Disney- Day 2- Epcot

Good morning! It's our first real day! Every day I had a gift for Beth to open (forgive the morning look she's sporting). Today, a clip board with special paper for characters to sign. I plan to make her a small scrapbook with the signautres and photos of her with those characters.

After a not terribly long bus ride, we were at Epcot. It's not the best kid park, but it was the perfect start to get things going.

We met the first round of characters. We also discovered that Beth doesn't like the fuzzy ones, only the people. She had great plans of who we would be and get autographs from on this trip.

Touring the world, another family and ours trading picture taking duties. Yup, Kevin carried my pink backpack most of the trip. Thanks honey!

We went around the world in less than a day! We ate Mexican food in Mexico. Kevin had always wanted to eat at this restaurant and finally got to on his 4th visit to Epcot. Beth wanted to touch the water in every fountain we passed. I gave in in America and Morrocco.

Beth loved the "glowing eye ride" in Norway, so we rode it twice, with no wait. Of course, we had to stop in Germany for a picture.

Every country had a KidCot Spot. In Mexico, our first country, Beth made a mask. Then, in every country after that, someone stamped the handle and added a shape representative of the country to the mask. Beth liked the oragami butterfly in Japan the best.

In honor of Chinese New Year, Beth colored a take out box and was given a red pocket (traditional gift for Chinese New Year) with a Minnie Pin in it. Maybe next trip we'll get into the pin trading thing.

We got Beth a "passport" for our tour around the world. For every country, she had stickers to put in the book. Then, at the KidCot station, a representative from that country would stamp and sign her passport in the native language. Disney goes all out! Each country is staffed with people who are actually from that country. It was neat to hear the accents and sometimes chatter in their native language. Each country is completely decorated true to the typical architecture and landscape of the real place. Even the KidCot spots, tucked out of the way, were completely decked out. This helped make it more exciting for Beth, though it still wasn't a very exciting place.

I found this on the wall in "America". As a teacher and a mom, I completely agree with this statement. Lucky for us, Walt Dinsey was a creative kid and adult!

In all the other areas of Epcot, we enjoyed some fun rides. We walked right onto the Nemo ride (twice) and Spaceship Earth (twice). This is the time of year to go!

On a boat tour ride, we saw some great plants and plant experiments. We played a recycling game, getting rid of the over 2 tons of trash our family generates in a year. Epcot is a very educational place. Beth really just wanted to ride rides though.

I wasn't sure about Soarin since the guidebook mentioned it's a bit intimidating for small kids. Plus with the 3d glasses and giant imax type experience, I wasn't sure if my stomach would survive (wimpy, I know). But, it was cool! Especially when we "flew" over trees and could smell the pine. As long as I looked straight, I didn't get sick. Whew!

We settled into a great spot for the fireworks show. Beth liked watching it, but didn't like the loud sounds. What a great first day! Can't wait for tomorrow!