EPCOT: World Showcase

I love this part of EPCOT. It's a big circle with all the countries surrounding a large lake. I'd guess it's over a mile from start to finish. You walk the loop going from country to country.

It's so interesting to visit each place and learn a little about that country. We watched a movie about Canada in a 360 degree/surround theater. It was breathtaking. I had no idea Canada was so beautiful. It made me want to visit.

In order to accommodate the crowds at EPCOT, there are no seats in the theater. Everyone must stand. My daughter assumed this to mean that Canadian theaters have no seats. She asked one of the Canadian workers, "So do Canadian theaters have no seats?"

The worker looked at her and said, "In Canada, we all pull out our sleeping bags, go into the forest, and watch movies on a sheet spread between trees." Then she walked off leaving my daughter to wonder if she were serious. Of course, none of us gave my daughter a hard time for asking that question :).

My son loved showing us Italy because that's where he spent 2 years on his mission. He said Disney did a fantastic job replicating the look of Italy. He said they always have a patron saint that watches over the city.

I loved  eating in Germany--delicious food. We ate a buffet with red cabbage, different meats, German salads, and lots of delectable desserts. I also loved eating at Morocco. Very different food. Some of the kids didn't enjoy it much but they were good sports and ate it anyway.

I must, however, complain about the reservation policy. None of the restaurants wanted to give us reservations because we had 13 people. They gave us such a hard time and we ended up having to wait a long time and/or eating very late at night. I would guess from their reactions and unwillingness to give us reservations that we are the only large group to ever go to Disney World. And, the guy in Italy was just rude about it.









We watched the Candlelight Procession which included a choir singing religious songs and a reading by Susan Lucci of All My Children fame. Beautiful program.

The fireworks display was awesome. Every night at closing EPCOT hosts a fantastic fireworks show including a large replica of the earth that was brought out to the middle of the lake. At the end of the show fire comes out of  the earth.





I also enjoyed going to Norway and learning about the Vikings--some nasty dudes. From what I read, seems like they were Norwegian pirates. This is photo of my daughters with an infamous Norwegian troll.

EPCOT isn't filled with rides, it's more of a learning experience and you can't do it all in one day. We went back a few times to see what we'd missed. Growing up in CA, we went to Disneyland all the time, but EPCOT is like nothing else. It's really an adventure and I'm glad we could take the kids and expose them to it.