Major FOMO at Epcot: Top senses Part 2

Glad to have you back! This week we'll explore the top sights, sounds and smells of EPCOT center! These would surely give Helen Keller major FOMO. Let's just jump right into it!

Sight: EPCOT Center is widely known for its visual beauty. From the meticulously manicured gardens of petunias, to the world class laser and firework shows, face it, Epcot is a total dime piece. But to us, the most captivating sight at EPCOT is watching park goers creatively and unapologetically string along their 5 PM lakeside table dining reservation for optimum viewing of the 9 PM “Illuminations: Reflections of Earth” show. Drink after drink, these dining masterminds stagger appetizers and send back plate after plate to the kitchen to buy extra table time; there was less waste in First Class on the Titanic. Our second favorite sight at EPCOT, is observing the waiters patiently and professionally absorb the brazen requests, nay orders of Rose DeWitt Bukater, et al, party of six. Now before you judge the “Women and Children First Brigade” for their antics, please understand that the alternative to their ploy is, well, the exact same seat and view along the remaining 6,294 feet around the lake OUTSIDE of the restaurant. Even as the fireworks conclude, the diners continue to cling to their table like it’s a floating door in the Atlantic while Celine Dion belts a tearful finale melody. The moment however Ms. Dion’s serenade concludes, the first class diners anxiously and impatiently flag down their waiter for their more than likely dining plan check, eager to review it with Rose’s fine toothed butterfly hair comb.

Sound: Our favorite sound in all of EPCOT is hands down (and inside the ride vehicle at all times!) a specific noise that is completely park-goer generated. Think back to the last time you experienced Soarin’. Your glider lowered you back down to the ground and returned your feet EXACTLY on top of your sandals (witchcraft!), the light brightened to that specific Disney communicative shade which translates roughly to “Bye-EEEEEEEE”, and then it happened: Click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click. A completely unrehearsed symphony of impatience drowns out the Soarin’ exit music as humans of all ages repeatedly press the red rectangular release button of their seatbelt as if their lives depended on it. The rhythm of these clicks is a similar cadence to the rapid fire tugging of a locked car door handle before your mom made it big time with a key fob remote. This kind of contagious group restlessness rarely exists outside of an elementary school classroom. It’s almost as if this park was designed for children or something…

Smell: The only reason we continue to ride Spaceship Earth visit after visit is for the smells. And honestly, they’re not even necessarily good smells, just familiar and well, kind of musty. Is there a failed flashing detail between one of the 11,324 triangles? Is the ride generated by burning soggy crayon shavings? Maybe the smell is there to distract us from our 26th president Teddy Roosevelt moonlighting as a Roman Senator, or Andrew Jackson apparently inventing the printing press (white men really can have it all!). We will never know. Never the less, we still channel SNL’s Mary Catherine Gallagher in her Catholic school girl uniform after stuffing her hands in her armpits and take a big old sniff any time we even walk by the ride!

So, until this “conscious coupling” of Future World and World Showcase pulls a Gwyneth and Chris on us, which of the five senses at EPCOT are the…wait for it… “Apple” of your eye? In the meantime, let’s pour out some Beverly for the queen of senseless fame, Helen Keller, who was sadly never able to have any of the sensory experiences we just listed- mostly because she passed away 14 years before EPCOT opened…

Stop dreaming about it, why not make your favorite EPCOT sense into a hat? Contact 999Spyglass to have a custom order made just for you!