Around the world in 2 hours, part 2

After Japan and at the middle of the World Showcase is the United States pavilion. It was reaching lunchtime, so we took a break outside the quick service restaurant here.

From Canada to Britain to Japan to the U.S. Let's hope the jet lag doesn't catch up.

 

Italy is next to America, and since there's not that much to see there we usually pass it. There's a flag demonstration that started up while we were eating lunch, but it seemed to have ended by the time we came up.

I wonder if we can get some tiramisu.

 

Fourth to last on the rotation is Germany.

 

I smell pretzels!

 

We had a lot of time to kill, so we went into Der Teddybar and admired all the Steiff plushies.

 

More cousins!

How long until our fastpass times?

 

China is practically across from Japan on the other end of the Showcase, and it's store is another fun place to browse. There's a whole room full of panda stuff, and of course the silk dresses and shirts are always neat.

 

I don't think they'll have any in my size, though.

Look who we found!

 

I always knew Mulan made appearances at Epcot, but I'd never really seen her actually out and about. That'll teach me to forget the autograph book.

Do you think she'd autograph a pair of mickey ears for me instead?

 

Right next to China is Norway. Normally, they have a short water ride running called the Maelstrom-but it's currently being refurbished to feature characters from Frozen. While it was in need of a bit of an update, I'll miss the older animatronics. Something about the older designs really worked for the whole theme of the ride.

 

There's a pastry shop? You guys go on, I'll catch up with you later.

There also used to a life sized replica of a Viking ship outside the bakery, but it was dismantled back in 2008 and a kiosk took its place.

 

Finally, the last stop on our tour was the Mexico pavilion, although I only went in to the front area. There's another ride in here, which was basically a sort of Mexican Small World before it was redone to feature the Three Caballeros. The inside plaza of the pavilion is beautiful.

 

Quiero un churro, por favor.

 I don't care what you say, I'm staying away from the water ride.

 

After all this, we turned around and headed back the other way. I stopped at Japan again and got some green tea ice cream-another favorite of mine.

 

If I could find a way to recreate their recipe at home, I'd be stashing it in bulk.

 

By the time we finished at the Showcase, we were already wiped and doubting we'd make it to our Soarin' fastpass times, so we called it a day and left. We have morning fastpasses for next Saturday though, so we will be returning! If anybody is going to be there that day, keep your eyes peeled for an old teddy bear taking photos. I'm always happy to chat about the blog!

Around the World in 2 hours, part 1

We finally returned to Epcot this morning! Since last time we didn't get to show Ted the World Showcase half of the park, we bypassed Future World. Unfortunately we couldn't get fastpasses for Soarin' until late in the afternoon, and we ended up leaving before our time slot came around. However, it was surprisingly slow in the park, so we were able to take our time without fighting the crowd.

Our usual tour begins at the Mexico pavilion and goes clockwise around the Showcase, but this time we started over in Canada and went the other way.

Maybe we can get some Canadian bacon.

 

While I was taking Ted's photo here, a little boy was busy hiding behind the cutout. We got to explain about Ted's blog afterwards to his dad.

Next up is England/Britain. I love checking out the Doctor Who and Sherlock stuff they have in the Toy Soldier, although I do miss the old fashioned stuffed animals they used to carry.

It's not the TARDIS, but it's close enough. Unless I just found the Ministry of Magic.

When is tea-time exactly?

 

 

Both Britain and Canada are connected to the Showcase by a bridge that puts you right in France. Sometimes you can catch Kitten Marie here if you're lucky-but we didn't see her this time.

 

No escargot for me, I'll just have salmon.

We did, however, see Belle!

 Why didn't we bring the autograph book?

 

Right after France is Morocco. I haven't really explored that pavilion in awhile; not since I was a kid.

 

 If we find a lamp, I call dibs.

 

 Fourth up on the tour was Japan, one of my favorite pavilions. They have a huge department store with several sections. I could spend all afternoon just browsing.

 

I wonder if they still have candy sushi...

Is it time for lunch yet? I hear they have tempura shrimp.

 

I also spotted a pressed penny machine outside the store and snagged one before we went in.



 

There's a lot more photos, so they'll all be posted in part 2!