Walking Down a United Kingdom Street - In Florida

Walking down a street in the United Kingdom pavilion of Epcot’s World Showcase in Walt Disney World in the early evening. The clouds from earlier in the day were starting to thin, making for some really nice evening light.

When I was a teenager, the United Kingdom was one of those World Showcase pavilions that I would just breeze right through. “Nothing to see here,” I thought, “No rides.” Back in those days, rides were the main thing that I was concerned about. Or maybe some movies, especially if they were CircleVision movies, although the “half-CircleVision” movie in France didn’t interest me all that much at the time. But the United Kingdom (along with Japan, Germany, Italy, and Morocco after it opened) didn’t have any of that, so I never lingered there all that long. Maybe a quick peek in the shops, but that was it.

Later on in life, I was starting to be interested in more of what the World Showcase pavilions had to offer besides just rides, as I became more aware of history and other cultures. But around that same time, Epcot added a Beatles cover band to the “park” area behind the main United Kingdom buildings. I don’t have anything against the Beatles, or against bands, but the band was loud and it usually drew a big crowd, both of which took away from the nice, quiet World Showcase atmosphere that I enjoyed. So I still didn’t spend that much time there, because we always seemed to get there right as the band was starting up.

These days, I appreciate what the non-ride/show pavilions have to offer even more, and so we usually take some time to look around in the shops of the United Kingdom, and even figure out some of the historical references of the different buildings in the area. There is still a loud band, although it is a different band than before, but on our last few visits we have managed to avoid it for the most part. I guess our timing was just right.

Of course, you know that this still isn’t the “real” United Kingdom, right? I have mentioned before that while these Disney representations are nice, they aren’t quite the real thing. I haven’t yet been to the real United Kingdom, but I can tell you from other places that I have visited that the real is much better than the copy, no matter how well the copy is done. Sometimes going to the real involves getting out of your comfort zone a bit, but it is worth it. Also, going to the real might make you appreciate the copy even more, even though you know it isn’t the real thing. You at least understand the copy even more, if nothing else.

However, the copy can still have its nice moments, such as this evening view here. Not many people, nice and quiet, nice light. It was all good.

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. - James 2:8

About the photo:

As I mentioned above, the light was really good that night. We often seem to be in either the United Kingdom or Canada as the sun is going down, and our trip this summer was no exception. As you may remember from an earlier post, we caught the same good light in Canada after leaving the United Kingdom. All of that really makes us sound like flashy world travelers until you remember that it is all in Florida, by the way.

Here is a before-and-after comparison of this photo, showing the value of good processing.

Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Rokinon 7.5mm f/3.5 Fisheye Lens
Date: June 9, 2016
Location: Epcot, Walt Disney World, Florida