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8/12/08; EPCOT: experimental prototype community of tomorrow (or something)
Anywho. On the 12th we went to Epcot, which is also one of my favorite parks. Truth be told, it's probably my top fave of all the parks considered. Definitely more of a 'grown-ups' kind of place, but I think I enjoy it so much because there is just such a fantastic variety of stuff to see and do, including rides.We started out the day nabbing fast-passes for Soarin', the newest immersion ride. I think the last time I was here the Soarin' location was the space launch ride--forget the name of it now, but it was way cool. Negative G's, lots of lawsuits from people who can't read the 3482567 advisory and warning signs on the way in, etc. I digress; Soarin' is a simulated flying ride inside this huge Imax-type of projection room--the boys kept telling me it was really fun, but I kept thinking to myself "okay, so it'll be like Star Tours or any other simulated coaster/flight ride, no biggie."
I was so, soooo wrong. But I'm getting ahead of myself. . .
Soarin, fast-passes, killing time until our passes were ready. . .
Epcot has an entire building full of discovery type games based on technology, all geared for complete involvement whether you're 2 or 92--it's mostly for children, of course, but all the stuff is usually pretty cool. There are always some kind of sensory perception activities (making music based on body motion, laser-detection projection games, mechanical craziness, etc), and also culturally relevant "I never knew" games.
A lot of the activities on this visit were themed for green or resource use/reuse thinking. For example, there was a group activity game that dealt with waste disposal that was a lot of fun. It started out getting your garbage/recycling 'truck' (an electronic push cart that was basically a big, hard to steer jump drive) from the point of curb-side collection, then taking it over to a recyling processing center, which was a multi-screen video game with touch screen controls--each member of a 4-person group was responsible for correctly processing glass, paper, plastic, or metal items (depending on your screen) AND for passing items on to other team members if they were processing something else.
I processed plastic, for example, so when something from our 'truck' was dumped into the processing conveyor belt shared across the 4 monitors, I either grabbed it or slung it to an adjacent position so a team member could process it. If I had a soda can, then I passed it on so it could continue being passed down the line until it got to the person who was processing metal at the far end. Passing speed, collection quantity, and correctly grabbing items added to the team score (which is kept on the truck and used at later stations). I think we all broke a sweat!
From there, we took our truck to a reduction plant or something. Two team members were responsible for carting in the unrecyclable cargo from our last station's results and the other two were crane operators who had to selectively choose cargo to burn to keep core firing temperatures from getting too hot or too cold. Once done, we took our end product (via our truck) to the landfill (station 3) where we all rushed to pack and build a landfill. Once it was finished, we were able to decide what we wanted the landfill used for at station 4: golf course, nature park, sports park, something else--I think we opted for the golf course (against my better judgement as an environmental scientist, natch!).
Soarin':
Holy Crap, that was a lot of fun!! It was a bit like parasailing in an Imax theatre with extra sensory stimulus for added 'oomph'. . . like the spritz of orange scent on the air when we skimmed across a citrus grove. We were buckled into this bench-style row, the kind that picks up and lets your feet dangle while the seats are free to swing a bit--the whole row then supported by an extension arm that moved in every direction/angle to suggest the motion of gliding on air currents. I don't think my back touched the seat at all once we were 'airborne' since I was practically leaning as far out as the straps would let me. The whole row was literally thrust into the concave surround screen, so it really tricked your head into thinking it was real.
I'm pretty sure I was channeling Margo Kidder when she was flying around with Superman . . .I know i had that sappy "Look at Me" song skitter through my head for a brief moment (fortunately, VERY brief--I hate that song). Also, I think my underwear was green that day, not pink.
Decided then and there that I am DEFINITELY taking a discovery flight in the near future. . .
I also remember there were a lot of lost flipflops down in the bottom of the screen pit--I particularly remember a solid red one against the flat black color of the floor illuminated by the silver-blue reflection of 'sky' when the movie started. Funny the things you remember sometimes.
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