The United Kingdom Pavilion is one of my favorite stops along Epcot’s World Showcase. It’s a prime location for viewing IllumiNations, especially with patio dining at Rose & Crown. It’s also conveniently situated near the International Gateway/rear entrance to the Park. And, it’s got these cool red phone booths where you can make and receive calls from all over the world! If one rings, go ahead and answer it. It just may be someone packing for the trip down who needs to check the weather. If you yourself would like to call, the numbers are
Right Booth: (407) 827-9861
Left Booth: (407) 827-9862
Center Booth: (407) 827-9863
(By the way, the Canada Phone Booth can be reached at (407) 827-9884.)
The Pavilion’s quaint appeal just draws me in. Since the architecture pulls from so many eras and period styles, it’s like visiting the British Isles as I’m walking through history. Entering from the south, the thatched-roofed Tea Caddy transports me to the 1500s and Shakespearean culture with its rendering Anne Hathaway’s cottage. (Step inside for an array of tea time tastes and treats!)
Proceeding on into the Pavilion, we travel across time and distance as we glimpse the London and Edinburgh of days gone by. The Queen’s Table, a two-story structure with overhanging upper story, brings us to the 1600s, and the Queen Anne Room, rendered in plaster, carries us into the 1700s. The stone and columned Lords and Ladies highlights the 1800s, while the Toy Soldier, Crown & Crest and Sportsmans’ Shoppe wrap back around to the 1500s. The interior and exterior designs of the Rose & Crown Pub represent four distinct eras and styles: Victorian, Elizabethan, provincial, and waterfront.
To the rear of the Pavilion is a nearly hidden park and bandstand, the perfect place to relax awhile and maybe picnic on some fish-n-chips while the kids play in the knee-high shrubbery maze. You can also check Guide times to see when the British Revolution, a four-piece tribute band who debuted last May, performs a chronological journey though decades of popular British music like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and The Who.
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| Photo via AllEars.net |
Today’s Takeaway:
Clear the living room! Pick everything up off the floor and scoot the furniture back against the wall. Now, bring out all the shoes in your closet and dump them in the middle of the floor. Yes, that’s what I said!
Since it’s a bit too time consuming to create a maze of hedges in your garden, you’re going to design a puzzle of shoes on the living room floor. Line shoes up one in front of the other until you have a challenging maze set up. Leave walking space between them, and make sure you have both an entrance and an exit.
Now, challenge each child to a race! Cue up your favorite Beatles song on iTunes. Mom or Dad, start the music as Child #1 runs the maze. Pause it when the child exits. See if Child #2 (#3, #4, etc.) can beat (get the pun?) that time.
SCHOOL SUBJECT: Physical Activity
SKILL LEVEL: Elementary
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