11,271 Steps

That’s how many my iPhone recorded this afternoon, walking with Steph and Clara at Epic Universe on the last day of team members’ preview before the grand opening in May. I’m tired.

The park is absolutely amazing. So intricate, so many details. After gaping at the front central area (I gaped, they had been before) with celestial area and lagoon, we rode the elevators through the portal to Nintendo World.  I sort of knew some of the games having played, and forgotten, Pikman, plus having been exposed to Mario Brothers. We watched or a while, Clara too, pictures. The stairs down and out were steep. I’m sure there are elevators, but this area was easier on foot.

Next up, the Dark Universe and what we call Kyle’s ride, formally titled “Monsters Unchained: the Frankenstein Experiment”, which he worked on for the past year or so. After being in the queue where we listened to an animatronic granddaughter of Dr. Frankenstein tell of her attempt to redeem her family’s name and watched monsters and other phantoms, we were ushered into a room where Igor (more animation) told us about the experiments. When we heard a voice break to announce, “So and so report to the lab”, we should have known there was a problem with the ride. After about a 1/2 hour standing around, I sat down. At least it was in air conditioning, and there was an emergency exit right next to me. Definitely thankful we were only probably half the number of people who would normally be stuffed in. My claustrophobia would have arisen.

This is why they have team members’ previews: so we could be the guinea pigs to test the park. Another 15 minutes, and the doors opened to the actual ride, cars that fit 4 people and took us on a jolting ride through the dark, continuing the story of monsters being captured, then escaping, etc. Fortunately, Steph told me to keep my head back so I could hear the narration and to keep my neck from being hurt. Good idea. So much animation and animatronics. I see many jobs keeping this ride working.

The rest of the afternoon, we wandered. My favorite part was the Isle of Berk from How to Train Your Dragons movies, especially the animated sheep. In the Harry Potter area, we watched people have fun waving their wands and making things in the windows react. I cannot imagine how much the family with 5 children, each with their own wand, had spent.

My favorite takeaways:

     The lockers at the ride where we touched a screen to have our picture taken and a locker door popped open (naturally mine was on the bottom row) so we could put all of our stuff inside. At the end of the ride, we were on the other side of the locker area. Touch the screen, have it do facial recognition, and my locker door popped open. Easy peasy. 

     The souvenir soda cup I bought that would let me refill all day, but with a 10-minute wait between fills since the soda machine can read a sensor in the cup. Plus water at the machine is free. Nice.

     The attention to details in decoration. If I were attracted to theme parks, it would be fun to come back again and again to be able to see all of them.

     The landscaping with lots of native plants. Okay, the larkspurs tucked into the Fakahatchee grass and ferns won’t last the weekend, and the pots of northern annuals have to be replaced weekly I’d bet, but there were pines, counties, palmettos, etc. I know now why I can’t find a weeping Yaupon holly: they are at Epic. Well done! I also really liked the huge Elephant Ear Staghorn (Platycerium elephantotis née P. angolensi) which makes me want to grow those beauties. No! I need to keep to natives.

      The costumes from complete outfits to many with headbands with small stuffed characters to T-shirts. 

By 6:30, we had walked the park and were back to the front entrance. Clara wanted to go back to Harry Potter to take pictures. Not for me. I was tempted to sit and see the park lit up after dark, but I was tired. I opted to go home. Arrg, my car was parked in the last row at the far end. At least it was the first lot. I wonder if there will be trams eventually? Definitely doing valet parking next time.