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Disney World ‘08- Day 3

By Tara Zandra | January 28, 2008

Otherwise known as “How the Anc Fam shopped and ate their way around World Showcase.”

World Showcase in Epcot was planned for Saturday morning. This was a good plan because they don’t open until 11:00am thus allowing us to sleep in a little bit. We took our time in the morning since we were all still a bit tired and eventually made it through the gates around 11:30am. Let me just say that Epcot is our favorite park. We all love both Future World and World Showcase so we were heading in there with great enthusiasm. We first stopped to get a family picture in front of the giant ball but that plan failed so I just took pics of the kids and Tabitha took one of Chris and I. When we made our way to the other side of the ball, we found a photopass photographer and were able to get our pic from that side. Being a ball, the side doesn’t really matter. The photographer really liked the kids’ clothes and he’s the chatty-by-nature type so we were stuck there quite a while just getting a simple pic. By the time we actually got to World Showcase it was noon and hunger was starting to dawn.

First we went to Mexico to ride “El Rio del Tiempo” except that’s not what it’s called anymore. Chris and I loved this ride from our last trip and really don’t care for the way it changed. Donald and the other two Caballeros are the focus of the little movie clips but not in a way that enhances the attraction at all. It used to be a cool ’70s type informative movie akin to the Dole Pineapple movie at Disneyland’s Tiki Room. Now it’s just kind of annoying. But the kids, of course they loved it. We spent a lot of time in the Mexico shop and both kids managed to come away with a wooden flute compliments of their father. I told Chris I was going to lock him in the hotel room alone with the kids and their flutes for 2 hours so he could get just a taste of my future once we were at home and he escaped to work everyday.

After we emerged into the sunlight, we saw Donald dressed in his Three Caballeros gear so stopped for photos. Chris then got in line for churros while the girls and I watched some mariachis, much to Daisy’s delight. She was less enamored with the churro and refused to even take one bite so we went in search of a cookie for her. The rest of us enjoyed the heck out of those warm, cinnamony sticks.

We then walked back around the front of the water and went to Canada. We had seen the 360° movie here last time so opted to skip it this time around. We still spent a decent time in Canada taking pictures of totems, visiting Koda and Kenai, and going through the shop. This kicked off our Mickey antenna ball buying as they had Mickey heads with the countries’ flags on them. Since I collect antenna balls it seemed a natural purchase. The girls begged for plush seals but if there is one thing I have no problem saying no to, it’s stuffed animals. Onto the UK!

We probably stayed over an hour in the UK. We took funny pictures in the phone booths, the girls made chalk drawings in the street, Chris got himself a Guinness beer then sat down with Tabitha and Daisy to watch a Shakespeare in the Street perfomance while I stood in line for chips and vinegar (hold the fish). We then explored the shops for a bit, Daisy said hello to Eeyore and Piglet in the toy store, while Tabitha sat in a rocking chair and relaxed. In this store I purchased a real quill pen and ink for Tabitha, plus a really cool book called The World of King Arthur and His Court. We bought Daisy a feather pen (which she uses to conduct as oppose to actually write anything) and they each were allowed to pick out one Little Miss/Mister book. Next we went outside and pretended to be lost in a hedge maze and then went to France.

We headed straight to Boulangerîe Pâtisserie and loaded up with so many goodies. There was triple chocolate cake, strawberry tart, chocolate eclair, napoleon, caramel souffle, and I think a croissant. We found a little table in the shop next door and sample everything. We were browsing the shop when we decided to catch the next showing of the film “Impressions de France.” I told Daisy there would be classical music so she was more than willing to watch. The rest of us were interested just based on the subject. We settled in to watch a movie that showed so much more of France than the Eiffel Tower. I had heard of the beauty of the French countryside, but it was wonderous to see. It definitely fueled our desire to get there someday.

Daisy had fallen asleep during that wonderous beauty (it was the classical music that did her in), so we settled her into the stroller and then finished browsing the shop. Tabitha wanted a little Eiffel Tower trinket but I said no because her aunt had brought her one from the real France over the summer, lol. Instead she asked for the French flag which Chris quickly agreed to and thus started our purchase of flags from each country in addition to the Mickey heads.

After France comes Morocco which is okay. There is some beautiful architecture but there weren’t any street performances or attractions so we weren’t there too terribly long. We did make a quick stop at Tangieriene Cafe so Tabitha and I could split a very small serving of tangieriene couscous salad. We weren’t hungry so it was just for the taste and it was pretty good- a little different than I make couscous so it was a good treat. Chris enjoyed a Moroccan beer as his treat.

Next to Morocco is Japan and I could spend all day (and a month’s pay!) in their shop. Man did we have a good time in there! They sell Monchichis! I had a large one as a kid and loved that thing so much. I was thrilled to find them in Japan. After poring over them, I settled on a small boy and girl, supposedly for my kids. We also got the obligatory antenna ball and Japan flag and I found a little manual toy for Daisy. I don’t know if I can describe it or not. I think I’ll just take a picture and add it to the slideshow. In any case, it’s usually a battery operated toy that when turned on, little figures go up moving stairs and when they get to the top they go down a slide and end up back at the bottom of the stairs. I’m a sucker for them and we have a Winnie the Pooh one that Daisy loves. Hence why I had to buy this tiny duck one that isn’t battery operated. Tabitha spent all this time while I was browsing, trying to decide on her lucky cat. She bought one on our last trip and has now decided she needs one on every trip. I think that’s a great idea but the kid cannot make a dicision to save her life so it takes a loooong time to let her pick.

