Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Disney We Go - Day 17 - Epcot, Flower and Garden and Harmonious

[caitlinsmummy]

Day 17 – Epcot, Flower and Garden and Harmonious

I was fast asleep by 11pm last night and I didn't wake till 8.50am and thankfully no noisy neighbours woke us up! Hopefully they were only here for the weekend or they've been told about the noise

The plan for today was a lazy morning then head to Epcot this afternoon, however, the weather forecast for today was showers for the afternoon around 1pm then a break for a few hours and rain tonight again so we decided to grab breakfast and go incase we were rained off again like last night

Club Cool

We arrived at 10.30am and went to Club Cool where we tried the drinks samples. Chris missed recording Thomas trying Beverley lets just say he wasn’t a fan. Most of us liked the Dominican drink and I found the sprite cucumber very refreshing! I do think the China sour plum drink could rival Beverley though!

When we left here we also refilled the kids popcorn bucket.

Next we went to Creations where I got another jacket, a water bottle for work and an ornament for the tree. Thomas was tempted by a Monsters Inc bottle, but decided against it in the end.

On our way round to Mexico Minnie came out for photo opportunities.

We then stopped in Mexico and had our photo taken with Donald which didn’t show on our photopass ☹ The interaction was really good too, Caitlin had her Donald Duck t-shirt on so she became his best friend It was great to see the characters but still hard not being able to actually approach or hug them, as it happened 2 weeks after we left they lifted all restrictions

Karamell Kuche

Next we had a walk round to Germany where I'd mobile ordered some popcorn and a cookie from Karmell Kuche. We enjoyed the popcorn, cookie not so much, there just wasn't much to it and it was very sweet which was a shame. I should have known as I just don’t have a massive sweet tooth anymore, give me savoury any day!

As we were leaving Snow White came out too! No one wanted to get a photo with her though, I think Noah is still very wary of real characters

Next we headed round to Regal Eagle for dinner.

Regal Eagle

Kids had their snack pack lunches and Chris and I shared a cheeseburger which is made with garlic toast. I really enjoyed this, Chris not so much. I think by this point Chris was getting fed up of the American food we also got a drink here

By the time we’d finished it was almost time for our DAS Pass with Test Track. This was our first DAS today, as I’d pre booked, I’d booked planning on arriving in the afternoon not the morning, but it was so nice to have a wander around World Showcase and not feel like we were rushing to go to a ride. We stopped in the pavillion to look at the plans for Epcot (sorry I can't remember what it's called )

On Test Track we stuck so far round Chris was hoping we'd get another go but sadly we didn't. I'd managed to secure a return time for Remy and it was only a 1hr wait, the park seemed so much less busy than our first week.

Our next DAS was Soarin' so we headed round to that first.

We all actually really enjoyed this, I've never rode it as last time Noah was too small and we were running late so Chris and Thomas just rode it. Noah managed to name almost every Country in Soarin, little super star.

We decided to spend a bit of time around world showcase.

Flavour Full Kitchen

Chris had earmarked the Strawberry Mousse with Chocolate Crisp Pearls to try from here. I tried a little but I wasn’t too keen, I’m not a massive sweet lover anymore but he really enjoyed it.

Northern Bloom

Next up I couldn’t wait to give the Beef Tenderloin Tips, Mushroom Bordelaise Sauce
a try, I opted to get mine without the sauce as I don’t like mushrooms. I really enjoyed this, there were a couple of little bits of the beef that were a bit fatty but overall it was very tasty, it came with mash and carrots and the perfect size for me.

It was now time for our Remys return time, again we all really enjoyed it.

La Creperie De Paris

We had wanted to try this the other day but the queue was HUGE, when we left Remy’s it wasn’t too bad at all so we decided to grab a crepe to share. We went for the hazelnut one and it was very nice! Much better than the Universal one.

We then popped into Les Halles as Caitlin wanted a croissant and Chris wanted macarons.

Les Halles

Caitlin got a croissant and Chris wanted to try the Macarons, the macarons were very expensive but Chris really enjoyed them. Caitlin enjoyed her croissant too.

Chris managed to get more flower and garden photos on the way round World Showcase and we also got to see Jasmine!

Japan

We then meandered through Japan where Caitlin, Chris and I shared some frushi, Caitlin really enjoyed this, I thought it was ok as did Chris.

