Epcot

It's been more than twenty years since I've been to Epcot and it just didn't feel the same to me. I enjoyed myself for the most part and Mission: SPACE is a really interesting experience.

Sarah and I were last here on our honeymoon. I remembered having a good time and I know I had a great time when I came as a kid and later in college. This time around it just felt like there was too much commercialism. That's always been true in the world based attractions (mostly shops and resturants) but I don't recall this being the case years ago in the general attractions.

Test Track for example is one never ending commercial for GM. I get the idea of sponsorship, but it seemed to go way over the top, more so when I'm paying to be there. ExxonMobil is the sponsor of Universe of Energy, which was a good tour of the subject, especially for the youngsters, but the opinions of this oil company come through loud and clear to this jaded adult (the general summary is that everything is fine, which I don't accept). I'll have to check with the kids to see what they think about it.

Innoventions (west) held a lot of promise but turned out to be one long commercial, from IBM's booth like area to all the Sony sponsorship in the future Video Gaming area to Lustron's area about future Home Theater. Both 'future' areas were sadly all about today, which may be useful for many people, but I remembered Epcot as being ahead of the curve, not somewhere back in the pack.

I guess I'm bummed and that's why this write up sounds more than a little negative. It's been a long time and I guess I was hoping to be blown away. My expectation exceeded reality.