Epcot at Night - Leaving a Legacy

We love spending a couple to three hours of time on Friday nights in Future World at Epcot.  Even if it's predicted that Epcot will have a high Friday night crowd, we have never been deterred by the crowds, due to the fact that we spend our Friday evenings in Future World, and not the World Showcase where a lot of the guests go to eat and drink.

Even if Epcot is predicted to have high crowds, we have been unaffected by it.  What we do is select FastPasses for the evening a month in advance.  When we go, we really only have enough time to do our FastPasses, plus maybe one or two of the less popular attractions, and then watch Illuminations and then go home.

Someone might then ask, is it really worth the 50 minute drive to do this on a Friday evening?  And my answer is. Yes!!!!!


Why?  Two reasons, Soarin' Around the World, and Illuminations.

Soarin', in my opinion, has got to be one of the most awe inspiring attractions in all of Walt Disney World.  Everytime I go on this attraction I find myself telling my kids, "This was worth the sacrifice to get here."

I have actually been to two of the locations featured on Soarin', Neuschwantstein, and Monument Valley, in Utah, and based on my experience, the ride really makes you feel like you are actually there.

And because of that, I can assume that I'm getting pretty close to feeling what it must be like going to other places in Soarin' like the Taj Mahal, and the Opera House in Sidney.

Beside the two locations shown here, I know I will never go to these other places in real life, and Soarin' gives me a nearly 3D feeling of being there with a real 360 degree experience.  For me
it is well worth the ticket price!!!!!!!

Hope you enjoy this little snippet I took while riding Soarin'.  Please forgive my little gleeful noises.  I can't help myself.

In addition to Soarin', one of my favorite Epcot rides is Spaceship Earth.  I could ride this over and over again.  I love the history of it, the music, and cool animatronics....

Spaceship Earth is gorgeous at night.  

 This vignette features the beginning of public schools.  Listening to the Greek is fun for me.

This one depicts the enlightenment of the Renaissance.

These are the two attractions I always get FastPasses for, and if we are going to have time I'll get one for Mission Space, but we can always walk on the Finding Nemo ride which is a real treat at night....

This photo shows the Finding Nemo Seagulls crying, "Mine, mine, mine" in front of Spaceship Earth.

This a real awkward family photo.  Dad wanted a picture in front of the fish.  My legs look like I've been sitting in the sun all day, but actually I had walked about five miles that day and had a mile or two to go, and my shorts have decided to be capris, a malfunction that happens when your hips are two sizes bigger than your waist. Dad and my 16 y/o look like they are exhausted and trying to look like they are having fun, and the 9 y/o looks like he has more energy than the rest of us.

.What I really like most about the Finding Nemo ride is the educational value at the end.  Epcot Finding Nemo has a very nice acquarium attraction at the end, and I feel it rivals other acquariums that I have been to, including the Orlando area.  Here you can view dolphins in a massive salt water acquarium, and then go upstairs during feeding time and watch and learn about the feeding process.

The acquarium also has a habitat tank for injured manatees where you can watch them under water as well as go upstairs and listen to and watch lectures and feeding time in regards to the manatees.  How much would you be willing to pay for your children to have this experience outside of a WDW venue?  I know that in Orlando, this experience would cost at least $20.00 for a one hour experience without the lectures and tours!

The dolphins are very active at night and like to show off to the viewers.

The manatees are not active at night, and yet, they still have to interrupt their naps every few minutes to go up and get more air.  You thought getting up at night to go to the bathroom was bad!

There are several other smaller tanks to view fish and other sea life in the Finding Nemo Acquarium.  Unfortunately, these tanks are darkened at night.  I took these last two during the day.

These papa sea horses are preggo.

Oh oh!  Look who was eaten by Bruce!

After stopping by Nemo we can walk up the pathway towards the World Showcase and just barely step into to watch Illuminations.  From this approach, it's easy to get a good viewing spot without having to save a place and wait.  No, you can't see the floating globe very well, but you can get a good view of the fireworks, and get out of the park before the crowds do!

Illuminations:  I never get sick of it.  Love the music, and love the fireworks. It's another Epcot attraction that is definitely worth what you can do to go and experience it!

 Walking back to the parking lot, we have a little fun along the way in this splash pad.

And the sights are gorgeous.  This photo of the water reflecting Spaceship Earth does not do the personal view justice.

This scene always brings feelings of melancholy for me.  This was always the view that signified, when we didn't live near WDW that our vacation was over.  Even now, though we live here, I have a little twinge of sadness as we walk away.  I love this place for the escape that it is from the stresses of daily responsibility, and for the great opportunities to learn new things on many topics.

But most of all, I love the memories I can make with my family and the time spent getting to enjoy my kids while they are still with us.

We've since sent four of our older children out of our family's nest, and I hang onto my memories of having them run through the Leave a Legacy monoliths when they were little.  

I think that's why I like Epcot so much, because everywhere you turn you see the legacies of so many celebrated as you leave your legacy for your own children, a legacy of family memories. 

Here are more Epcot at night photos that I hope will bring fond memories to my kids as I try to leave my own legacy for them.....

Riding into Spaceship Earth

Painting of the Sistene Chapel in Spaceship Earth

The computer lab in Spaceship Earth

An interactive journey through your future in Spaceship Earth.  He's mine and my hubby's future. :)

Inside The Land cafeteria where the entrance of Soarin' Over the World is accessed.

Daddy is excited about riding Soarin'!

Soarin' over the Matterhorn!!!!

Spaceship Earth lit up at night is beautiful!

This is the Leave a Legacy Monolith Garden.  You can't see it, but if you can make out the texture on the granite monoliths, each little spot that you see is an actual photo.  There are 700,000 one inch photos of Epcot guests etched into the granite.  These etchings were placed to celebrate the year 2000, and are planned to stay until at least 2027.