A Day at the Park: EPCOT

Man oh man, was that a long day at EPCOT. Totally worth it though, what a ton of fun! Got quite a few photos here, ready to share!

It's always nice to see the park dressed up for the Flower & Garden Festival

All the best monorails were out today, like Silver

Orange

Lime

Yellow

Silver

and Black

There were also some birds

and embarrassed birds

and desegregated birds. This is the kind of progress we need in America.

This duck had some swagger going on

Found a somewhat malnourished-looking rabbit

and a turtle who appeared healthy

and a quarter

and a menacing pack of wild Duffies

Crash test dummy is cooling off on this hot day with an ice cold Coca-Cola soft drink

Seeing Test Track running is always nice

and Cool Wash up and running with spinning brushes and road signs

and then Test Track closed for refurbishment

Now we move on to the World Showcase where preparation for Food & Wine has begun!

A lone man in the world of a model railroad wonders what he will do with his life and where his eyes went.

Meanwhile, trains in the world of a model railroad have no real concerns or cares. They just keep a rollin' all night long

Maelstrom is still Maelstrom instead of Super Maelstrom. Fix this WDI.

The Voices of Liberty are pretty good at what they do (singing).

as is the lead vocalist from Air Supply

A little rain couldn't dampen anyone's spirits today.

...although it cause Spaceship Earth to leak. (Note: Potential for Depends sponsorship here? Put Spaceship Earth in a giant diaper? No? Okay.)

A rainbow appeared following that little shower and everything was fine again.

And the sunset looked great!

This Innoventions sign, however, did not.

But they fixed it!

Illuminations happened

Which was nice.

WE GO ON

to find the moon hanging out.

and that concludes the Epcot 30th Anniversary celebration!

I hope you enjoyed this photographic tour of a day at EPCOT, the first in what will be at least a four-part series!

Random photos from EPCOT 30

So, what a fun day that was. I'm a little sunburnt and my feet are quite angry with me, but it was worth it.

Today would be a terrible day to go inside, but it still looks pretty nice outside!

A few grey clouds would cause a little rain, but nothing too bad!

The line outside Mouse Gear for merchandise

Alright let's go check out this panel with Surrell, Grandt, Wright and more!

This cool graphic appeared shortly before they asked everyone to turn off their cameras.

Got my spot picked out for Illuminations, this is gonna be good.

It was good.

It was incredible.

Moon over China

30th laser writing on Spaceship Earth

Accidentally hit my remote shutter button

Fountain of Nations sneezed on my lens

The moon and trees and SSE

aaaand time to go home!

9 Things To Do If You Love Trains

Well if there's one question I get asked a lot, it's "I like trains, what is there for me to do at Walt Disney World?". And knowing as much as I do about the resort it's hard not to scoff at the question, but I have to remember that not everyone is as knowledgeable as I am. There's just so much trainy goodness to be had at the resort that it's hard to know where to begin. So let's begin!

1. The Walt Disney World Railroad

It's a train. I don't think I need to explain this.

2. The Walt Disney World Monorail

It's a train. From the future. But a little farther into the future when it's a futuristic train but not a super brand new train and sometimes it has a weird smell but not like a NYC subway smell, it's not that bad but you'll notice it sometimes and maybe it doesn't always run perfectly but you know it's still a train and this is still a run-on sentence.

3. Casey Jr. Splash 'N Soak

This new water area is a great place to strip down to your diaper and run around a train!

4. Big Thunder Mountain

It's a train but things go wrong and you're as out of control as you can be on a train considering it's bound to the rails it rides on. Lots of trainy goodness to be had here.

5. Expedition Everest

It's a good thing you like trains and not moving yetis or else you might not enjoy this. Fortunately, you like trains and this is a train.

6. The Backlot Tour at the Disney-MGM Studios

Alright, you're gonna need a time machine for this one because the part you're gonna want to see what you want to see here. This is also great for people who like Bette Midler. Thanks to the wonderful Marin Smith and Chris Bales you can see the video here:

What's that around the 3 minute mark? Is that a train? I think it is! If I recall correctly, you could even see the train used in the movie shortly after watching it! How's that for making the movies come alive?

7. Journey Into Imagination with Figment

Actually, don't. Just admire the outside.

8. Germany at EPCOT

"Germany, are you crazy? I want trains, not beer! If I wanted trains I would ride that bullet train ride over in Japan!" Okay let me stop you there because I'm tired of you yelling at me. One, there's no bullet train ride in Japan. Two, there's a model railroad in Germany and I thought maybe you'd find that interesting. If I knew I'd get my head bit off, I'd have kept my thoughts to myself.

9. The Wildlife Express Train to Rafiki's Planet Watch

If you like trains and really want to enjoy just the part where you're on a train and not necessarily the speed you might be going or the things you see along the way, this is perfect for you! This train will take you from Africa to Rafiki's Planet Watch which I think is a petting zoo or something?

Also I think there's a little train ride at Downtown Disney, ride that or something.