Orlando Vacation 2016: Day 9 - Epcot

There were never enough rest days to catch up before charging into another theme park, but hey we might as well see it all while we were there, right?

Epcot was Day 9.

I had wanted to visit this park as a kid, but we ended up hitting the Magic Kingdom, Sea World, and Universal Studios instead (which was a treat in itself). That said, this was a unique experience for me. 

Though I was wanting to check out all the Disney parks, I spent some time debating this one since I wasn't sure it would be the greatest for the kids. After getting some mixed reviews, we decided to just go for it and see what it was all about.

The signature family shot in front of the Epcot dome - Caleb was having no part of it that day.
(For some reason, I've always thought it looks like a giant golf ball.)

Donald, Huey, Dewey, and Louie

Since we've focused on learning how to read and use maps a lot in geography this year, I had planned to use Epcot as a homeschool field trip day to put those skills into practice. Surprisingly, Caleb was a step ahead of me. As soon as we arrived, before I even thought to initiate the lesson, he requested a park map and began searching it himself. Throughout the day, he clung to his paper and even got upset when it got a little rained on. Even when we came back to the townhouse he was worried if we'd saved the map. My little explorer!

Once again, I had a plan in my mind for what order to hit things once inside the park to try and make the most of our day. On our way over to the first thing on my list though, we spotted Daisy and had to get a few hugs for Hadley.

Several people had recommended "Turtle Talk," so that was our next stop. The kids loved the aquariums while we were in the holding area waiting for the show.

Jellyfish

This may have been my favorite part of our entire trip actually; it was so adorable! A sea turtle named Crush, from the movie Finding Nemo, swims up to the screen and begins talking with the audience, mainly the kids. Throughout the show, he asks the kids questions and let them interact as well. Caleb even got called on to ask a question at the end. "How big do turtles get?" he wanted to know. It was really neat to hear the turtle say his name and respond to his question just like person would - how many animated animals do that?!? Crush had some pretty cute jokes and come backs too, which definitely kept us entertained.

The kids sat on the floor up front so Crush could see them.

Then, here he comes - a talking sea turtle!

Afterwards, we played in the building a bit, posing in the mouth of a giant shark and checking out all the cool aquariums.

There you are, Nemo!

NaNa found Nemo AND Dory.

Rescued Manatees

We also rode the Finding Nemo ride (a FastPass), which took us through scenes from the movie (very similar to the Little Mermaid ride at Magic Kingdom). One of the cool parts was that they some how used the real aquariums as the background for some of the scenes and projected the animated characters so they looked like they were right in the tanks. The first time around it took me a second to figure out if they were really the tanks we'd been looking into and if the fish were real. Dave didn't catch it the first go around either.

We pretty much spent the whole morning just hanging out in this one building!

Despite Dave's efforts to motivate us to go on to something new, I talked him into letting us watch "Turtle Talk" again. Though we knew a lot of the jokes already this time around, it was still fun. Caleb actually got called on again to ask a question, which was neat. (I think it may have had to do with his bright yellow hat sticking out.) "What do jellyfish taste like?" he wanted to know. A good question I thought! And, the turtle had a pretty great answer! Sadly, poor Hadley was a bit upset though because she didn't get a chance to tell the turtle her question.

We didn't get too far away after that. Actually, not far at all! We stopped for a little mini photo opt...

...and then headed around to the back of the building where our lunch reservations were for the day - at "The Coral Reef Restaurant." Jen recommended this place to us, and it was a delicious spot. Windows with views into their large and unique aquarium were along one of the walls so visitors could enjoy the sea life while you dined, which Caleb really appreciated. 

Dave's plate - He shared a bite with me and it was delicious!

Reid's lunch - Wow!
I ordered some lobster soup to try to go light and maybe save a few dollars, but I have to confess might have eaten a little of this too. 

Dave and I are amazed at Caleb's appreciation of good food even at such a young age. I wonder if he'll be a chef some day. He savored this part of our visit!

Reid had a bit of trouble sitting through the meal, but this cupcake made him happier.

Next we wanted to hit the World Showcase. For geography, we had been learning about a variety of different countries, some of which were on this tour, so I thought it would be a good way to tie in what we were talking about at home on this "field trip." We got stopped a few times before we got there though, sidetracked by a butterfly house and then a few photo spots.

The first stop on our tour was Mexico, and I was surprised at just how much from the things we'd read about in the books from the library popped out to Caleb as we explored the "marketplace." He pointed out the Day of Dead skulls, donned on a sombrero, and tried out some instruments. We also got to take a little boat ride tour.

Reid and Hadley were excited when we found Donald nearby.

Next, we passed through Norway. There wasn't really much to do in this section except checking out a few restaurants and we'd already eaten, so we kept moving.

Hadley loved getting a picture with Anna and Elsa!

China had a little more to offer though. A film shown on a 360 screen gave visitors a 14 minute overview on what makes this particular country grand. From their history to their art to their landscapes, there was a lot of information. I loved the way they presented it too. I am not sure how they filmed it, but you really could see a 360 view of every landscape, city, etc. they were presenting as if you were standing right in the middle of the scene looking all directions.

Pumbaa from the Lion King

Reid and Hadley took a little nap in Germany while Caleb ate a pretzel and NaNa checked out the chocolate store. There wasn't much about the country to learn in this section aside from glimpses at the architecture, but Caleb did get a little lesson about his heritage from Mommy and NaNa while we were there.

If there is one thing that really impressed me about Epcot, it's the gardens. The other parks have beautiful landscaping too, but this one was by far the best. Topiaries of various characters were scattered everywhere you looked throughout the park. It was neat to see how they tried to place each one near the country in which the movie it was from was set.

