Day One: Epcot

Our bus stop...number 4

on the Soarin' ride

flying among the scenery of Soarin'

Golden Gate Bridge on Soarin'

California Coastline

wherever they ski in California

Yosemite on Soarin'

one of many Fast Passes pulled today for Soarin'

Waiting in line in Test Track

the Design room to design our vehicle

Getting Started

Our finished product

The Jaminators

the simulator they put you in at the Sum of All Thrills

we chose the Strawberry Shortcake, but we really had to decide not to get the Cappuccino Cupcake

Strawberry Shortcake at Sunshine Seasons

Lunch in Italy

wonderful focaccia bread and breadsticks with olive oil and olives from south italy

Chicken Scaloppine

Christy's Nutella Cake...dry and not tasty

Tiramisu...yummy

Germany

Japan

In addition to pins, Christy also collects pressed pennies

First monks we've ever seen in Disney

Club Cool

Drink stations

Photo op with Pluto

Canada

Strawberry Cupcake from the Boardwalk Bakery temporary kiosk

filled cupcakes are our favorite

Listened to the British Revolution band in the United Kingdom while we played Phineas and Pherb

Living With the Land ride shows the inovations of Disney research in growing fruits and vegetables outside of normal soil

Cacao Beans....the origin of chocolate

Most of what is grown here is also used in the Sunshine Seasons food court

France

Quiche Lorraine and Chocolate Mousse....my counter service meal at Les Halles, France and delicious!

Christy's Chicken Sandwich and Chocolate Mousse...no matter what the tell you the sandwich is best warm.

We woke up early to be at the bus stop at 8:00 and we did it! We arrived at Epcot at 8:30 and stood around the character breakfast line until they made the announcement that the park would be opening. The park opened at 8:45, 15 minutes before the scheduled time. People in the regular que lines were told that they could move over to the character breakfast line, but we were already there...Thanks Tour Guide Mike! Once the gate opened, we went straight to Soarin', our favorite ride, or at least my favorite. We pulled a fast pass first and then rode the ride. It was a 5 minute wait. I really really like this ride. It's a seated ride and you "soar" out toward a HUGE circular screen and it feels like you are flying among the different scenes of California landscape. It's really cool. After Soarin' we went straight to Test Track. The ride only had a 5 minute wait, but it was actually longer because you spend time working on "designing your car" before you begin the ride. This is an interactive experience that is a complete redesign of the ride. It was fun and we pulled a fast pass to ride again later, but our schedule didn't allow it. We try to do the least amount of standing and waiting as possible and make good use of our fast passes. We left Test Track and went to Sum of All Thrills in one of the Innoventions buildings. This is another interactive ride where you "design" your thrill ride and we chose a rollercoaster. They market that it uses math and science to design it, but we just concentrated on making it not go upside down or too fast! Once your ride is designed, you go into a simulator with a thing that comes down over your body so that all you can see is the movie playing in front of you of the ride you designed. The simulator throws you around and moves you like you are going fast and slow. It really feels like you are riding it and as a result, Christy and I were pretty queasy when we got off. It was time for our Soarin' fast pass window and we rode it again then pulled another fast pass when we got off. We were hungry for a little snack after and got a Strawberry Shortcake to share on our Disney Dining Plan. It was delicious! We still had our Fast Pass for Test Track, but we decided we didn't have enough time before our lunch date in Italy. We walked our way "around the world" to Italy and ate lunch at Tutto Italia. This restaurant had just opened this past spring and it was outstanding. We used a table service for this meal and we both got the Chicken Scalopinne. It was so delicious that we used every bit of bread and breadstick to soak up the sauce! Our lunch dessert was a little disappointing for Christy as her Nutella chocolate cake was rather dry. I had Tiramisu and it was yummy. After dessert, we went back over the Future World and sampled coke products from around the world in Club Cool. The nastiest one comes from Italy and is called Beverly. Another guest said to mix the Costa Rica with a little bit of Beverly and it would taste like bubblegum. He was right, but it still wasn't worth drinking much of. Another guest said the Beverly tasted like grapefruit gone bad. He was right on the money! We left Club Cool and had our picture made with Pluto. Christy gets a free one with her Disney Visa so we wanted to take advantage of that. We rode Soarin' again with our fast pass and then pulled another fast pass before we walked over to the International Gateway. It was cupcake time and we knew just where we wanted to go. Boardwalk Bakery is closed for renovation, but we found the kiosk last night that sells the cupcakes right now. We split a Strawberry Shortcake one before we did some pin trading in the Boardwalk Hotel. We played another Phineas and Pherb game in the United Kingdom before going back for our last Fast Pass ride on Soarin'. It wasn't quite time for our ride so we rode on "Living with the Land" which had no wait time. We sat for a little while resting our weary feet before we rode on Soarin' for the last time (number 4). We opted not to pull one more fast pass because we knew we would be too tired later. We were really getting hungry and walked to the World Showcase to eat at Les Halles, the new bakery in France. It replaced the Boulangerie that has been there for years!! The food was fantastic. I ate some of the best Quiche Lorraine I've ever had. We both had chocolate mousse and it was the first chocolate dessert we had eaten all day! We wandered our way back out of the World Showcase, stopping first in the American Pavilion to view some historical artifacts but found out they were closed for a private party. We stopped in Norway to see a Norway exhibit and ride Maelstrom. We then stood in the longest line we stood in all day.....the line to pick up our FREE picture. We probably stood in line for 20-25 minutes! We are back in the hotel and ready for sleep. Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom. Until then.....