Land of the Rising Sun

It’s a little past 4:00 now – wow, we spent two hours at dinner! – so we have some time before going to the Candlelight Processional, which is presented in the American Gardens Theater opposite the American Adventure pavilion. We head towards it (although Brandon suggests going to Canada, which is quite a distance in the opposite direction).

We go past Morocco, which we explored on the last trip. A band is playing some driving rock music with an Arabian flavor on a stage in front of the pavilion. I can only assume that this is Mo Rockin’. You don’t see too many bands with their own belly dancer.

We approach to the Japan pavilion. The Matsuriza drummers are pounding away on the pagoda. There’s a point about halfway between the pavilions where the sound the drumming from one direction and the band from the other are about equal – and both very loud. Now there’s a “battle of the bands” I’d like to see.

There’s an ice cream cart nearby. We emphatically decide we are not hungry right now, not even for a Mickey bar!

One thing I have never done, in all of my visits to Epcot, is explore the Japan pavilion. I’ve not been much past the pagoda, in fact. Anyone up for that? Sure. We head towards the deep reaches of the pavilion.

It is, like so many locations in Walt Disney World, deeply immersive. You can almost convince yourself that you are actually in Japan, the farther back you go. Such realism! One thing I’ve heard from many who have traveled to Japan is how Westerners tend to be taller than the locals, and I am finding that to be true here. Of course, I’m 6’5”, so this happens to me just about everywhere. But it helps the illusion!

The very back of the pavilion looks like a Japanese fortress, but actually contains a store. In it are all sorts of imported foods, including many bagged snacks. Some are more exotic than others – shrimp flavored chips, anyone? I suspect that we wouldn’t be buying much here even if we hadn’t just eaten.

We pass out of the store and spot an exhibit hall to one side, advertising a display called “Tin Toy Story.” In it are hundreds and hundreds of metal toys of all shapes and sizes, along with a history of these toys and their popularity in Japan over the years. Many of them are of Disney characters, and were the first exposure many in that country had of Mickey Mouse and our other favorites.

Okay, enough cultural immersion for now. It’s approaching 4:30, so we head to the American Gardens Theater.

We were not given specific instructions about when to be at the Theater, but I am glad we did not wait any longer! A cast member is guarding the entrance and is only letting people through with the reserved seating badges – all of the other seats are already taken for this performance.

As we enter the Theater itself, we see that the place is about 90% full! Okay, then. Fortunately, our passes get us some fairly decent seats, on the right-hand side about a third of the way back from the stage. We settle in for what we’ve heard is a great show.