Tuck your elbows in - day 11 - Happy Birthday Epcot!

[lumosq102]

Day 11 - 1 October

Index here
Day 10 here
Its time for Epcot history!

Today is the day we planned the holiday around, the whole reason we were visiting - Epcot's 35th anniversary. Epcot was turning 35 and there was no way we were going to miss the celebrations.

We had and early start, leaving the hotel at 7:20 for a lovely stroll along Seven Seas Lagoon, through the Polynesian and to the TTC. If you are staying either at the Grand or the Poly I’d highly recommend the walk to the TTC. Its about 15 minutes from the DVC building at the Grand; from the DVC buildings at the Poly it’s a shorter walk than going back to the Grand Ceremonial House and the Poly monorail station. Another plus is that at this early hour your barely going to see another soul out and about, it’s a lovely way to start the day.

Early morning views

I see you Castle

Sigh.

We boarded our monorail to Epcot at 7:40 and were walking down that never ending ramp to bag check a little before 8am. To say that the crowds were already crazy would be underselling things, thankfully we had an ace in our back pocket – the D23 event with its separate entrance. Phew. Just to not face that crowd made the D23 event fee worth every penny right there.

We checked in, got our lanyard, pin & commemorative map, was given a nice bottle of cold water (it was already so hot, and very humid), scanned our magic bands and with that off we went... to a queue!

Shortly after we were admitted the general admission guests were admitted and by golly what a crowd it was! I have never seen a park open quite like it. They were playing the original Epcot music and people were signing along and really getting into the spirit of things. Not even a brief shower (or two) could dampen spirits.

Not a bad place to hang out for a while.

Then suddenly we were being led into the park by a D23 person with a little sign held aloft. It didn’t prevent confusion though; we were led up the left hand side of Spaceship Earth and suddenly general admission were in too, people were running for Mouse Gear, running for… heavens knows what they were running for as the event merch was being sold on the other side of Spaceship Earth in that part of Innovations by the Art of Disney store, but still – running, pushing, confusion. Bah. I, of course, had done my homework and knew we were going to be at the fountain stage so kept ploughing forward and somehow through the madness we managed to get a front row place for the ceremony.

A little more off centre than I would have liked, but hey ho…

And then the heavens opened. And kept on going for about 40 minutes. My feet were in about an inch of water, but thankfully we had brollies and camera was well protected.

The water did help me break in my new sandles though, so hurrah for welcome consequences of unexpected events!

The rain stopped about 10 minutes before the ceremony was due to start and cast members dashed on stage, mopping and wiping so that the ceremony could go ahead.

The ceremony started with Mariachi Cobre welking out onstage to play a few songs. They’re always a joy to watch

Then out walked cast members from each land / pavilion carrying a sign for their part of the park.

Then out came Voices of Liberty in modern day attire to take us through a medley of old Epcot ride / show songs.

We were singing Veggie Veggie Fruit Fruit for days…

As we were heading towards the end of their set out come the characters. Hurrah!

This is one of my favourite photos of the day.

This next picture I stole from the D23 site –

There we are, sandals now extra comfy, me with a camera covering my face, just how I like it…

Now I didn’t pop anything in my notes about this (bad TR writer!) but the lady and gent in the above photos are Melissa Valiquette, VP of Epcot, and George Kalogridis, President of the Walt Disney World resort. Both spoke for a few minutes on the history of the park & excitement for the future. A fair few vlogs have uploaded it to should you have any interest in seeing the whole thing.

Once this broke up it was time to move over to World Showplace for the presentations. Thanks to My London speed walking experience and handy knowledge of Epcot shortcuts we managed to get to the venue ahead of most of the pack despite starting out at the back of the pack – the downfall of being at the front for the presentation. We ended up on a pretty central table in the second row, so not so shabby at all.

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First up was Mr Kalogridis again, and though we were hoping for some hints about the future of Epcot after the very light coverage at the D23 convention that summer, the lid was still securely on that box of secrets. He did share a few lovely tales about his time working in the park though, and I think that’s the think about Epcot – its just a special place to be, so unlike anything else.

Our first panel was all about old Epcot attractions, presented by Daniel Joseph, principal special effects illusioneer at Walt Disney Imagineering, and author and Disney historian Michael Crawford. They were a delight, full of passion about Epcot, and Disney.

