World showcase is the other section of EPCOT and it is composed of 11 countries. As far as the scenery goes, I can’t see all that much but the ethnic music that is played is nice to listen to as you walk through the different countries. The countries ring a manmade lake that is home to IllumiNations, the nightly entertainment. There are two rides and a show that we go to and also we had lunch there that day.
The Maelstrom is in Norway and it is a boatride. It takes you through some history of early Norway, complete with Vikings, trolls and other things. There is a narrator for the attraction, which is always good, and, as usual, Mark supplements the narration. The ride vehicles are boats with a dragon prow. It is a slow to medium speed boat ride until shortly after you meet a troll, who decides you are tresspassing and casts a spell on you. At that point, your boat starts going backwards and continues until it looks like you are going to fall over a waterfall. Then, the spell lifts and you rocket forward. Since at that point you are going fast, I really can’t tell individual parts of the scenery. The ride ends and you step out; to exit, you pass through the area where a movie on Norway is showing. I think someday I will see it, when I am taking a 2 or 3 week vacation at Walt Disney World but right now there’s a lot to see.
For some reason I can’t remember anything about the Gran Fiesta Tour, the Mexico ride, except that it’s a boat ride and the sky looks real to me. Maybe my contributor can post some of his thoughts sometime.
The American Adventure is the USA movie, there are no rides here but we always see the movie. With my pass we were able to wait on the 2nd floor and look down in the Rotunda. There is an acapella group performing while you wait and among the songs done this time was Old McDonald. They sung it normally, until the duck and then one of them, after the last duck goes quack, quack, said aflac. That was hilarious, which, I suppose, is why I remember it. The group finished and it was time to go into the theater. We got a seat relatively in front, even though it is a movie, there is a stage and it is raised a little. I don’t have to crane my neck. Two animatronic figures come up onto the stage, Mark Twain and Ben Franklin and start speaking. A sort of slideshow of the USA’s past is showing in the background. Then there is onscreen narration. Finally, a very nice song begins to finish the show. There are statues on the side of the theater and, at the end, the black backdrop behind them rolls back. I think the backdrop that is revealed when the other one rolls away is meant to simulate the sky. I can’t see the statues and I forget what they are.
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The Mexico ride really is pretty nondescript. If I remember right, they recently redid it to have it feature los tres caballeros (from the Disney cartoon, of course). It's a history of Mexico, but it's not really narrated, which seems odd.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to eat at the restaurant there someday. (I agree that the sky in there is really neat.) The setting reminds me a little bit of the restaurant overlooking Pirates of the Caribbean in Disneyland. But, like Joe says, when you're only in WDW for a week, you don't always have time to soak it all in.