The day was finally here. The day I was looking forward to the most. Now I couldn’t do what I would really like to do, which is a day with another adult eating and drinking around the world.
But I could snack around the world with my daughter. It was going to be a good day but the weather didn’t look like it would hold off for long. I just hoped it wouldn’t pour on us all day.
My day started before 6 am. Her day started after 9. Once she was up, we took an early morning swim at the pool. It was just a quick dip since it would probably be raining when we got back from the park. Before you knew it, it was time to start heading over to the Skyliner to catch a ride over to EPCOT.
There was no line a little after 10 at the POP Century Skyliner Station. We got right on and were on our way to Caribbean Beach Resort where we would have to get off and catch one to EPCOT. When we exited we were directed to another line. At this point it was 10:20 and I heard a cast member say the EPCOT Skyliner doesn’t start till 10:30.
So we just waited in line. After a few minutes the Skyliner started moving but then stopped. It did this a bunch of times. Now it was 10:35 and the Skyliner still wasn’t moving. While we waited I did have a nice conversation with a woman who was just visiting for the weekend from near Fort Myers Florida. She was telling me that her and her friend made a bet on who would get to the park first. She was taking the Skyliner and her friend drove.
Well she lost since the Skyliner never started moving for us. Lucky we were at the end of the line and they sent a bus over to pick us up. So we got on the bus and headed to the front entrance of EPCOT. This did throw my plans off a bit since I was planning on going to the France Pavilion first. However, we ended up riding Soarin’ first.
Soarin’ is my favorite ride at EPCOT. Test Track is a close second. Unfortunately, Test Track wasn’t up at all on this day. Soarin’ was up and running with no issues so we got in line. We walked through that boring queue and made our way to the staging area. Sadly, we got the 3rd section. We did get the top row of the right side so that was a little bright spot. But we still didn’t get to the middle.
If you never noticed an issue with the right or left side skip to the next paragraph. The view on the left and right are skewed one way or the other. The Eiffel Tower or Taj Mahal are the easiest to see this. They bend to the side and are not straight up. Once you notice it you can never not notice it. Trust me I have been trying.
Now what has got to be my favorite part about Soarin’ is the feeling of flying and the smells that get pumped in. It just really makes you feel like you are really there. Just hold on to your seat and open your nose.
After Soarin’ we headed back to the World Showcase and to France. For whatever reason my daughter is in love with France. She can’t get enough of it. Even though it was almost 11:30 am we were going to get our breakfast. She wanted her beignet from France. She would get them a few times over the next two days too.
While she was enjoying her beignet. I got the bacon, egg, and cheese croissant. It is my go to sandwich when I visit EPCOT. I just love it. The croissant is so flaky and who doesn’t love bacon, cheese, and eggs?
After we had our breakfast it was off to explore more of the World Showcase. I can spend all day walking around the World Showcase. There is so much to see in each Pavilion. All you have to do is look. Sadly, right now things are a bit different with some of the shops and restaurants closed. Many of the workers are in their home countries at this time. So the shops and food locations that are opened are being staffed with locals. Some are from those countries who now live in the States. Others are just Americans who work at Disney.
It did somewhat take away from the experience a little bit. Overall, it still was a good time exploring the different countries. In the early afternoon we didn’t explore too many of the shops. We did look at all the different food booths to see what we might enjoy. I find a lot. My daughter didn’t find anything at first but she did say she would try some of the stuff.
As we made our way around the World Showcase I started noticing the sky getting darker and darker. It made complete sense to me. It doesn’t seem to matter the time of year we go but that first day we visit EPCOT on our Daddy/ Daughter trips it seems to pour on us. And I don’t mean the normal Florida summer afternoon down pours. I’m talking about a steady ready off and on for hours.
Now for whatever reason I forgot to pack my umbrella or poncho. I did remember to pack my daughters but packing mine just slipped my mind. We ended up ducking off into the shops in Germany. It’s definitely not a bad stop to escape the rain. The amazing smells of carmel coming from Karamell-Küche are to die for. You don’t want to walk in there with an empty stomach. If you do you’ll probably end up walking out with a bag of caramel popcorn. It is delicious.
So we walked around the shops and there was just so much I wanted to buy. One of these years I will finally pick up a stein. Ever since I visited in High School for my senior class trip I’ve been wanting to get one.
However, the only thing I ended up buying in the Germany Pavilion was an umbrella. The umbrella seemed like a better deal than the poncho. Plus I could use the umbrella anywhere. Having a Disney poncho really only makes sense at Disney. I wouldn’t wear it while walking in the local state parks in my area. But I would carry that umbrella.
After we exited the store we started to make our way to the Norway Pavilion. My ex wife is Norwegian and asked if we wouldn’t mind picking up a troll if we found any. Now the Norway Pavilion used to have many more unique items. I can remember seeing different candy, shirts, books, trolls and much more. Now it does have some of that stuff but it also replaced a lot of the more unique things with Frozen mech. It is a little sad but what are you going to do?
Today we did skip Frozen Ever After but since we were coming back tomorrow it wasn’t going to be a big deal. We would just have to ride it tomorrow.
From Norway we headed into Mexico and decided to ride Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros. Now I can not remember if I have ever ridden this ride before. I know my past two trips I haven’t but I am not sure if I did before 2017. Anyway, it was a nice little boat ride that got us out of the rain and onto something I know my daughter never did before.