As it had only closed a couple of months before, they focussed quite a bit on Universe of Energy / Ellen’s Energy Adventure including how they made the lava work:

They told us how the plan for the primeval diorama in the energy pavilion originally included giant snails, which they soon discovered were not exactly time period accurate:

However – giant snail survived!

Here he is after being removed from the ride just shy of 35 years after he survived Marty’s chop.

Next up lunch was served in rather nifty lunch pails – photo stolen from the D23 website as the room was far too dark to get a picture of the food at the table:

Mine was a little different of course – no meat – but it wasn’t a bad snack. frustratingly they were serving whilst our next presenters were on the stage:

Yes, I fangirled.

Tony Baxter.

The Imagineer behind Big Thunder Mountain, Star Tours, Splash Mountain – Disneyland Paris! And so much more, but the Disneyland elements of his work I am yet to be fully familiar with (4 weeks 2 days on that particular countdown). The man is brilliant. Actual Disney legend.

He was joined by Walt Disney Imagineering Creative Director Jason Grandt and Show Writer Diana Brost and the three of them took us through a journey of things we might not know about Epcot, which was rather fun.

The name originally considered for Epcot:

The story being told by the cavemen in the Spaceship Earth scene

Original name options for World of Motion

Early artist renderings for the Land Pavillion

The Land was to have had a character not unlike the Dreamfinder:

And of course the early concept for World Showcase that kinda looked like a mall, with the pavilions all tooked away in their own buildings

Our animatronic friends from Mexico who are of course older than the magic Kingdom (they were part of America Sings in Disneyland)

Decoding the runes in Norway – this is indeed Maelstrom country!

And the trolls who made it from Maelstrom into the Frozen sisters Royal Summerhouse

This however, this was the best.

The explanation for the Epcot logo

Sniffle. I know I’m a hippy, but this got me right in the feels, not helped by the conversations about Marty Sklar. Epcot would not have existed without him & he really was taken too soon.

Next up we were joined by the WDW ambassadors Brandon Peters and Ken Facey who talked a little about their memories of the park before introducing the Epcot Dreamers and Doers panel.

This included some of the creative minds behind Epcot (both then and now) and the folks who make magic every day in the park Jim MacPhee, senior vice president, Walt Disney World Parks; Rick Allen, general manager, Future World; Disney Legend Bill (Sully) Sullivan; Imagineers Alex Wright, Wyatt Winter, Zach Riddley, and Jason Grandt; and former Imagineer Patrick Brennan. They shared some tails from the history of Epcot, including stories from before the park’s creation as well as very vague notions about their work on what’s yet to come. Very vague.

The intro was sweet – the then and now shots:

Next up we were joined by Melissa Valiquette, VP of Epcot, who was leading the discussion on Epcot entertainment.

She was joined by Christopher Stewart, general manager, Epcot Entertainment; Randy Carrillo, leader, Mariachi Cobre and Show Directors Marsha Jackson-Randolph and Forrest Bahruth. Carrillo shared stories from the origins of Mariachi Cobre, including that he performed at Disneyland before Walt Disney World even opened. We also got a little tour of some of the early entertainment offerings – including Barbie’s tenure with Epcot (yes, that Barbie) and Daredevil Circus Spectacular! Oh Epcot, you have always been a little crazy.

The Fountain of Nations ceremony where water from around the world was added to the fountain. Sniffle.

Mariachi Cobre

Like an early La Nouba – but scarier

Finally, the Vice President of D23 Michael Vargo took to the stage to introduce the closing act which he dedicationed to Marty Sklar. The performers sang another medley, this time including Tomorrow’s Child, One Little Spark, It’s Fun to Be Free and We’ve Just Begun to Dream and were joined by Minnie, Mickey, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto.

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As we headed out we were given another gift – this time an Epcot tote bag and a print of one of the Epcot concept paintings:

Still need to get that framed…

Its rather lovely isn’t it?

We wandered back into Epcot proper to notice a few things

1 – it was now scorchingly hot. And so humid.
2 – the crowds had continued to build
3 – did we mention how hot it was?

