EPCOT

Don't they look like they're worshipping that famous landmark? Hypnotized by it? Disney World does wield a certain power over children of all ages.  Some may be gawking in disbelief, though.  One of my Facebook chums wrote this when I posted a pic from my recent visit:

As part of the second consecutive coming, I always wonder if God's going to take a whack at that thing with his driver.

In earlier days,  EPCOT (Experiment Prototype Community of Tomorrow) was the theme park you went to when you were in less of a mood for wild rides.  More educational.  A place Walt Disney originally conceived as somewhere people could live, not merely visit.  To date, that hasn't entirely panned out, though the nearby Celebration neighborhood took its bidding.  Spaceship Earth, enclosed in that famous golfball sphere, takes you from prehistoric times to the future.  I remember my trips to EPCOT Center in the '80s, one exhibit featuring a catchy rap about grammar ("Punch out a verb!").  In more recent years, the International Food and Wine Festival entices those without tugging little ones to sample wines, cheeses, and to learn new kitchen skills with culinary demonstrations.  One may also attend beverage seminars.

I spent a weekend with family and made some new friends as we sampled beers in several of the countries (it was National Beer Day, how convenient!) and commented on how tiring the whole theme park thing is.  I was the least cynical of the group, believe it or not.  We had dinner in Germany at that beer hall replica in which a buffet sports every imaginable sort of meat.  There were musicians to entertain us with accordions and horns.  They recruited volunteers from the audience to rhythmically bang what looked like (though not necessarily sounded like) cowbells.  I only drank a half liter of dark beer.

My main purpose for this entry is to remind/educate the invisible audience about the second most famous thing about EPCOT, at least in its earlier years. CAPTAIN EO, a seventeen minute music video in the science fiction genre, stars Michael Jackson and was directed by Francis Ford Coppola.  It was quite an event in the '80s and ran until '97.  It was shown in 3-D (still remember that dove).  Does it hold up? Judge for yourself.