The boys had a nosey on the Japan shop when we were getting this as Thomas wanted pokemon cards, but there wasn't any. He was very disappointed.

We continued round world showcase.

Bauernmarkt: Farmer’s Market

I really wanted to try the Toasted Pretzel Bread topped with Black Forest Ham and Melted Gruyère Cheese, it was just starting to rain so the pic isn’t the best This was nice although I found it quite dry.

This time we were a little more prepared and had our rain jackets, so we popped these on and ran into the China shop. Caitlin bought some moochi cake things and Thomas some cola flavoured popping candy. By the time we were finished the rain had stopped.

Noah had asked to go into the Mexico pavilion earlier in the day so we went in and rode the three caballeros which was a nice relaxing ride. We had a return time for Frozen so had a look at the snacks in Norway.

Kringla Bakeri

We tried the rice pudding, a relatively cheap snack but what it didn’t state was it included cinnamon, none of the family like cinnamon, so there was only me who ate it, I only managed a few mouthfuls as I tend to struggle with rice so it was a bit wasted, again something else we wouldn’t try.

We then rode FEA, a nice ride but I still don’t get why it’s always so busy, definitely a once a trip for us unless the queues not too long.

The boys were now hungry so we set off to walk round to the UK pavilion to get them some fish and chips to share, Chris also wanted some so we shared those too. Caitlin didn't want anything so just ate popcorn (to be fair the croissant she’d had earlier was HUGE!) We didn’t get pics as we were sat outside and it was dark.

I'd got a DAS return time for figment, which was only 5 minutes. Another ride we enjoyed and just a chance to sit and chill for a bit. Next we did turtle talk with crush which was great too, Noah actually got choose this time and he interacted, he normally wouldn’t speak in this type of situation so this was amazing to see. We then walked straight on Nemo and the Seas

It was now 8.30pm so we decided to go find a seat for the fireworks. There is a disability area towards the front of world showcase so we headed there, but to be honest there was lots of space everywhere! Just before the fireworks started they were allowing regular people into the disability viewing area. Caitlin and I went to grab a Starbucks ready for the show.

We all really enjoyed this and it was definitely worth the wait, much better than enchantment in our opinions actually! I would be lying if I said that I wasn't emotional

After this we headed out of the park and had some photopass photos done which were lovely. We eventually arrived back at the villa at 10.10pm totally shattered after an unplanned full day in the park.

[mick]

That was a lovely day

Joan

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by mick

That was a lovely day

Joan

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Thank you x

[jothp]

A very busy day but you got loads done and luckily the rain that was forecast, was only short lived. Well done to Noah for interacting in the show. I love the pictures of the ball all lit up.

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by jothp

A very busy day but you got loads done and luckily the rain that was forecast, was only short lived. Well done to Noah for interacting in the show. I love the pictures of the ball all lit up.

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We got much more than we thought we'd get done, thankfully the rain wasn't long. We were so proud of him <3 The ball is so pretty, even more so with the light show. Chris got so many amazing pictures xx

[Goldia]

What a fantastic Epcot day. I cant believe you've not done Soarin before? I love that ride, it was our first ever ride on our first ever trip, that was when it was Soarin over California and not the world. It looks like a lot of fun was had today and you all look happy in the photos.

Oh, and I totally agree about the fireworks. I loved Harmonious, much better than Enhcantment. MK is just too busy when the fireworks are on. It makes me feel claustrophobic being in the hub or on main street. Your view for harmonious looked fab.

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by Goldia

What a fantastic Epcot day. I cant believe you've not done Soarin before? I love that ride, it was our first ever ride on our first ever trip, that was when it was Soarin over California and not the world. It looks like a lot of fun was had today and you all look happy in the photos.

Oh, and I totally agree about the fireworks. I loved Harmonious, much better than Enhcantment. MK is just too busy when the fireworks are on. It makes me feel claustrophobic being in the hub or on main street. Your view for harmonious looked fab.

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We got so much done and the rain didn't really dampen our spirits I know right! It's because on our first trip we were running late for our FP so I just told Chris and Thomas to go on as we didn't have time to do parent swap.

I do think around fireworks time MK does lose a bit of the magic, like you say it's overwhelmingly crowded no matter where you try to view them, it's such a shame really. It was a lovely view and I think the crowds leaving Epcot aren't as busy as leaving MK too or at least it felt that way x