Our Uncle Walt is at Walt Disney World — but no one else is! This is the second installment of Walt’s trip report from inside the (closed) gates.
EPCOT, FL — Hi loyal readers, thanks for asking. By now you’ve probably received a communication in the post that states that all Disney parks are shut down indefinitely. The most frequent question we continue to receive during this time is, “What are the parks like during a shutdown?”
I am still isolating myself at Walt Disney World, as it is still the best place to get away from the crowds. The Security Officers are social distancing themselves, so I have been free to roam about the parks. [Ed.: Okay, so far, this is just copied and pasted from last week’s article.]
In our first installment I visited the Magic Kingdom. Today, I venture to EPCOT.
I present to you my un-edited notes from the field:
Un-edited notes from the field (edited)
As expected, the construction wall tour is still on-going. I opted to do the early morning tour before the park officially opens so I could grab those excellent wall selfies without all of the people. Turns out it was the perfect time, with the perfect lighting!
The first stop is always Spaceship Earth. Today the ride stopped right next to the Phoenicians. It was great to actually give them a heartfelt thank you, instead of the usual yelling it quickly as we go by. They are really fascinating people. We had a great conversation, but soon the ride started back up and we were off.
Futureworld continued
After exiting and sending my video to the boys back at UWI H.Q., I headed over to Mission: Space. Turns out if you’re by yourself, you can actually make a safe landing on both Mars and back at the Cape.
After a hero’s welcome and ticker tape parade, I stopped by the re-imagining of Guardians of the Galaxy, which is currently under refurb to transform it to Guardians of the Galaxy 2. It’s really looking great and I think everyone will love the changes.
Test Track 2.0 still sucks.
I did manage to make it to the other side of Futureworld. It was a short 2.5 mile walk, thanks to the work walls and detours. I had a special Dive Quest setup where I was able to freely scuba dive around the Living Seas. The Coral Reef patrons loved my antics. I’ll have to stop by again soon!
I went on Soarin’ for the special “Soarin’ over New Jersey” version. Wow, amazing! Figment was down, the skunks got loose and they were busy rounding them up.
World Showcase
I headed to the World Showcase where the Flower, Garden, Food & Wine Festival is currently running. I went to Mexico first where I enjoyed a Pepe’s Especial Margarita. They are pricey, but good. Seriously folks, no fake news here, ask for one next time you visit La Cava Del Tequila. Pepe came up with it just for me. Tell him Uncle Walt sent you! I skipped the Mexico boat ride cause I had my drink and my drink was more important than the ride.
Off to Norway. Frozen had a posted 120-minute wait. As much as I wanted to ride, I had to just let it pass and headed into China.
The new “Virus Free” version of the show in China was just a boring as the original. But outside at the food booth, they had a new menu item that I just had to try — bat skewers! Boy were they tasty! I also had the crab rangoon.
Germany was boring, other than I did get a gallon of Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen to wash down the bat.
Italy was quiet, not much to see today. So different than normal.
Hit the American Adventure pavilion. Grabbed a tasty BBQ sandwich and watched Former Journey Lead Vocalist Steve Augeri put on a great show. He begged me to come back to the next set, but I had things to do.
On to Japan. I picked out an oyster with 17 of the rarest pearls you could ever find. In one oyster! The cast members were astonished. I told them that’s just what happens when you’re Uncle Walt. I took my new precious pearls and chunked them into the World Showcase Lagoon. I don’t wear pearls!
The King of Morocco sent workers over to completely re-do the whole pavilion. They are doing a great job, and I can’t wait for all of you to see the changes. (Hint: they’re adding traditional Moroccan dancing LED lights and lasers on the buildings!)
This is still going
In France I got one of those orange slush drinks and a baguette. And I saw Remy! With these record low crowds, he was able to roam freely around the pavilion. He looks much cuter, and cleaner, in the movie.
I strolled across the channel to the UK and hit up the Rose and Crown pub. The restaurant was empty, but the pub side was the place to be! I had a few pints with the locals, turns out they just put the UK Pavilion back in place after Iger convinced them to come back. It was the last great thing Iger did for Disney. Great party too!
It was getting late and I didn’t want to miss the last Skyliner, but I had made the mistake of venturing too far into the Canada Pavilion. The Cast Members were all lined up and apologizing for the shutdown. Seriously, all 737 Canadian Cast Members – the maximum number that the Canada Pavilion can hold – were there to apologize. They wouldn’t let me leave until all of them did.
I finally made it out of the park, after stepping back at the Rose and Crown pub for another pint or few, but did I make it in time to catch the last Skyliner of the night? Tune in next time to find out!
Do Canadians ever apologize for being stereotyped as polite? Let us know in the comments below!
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