On The Road with M and B: Florida

B here…

We had to take care of some unfinished vehicle business first thing in the morning, so we didn’t get started till around 11am, but we still had a really good, full day at Epcot!

The first thing we noticed upon entering was that it wasn’t nearly as busy as the other two parks had been this week. Perhaps people had started to head home from vacation and the bowl games…whatever the reason, we appreciated it!

From Epcot

Getting into the park was a snap, and we immediately headed over to the Mission: Space and Test Track area to grab a Fast Pass for one of them. Turned out we were more excited about MS, so we grabbed the FP for it. Besides, the Test Track standby line was already 60 minutes long. To kill some time, we headed over to Ellen’s Universe of Energy, which turned out to be a really nice diversion and ate up a lot of our FP wait time.

From Epcot

Mission: Space was AWESOME! I won’t bore you with all the details; but I will tell you this one thing - I felt like I was blasting off into space. If you want to know more, check it out online… or better yet… GO!

In our travels, we came across Club Cool, which is a Coca-Cola sponsored soda tasting station, where you can sample different flavors of soda from around the world. M didn’t find it all that refreshing (it is soda, after all), but it was a nice place to cool off and it’s one of the few free things you get in the park.

After MS, it was over to The Land Pavilion to check out Living with the Land, which was a relaxing boat ride that showed us the importance of existing WITH the land, as opposed to just using it. Lunch followed, and then we were off to The Seas with Nemo and Friends, which I believe is the largest indoor tank in the world. We spent some time watching dolphins, manatees, sharks, and giant sea turtles- just to name a few. We made a quick stop over to Turtle Talk with Crush, which is an interactive kid’s movie, but it was very funny and we really enjoyed ourselves.

From Epcot

Spaceship Earth was next…. you know, The Ball. I’ve been driving M crazy all day telling her it’s a geodesic sphere. :) It was recently “re-imagined” and it turns out it’s better than ever. We were pleasantly surprised at the updated animatronics and thought that went into this attraction.

We grabbed a Fast Pass for Soarin’, which asked us to be back between 8pm and 9pm, and headed over to the World Showcase.

Not finding a lot to do in Canada and UK, we breezed through them and continued to France. Maybe next time we’ll pay a bit more attention to what those countries have to offer. We seized the moment to take a lot of photos of the French Pavilion, which is beautifully done, complete with the Eiffel Tower in the background. I had read about a bakery in France called Boulangerie Patisserie and apparently so did everyone else, because the line was out the door. Off to Morocco…

From Epcot

Stepping into Morocco really seemed to excite M, and I have to admit I felt the same way. This pavilion is filled with amazing shops… but it wasn’t just the merchandise that made this place special. The music and the way the place smelled really added to the experience. The clothing was beautiful… and of course we tried on hats…

From Epcot

The design of the pavilion really made me feel as if I were in Marrakech. The tile work is impressive with its many colors and patterns, and the fountains were gorgeous. Do not miss Morocco.

From Epcot

Having missed out on our opportunity at the bakery, our bellies were starting to get our attention and we decided to stop for dinner. Japan was the next Pavilion, and it turns out we had read about a restaurant there that we both were interested in, called Tokyo Dining. Immediately as we walked up the stairs, we were greeted by a hostess wearing traditional Japanese clothing who was eager to help us. We were told that the wait was going to be around 30 minutes. Turns out it was more like 15, which was really nice. We were lucky enough to be seated in front of the sushi bar, which was being operated by a cast of 4 female sushi chefs. We sat diagonally in front of one of the largest LCD TVs I’ve ever seen, which scrolled through scenes of different Japanese landmarks.

From Epcot

M and I have become smarter when it comes to sit down meals, and we usually share one entrée or order a few appetizers to share (or both). This plan of attack was perfect for Tokyo Dining. The food was very good, and we’ll definitely come back next time. Tip: Try the green tea pudding.

The shopping in the Japan pavilion has no rival. If we didn’t have to fork over a good portion of our cash to get the car fixed, we could have easily spent more here. Walking through the Japan Pavilion, I think M and I decided we want to hop a flight as soon as possible. Mom… can you watch Dave? :)

Considering the time, we made a decision to skip through the American Adventure, Germany, Norway, China and Mexico – and also to skip Soarin’ and Test Track. We thought we’d just do Italy and watch Illuminations and call it a night. We could come back Monday morning to finish what we missed.

M, being of Italian American descent, found the Italian Pavilion less than top notch. Maybe it’s because it was so late in the day, and the performers had finished, but she mentioned how she was disappointed with the shopping and lack of attractions. It was, however, a very beautiful pavilion – it is modeled after Venice, after all.

From Epcot

We ended the night sitting on the bridge in front of the Italian Pavilion, overlooking the lagoon. It had a fantastic view of Illuminations, which didn’t disappoint. In fact, once it ended, M and I were both a little choked up. After the show, we waited for the crowd to thin out and took a very leisurely stroll toward the front of the park, being sure to pay attention to all the little details of each nation’s pavilion.