Monday October 23rd 2023

One of the reasons I came back to the central Florida area this fall is to enjoy the theme parks. I have an annual pass to both Disney World and Sea World. This morning I got started with a visit to EPCOT at Disney World. My timing could have been better.

Today was the last day they were giving away Oswald Magnets at EPCOT to annual pass holders. That is the essence of why I decided to go to EPCOT this morning. It wasn’t a very good reason. The place was very busy. Wait times at attractions were very long. Rides that usually had 5 to 10 minute waits had 35 to 40 minute waits. The ones that often had 70 to 80 minute waits had up to 120 minute waits. I didn’t ride many attractions.

The International Food and Wine Festival is still going on at EPCOT. It started in July and goes until early November. Of the four EPCOT festivals it is my least favorite. The main focus is on food booths scattered around the park that provide tasting size entries and deserts along with wine and beer pairings. I didn’t take advantage of any of the booths today. The lines for food were proportionally as long as the attraction lines. The Festival of the Holidays starts around Thanksgiving followed by the Festival of the Arts in January. The Flower and Garden Festival in the spring is probably my favorite.

The construction in the middle of EPCOT, just behind Space Ship Earth is still going on. The majority of the construction is supposed to be over by the end of this year. Some of the construction walls have moved since my last visit in May and one new attraction has opened. The official opening of Journey of Water Inspired by Moana was last Monday. It has been in previews and soft openings since the end of August. I didn’t have any real wait for the walk through attraction, but it was very crowded.

The Journey of Water Inspired by Moana is a teaching attraction. It shows the roles of water in nature in creative ways. It is very interactive. You can make music by passing your hands through streams of water or you can make water spouts jump by waving your hands just to describe two of the interactions. Today, with all the people, it was difficult to try all the exhibits. I look forward to trying some of them with less people around.

I was at the park for about four and a half hours. I did a few fun things and walked all around the World Showcase. The crowd really discouraged me from waiting at many of the attractions. For the 100 hundred years of Disney celebration, the Soarin Over California film has returned to replace Soarin Around the World temporarily. The wait was fifty minutes and seventy minutes each of the two times I considered getting in line. It has been several years since I saw the California version of the movie. I’ll be back to catch it and other things another day. Right now, I’m thinking I’ll return Wednesday late in the day to catch a few attractions and the night time fireworks.