In Italy we stopped for a few minutes to watch a band perform and do some flag tricks.

Lady and the Tramp

Then Mom and Dave went inside "The American Adventure" film with Caleb for about a half hour while I sat with our two little nappers outside in the shade. Quite a history lesson Dave said, but maybe a bit over Caleb's head.

Japan and Morocco didn't have any attractions other than shops and eateries, so we scooted through there as well.

We tried to catch another film in France but had dinner reservations that would have rushed us if we'd taken the time to stop, so instead we decided to finish the World Showcase loop and head on.

There were a few fun things in England to check out...

...and we had to quickly move right on by Canada, planning to maybe come by later to watch the film there if we got a chance.

We had something more exciting to check out first! A royal dinner party to attend that is! Jen had let us in on a little secret that Epcot has a princess dinner much like the one Magic Kingdom but much more affordable. Mommy took her advice and booked us dinner right in Norway at Akershus Royal Banquet. Originally, it was supposed to be for all of us, but since Caleb doesn't really care about princesses anyway and the character meals are so expensive, Dave said they'd find dinner elsewhere and enjoy a little guy time checking out some spaceship stuff instead, which our son was more than satisfied with. Meanwhile, Hadley, NaNa, Reid, and Mommy got to the "Princess Storybook Dining."

Belle was the host of the event and greeted us at the entrance.

It wasn't long after we arrived that we spotted a few other princesses and they announced that they were going to have a parade. All the little princesses were invited to find the fairytale princess closest to them and line up so they could walk through the castle together waving at all the guests. 

Our princess was Cinderella

Can you find Hadley?

Shortly after the parade, the Disney princesses started to visit our table one by one. Hadley's milk had accidentally gotten knocked over right before though and she was a little worried. "Oh no, I don't think the princesses are going to like this!" she said. We reassured her it would be okay and warned the princesses as they came through about our puddle as we waited for our waitress to help us. Thankfully, Hadley attention was distracted when each fairy tale character showed up, so excited to meet them that she forgot about anything else.

"We must have the same fairy godmother," Cinderella told her.

I am not sure Hadley knew who sleeping beauty was, but she was happy to meet her anyway.

It was fun to see how well the princesses stayed in character. Even their voices sounded so close to their movie characters.

Reid really took notice when Snow White arrived and turned into quite the flirt, giggling all over himself.

We did a little eating too. Hadley was so distracted it was hard for her to concentrate on food though!

Towards the end, we even went back to snag another picture with Belle since Hadley didn't have her princess dress on when we arrived.

Hadley thoroughly enjoyed the experience, so in the end, I think it was definitely worth going to, but there were quite a few things that made this particular dinner a little less enjoyable as Chef Mickeys. Rather than having visitors throughout the meal, the princesses kind of came just one after another which was somewhat rushed I thought. We were also disappointed that our table was positioned pretty much on top the salad bar area, which felt cramped and loud. The kicker though was that we didn't have the best service. When Hadley's milk spilled it took forever to get it cleaned up (like 20 minutes), and we even had to ask a second time, which was a hassle since the princesses kept coming through and we were trying to keep everyone from slipping or messing up their dresses. There were quite a few other times when we needed things and couldn't get help or were brought coffee with no sugar and a check to sign with no pen. which in the end wasted a lot of time that we could have been spending in the park. I don't know if we just hit at a bad time, maybe our waitress was even in training, but it just wasn't the "royal" treatment we expected. I have to give it to Disney though; when I sent them a message explaining what had happened during our trip and why we felt disappointed with this experience, especially since it was a fairly expensive extra, a staff member called me and offered us a gift card. They truly want to make sure you have a great experience and were so apologetic.

Enough about my complaints though. When we left the Royal Banquet, we found out that it was raining. Our stroller was soaked because we hadn't put the rain cover over it since it didn't look like rain when we went in to dinner. Instead of venturing out and getting wet, we stopped in a store nearby to wait it out a bit first where the kids found ways to entertain themselves. 

Thanks to some Dollar Tree ponchos Mom has picked up before we left, we were able to set the kids in the stroller on the plastic and cover ourselves as we made our way back up to Future World West, where we were hoping to check out a Lion King show at "The Land." To our disappointment though, they had closed two hours early, which I was very frustrated with since the hours in the map said they were open until closing and we had planned our day based on that schedule. Well as you might imagine, being a little frustrated about dinner and now this, I was not a happy camper. But, we decided to see what else we could hit and found a Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy character spot.

Actually, I had a FastPass for this earlier in the day but we missed it while on the Showcase. It worked out though. We were out of the rain and the kids were so thrilled for more hugs from some of their favorites! Their faces in the pics say it all.

I had one more FastPass left for Spaceship Earth, which I really didn't know what it was until we got there. In a spaceship, you travel up into the giant dome and are taken through the history of communication from the stone age to the present. From hieroglyphics to books, newspapers, radios, TVs, and computers, you see the whole spectrum. While none of us were super excited about this one, it was kind of neat and once again a dry to spot to kill a little time before the park closed. 

Afterwards, there were lots of computerized games to check out which we skipped since none of us were very interested. However, Dave said he and Caleb spent a lot of time at enjoying them when they did the ride earlier. The boys also rode "Test Track" where you design your own car and then get to race it. Dave said the most impressive ride he went on the entire trip though was Mission: Space, which he rode with Caleb twice. Though I hate I don't have pictures of the two of them together, I think it was really nice they got the bonding time together that evening. Having similar interests, they were the perfect pair to do this section of the park together. And, while Epcot was probably my least favorite of the Disney Parks (aside from "Turtle Talk!", this part of Caleb's day was so interesting to him that it was at the top of his list of places he'd want to come back to visit he told me.