We then moved through this section of the store to a whole next section that had food! We love us some Japanese snack food. Tabitha picked out some ying-yan, I bought wasabi peas and a rice cracker trail mix (which Tabitha also loves) and Chris chose roasted sweet pea pods. Good stuff. After that we oohed over the kimonos for sale and then went to look through the tin toy museum.

After Japan we were in The American Adventure. Their main attraction is a show which was closed, but we didn’t really plan on seeing it anyway. The lobby of the show’s building is open though and there’s a mini-museum on artifacts owned by famous Americans including one of Lincoln’s stove pipe hats. I thought that was amazing until I realized that it’s not really that long ago that Lincoln was alive. Still really neat to see the stuff they had on display. Tabitha and I were looking at all the paintings in the lobby and having our normal discussions in that kind of situation and the cast member would not leave us alone. He apparently is the type to force learning and refuses to allow you to discover. He actually quizzed Tabitha on what season a painting was and why she gave the answer she did (Fall, and she’s not a moron thankyouverymuch). Usually my one word answers and quickly turning away and back to my child make people leave me alone, but this guy was not to be deterred. It was really annoying so we beat it out of there as fast as we could. We went into the shop to browse and found Mickey bracelets in Daisy’s size so we bought one in blue before moving on to the next country which was Italy.

Italy’s stores weren’t too interesting for us so we just bought the antenna ball and flag before going outside. There is a lovely courtyard with a beautiful fountain so we spent a bit of time taking photos there with the photopass photographer. At this point the sun was just about set and the lights in Epcot were beautiful. I took a few pictures of the Epcot ball lit up and put Tabitha in some as well.

Next we moved to Germany, home of the most expensive doll and teddy bear shop. Daisy fell in love with a stuffed duck, I mean the child was begging for it and proclaiming her undying love and fat tears were sitting there on her lashes while I told her no. That face almost made me say yes but the $25 price tag brought me back to my senses. It wasn’t a large duck either, we’re talking about the size of a Beanie Baby. Anyway, there is also a section with loads of cuckoo clocks which Tabitha loves. I had one when I was a kid so I understand her love for them. I really don’t feel confident on getting something like that home in one piece or even being able to fit it in our luggage so we didn’t buy one. But I do think at some future visit it might be a good idea for her. There were some really nice Grimms Fairytales books but they weren’t quite what I’m looking for. After the shops we munched on a pretzle while Chris had a German wheat beer which he says was very, very good.

At this point we’re starting to feel rather tired but we’re almost done so we push on. We came to the Outpost which is made like an African village. There we found all the flags and antenna balls so were able to purchase most of what we needed in one place. There was a man doing some wood carving but due to the tired, we didn’t stay and watch.

Next came China which houses Daisy’s favorite store. I cannot think how long we were in there while that child played with zen garden rocks. She called them “her” rocks and spent a long time arranging them on a fountain. Eventually we made our way outside and found the Kidcot station (Kidcot stations are in each country. At the first one you go to, you get a paper mask, then at each subsequent country you get a little charm to add to the mask). In China, the girl at the Kidcot table wrote each girl’s name on the back of their mask and then asked their birthday to tell them the year they were born according to the Chinese calendar. Both of the girls have birthdays before Chinese New Year so their animal is different than what you see on all the charts. This made our day because it means Tabitha was actually born in the year of the Tiger which is the same as Chris and I and Daisy was born in the year of the Monkey which makes such perfect sense for our monkey girl. It’s the small things that please us :) Anyway, we wandered over to the restaurant and all of us shared a plate of noodles, rice, and vegetable and tofu stir-fry. Very tasty and I was quite happy to get a lot of good food in Daisy since she hadn’t really eaten that day.

Next we went to Norway and went to their bakery. They had a mushroom soup that was vegetarian which I chose to share with Daisy, Tabitha had a cloudberry horn and Chris had their school bread. Everything was just amazing and the perfect food end to our day. While we were sitting on the (covered) patio, it started pouring. By the time we finished our snack the rain had stopped. We checked out the Norwegian shop and Chris bought a knit beanie with a brim like one he used to have so he ws thrilled.

By this time it was about 8:30pm so we had spent over 8 hours in World Showcase. It was quite the day but it was a wonderful way to spend that time. We had so much fun and still rank Epcot as our favorite park.

Pictures are here. They are in the regular format, not the slideshow.

Topics: Life, Disney World |

3 Responses to “Disney World ‘08- Day 3”

  1. Mel Says:
    January 28th, 2008 at 11:27 pm

    I was always curious about Epcot. Looks like a lot of fun and very interesting. Cute pics!

  2. Valerie Says:
    January 29th, 2008 at 2:50 am

    The girls look adorable. I love all the pictures you took. This time last year we where just starting to plan our Disney Trip. Your pictures freshen up all the memories.

  3. Mandi Says:
    January 30th, 2008 at 11:04 am

    It sounds (and looks) like a really wonderful day. I was in Epcot back in uh….1989. LOL I was 14 and the awesomeness was totally lost on me. Now, at 32, I would LOOOOVE to go there!!
    I love the clothes you got/made for the girls. So cute!

    Can’t wait to see what you did on day #4!

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