Dream Trip Report Day 2--EPCOT (Part 2)

OK, where were we?  We had just finished up our lunch at Les Chefs de France.  And luckily, the rain had just stopped!  I wanted to see if we could make it around the World Showcase.  I was hoping that Alyssa would fall asleep in her stroller for her daily nap while Joshua and I toured the world.

So we started our journey.  Joshua has amazing stamina for being only 4 years old!  No stroller for him!

Here we are in Japan  overlooking the lake:

We walked to the American pavilion and I was excited to see that the Voices of Liberty were performing in 4 minutes!  YES!  I would get to hear them again.

No strollers allowed inside, so I parked it outside and we went in.  The first song they sang was This Land is Your Land.  Fantastic!  If you haven't heard this group sing, I highly recommend it.

So Joshua was just sitting down enthralled with these singers, but Alyssa had other plans.  She kept running for the exit and leaving the building.  And there were 2 ways out, and she kept alternating and I kept chasing.  She was not happy about being in there and had no problem vocalizing that.  She was being a little disruptive to their performance, so after the first song I decided we needed to leave.  Joshua was not happy, he wanted to stay and so did I.  Maybe next time!

Close to Italy there are some bridges and I let Alyssa run off some steam there.

We stopped for a few minutes to watch these entertainers in Italy:

We also stopped in Germany to watch these model trains.  I've never done that before in all the times I've been at EPCOT.  It's actually quite a big display, with several running trains.  (If you're in the Dallas area, I'd compare this to the Trains at North Park).

Of course we had to stop at the gift shop in Norway, which is probably the most fun gift shop in all of EPCOT!  (Alyssa was not tall enough for the boat ride in Norway--maybe next time!)

And lastly, we made it to Mexico and road the boat ride inside.  Mexico is my favorite country in EPCOT.  The theming inside the pyramid is outstanding!

So we made it all the way around the World Showcase!  And Alyssa hadn't fallen asleep and didn't show signs that she would.  So, I figured we'd just continue as normal.  It was time to go to Innoventions and go to the special picture area for Disney Visa cardholders.  This is a perk with this credit card--a special character greeting and a free 5X7 picture.

When we found where it was, there was a line.  I kept Alyssa in the stroller while Joshua went off to play some games nearby me in Innoventions.

We waited in line probably 20 minutes, and during that time, of course Alyssa fell asleep.  I got to chatting with the mom in line in front of me to pass the time.  Alyssa was still asleep when we got to meet Goofy and Minnie.

But I still liked the way our picture turned out!

While we were standing in line, I saw some people get in line that looked familiar.  So after our picture we went up to them and sure enough, it was Bret and Sherri from our cruise group!  (The group we had met online prior to our cruise).  I had recognized them from their pictures on Facebook.

Since Alyssa was still asleep and it was really cool inside, I let Joshua play in Innoventions for a while. I hadn't been in Innoventions in years--I remember going there back in the '80s as a kid and it seemed like every video screen was broken.  It was so different today!  They had several interactive games to play, but unfortunately I could not take the stroller into some of those areas and I did not want to wake Alyssa up.

Time for an afternoon snack--a Mickey ice cream bar of course!  We went back to the fountains by Journey into Imagination to eat our snack and hang out for a while.  Alyssa had woken up.

It was getting to be later in the day at this point--around 4:00.  I asked Joshua if there was anything he wanted to ride again.  He decided we should ride the Nemo ride again.  So we did.

Then we went to the photo area to pick up our free picture.  I ran into the same family that was standing in line in front of us at the photo shoot earlier in the day.

Joshua kept saying he wanted to ride the monorail.  And I thought, what the heck?!  I guess we can ride it to Magic Kingdom and then just ride it back.  So I talked to the Cast Member at the monorail and he said we could take a round-trip ride and just stay on it at the Magic Kingdom.  So that's what we did.

We got off the monorail at EPCOT and went to our bus stop.  We decided to get off at the food court stop at Caribbean Beach and grab a quick dinner.  Here is the food court at Caribbean Beach:

Now I had Alyssa in a stroller and was trying to also carry one tray with all our food on it.  And who did I run into, the mom from the photo shoot in EPCOT!  She was also staying at our resort.  She offered to carry our tray and I was so grateful!

Joshua wanted to go to the resort pool again before bed.  So we had to go back to our room to change first.  On the way back, we decided to stop on the island and hang out on the hammocks and in the playground for a while:

When we crossed the bridge to get to our building, we saw some people fishing in the lake:

We changed and went to the kiddie pool.  It was easier for me to keep track of both of them in this pool since it's gated.

The kids loved that pool!

Overall, I have to say that we had a great time at EPCOT.  Despite the brief period of rain, the weather was really, really pleasant.  It only got up to the mid-80s (so unusual for Orlando in June!)  And EPCOT was not crowded at all!  I think this is the least-busy I've ever seen EPCOT.  I'm guessing it's because one of the main rides, Test Track, is closed for the summer and that detracts people from visiting.  I love Test Track, but EPCOT has so many other cool things to see!  I think it's a great place for kids, too.  We didn't even do the Phineas and Ferb interactive game that's spread all over the park or the kidcot stations.  Maybe next time.

So the next installment of this trip report will include details of what the other half of the family was doing on Day 2--Star Wars Weekend at Hollywood Studios!