March 15, 2021

 What an amazing day!! Epcot opened at 11:00 so we planned to be there at 10:00.  I got to sleep in a bit while the boys played with Thom, Grandma and Papa.  We had to drive separately due to the vehicles we rented and car seats but we got great parking spots close to the park.  We headed in and went right to Test Track. The line was already long, but it was moving quickly. We decided to hop in line. We signed up for rider swap so I left with Rocky. I completely forgot that I had asked Thom to hold my phone so when we walked away I was phoneless! We walked around for awhile and by the time I realized it and got back to ask a cast member if I could use their phone I saw Thom looking for me! It could not have been more perfect! Mom and I switched and she took Rocky while we waited in line for Test Track. Unfortunately, a power outage happened which shut down half the park. We weren't sure if we should leave our spots or wait it out. We waited. They switched the ride since we rode last. It is focused more on electric cars now. 

While we waited Mom and Rocky tried out Figment of the Imagination, but the other rides they planned on doing were out due to the power outage. After over an hour we got on Test Track! Teddy liked it and we all pretend he was the driver.  We then head over to a Pixar 3D show.

Rocky did a pretty good job keeping his 3D glasses on. The show started in 2D, but when it switched to 3D it looked like it was popping out at you. Teddy SCREAMED! So loud!! We all had a good laugh over it. The show was next to "The Land" area so we went to check out how long the wait for Soarin' was. It was too long for our liking, so we headed to "The Sea" where there is a Finding Nemo ride. The boys liked it. It ends in an aquarium! There are all sorts of fun sea animals there. We spent awhile looking at the manatees who were just getting fed as we were there. Rocky liked looking at all the fish.  

Lunch time quickly approached. Meal time is always a friendly reminder of the difference of traveling with kids. Where as I wanted to walk around to each country and try different samplings of food, the boys really needed a more sustainable, easy meal.  We ended up in "The Land" again at the Seasons restaurant where we enjoyed burgers, macaroni & cheese and Dad got the italian sausage as we were approaching the countries. 

As a side note: as we were researching which park we wanted to go to we realized Epcot was in the middle of their Food & Garden Festival.  Each country had "open kitchens" which were pop up stores of small new food and drink menu items.  There were also a ton of Disney characters throughout the park made of plants and flowers. They were so fun to see! At one point Teddy, Dad and I were walking and I commented how pretty the flowers all were. Teddy quickly said "But they aren't as pretty as you, Mom!"  He has been so sweet on the comments this week! 

After lunch we headed into the countries. I had said I wanted Teddy to do the KidCot stops at each country because it used to be making a fan or mask or something. Unfortunately, now it is just stickers. However, we did collect one from each country by the time the day was over! While mom, the boys and I explored Canada, Dad and Thom went to England to the pub. We found a waterfall and totem pole before heading out. After our first country of Canada we found the hub of the Food and Garden festival. There was a lady playing the piano and little booths to try different food and drinks. It was air conditioned so we stayed there for a little bit.  Dad enjoyed a cider flight while the boys enjoyed a frozen lemonade. Rocky is now Mr. Independent so he wanted to drink his on his own and when he was left with only shaved ice he wanted a spoon. Unfortunately this ended in frozen lemonade all over his leg. We got him cleaned up and headed to our next country! It was a great spot to relax for awhile with a fun Mickey and Minnie outside!

In France we enjoyed some creme brulee and a raspberry macaroon dessert. The boys LOVED them! We stopped for a moscow mule type drink in Moracco and headed to Japan for some shopping and snack. We got both the boys bonsai tree seed kits and Teddy picked out pokey sticks for his snack. Then we got some chicken teriyaki. Mom was amazing and got Rocky to sleep in his stroller, so the goal was to get him to sleep for as long as possible! We also some some princesses ride while we were in Japan.  In Germany Thom found a delicious grapefruit beer and Teddy found a huge train set.  

The boys have been really into Frozen lately and so I knew we wanted to go on the Frozen ride, even if it was a long wait. I'd been checking the app for wait times all day and it said Frozen had been at 75 minutes for quite awhile. We found the line and to our  surprise it was only a 45 minute wait! While in line we tried a couple new drinks from China (Tang Dynasty and Kung Fu Punch) before Teddy announced he had to go potty.   I knew we were getting close so we quickly ran to the restroom and were super surprised when we saw Elsa!! Teddy got his picture with her and blew her a kiss before he went potty and we went back for the ride. 

In Norway we also wanted to stop at the kringla shop.  I had read on a blog that the school bread was very good so we got that for a snack.  Dad got a lefsa and a kringla.  Once we completed the countries we decided to head back to Soarin' in hopes that the line wouldn't be as long.  We had to do rider swap for Soarin' because Rocky isn't tall enough so Rocky and I ventured to "Living on the Land" a boat ride exploring the gardens and how Epcot grows some of their own vegetables. We then went to an Earth video. It was perfect time for us to meet back up because we had finished our rides and they finished Soarin'. It was then time to switch so Thom took Rocky on "Living on the Land" again while I rode Soarin' with Mom, Dad and Teddy. Teddy really likes the ride and was so funny to listen to while we rode. 

It was dark by the time we got out. We decided to head back to Mexico because we skipped that country due to the line. We were able to get in with only a short wait and rode the boat ride in Mexico before grabbing some late night dinner and a margarita. 

The boys were EXHAUSTED! Teddy was falling asleep on Thom's shoulders. The condo is only a short drive from Disney so we were home in decent time.  Unfortunately, Teddy said "I don't feel good" which I thought was because he was overly tired. Then he said "I think I need to puke"...and he was right. Poor buddy made it to the kitchen (trying to get to the garbage can) but couldn't quite make it. 

Thank goodness Tuesday is a pool day!