Tuesday February 13th 2024

The warm weather trend is over. The temperature only reached the high sixties today with a strong north wind. On the positive side the sun was only blocked by light clouds occasionally.

My afternoon was filled with errands that ended in the vicinity of Disney’s EPCOT. The International Festival of the Arts is still ongoing at EPCOT. I really enjoy looking at the art. I entered the main gate just before 5PM. My plan was to differ touring EPCOT for a little while, by riding the Skyliner to some of the resort hotels for a little touring. The Skyliner is an aerial gondola that departs from EPCOT’s International Gateway. It goes from the back of EPCOT near the France pavilion to the Caribbean Beach Resort with a stop at the Riviera resort on the way. From the main hub at the Caribbean Beach additional lines go to Hollywood Studios theme park and a station in the lake between the Art of Animation resort hotel and the Pop Century resort hotel. The station in the lake was my destination.

I have never been to the Art of Animation or Pop Century before. They are considered the best of the value resorts by most reviewers. The each has over sized decorations around themed buildings. At the Art of Animation the buildings are themed to animated movies like Finding Nemo and Cars. The Pop Century has areas dedicated to the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

After walking around the resort hotels, I returned to EPCOT for a fish and chips meal and to checkout more of the art booths, ride a few rides and watch the nightly fireworks show at 9PM. Tonight I rode Spaceship earth, Living with the Land and Soarin Over California. As I walked around the World Showcase I noticed a few changes in the booths since I was here a couple of weeks ago. Different vendors have taken over in some booths presenting some different styles. The talent and creativity required to produce the art pieces is amazing.

The International Festival of the Arts ends on February 19th. The International Flower and Garden Festival begins in early March. Many of the flowers for the festival have been planted in the broad lawns so they have time to take root and blossom before the festival starts. Some of the topiaries have been put in place as well. I will not be in this area of Florida for the start of the festival, but I plan to visit toward the end of April.

The crowd level in EPCOT wasn’t too bad today. By the time the fireworks started at 9PM as the park closed there were even fewer people. I was able to find good places to view the fireworks even at the last minute.