Day Two: Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow

I bet some of you had no idea that's what Epcot stood for! Disney Nerd, right here. My Nerdelmiers and I LOVED Epcot! Let me count the ways we loved Epcot:

1. Less Crowded
2. Nemo Ride and Turtle Talk with Crush!
3. The Disney employee who made Riley's Minnie Ear squeak with "Disney Magic"
4. Isaac got his wish to go to China & Riley met Mulan!
5. Captian EO!
6. Journey into Imagination
7. Spaceship Earth
8. Inter-active computer program on spaceship Earth
9. Innovations
10. Isaac was trained for space travel
11. Riley saw Minnie!
12. The Land (awesome green house)
13. Viking ride
14. BEST DINNER EVER
15. Character visits at dinner (Tear-jerker of a video from that)
16. Fireworks
17. Nicest People (staff & guests)

Despite a small set back upon arrival our Epcot day was magical. When we first arrived Roo and I high tailed it to the Ladies room where I flipped my chair with her on my lap while reaching back to close the stall door. It was embarrassing and painful. I was wearing a dress with no pockets so the first thing I did was stand Riley up and hand her my phone. It was in my hand because the "My Disney Experience" App was my park map. After everyone was done in the bathroom I was still stunned and made it all way to the front of the line for the Nemo ride before I realized I didn't have my phone.

After the ride Mike took the kids to talk with Crush and I went racing back to the bathroom to retrieve my phone. It was there, thank goodness. Other than the fact that I had the video camera and Isaac's conversation with Crush didn't get recorded everything was fine. I told them I was glad we had our bump in the road early and now we were done. We had a great morning and then headed to the hotel for lunch and nap/swimming. We were back for our 4:35 dinner reservation.

Booking us a dinner in the park early on our Epcot night was totally the right call. We ate at the Garden Grill which gets all of its produce and fish from their amazing greenhouse on the property. We rode through the greenhouse after we ate, it was something else! It was family style dining so they brought us a large fresh salad to share. The main course was beef, fish and pork (unlimited). There was a berry skillet cake with fresh whip cream for desert. Riley had chicken, broccoli and mac and cheese with gold fish crackers on top!

I'm not a foodie by any means, but knew I'd dream about that food after we left. The waiter was as fabulous as you'd expect at any sit down dinner at Disney. He arranged the plates into a Mickey and spoke to the kids with respect. He was very prompt with refills, but he was upstaged big time!

Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale were making the rounds that night. That was the other reason I picked that restaurant, quality time with the characters. It was absolutely heartwarming! I'll post some videos, be warned you may cry. Mickey and Riley were so sweet. Isaac danced with Pluto too. First trip to Disney memories (:

While Isaac and Mike did Mission Space Riley and I ran into the the character spot (with no wait) and saw Minnie Mouse!! It was a huge deal. They admired each others dresses and hugged. It was beyond adorable. I couldn't have planned it better! To think we were just ducking in out of the rain. After that we met back up with the boys. We decided to get settled into our spot for fireworks. While we were waiting for them to start we had a nice long chat with the girl in charge of the wheelchair section. She told us the actor who does Tigger's voice narrates the firework show among other things. The fireworks were as awesome as we expected. When they were over we shuffled back to our hotel beds.