This was our first trip to Epcot. On our last visit to Orlando we decided not to do Epcot as the boys were a bit young. However today, the boys loved this park.

The park is effectively split up into two. The first area is all about the future, technology and space. The second area is known as "World Showcase" and features different countries around the world with each individual country showing their architecture and cuisine.

We started the day in The Land Pavilion. To kill some time before our first fast pass we did the "Soarin" ride. This ride is a simulated hang glider flight over the best parts of California. Great ride, but not sure I would waste a fast pass or a spend time in a long queue to do it. Best do this ride early in the morning so the queue is short!

We had time and then took the "Living with the Land" ride. This is well worth doing. It is a very tame water ride. What is great about this is that the ride explains the work Disney is doing with other agencies to improve agriculture practices and in particular sustainable farming techniques.

Now for our first fast pass ... "Mission Space". The ride is awesome but comes with some warnings. If you have motion sickness of claustrophobia then take the warnings seriously. Basically you are locked into a cockpit, the instruments are brought right up to your face, so there is little to no room and no emergency ride stop buttons. You can see outside with a small screen which is in fact a screen which you will use to see the launch and later your travel through space. Each person in the cockpit has a role and must select buttons at different stages. My boys LOVED this ride. I found it fun, the launch is disorientating but soon improves. There is a 'green' version of the ride for people interested in a less intense experience.



After the Mission Space ride there are some cool associated attractions. One of the best was a space race which has people split into two teams. To race each team must build and fix aircraft issues as they arise. Great interactive fun.



Next stop "Test Track Chevrolet". This ride is absolutely fantastic. It is very interactive, we did it twice. Basically each person is taken through a car design process and builds their own car. Once the car is built you actually associate it to your test car (the ride) and take it through its paces. As you complete each test you can see how the car you designed performed. The ride itself is awesome. After the ride the fun does not finish there. You can create a commercial for your car (which you can view later online), you can also have your picture taken with your car. This is the best and most creative interactive ride we have been on. A MUST DO!



We then headed over to the "Spaceship Earth" attraction. We were not overly excited about this ride. Pretty average. The activities after the ride were more entertaining, the kids got to manage power for a city and got to play with a car simulator. Like Soarin I would not wait in a long queue or waste a fast pass on this ride.

Now it was time to do some exploring and we headed to the World Showcase. There are 11 countries represented and each is done with such detail ... very impressive. We loved the France area, it was authentic and even the staff were either French or Francophones. There are a few small attractions in some of the countries but basically you can experience the architecture and mostly importantly the food.



Towards the end of the day we headed to the Innoventions Pavilion. The kids got to build and ride their own roller coaster ... heaps of fun. Our oldest enjoyed doing the "Habit Heroes" attraction ... not so much for the ride but rather for the treasure hunt afterwards.



We had a great day at Epcot. We did not stay for the night show/fireworks. We know they are great but the kids were keen to head back to the resort. Epcot is great for older kids, that is 10+.




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