After our boat ride we checked out the little carts all around the Plaza De Los Amigos. I have never been to Mexico before but I can see some of the smaller towns really being like this. From Mexico we decided to do a couple more rides but before we hit up The Seas with Nemo & Friends we stopped at the Mexico Food and Wine booth. I just had to try the Ribeye taco.
It sounded amazing and looked amazing. Well guess what. It tasted amazing too. My daughter even tried and liked the meat. It was just the quick bite I needed till we decided what we were going to do.
After our amazing snack we rode The Seas with Nemo & Friends. Walked around a watched the dolphins and manatees. Took a ride on Living with the Land. Flow high above the ground on Soarin’ once again and one more time because …. well….. Why not.
Before we headed back to the World Showcase and the Food and Wine tent we rode Journey Into Imagination with Figment. This ride never seems to have a wait and it isn’t a bad ride. Sure there are much better ones but this is a great ride with some amazing sets. We always take a ride on this when we visit EPCOT.
After we got to have a little fun with our imagination it was time to find the Food and Wine building and get my daughter some Mac and Cheese and myself a Nitro cake pop. Now some of the longest lines I’ve seen all day were inside this building. We got lucky and found a table with one chair so I had my daughter take a seat while I got in line to get her some Mac and Cheese.
Now I knew she wouldn’t eat the buffalo mac and cheese which is what I really wanted so I got the Gourmet Mac and Cheese. It did not disappoint one bit. Now my daughter was a little crazy since she didn’t care for the big chuck of what I can only assume was some kind of soft cheese. It was amazing and I would steal it off her mac and cheese tomorrow too.
Once she was settled enjoying her mac and cheese I got in line for my Nitro Cake Pop. Since I knew my daughter would kill me if I only got one I made sure I got her one as well. I ended up getting one with crushed M&Ms and one with crumbled Twix. Again this did not disappoint at all.
I don’t know what it was about it. Not sure if it was the candy even though I really couldn’t taste it or just the frozen aspect of it. Either way it doesn’t matter, it was amazing.
After we had our snacks we were back at it exploring the World Showcase. Much of England was closed which stunk. I really enjoy the shops in England. Hopefully EPCOT and the World Showcase can start getting a little back to normal for when you guys visit.
We skipped right past France but I knew we would be back before we headed back to POP. We checked out what was available in Morocco but decided to save that for tomorrow since we really wanted to see what was new in the japan Pavilion. I can say while I am not really sure how much was new. The whole store had a much different vibe to it. Maybe it was the lack of Japanese employees or just the lack of customers. Of course it could be because I didn’t hear Ichi ni san (one, two, three in Japanese) over by the pearls.
We continued our tour of the World Showcase dropping into the different pavilions and checking out the menus on all the different food booths. Since we knew we would be back tomorrow there was no rush to get it all done today.
We did grab another ribeye taco before we headed over to Spaceship Earth (my daughter’s favorite ride). Of course along the way it started to down pour on us once again. It was even a little windy so the umbrella wasn’t much help. Before long we were under the giant geodesic sphere (golfball). I must say it always amazes me when it is raining and I am around Spaceship Earth. Just how come the rain isn’t pouring off that sphere? Just how do they really collect all that water? It’s one of those things I know I could Google the answer too but it’s also just one of those things I don’t want to know the answer to.
We got right on the ride and were on our way back in time to learn the history of communication. If you want to see and enjoy the current version you better do it soon. Since Disney announced in the beginning of the year that Spaceship Earth would be going down for a refurb I wanted to make sure my daughter got to see it one last time. That’s why I originally planned a trip for May.
Once the ride was over we made our way back out into the rain and over to Soarin’ for one last ride today. Like every other time we rode it today there was little to no wait. At this point the rain let up and the sun was trying to peek through. We just had to make our way back to France and then off to the Skyliner and back home to POP Century.
We ended up getting some snacks for the road. I was planning on eating my pastries a little bit later in the day but the Skyliner had a different plan for me.
While on our way back from EPCOT to Carribean Beach Resort the Skyliner stopped as we were between the Riviera and Carribean Beach stations. Now when the skyliner is moving it really isn’t bad in those cabins. You would think it would be pretty warm in the middle of the day in summer but it really isn’t. There is plenty of air flow moving through when you are moving. However, if the skyliner stops. It gets pretty warm, pretty quickly in there. Thankful right now you are only dealing with your own family. You don’t have to be stuck in there with strangers.
Now we weren’t stuck for two long. It was probably only 5 to 10 minutes. It could have been a little longer or a little shorter. I didn’t really time it but thankfully that was our only time getting stuck midair on the Skyliner.
Once back at the resort we just relaxed. Grabbed dinner at the food court and went for a night time swim. Still sucks the pools are only open till 9 pm but what are you going to do?
Tomorrow will be another day at EPCOT but we are going to be focusing on all the amazing food that is available. From the Beef Filet in Canada to the impossible meat at Earth Eats. My daughter and I were going to enjoy our last day at EPCOT. Who knows this might be our last time we visit EPCOT and it looks like it does. The next time we get to visit the front of the park might be done and EPCOT will be like a completely new park.
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