But we had places to be, things to see, so off we went. But first to the front of the part to get a locker to sequester all the lovely things we had been given at the event, passing that lovely geodesic sphere on our way

We then took a little wander around Mousegear after seeing how long the line still was for the exclusive merch over by the Art of Disney store. R was relieved that she managed to pick up the Epcot 35 magicband she wanted earlier in the week as those puppies were long gone by now.

We found a Photopass photographer who had a fun sign for the celebration. You can see how warm the day is getting – we look like we’re melting.

Then another over by the Fountain of Nations

My version of squirrell – Monorail!

We started our afternoon explorations with a visit to some of the festival booths. And what better place to start than with chocolate? The Chocolate Studio and the heavenly liquid nitro chocolate-almond truffle with warm whiskey caramel.

Yummmmmmmy.

At this stage we thought we needed a little respite from the heat and a sit down, after all we had been out of the event for at least 45 minutes. I judge myself.

So we ventured off to the DVC lounge in the Imagination Pavillion. Alas we were not the only people with that idea so it was super crowded. Still, we managed to find a seat and grab a couple of the free sodas they serve (well, soda for me – water for R). It’s a lovely view from up there of Spaceship Earth:-

We relaxed, recuperated and then ventured back into the park

Monorail!

Where we walked past Justin Scarred, Tim Tracker and Adam the Woo. All very tall chaps, surrounded by more very tall chaps so needless to say we didn’t stop them to say hello.

I wanted to imagine a better skyline – those clouds did not look too friendly.

Next up – more food!

R wanted to try the crispy chicken with griddled cornbread and redeye gravy form Farm Fresh. I went with the raspberry hard cider.

R loved the chicken, saying it was one of the highlights of the festival for her. The cornbread was super fresh and tasty, the gravy was fantastic & the chicken was a high quality piece of chicken. I enjoyed the cider, but thought I had better put something more substantial in my stomach before I became *that* Epcot guest.

So, onward to Greece where the loaded Greek “nachos” were purchased.

I should have gone with the Spanakopita. It was dry and gross, with far too much red onion that I had to pick off (I love red onion, it hates me and makes me sick if I eat it raw. ). I may have been unlucky as I have seen good things about this elsewhere, but I would not pick this up again.

Monorail!

So, we were close to Mexico so there was only 1 thing that we had to do next:

I was taking every opportunity to ride this trip, the rumours that this will become a Coco ride ebb and flow, but at this point it looked like a done deal. I understand the fit and am sure if they take the care they did with Maelstrom it would be super, but I really love my three caballeros and will mourn accordingly

The rumours do seem to have died down again, so who knows if that’s now on the back burner? I’ll ride it like a crazy stalker in June just in case

Humidity – a photopass tribute

It was so bad the hair had to be plaited – a very unusual occurrence.

We wandered on through the World Showcase, stopping for an A/C break in China. I had hoped we would find some of the Shanghai merch here but it had all sold out. Bah. Its now in the outlet, but what’s the betting that it will be all gone by the time we get there in June?

[lumosq102]

In our effort to cover the park using as little sense as possible, we now wandered over to the Fountain of Nations once more for a visit to Starbucks.

We were in dire need of caffeine, so a couple of cold brews it was. We grabbed and ran over to the Land Pavillion with them where we planted our hot selves in the Sunshine Seasons dining area do drink our coffees, enjoying that our name had actually been noted correctly – quite the novelty! (American’s use Kristy, not Kirsty, and seem to find switching the I and R around quite baffling).

Our first fastpass of the day was up next – Living with the Land. You have to go classic on Epcot’s birthday, right?

There is just something so restful about this ride, the dog barking, the waterfalls… “in farmland across America…”. Its bliss in ride form.

Back outside the sky was clearing up, it was turning into a beautiful evening

Spaceship Earth love.

Someday I’ll be able to slow down here and get a good shot of this mural. Someday…

Of course, in our classics theme there is no way we could miss riding on Spaceship Earth.

Visiting our cavemen friends now we know what they are talking about.

Saving libraries

Father and daughter from the Carousel of Progress enjoying a little renaissance time

Everyone’s favourite IT person

Our hazy future

By the time we got left Spaceship Earth the sky was starting to turn such lovely colours

We had managed to get fastpasses for Illuminations this evening and we thought we had better line up early as the viewing area was super snug – most of the area was being used for the Chew’s stage set up, meaning that the usual breezy area for FP people was now a tiny corner. It still had the angle I wanted to watch the fireworks from so we persisted.

