St. George and his horse prepare to fight an unseen dragon in the middle of EPCOT’s German Pavilion.
Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:
Each year Anne and I take one (1) road trip to a different part of the United States and see attractions, wonders, and events we didn’t have back home. One thing we rarely do is fly. We’d much rather drive than be flown unless we absolutely have to…or are given some pretty sweet incentives to do so. Fast-forward to December 2022 and a most unexpected opportunity: The Powers That Be at Anne’s rather large place of employment recognized her and several other employees nationwide for outstanding achievements in the field of excellence. Their grand prize was a Disney World vacation! We could at last announce to friends and family, “THE GOLDENS ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!”
For Anne it was officially, legally a business trip. Much of the time, she’d have to work. Not ME, baby…
My tour of the southern end of EPCOT kept going and going as the walkways took me through one simulated country after another in their World Showcase — more exhibits, more gift shops, and more flashy architecture that’s either iconic or stereotypical depending on your emotional relationship to the subjects at hand.
The World Showcase Lagoon is the centerpiece of all those countries’ areas.
Disney’s Morocco!
Sample Moroccan door.
A spice garden containing mint, French marigold, garlic, spearmint, parsley, black pepper and more.
These Pain and Panic figurines from Hercules caught my eye in one of the Japan area’s gift shops, but didn’t quite fit into our dedicated Japan gallery or my budget.
Ditto this sweet Coco art, which I would’ve expected in the Mexico pavilion. (That’ll be next chapter.)
As of today America is still a country and therefore had its own unexotic section. I wish this theater had been showing Rogers: The Musical.
Bona fide American flowers, probably.
Disney’s Italy!
Authentic Italian sights included the god Neptune…
…and long lines for pizza.
Disney’s Germany!
Naturally their Germany had a beer hall.
Naturally their gift shops included a Christmas store.
Next to one German building was a tiny, unexplained Middle-Earth cottage.
I understand Disney’s Animal Kingdom devotes much space to Africa. Here in EPCOT, the continent got the Morocco area plus this one gift shop vaguely labeled “Outpost” on the map. That’s it, that was EPCOT’s Africa.
An inlet just past Outpost.
Disney’s China!
A collection of little statues celebrated the Chinese Zodiac. I was born in the Year of the Rat; hence, Chinese Remy.
The gift shops looked exactly as expected.
Buddha smiles and welcomes you, yet on the inside he suppresses any desire to see you.
Buddha living on Chinese rock.
Souvenirs for sale included turtles of various sizes including Crush from Finding Nemo…
…and Maneki-neko, those world-famous happy waving cats. They’re actually Japanese but are popular in China, and a common sight throughout our past Chinatown visits.
…and the countries just kept on comin’. To be continued!
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[Link enclosed here to handy checklist for other chapters and for our complete major trip history to date. Follow us on Facebook or via email sign-up for new-entry alerts. For further signs of life between entries, wave hi to me on . Thanks for reading!]
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