disney epcot center photos

All righty then; here's a bunch of Disney Epcot Center photos.

Before I get into the good photos, I'll say the following:

Epcot Center unfortunately is way past its prime. A large portion of the park has walls with this sign attached to it:

Okay, fine, I can understand this. However, the one thing I wanted to do more than anything else was go on the Space Adventure ride.

This is Space Adventure:

I was looking forward to this because there is a ride inside this huge sphere.

IT WAS CLOSED.

In addition to Space Adventure being closed (a.k.a. "Building the Future Epcot" mode), several other parts of Epcot Center were also closed and was a huge bummer.

Also, like I said above, Epcot appears to be way past its prime. This is exemplified by the following:

Cracks in the sidewalk in various parts of the park.
Exhibits/Attractions which are either not working (see above) or in obvious need of repair.
Various parts of the greenery that need better upkeep.

Yes, I know, I'm nit-picking. However, this is Disney. It's supposed to be perfect - but it's not and that was a huge let-down.

So anyway, on to the photos.

Note: These photos are not of what you typically see when it comes to vacation-style shots. Rather, they concentrate on what I saw that I thought was cool.

I will wholly admit that the coolest part of the World Showcase was China and Japan, followed closely by Morocco. Those three pavilions had the best stuff for sale. You'll see some of the stuff as you scroll down the photos.

Note on the above: Nothing will wreck a shot faster than people wandering into it. Unfortunately there is no way to avoid this at Disney when taking far-back shots; it's par for the course.

Note on the above: Speed Racer merchandise at Disney? Believe it.

Note on the above: This is a shot of the front of a carry-on bag - but it looks awesome.

Note on the above: The coolest part of this shot is that there is a kid standing near the rail wearing a multi-colored hat with a beanie propeller on top of it. I absolutely did not know this kid was in the shot until after I looked at it, so that was an unexpected bonus. 😀

Note on the above: Crocs are ugly, stupid and look like clown shoes. And Disney's got 'em. Note the Mickey Mouse head/ears where the holes are.

Here are some further thoughts on Epcot:

This is an "adult" portion of Disney. While you will see kids here and there, the bulk of Epcot is meant for adults. The last time I went to Epcot was over 20 years ago, and upon return nothing had changed. Ordinarily I would say this is a good thing, but not in this instance. Epcot needs to follow suit with the rest of Disney, get it's futuristic feel back and fix the obvious flaws in the park.

On a more positive note:

We (as in the family) finally got to do what we've been wanting to do for 20 years - finish Epcot World Showcase. The last time we went we couldn't finish all the countries, but this time we did. My sister bought a Disney Passport and had every single country put their notes and stamps on it. If you don't know what that is, pick up a Disney Passport in any of the World Showcase shops and you'll see what I mean.

The greenery, save for the parts that need a little better upkeep, are outstanding. The parts that are well kept are an awesome sight to behold.

Final notes:

I find it a bit surreal that I've now finished all three things I wanted to do that I've been trying to accomplish for years.

Move to Florida. Check.
Get my dad's Buick back. Check.
Finish Epcot Center World Showcase. Check.

Have you ever been wanting to do something for so long that it appears it'll never get done? But then when you do finally do it, you're surprised you actually got to it? That's the feeling I have right now.

But it's cool. 😀

Published 2007 Aug 27