed to look like a launching space inside of a rocket, then you get assigned roles like Commander or the Engineer, and you have to fly yourself into space, and then back down again. A great ride that I always enjoy going on is The Seas with Nemo and Friends where you go on a ride that takes you through the journey of Nemo as he gets lost again, then at the end of the ride you go into this room where you can talk to Crush and ask him questions about being a talking turtle.

But the ride that is the most popular would be the Spaceship Earth ride inside of Epcot's centerpiece. In this ride, you travel in time and explore the history of communication that takes you from the Stone Age, all the way to the computer age.

A map of Epcot, and the countries around the lagoon

Another huge attraction at Epcot is where you can travel the world around the lake behind Spaceship Earth. Travel the world, you say? Yes, you can travel the world. There are many countries to see in the Around the World showcase such as Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Morocco, China, Germany, Norway, the United States, and yes, Canada.


You are able to get a Disney passport when going around the world so that at each country you visit, there will be a worker who will stamp your passport and sign it, saying hello in whichever language is most dominant in that country.
When my family and I went there, my aunt made sure that I got all of the stamps from each country and we didn't leave until I had them all. It was a really fun experience though, especially getting to see what some of the countries look like and their culture. I even got to wear a sombrero in Mexico (which I unfortunately don't have a picture of).

At night, before you go back to your hotel room, there is a show that I suggest you don't miss. It's Epcot's IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth light show, where a huge globe that sits in the World Showcase Lagoon, lights up and moves around in the lake while fireworks are going off around the different countries. It was a lot of fun to see as I have never seen it before, and I learned that they use around 2,800 firework shells for the show. I don't even want to know how many fireworks they go through in a year, if that's just for one night.

Of course there are many more attractions in Epcot, but these are just the most popular ones that I would definitely recommend that you do if you ever decide to go to Disney World.

Where to Get Your Epcot Merchandise

There are plenty of shops in Epcot where you can get your own Mickey ears, and some are great shops to get a Disney-themed Christmas present!

A great shop to get any merchandise, apparel and accessories would be the SeaBase Gift Shop, where you can help to save our oceans by making a donation before getting your hooks into some Nemo merchandise.

I like to donate every time I go there, whether it's just a dollar or two and every little bit helps to clean and protect our oceans. But, back on the topic of shopping, if you are interested in pin trading (which is where you can buy some Disney pins and then trade them for even better pins that the Disney workers will be wearing on their lanyard), a great shop to get you started on some pins would be the Pin Central - Future World shop, where all they sell there are pins. You can even get some special pins like ones with Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney on it.

I have a huge pin trading book specifically designed to hold all of my pins that I have collected the last two times I was at Disney. There are over 8 pages that are longer in length so that you can fit more pins into it, and I have filled them all. That should give you an idea of how many pins I currently have.

Places to Eat and Relax

After you've spent the whole day going on rides and getting yourself a cute stuffed Nemo, you just want to relax and have a good meal before you go back outside for the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth show, and a great place to do that is the Coral Reef Restaurant, where you can have views of an amazing coral reef that features around 4,000 sea creatures, and you can enjoy it while eating your favourite seafood.

The interior of the Coral Reef Restaurant

Another great place to eat is around the world, of course! Each country that you visit in the World Showcase will have its own little restaurant that features some of that countries most popular dishes, like in France, there is the Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie, where you can get croissants and you can also get almost everything with cheese and seeing as how I'm a cheese lover, I am just fine with that. These little restaurants are in all of the countries so you can try all the food you'd like, without having to pay for a plane to get to that country.

Epcot is a great place to spend the day travelling the world, visiting with Nemo, going to space, eating under the sea, and trading pins.
I truly love Epcot for its variety in what it has to offer for visitors. All 11.98 million of them that go there in a year.

"Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever"
                                            - Walt Disney

The Animal Kingdom and All of Its Roaring Fun

Visiting the Animal Kingdom can be a really fun experience for all animal lovers.

It has different parts of the world that you can visit and see different kinds of animal-themed rides.

It has everything you could ask for like riding inside a mountain away from a yeti in Asia's ride, Expedition Everest.

Being the largest kingdom at Disney, with an area of 235 ha, it has approximately 10.9 million visitors a year, ranking it the fourth-most visited amusement park in the United States and the seventh-most visited park in the world, in 2015.

The entrance to the Animal Kingdom

The Animal Kingdom has so many rides and attractions that you can see, such as the famous Bug Life show that is inside the Tree of Life, right in the middle of the Animal Kingdom.

You can also explore their savannah and see many different kinds of animals on the Kilimanjaro  Safaris ride, where you sit in a big jeep with other passengers and you can take pictures of the animals as the guide talks to you about them.

If you're wanting to cool off in the Animal Kingdom, there is a ride called the Kali River Rapids that might be a perfect way for you to get another ride in, and also get a bit wet.

My aunt and I taking a photo with Simba,

Timon, and Pumba

There are also photographers in the Animal Kingdom that will take pictures of you and add special effects to them relating to the animals and classic Disney stories.

But you can only have the pictures with the themes (like the one to the right) if you have purchased the Photo Memory Maker, which allows you to have a disc of all the photos that were taken of you from Disney, and you can then download them onto your computer or you can print them off and have your own personal Disney photos.

When my family and I last recently went, we got the Disney Photo Memory Maker, and we took so many photos, everywhere we went. You don't have to take multiple photos of the same place as we did (because my aunt insisted), and you don't have to wear matching Lion King shirts like we did, but the Memory Maker is a great way to personalize your photos at Disney no matter what kingdom you're in.

There are also many great places to eat in the Animal Kingdom, which are sure to satisfy your animal-like hunger after exploring all that the Animal Kingdom has to offer.

A great place I like to go is to the Rainforest Café where you can get breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can eat anything you'd like from their delicious menu while being surrounded by elephants, birds, and the famous green frog.

The lobby of the Animal Kingdom Lodge

If you want the true Animal Kingdom experience, then staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge would be the perfect place for you. It does cost more to stay there per night because right outside your bedroom window is a small savannah of animals such as giraffes and many more.

I have never been there myself but I would like to go at least once just so that I can have the experience of waking up and possibly having a giraffe standing outside my window.

I mean, who wouldn't want to wake up like that?

"The more you like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique".

                                              - Walt Disney