Disney Days 2019 {Epcot}

After two wonderful days, we were slowing down a bit on the early morning charge to parks and were thankful to have a day at a park that didn't open until 9.

it's already 9:20 and we missed park opening?
no worries, it's still a disney day!

Despite not getting to the park before it officially opened, the strategy of avoiding parks with Early Magic Hours worked to our advantage.  Despite the large number of people we stood in line with to enter, Epcot is HUGE and the crowds dispersed pretty evenly.

Our first stop of the day was Test Track and we were delighted to have just about a 30 minute wait.

In fact, the line was moving so fast the crew barely had time to take advantage of some of the bonus interactive segments of the queue.

But they did get to design some pretty cool cars and before we knew it we were hopping in our prototype.

Nat and I tagged in with a bunch of other folks,

while Ian had the rest of the M8 in his car.

We got through Test Track so quickly that we had an awkward amount of time to kill until our FastPasses for Soarin'.  With the persistent cold and two long days behind us, folks were starting to lose a bit of steam.  Enter the "awesome parent card" of using a snack credit at Starbucks.  Did you know that any size drink with any extras is one snack credit?  Kid temperature hot chocolates with syrup additions, lattes and cappuccinos all around!

Recharged (and for the over 40 crowd, recaffeinated) we gracefully flew over famous sights including Monument Valley, the Taj Mahal and our personal favorite, the Great Wall.

One flight leads to another, right?  But this time we were leaving Earth behind to visit our neighbor in space, Mars.  Some of our kids enjoy this simulator more than others, but all took one for the team and went along on the mission.

As we began to head toward the World Pavillion, it was time to test out the soda flavors of the world at Club Cool.  Favorites of the M8 kiddos included Fanta Pineapple, Fanta Melon Frosty and Inca Cola.  And yes, Nicholas was hazed by his older, more experienced siblings and tricked into trying the Beverly...

We slowly meandered through Canada and the United Kingdom, taking in sights, sounds and smells.  But we didn't taste...our minds were set on the delicacies offered at Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie and it did not disappoint!

Sweet teeth and Paris inspired shopping sated, we spent a fair amount of time exploring the narrow passageways of Morocco.

Next stop was the huge shopping store in Japan.  Actually though I'd rather forget this moment in our trip...it's where some of the M8 learned why Ian and I had suggested that Grandpa's Christmas money be saved for the Disney trip instead of being blown within 24 hours of receipt.  There may or may not have been actual tears in the happiest place on Earth when one realized that no, indeed we were not going to buy that Picachu doll for them just because they liked it.

On a sweeter note, our timing to be at Epcot during the International Festival of the Arts brought some extra culinary options (included as snacks on our dining plan), so we stopped in the United States for sipping chocolate flights

white, milk and dark chocolate...all three combined too rich to finish

and mini beef wellingtons!

The cold by this point was getting to us all and instead of browsing we picked up the pace and quickly moved through Italy and Germany.  The musical instruments at the African Outpost had just enough lure to slow our pace for a quick M8 family jam.

Finally we made it around to our favorite pavilion to catch an acrobatics show, view the terra cotta warriors, watch the film featuring "home," and take a few pictures.

Walking through Norway brought a bit of tension to the evening.  Some really, REALLY wanted to ride Frozen Ever After and some were adamantly opposed.  We stopped with our troll friend to evaluate and finally came up with, we may as well, the wait will be indoors out of the cold.  In the end, the promise of sampling some of Norway's treats, including the famed school bread, may have helped sway the decision.

As it turned out Ian now has the same feelings about Frozen Ever After that I have about Pirates of the Caribbean.  Who knew you could end up with pants wetter than if you ride Splash Mountain?

our seat was wet when we sat down.  Ky, Nat and I had an idea of what was coming on that little drop.  

Ian was a good sport about walking around in the cold with soaking wet pants...probably a better sport than I would have been and so instead of heading directly back to our rooms at that point, we decided to take advantage of a fifteen minute standby wait time at Test Track.

This time Daniel and I rode with strangers.

While Ian and the rest of the set had a car to themselves.

Caleb finally decided what his souvenir of the trip would be.  I couldn't have been prouder.

Last stop of the evening, Spaceship Earth, known as the golf ball by the littlest of the crew.

Cold and tired, we left the park at 9pm to beat the crowds staying for Illuminations.

closing down at 9:08pm

All in all, it was a cold but tasty day!