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From: allender@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU (Eric Allender)
Newsgroups: net.travel
Subject: Re: EPCOT
Message-ID: <4529@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Wed, 5-Mar-86 09:22:54 EST
Article-I.D.: topaz.4529
Posted: Wed Mar  5 09:22:54 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 7-Mar-86 07:59:15 EST
References: <57200003@hpcvlo.UUCP> <757@harvard.UUCP>
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
Lines: 47

I hate to see EPCOT get a bum rap.  NO -- going to EPCOT is NOT a substitute 
for travel to a foreign country.  YES -- EPCOT *CAN* be extremely enjoyable.

Like most readers of this newsgroup, I am rather well-travelled and have had
many wonderful experiences abroad, and thus I, like most of you, know that
dinner at a Disney Biergarten is not an accurate reflection of the cultural
scene in Bavaria.  Nonetheless, I had an excellent meal in the Disney 
Biergarten, was treated to first-class entertainment, and danced a number of
delightful dances.  Admittedly, you will only enjoy this if you have a taste
for Polkas, waltzes, yodelling, krummhorns, and other art forms which are 
almost humorously stereotypically German, and yet are undeniably valid parts of
the German heritage and are perfectly valid folk art forms.  This sort of
entertainment is much easier to come by in the U.S. than in Germany.  
(Surprisingly, kneipen in East Germany are much more likely to be havens for
traditional song and dance than are those in the West.)
     By the same token, lunch at the Mexican cantina and dinner in "Morocco"
can offer excellent food and entertainment, and should be enjoyed as such, and 
not viewed with scorn because they are not "authentic".
     By far the best value at EPCOT is the street entertainment.  When my wife
and I were there, there were marvelous stilt dancers from France, fascinating
silk- and fan-dancers from China, a thoroughly-enjoyable theatre troupe from
Japan, performing snippets of traditional theatrical works (mime and dance, 
with comic bits interspersed), as well as an incredible demonstration, by one
of the Japanese comic actors, of a traditional craft of making fanciful birds
and dragons from beeswax (each creation took about one minute).  There was 
also a very good Canadian brass ensemble, and a Mexican band.  These 
entertainers were all uniformly excellent.  (There were other demonstrations
which were less successful, but they were the minority.)  Thus EPCOT had the
flavor of an arts fair, where the acts were of unusually high quality.
   The pavilions are of varying quality.  However, don't let one or two
disappointments keep you from trying other pavilions -- you will probably find
something you will enjoy if you keep looking.  The Mexican pavilion was the
one I liked the least (I found the boat ride inane, and, as that was the first
pavilion we visited, I was all set to really dislike EPCOT) -- however one
of the people who posted an earlier article on this subject stated that they
found the Mexican pavilion to be one of their favorites.  The lesson is that
tastes vary.  I personally didn't care much for most of the "technological"
displays -- the Kraft exhibit being the exception.
     If you are predisposed to look down your nose and not enjoy things like
EPCOT, then you should by all means stay away.  You should also be cautioned
not to have expectations which are unrealistically high.  EPCOT is, after all,
only an amusement park.  However, it is an exceptionally beautiful and
entertaining amusement park, with crystal blue water and beautiful beds of
flowers and high caliber entertainment, and can form the basis of a very
enjoyable vacation.
-- Eric Allender
(Formerly of Ga. Tech., and only recently transplanted in N.J.)