I just returned from a trip to Florida with Byron (my 20-year old son.) While there, we had to take the obligatory pilgrimage to Walt Disney World. We chose Epcot as our destination for the day.
I've always been fascinated by Walt Disney's original vision for Epcot. The name is actually an acronym for Experimental Prototype City Of Tomorrow. Walt Disney originally envisioned this as a working city, demonstrating the use of technology to create a better life. At the same time, the site was to be a "laboratory" to test new concepts in a real-world situation. I still feel that there is a need for such a "proving ground."
In the real world however, Epcot is a theme park. The first week of January is a great time to go. In spite of the cold snap that Florida (and the rest of the country) is currently suffering through, the weather was clear, with just a light jacket required. The crowds were non-existent. Our longest wait for any ride was less than 20 minutes and most we just walked right up.
That's not to say that everything went smoothly on our trip however! We entered the Orlando area on Route 50, coming from Brooksville. Instead of planning ahead, I decided to utilize the GPS on my new Motorola Droid. The GPS generally works very well, and having it built into the phone is great, but you have to know the "right question" to get the right answer.
When we got fairly close (just past the Florida Turnpike), I asked for directions to "Walt Disney World." We were pretty close! Just 13 miles. Turn right at the next intersection...
We drove through a variety of back roads, past nice housing developments (including "Wintermere" - close, but not quite...) and a bit of open space. All of the roads were two lane, and there was NO traffic, which seemed strange. There were also none of the signs that always tout the new attractions at the parks.
Suddenly, we were "there". But instead of the cheerful "Welcome to Disney World", the signs all said "Cast Members only." We were indeed at Disney World, but we were at the warehouses where the floats live! A monorail maintenance facility was nearby. It was fascinating, but not at all where we intended to be.
I realized that I had not been specific enough. This time, I typed in "Epcot Center". More two lane roads followed. Most of the traffic consisted of buses with big mouse ears. Again, the directions indicated that we should take a right in a 10th of a mile. But that road said "buses only", and it lead directly to the the iconic geodesic dome! We were basically right at the front door!
We took the only route that we could. The parking lot was right next to us, but there were traffic barriers in the way. After a mile or so, we could actually see the booths where the parking fees are collected, but we were on the wrong side of them (and confronted by another "Do Not Enter" sign.)
We continued to follow the road for quite a while, passing golf course, camping and resort entries, until we got to the large four-lane highway that I was expecting. Just five more miles and we were at the parking entry that we had seen 15 minutes earlier.
I enjoy "serendipitous moments" like this, and Byron and I had a good laugh over our "adventure". On the other hand, it's a good thing that we were weren't driving an ambulance to a person in need.
As we continue to rely more on technology, it is important for us to understand the resource and to a certain extent, for it to understand our needs. I'm not sure how to prevent this kind of situation, but making technology's interaction with people more intuitive will be a major step toward the future that we all desire.
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