Chapter 15:Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow

Well all, it's the morning of day 3. Today I slept in, got up around 9:30-10. So, no early day at the park for us. That wouldn't be a problem though. I got ready for the big day ahead and went to my trusty Extra Magic Hours list to see what park would be good for today. I guided everyday at the parks around this list, because I knew going to the parks when there was an EMH morning would be bad. After looking at the list, it seemed like EPCOT would be the perfect fit for today. So I went downstairs, ate a quick breakfast, and everyone decided to head out to the pool for a swim before heading to the park. The pool is for everyone in our "district", but it is located literally right outside our doorstep, which was awesome. Plus, the fact that we had the whole building to ourselves made this even sweeter. Once we arrived at the pool, it was deserted. Very nice. We had the whole thing to ourselves for the hour and a half we were there. This was an opportunity we just couldn't give up. The pool was of a very nice size, it was all to us. It was extremely relaxing, and a great way to start off our morning. We just didn't want to leave it was so amazing. Anyway, after an hour and a half, we headed back to the room and got ready for a day at the Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow.

Once everyone was ready, we headed out to the car and set out on our journey. Before we went to EPCOT, we stopped to get something to eat. We decided to check out some roads near our hotel, and found one with just about every chain restaurant you can think of. It seemed like looking here would be a smart choice. We just wanted something quick before heading to EPCOT for the day, so we explored the long road and decided to go to Chik-Fil-A. I had never been there before, so this would be hopefully a nice change from the norm. The place ended up being excellent. My grilled chicken sandwich was great, along with a pack of the chicken strips. This place is definitely one of my favorite fast food destinations now. Too bad there are many up here in NJ :(. Definitely a surprise of the trip with quick, good food. I got a cookies and cream milkshake on the way out...which was amazing as well. Well, now it's time to over to WDW and go to one of my favorite Disney parks, EPCOT. The drive was quite short, about 10 minutes tops until we were inside the WDW gates. We came in the same way we did the other day, near MGM. So, we got a nice view of Tower before heading over to EPCOT. From there on it didn't take long at all, probably 5 minutes and we were at the toll booths. We paid the ridiculous parking fee of 9 bucks and headed in. Once inside the parking lot, the park seemed to be pretty crowded. We were situated in one of the two parking lots located closest to the toll booths. Hopefully the crowds again weren't bad at all, especially for midday. How non-crowded the parks were those days still amazes me. Anyway, we hopped on the tram, and headed into EPCOT, the Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow!

We arrived at the ticket booths and got our hoppers out and ready. EPCOT also has a fingerprint system, but it's different than the Magic Kingdom's. MK's is just a thumb print, EPCOT's (and the rest of the parks I may add) have a two finger system. This one was a bit more complicated, it took me a while for it to work. I hope they replace the these with the ones like at the MK, as they are much easier. Anyway, we finally got inside. First things first...maps! Always have to pick up a map on my way in. I have quite a collection now...starting with WDW maps for 2000! Anyway, I grabbed a few Soarin' themed maps and even an "espanol" map :). Hey, I am taking Spanish in school, so I decided to take it. Second things second...the beast that is Spaceship Earth. This thing is truly a monster. This thing dominates the skyline of the park. None of the other pavilions even have a shot at competing with this thing's gargantuan size. Sometimes you just have to stop and store at it. It's accompanied by the Mickey Wand, which a lot of people evidently have a problem with. I don't know, it doesn't seem as a big problem to me. Anyway, this thing's huge, and it's the first thing in our path. With a posted wait of 5 minutes, we decided to check out this classic attraction first. It's always a relaxing and educational ride through evolution of communications. We walked through the almost empty queue, and we actually never stopped walking. We just kept walking, as did everyone in front of us, until we came to our vehicles. We stopped on to the turntable and then into our retro blue vehicle. Our journey through Spaceship Earth begun as we approached the dark lift tunnel.

The journey through Spaceship Earth is coming soon!