Epcot - Travel Tuesday

The last time I visited Epcot in Orlando, Florida was 2005, with a friend.  Epcot is more of the "adult" Disney.  Sure there are rides, but not many of the more daring rides that kids want to ride.  There are several boat rides, and a couple of other rides. On Friday July 4,  2014, I headed back with my Mom and her husband, Ed.

The most popular ride is Soarin'.  This ride takes you on a simulated ride over California, almost as if you are hang-gliding.  It is a fun ride, but not a thrilling, pulse-pounding ride.  There are lots of "presentations."  We watched "The Circle of Life" with Pumba and Timon, it's an environmental movie.

The best part of Epcot is the World Showcase.

We started at Mexico, and actually spent a lot of time there.  We also took the boat ride through Mexico starring The Three Caballeros....they kept asking "Donde esta Donald?"

I bought an owl from a Mexican artist, I also wanted a sugar skull, but decided just to get the owl.

I loved the figures from the Oaxacan artists, but they were beyond my budget.

In Norway, I took a picture with a troll

They had some awesome little trolls, and again I wanted one....but restrained myself....

Onto China....in China we watched The Jeweled Dragon Acrobats, but it was too dark for pictures.  But what was really awesome was the reproduction of the TerraCotta Army from the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang.  I've read a couple articles and a book about this and thought it was fascinating!

Germany was next, where I bought some Kinder chocolate, but alas, no Kinder Eggs, as they are illegal in the US....I also bought some Gummi Bears...yum!

Italy we breezed by....

Then, it was the Fourth of July, so we spent a great deal of time at The American Adventure..watching the Fife and Drums, listening to the Voices of America, and then we watched The American Adventure Attraction, which is the history of America, in a nutshell (I had some minor issues with it, but on the whole it was good)

Then we breezed by Japan, Morocco, and France.  We went in the shops, but there weren't any shows.

I spent some time in the United Kingdom, because Dr. Who stuff....the cashier said he was surprised at how much we Americans like Dr. Who.  He said he had never seen it....I bought a shirt and a few smaller things..and of course, took this...

Disney was also getting in on the FIFA action, there were several places to kick a soccer ball

Epcot is a great little mini-tour of the world.  Actually Disney hires kids from those countries to work in each section of Epcot.  It's pretty cool to actually talk to people who represent that country...and I used a little bit of my Spanish..and German (just thank you and goodbye)

We were going to stay for the fireworks, usually they are at 9, but they had pushed them back to 10.  But we all were exhausted and Mom's husband, Ed, needed to work the next morning, so we left a little after 9...

A good day, but I was exhausted!