The Great Experiment

Sunday, July 16, 2000: Today I meet up with SlinkyDog, MacBadger, and DisNut at Epcot at 1pm.

Evening update

DisNut was busy buying her new Saturn today, so she couldn't join us at one o'clock, but I met up with SlinkyDog and MacBadger underneath Spaceship Earth.

One new thing they're doing at Epcot is the "Leave A Legacy" project. For a fee, you can have a very small black-and-white photograph taken of yourself (and a loved one, if you wish) and added to one of hundreds of plates which will be installed 'permanently' on the large stone monoliths in front of Spaceship Earth.

A visual record of all the people Disney bilked money out of

I think the faces are too small to make out, but they'll supposedly be there for future generations, and tens of thousands of people have already participated in this. (I might have joined in if they'd have printed names along with the photos.)

I decided to make this visit to Epcot more or less a tour of the 'old Epcot', the attractions which were around way back when. First we revisited Horizons to see its current condition.

Apparently that old building is proving to be a real pain to tear down; it's fighting to the last. It looks like they folded down the corners of the roof, and they've carved away at it with heavy machinery until only the core of it remains, surrounded by rubble. The only recognizable feature from where we were standing was part of one of the evacuation hallways (the black piece).

From here we moved on to the Universe of Energy, to ride its one and only attraction: Ellen's Energy Adventure. The animatronics are largely unchanged from the early 1980's, but the preshow is a lot more fun.

Jamie Lee Curtis, Albert Einstein, and Ellen DeGeneres play Jeopardy

I actually like this ride better than the dumbed-down Dinosaur ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Next we rode Test Track. Okay, so it's not 'old school' Epcot, but SlinkyDog (being a cast member with connections) had a re-boarding pass to get us in right quick, so how could we pass it up?

The overhead parts bins are the same ones used in the Star Tours queue

This is a mirror; the signs on the 'second' ramp are actually printed in reverse on the back of the first one

A brief stop by the Butterfly Garden, because I had never noticed it before...

Pretty flowers

Truth in advertising: real butterflies!

A flower growing among lilypads

We stopped into Innoventions, where SlinkyDog said hi to everybody because he used to work there. The 'home of tomorrow' and 'home theater' demonstrations made my wallet want to leap out of my pocket...

I want this electic-powered robotic lawnmower

The Motorola robot's game-show host voice has been replaced by Robin Williams; frankly I preferred the game-show voice

There's plenty of empty space in Innoventions, however. Disney does a good job of distracting eyes away from it, but if you make a point of trying to look in the opposite direction of things which are trying to get your attention, there's a lot of urban blight to be seen.

Nothing to see here, folks

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