Day 3 - epcot

My sister-in-law drove down from Georgia to stay with us last weekend. We haven't seen her or my brother since their recent move there, so it was a huge treat to have her join us. As soon as she arrived, we headed to Epcot for an afternoon of fun. 

Our first stop was the Character Spot where we saw Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy.

Charlie declared Goofy to be his favorite for the day.

From there, we went to the Finding Nemo ride - a huge hit with both kids and adults.

There's an aquarium-like exhibit at the end of the Finding Nemo ride...a fact that made me very, very sad...given my feelings about fish.

Clearly, Avery doesn't share the same fear of fish that her mommy does.
This picture kind of gives me hives just looking at it.

After that, we went to the Turtle Talk with Crush show.
Much to my surprise, my reserved little Avery raised her hand to ask a question to Crush.
Her question?
"How do they get bigger when they talk?"
To which Crush said, "umm... what???"
She repeated the question and he said, "ummm...they stand up?"

And that's what happens when you tell a bunch of kids to ask you whatever they want.

After talking with Crush, we went to visit Journey Into Imagination with Figment. Avery and Charlie loved it. Charlie really loved playing in the Imagination Room after the ride was over.

When we had ridden all of the Preschool Friendly rides at the front of the park, we headed to the World Showcase to get some serious education.
Unfortunately, that's when the bottom dropped out and we had to take cover in the France exhibit.

But because Disney thinks of EVERYTHING, every exhibit has a Kidcot activity for little ones to participate in. Avery and Charlie spent their time coloring a cut-out of Mickey's Teddy Bear Duffy - while David spent his time on the phone making our dinner reservations.

When the rain finally subsided, we headed out to see the other "countries".
Charlie didn't seem very interested in his first World Tour, but he really liked playing with the umbrella.
A lot.

Epcot's World Showcase area doesn't have a ton of "rides". Most of the attractions in the World Showcase are about experiencing the culture of the people of various regions. We did, however, ride Maelstrom in Norway.
A decision that I totally and completely regret because it absolutely terrified my little ones. Storms, Trolls, tumultuous boat rides, and more trolls.
Not a good combination when you're 5 and under.

In an effort to regain my credibility and trustworthiness with my little guys, we headed to Mexico to ride the 3 Amigos ride featuring Donald Duck.

Our dinner reservations were for La Hacienda De San Angel in the Mexico Exhibit. La Hacienda is a newer restaurant whose decor and ambiance was beautifully modern and authentic at the same time. The restaurant sits right on the World Showcase Lagoon in the middle of the park: the same lake that the nightly fireworks and laser display (IllumiNations) is shown from.

The hostess sat us at a table next to the large windows that overlook the lagoon. We had a delicious dinner and dessert with really great service.
They even brought Avery a special Birthday treat.

The fireworks show began at 9, and the audio was streamed directly into the restaurant. They dimmed the lights inside the restaurant and we were able to drink our coffee and watch the fireworks display from our table.
It was awesome!!!

We had a great day at Epcot.
I think I'm in love with Disney World.

Avery's Favorites:
Donald Duck and the 3 Amigos ride
Turtle Talk with Crush
Finding Nemo Ride

Charlie's Favorites:
Meeting Goofy
Holding the umbrella