The Munchkin in Future World at Epcot Part II - The Land

The subtitle to this post should be: Kids can Have Fun Anywhere.
With Soarin’ as it’s main attraction, you wouldn’t think that The Land would be much of an attraction for a two year old as she is way too short to ride. We really wanted to experience this attraction again and also allow The Munchkin’s grandparents to enjoy it as well. We were pleasantly surprised that this pavilion actually has quite a bit to offer little ones, as always it isn’t always what is offered but what they find. We rushed there, along with everyone else at Epcot that morning, to make sure that we saw Soarin’ before fast passes ran out. On our way in, and it is a long way up to the building, parking the stroller and then you must snake around the mezzanine and then down the escalator. At the bottom there was a huge line of castmembers, food service workers from Sunshine Seasons, waving, cheering and greeting us. It was a really nice touch and a great beginning of the day. It kind of felt like a parade and people were really getting really excited.

For Soarin’, switching off involved getting a ticket for the parties that weren’t riding so that they could return and ride in the fast pass line. For those of you that don’t know about switching off, you let a castmember know that you want to switch off - so that someone can stay with the short person or persons, they give you a ticket and instructions as to how you can experience the attraction with the rest of your party later with someone else watching the small ones. I took the first shift with the Munchkin while my hubby went with his parents to ride Soarin’. I had a grand plan to take her on Living with the Land, an attraction that I really like. The Munchkin had other ideas. The chairs in the dining area, which was not being used at the time as they were not serving breakfast, needed rearranging. She had as much fun rearranging the chairs (which I later put back so that we didn’t leave a mess) as she did playing on the playgrounds or seeing attractions. While there is no playground in this pavilion there are a ton of open carpeted spaces away from the major traffic paths, for kids to run, scream, play, wrestle and goof off in. By the time that her Papa and Grandparents arrived back she was still amusing herself. Her Opa (granddad) decided that he wanted some Munchkin time so they went off to ride Living with the Land while the rest of us went back to Soarin’. They had a boat to themselves and really enjoyed the ride, so much so that they rode it twice. She got off telling us all about plants and Mickey (as in Mickey pumpkins and Mickey cucumbers). She was really excited and as much as she was able to communicate about it, it seemed that she had actually learned something.

We basically left The Land after this but I wanted to make a few notes for people planning future trips. First, Sunshine Seasons Food Fair is one of the best, and most nutritious counter service eateries in the world (for me it is second only to my favorite and slightly less healthy Pecos Bills in the Magic Kingdom- I can’t get away from the toppings bar - I have issues). There are a ton of nutritious choices here and you can mix and match. When we were here when I was pregnant this was the place to eat healthy counter service. They also will cook something dishes to order. There is also The Circle of Life - An Environmental Fable, a movie featuring Timone, Pumba and Simba of the Lion King about Environmentality. It is pretty entertaining and I really enjoyed it but it just doesn’t stand up to some of the other offerings in Epcot. The theatre is rarely crowded and it is a nice quiet place to breast feed or catch a nap. Next up...Imagination....