Disney Adventures Part II - Around the World in a Day

Day 2 at Disney found us at Epcot. It pained me to get off course by switching up our days, but since they were still calling for a bit of rain on Tuesday we headed for Epcot in hopes of better weather the following day when there would be fewer inside attractions.



Epcot has to be our very favorite park at Disney World. Of course, the main attractions at Epcot for the boys were Mission Space and Test Track. I did manage to ride Test Track once. Knowing what was coming made it alot more enjoyable this time. However, it never quite prepares you for slamming through that door and out on the track at 0-70 plus mph in a matter of seconds. Sponsored by GM, the ride ends up at a car show which Brady always really loves. I've never seen a kid more excited about driving. (He's had his eye on my mom's car since he was just a tot!) He got in the driver's seat of every car he could including an H3-his favorite in red. I managed to find a car I loved, too-the Saturn Vue in Sea Green. The color matched the tank top I was wearing and was gorgeous! Yea, had to take a picture because I doubt I'll be getting it anytime soon.



The other ride we love at Epcot is Soarin'. We are just amazed by this ride. It truly feels like you are gliding over the state of California-you feel the breeze, your feet dangle, you swoop down over people in their canoes and PGA West and you can smell the grapes as you fly over wine country. If you ever have the chance to do this you must. It is awesome. We've riden it at least a dozen times and never tire of how real it seems.



There is so much to see and do at Epcot. Unfortunately, we found ourselves only being able to hit our favorites. We did manage to make it all around the world this time in World Showcase. Again, this is such a cool thing and you could literally spend an entire day just in this section of the park. I was determined to visit every country this year. Although I did have to skimp on Great Britain and Canada I managed to walk through all of them. I had so much fun visiting with the college students from each host country who man the shops and the Kidcot stops. A highlight for the children and adults, too is having your passport stamped at each country and a greeting written to you in the native language. I decided to make my own passport this year and had a blast collecting stamps and signatures. I'll add my photos to it later for a little album of my trip around the world in a day. We visited Mexico-where Brady sent a hilarious electronic postcard to my mom, Germany-where Brady had a Bravarian pretzel and I managed to spy a Hummel bluebird in a window display, Norway, Italy where we watched a street performer while drinking a Lemon granita and saw examples of the massive cathedrals that make up the skyline of this history filled country. We had our photo taken in front of a Chineese temple and got a taste of a Moroccan village where we spied Alladin, Jasmine and genie! We even made a brief stop in France where I dreamed about visiting the real French markets. And my favorite girl of all was signing autographs as we entered Great Britain-Mary Poppins. What a whirlwind trip we had that day. I love that it gives you just a glimpse of the heritage and customs that make each of these countries so unique.

Our visit to Epcot ended with dinner at Coral Reef in the Living Seas. We had alot of fun watching the sealife in the massive aquarium which is the focal point of this restaurant. The divers inside are so funny as they swim up to the tables along the glass. They say sometimes you can even spy Mickey swimming in the tank, but we didn't see him this time. We did see HUGE sea turtles and a manna ray and had fun trying to identify some of the other fish. I had the best mahi mahi with a mango chutney-delish! We had great service and it was nice just to slow down and relax and enjoy a nice dinner together. This year we didn't stay for Illuminations (the nightly fireworks over the lake in World Showcase), but we could see alot of it as we walked to catch the shuttle back to our resort. Epcot is really the prettiest at nightime I think. I especially love the twinkly lights embedded in the walkway as you pass through Innoventions on the way out of the park and all of the fountains changing colors as they dance.

Check back soon for some of the highlights of our day at Animal Kingdom. I promise it won't be nearly as long! ;)