Saturday, October 20, 2012

Disney's Epcot

Disney Day #3: Epcot!

This was our "relax" day, meaning that we didn't wake the kids up to ensure we arrived at the gate before the park opened, and we didn't stay in the park until close to watch fireworks. We enjoyed about seven hours of rides and shows and taking it all in, before leaving for dinner and an evening swim at the hotel.

My crazy boys grabbed some park maps to plot out our route - and as they were looking at them, Grady Lee matter-of-factly said, "It doesn't really matter, Micah, because Dad has The List already for us." (You know by now, The List from my know-everything-there-is-to-know-about-Disney-friend, Juli.)
Generally speaking, the front of Epcot has all of the rides, and the back of the park contains the replicas of countries around the world. My boys loved the front of the park and Grady and I enjoyed it all, but would have spent a lot more in-depth time in the back of the park if we didn't have three very tired kids. Because remember, the day before we were in Magic Kingdom from 8:00 am until 9:30 pm. A very full day!
We rode Soarin' a couple of times, The Seas With Nemo and Friends a whole lot of times, and laughed hysterically during The Turtle Talk with Crush. (Which, if you ask my husband, this show was his all-time favorite thing from our time at Disney!) The boys thought Spaceship Earth was incredibly cool, mostly because they knew they were "inside the great big ball!" Annalyse found it less than thrilling and enjoyed a 20-minute nap during our time in the ball.
Epcot has a lot of crafts and activities for kids to do as you wander through the various countries represented, but we didn't stop to participate in many of them. Each country also has replicas of famous architecture or historical monuments, as well as other culturally significant art forms, such as dance or music.

For me all of this was very interesting, but for my kids it simply meant something new to climb in or on. We didn't take time (or spend the money!) to try various foods from around the world, but we did enjoy a couple of yummy pastries from a French cafe.
By five o'clock we had circled the park and have two boys who were tired from all the walking. We called it a day and headed back to the hotel. After dinner out and a short evening swim, kids were in bed and out cold. Thankfully, we had a two-room suite so Grady and I could enjoy a relaxing evening without calling it lights-out for everyone.
Four very full days in Disney went really fast. Really fast. But, did we have fun at Disney? Yes! Do we want to go back to Disney? Yes! Were we exhausted from Disney? Yes! Were the napless days and occasional waiting lines and fried theme park food worth it? Yes!

And, was The List key key in allowing us to maximize our time and our money? Yes! (Thank you, Juli!)

3 comments:

  1. Such fun memories for your family! Does "The List" you refer to come with a price? Maybe Juli should just write a guide book for Disney.:) Are we allowed to borrow "The List" whenever we decide to head back to Disney? Sounds like she has some great secrets to make the most of your trip!

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  2. what an amazing crew you have. sounds like you had a great time!!

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  3. Ha ha...that was Jackson's nap place at Epcot. At least it was nice and cool! And we loved Turtle Talk. Sounds like a super fun trip!!! Can't wait till you go again so we can relive it through y'all again! :-)

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