Following on from Tuesday’s post where I shared some photo’s from Magic Kindgom and Animal Kingdom, today I’ll be sharing photo’s from Epcot and Hollywood Studios.
Epcot
Epcot was the first Disney park we visited and I’ll be honest I didn’t really know what to expect as I’ve never been to Florida and Josh just remembered being bored by this park when he went as a kid and a teen. Well it turns out we both really loved it, in fact we even went back a second time! I’d say it’s definitely more of an adult park than Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom but it is far from boring.
The park is split into two different areas, World Showcase and Future World.
In the World Showcase there are 11 different areas made to look like the countries Canada, England, France, Morocco, Japan, America, Italy, Germany, China, Norway and Mexico. There’s shops and restaurants to look in and all the buildings look like traditional buildings from the country they’re in. There’s only one ride in the World Showcase which is the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico which is a slow boat ride quite similar to the It’s A Small World ride at Magic Kingdom.
The Future World area is more educational and it focuses on the science and technology that has and continues to shape the world. I know this might sound quite boring but it really isn’t as all the rides are in this area too. Though I do think certain attractions such as Universe of Energy need modernising.
I feel the rides here, like the entire park, are more geared towards adults. Although there aren’t any big thrill rides I think the educational aspect would bore younger children. We went on the Gran Fiesta Tour, Journey Into Imagination with Figment, Test Track, Mission Space, Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth, The Seas with Nemo and Friends and Universe of Energy. We both enjoyed Test Track the best although I have to say Journey Into the Imagination is a close contender too because Figment (the character in the ride) is just too cute and he has a very catchy song!
Epcot also has a nighttime firework display, IlluNations: Reflections of Earth. We watched it from the bridge that connects England and France and I would argue that that is probably the best place to stand as you’re directly facing all the fireworks out on the lake and you have a clear view around the whole of the World Showcase when that lights up.
Hollywood Studios
As you’d expect with a name like Hollywood Studios, the focus of this park is on the movies and old Hollywood glamour and the whole park is done out in an art deco style. I really loved the vibe of this park and it came close to knocking Magic Kingdom off the top spot as being my favourite park. It turns out Hollywood Studios also became the place for facing one of my biggest fears but more on that later!
We’d Fast Passed two of the big rides at this park, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror. Now I was assured by Josh that Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster was just a fast roller-coaster in the dark and that it didn’t go upside down, it was only as we got near the front that Josh told me he’d actually never been on this ride. Guess what? It goes upside down. Lots of screaming happened and a few swear words may have slipped out once or twice but it was actually a really good ride, I couldn’t tell you what Aerosmith song was playing though because neither of us could hear it over my screams.
After that ordeal I also had the Tower of Terror to face, now I am petrified of heights but I really wanted to overcome this to go on the ride. I don’t think I’ve ever been as scared. I very nearly got off the ride when I saw what you were sat on and that you only have a lap belt holding you in but I stayed on, there may have been actual tears but I rode the Terror of Terror and I feel pretty proud of that! Now I’ve done it I would go back on as it is a really good ride, it definitely lifts you right out of your seat though!
The rides we went on at Hollywood Studios were Star Tours, Muppet Vision 3D, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror and The Greatest Movie Ride. Josh like Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster the best and I liked Tower of Terror. For a tame ride though The Greatest Movie Ride is really enjoyable.
We went to see Fantasmic at night which is a show featuring a whole host of Disney characters. It involves projections on the water, floats of characters and Mickey Mouse overcoming evil and nightmares as it is based on Fantasia. It is a really beautiful show and again it definitely brought a tear to my eye.
While we were there Frozen’s Summer of Fun was also taking place which meant there was a firework display to songs from Frozen. This has ended now though. The fireworks were enjoyable but as Fantasmic is really the main nighttime attraction they didn’t really compare to Magic Kingdom or Epcot’s fireworks.
You can read part 1 featuring Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom here.
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