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March 2024 (Part 02)

Walt Disney World Vacation Day 3-4: EPCOT

On the next day, Monday, we headed to EPCOT which was celebrating the International Flower & Garden Festival.  While Steve waited in line to have his backpack searched, the girls took some pictures.

As we got their early for Magic Hours, we headed to Norway and the Frozen Ever After ride, which already had a 30 minute wait.  We're still not sure if we like the projection of the faces and expressions on the inside, it makes them bright, but it's a but creepy and causes a big disconnect in skin tone between the face and neck.

We loved the topiaries scattered around the park.  Here are a troll and Frozen figures at Norway.

There were a ton of flowers around the China pavilion.

Loved this bullfrog we saw near the China pavilion.

These fairy houses and the topiaries for Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in Germany were spectacular.

We passed through Germany, Italy, and the American pavilion, then turned around to head back to Mexico and the first aid station, where we had some KT-Tape delivered for Alexa to help with her knees which had been hurting with all the walking.  While in Mexico, Lexi used a kiosk to create the Day of the Dead - Coco themed image.  Lady and the Tramp were in Italy, while Tiana was in the US pavilion.

We then headed back around the World Showcase counter-clockwise.  Loved the gardens and Winnie the Pooh topiaries in the England pavilion.

Glad for the Lightning Lane to avoid the 2+ hour wait for Remy's Ratatouille Adventure.  Even enjoyed the wallpaper in the line, which featured rats in cooking hats and an Eiffel Tower made from utensils and salt and pepper shakers.

Finally left the World Showcase and headed into the front area of the park headed for our Lightning Lane time at Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.

Went to the Land and road Soarin' and the Living With The Land.

The new Moana Journey of Water was really fun.  It was clear parents were not going to get their kids out of the area anytime soon.  Really enjoyed the area, especially the dancing fountains.

Loved our dinner at the Coral Seas.

Enjoyed the evening show: Luminous - The Symphony.  Although, as this was primarily a fireworks show, we missed some of the earlier shows which were different.

The next day, Tuesday, was intended as a down-day to let our legs and feet rest and for the girls to do any needed homework.  Tess also scheduled virtual office-hours for the class she is teaching as a grad student.  Nancy and I went to the gym in the morning, and wandered around the Coronado Springs Resort for a bit.

We then headed to EPCOT for the afternoon.  We really didn't intend to go on any of the rides, but really just wanted to wander around some more.  Since it was just us, we took some time to get some PhotoPass images taken.

Had to stop at the girl with a wacky looking column camera which took a 360 degree image.

There is a new statue of Walt Disney on the other side of Spaceship Earth, so we stopped to visit (and get more PhotoPass images taken).

We enjoyed watching this group on a training run with their service dogs in training.

Found Tinker Bell in England.

We stopped to get our picture taken on the bridge leading into France.  Looking over the side, we continued to marvel at the attention to detail, including this apparent artist spot setting up next to the water.  Steve waited a while to get a shot into the France pavilion without someone in the way.

The Japanese gardens were stunning, climbing up a hillside with several bonsai trees displayed.

There was a mother duck sheltering her hatchlings in one of the small gardens.  Unfortunately, she was gone when we came back the next night to show the girls.

Think they missed an opportunity with the Germany pavilion to add a glockenspiel or moving clock.

We did accomplish one mission in Norway then Germany.  The girls decided they wanted Mickey ears and we were tasked with getting them in Norway (for Alexa) and Germany (for Tess).  These were embroidered and really nice.  We also got some apple cake in Norway which was gone before we ever thought of taking a picture to send to them.

By chance, we went up a small path to the right of the Mexican pyramid and found the path was full of orchids.