Universe of Energy

I have to admit something.  I’ve never actually gone inside the Universe of Energy at Epcot. It’s been there since 1982. Not once has it enticed me inside. Maybe I’ll correct that this week, just to see the show.  I understand it has Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye.  Both seem like nice folks and it may even be a good show. I just walk right past this place on my way down to the World Showcase.

To be honest, I skip most of the attractions in Epcot’s Future World. It’s not just the Universe of Energy. Maybe it’s because I suffered through so many Walt Disney educational films when I was in school that I now have no desire to ride through something designed to educate and enlighten me. If I want to learn something, I’ll study it. When I go to a theme park full of attractions, I want to have fun. No matter how hard folks have tried, I’ve never found one-way education to be much fun.  I need to put my hands on something.  I need to apply it. If I can’t apply it while I’m watching, then I need to do it soon after. Part of this ride takes you through a dinosaur diorama.  Now I ask you, where the hell am I going to get a viable dinosaur for my Universe of Energy experiments?

On the other hand, this exterior scene caught my attention during one trip as I was walking around it. The clouds, the converging shapes, and that spike stretching into the air suddenly made this look like it could work in an old science fiction movie. There was only one problem. A duck.

Perched right in front of this display was your typical Florida Mottled Duck. It’s not even an attractive duck. You’d think I could get a mallard or a wood duck, but no.  I got the ugliest, most boring brown duck in the known galaxy – right in the way of my shot of the Universe of Energy.

There’s something you ought to know about ducks at Walt Disney World.  They don’t care. These guys are surrounded by millions of tourists and they just do not give a shit. They seem to have lost any natural fear of humans. In fact, they just wish we weren’t in between them and our french fries. These are some bold little ducks. My duck seemed to be quite content to wait were he was until I brought him some french fries. It was a test of wills.

I didn’t cave, though.  I sat there right behind my tripod and waited on that damn duck, just like I’ve waited on so many other tourists. A kid went by with a hotdog and that was all she wrote. The duck pursued in hopes of some fries and I made my shots. As I was closing my tripod, he flew into the water right behind the flowers in the Universe of Energy fountain.  Too late, duck. I got my shot.