I got in line whilst R nipped off for a couple more dishes from the food booths.

Starting with Hawaii – the Teriyaki-glazed spam hash with potatoes, peppers, onions and spicy mayonnaise. R liked the mayo and the veggies, but said she discovered that she doesn’t like spam and the whole thing was over salted.

From the same booth she brought me the passionfruit cheesecake with toasted macadamia nuts. This was delicious.

Whilst in line we got chatting with a rather lovely family who visited the parks 3 ish times a year & their son was hoping to be an Imagineer & was so passionate about the parks – it was lovely to see & our conversation got us though the hour or so wait until they let us in to the fast pass area.

Frustratingly they didn’t switch the lights off in the FP area, and the speakers were only partially working… however the fireworks were glorious and the special fireworks tag for the 35th was fantastic.

Once the fireworks were over the usual music was replaced with retro Epcot music to enjoy as we exited the parks. As we walked toward Spaceship Earth we realised they had replaced the usual projections there too, it had all gone 80’s Epcot style

We watched the projections for a while and realised we were stood next to Stephen Miller from the Parks Blog which made me come over all unnecessary.

It just looked so cool!

As we walked towards the exit we realised that it looked like the store selling the anniversary merch was still open so we nipped in and yes, there was barely a line & we were just behind Adam the Woo and Tim Tracker in line – eep! We went very British and casual as we waited for our turn to enter the store. We both picked up the “I was there” baseball style t-shirt and I grabbed the limited pin too with a general air of satisfaction that we didn’t have to wait in and hours long line to do so.

By the time we were back outside the park had quieted down immensely & we took a slow walk over to the lockers to pick up our D23 bits and pieces before heading out to the monorail station.

Who did we bump into as we left the lockers? Almost literally? Tim Tracker! We were not stalking him, honest. We quickly sloped off and was on the monorail back to the TTC a little after 10pm.

Apparently our timing was on point this evening as we walked off the monorail just after 10:15 shortly after Hallowishes started over at the Magic Kingdom. We skipped down to the ferry dock and enjoyed the show. It’s a great spot to watch the fireworks from, they pipe the music in to the TTC so you get the full experience.

Perfect.

We walked up to the monorail platform for the resort monorail as our feet did not have the energy to walk back along Seven Seas Lagoon this evening.

We got rather lucky again and quickly boarded a monorail. We sat down to enjoy the journey back to the Grand but caught a mosquito biting my hand just as we were pulling away from the TTC. Blasted mosquitos. I was hoping that I had caught it before it managed to do any damage, but lets see how that one goes…

We were back at the Grand Floridian at 10:35 and found ourselves walking through a very empty lobby.

As it wasn’t raining we took a slow walk past the pool back to our building and quickly crashed into our room.

It had been a long day, but a fantastic one & we were soon off to the land of nod.

Day 12 is here

[MrsSilverStar]

What an amazing day. It was so interesting to read all about the special event - thanks for sharing.

[lumosq102]

Originally Posted by MrsSilverStar

What an amazing day. It was so interesting to read all about the special event - thanks for sharing.

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Thank you very much! We were so excited to be there, it was a very special day.

[Palm trees]

Goodness, that was such an interesting read. I love trip reports but this has been such a unique report. I bet you had an amazing day. Thanks for sharing. Also I'm a bit of a Tim Tracker fan (My eldest and I love watching his vlogs) and would have been very excited to encounter him- although like you would have avoided speaking to him- and regretted it later!

[Mortimer Mouse]

Wow- what a fab (hot ) day. I would love to hear all the old Epcot music playing.
Can't believe you bumped into Tim Tracker 3 times and have not even a sniff of a selfie to show for it.

A really interesting and unique day. Thanks for sharing.

[Goldia]

I remember watching TimTracker for the anniversary! Wow, how awesome you were there.

Such a shame about the rain at the beginning. You had a great spot by the stage. It's a great crowd photo of you with your camera taking photos.

It seems like a really special day. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much.

[collybird]

What an amazing day, that was such a great read Kirsty, thank you for including all the details.