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Tag: Finding Nemo

  • About My Time at Epcot

    EPCOT

    Hello, hello! I hope you are all doing well! Thanks for coming back. 😉 Let’s talk about Epcot, one of the four parks at Disney World! While I was in Orlando, we spent two days at Epcot, May 19th and 20th! We picked the perfect time to be in Epcot too! The Flower and Garden Festival was going on, and it was still the low season for the park (at least that’s what I saw and then also what we experienced!)

    Our first day of Epcot was spent in Mexico, Norway, China, Japan, Morocco, Germany, Italy, and also France. We arrived at Epcot just before the park opened and were able to rush in just as the rope dropped. Immediately, we were off to the rides in World Showcase, starting with the Gran Fiesta starring the Three Caballeros. I’ve always really loved Donald Duck and so it was fun to see him there. Following that, we enjoyed the Frozen ride in Norway and then after that we rushed over to France to check out Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is relatively new to Epcot so we were worried the line was going to be super long, but when I checked the Disney World app, the wait was about 30 minutes! We booked it. By the time we arrived at the line, however, the wait had gone up to an hour, but I think we only ended up waiting about 40 minutes in the end. This ride would definitely have to be one of my favorites. We sat in the cutest little rat cars and it was as if we were the rats ourselves, sneaking around a restaurant in France. So so so much fun. There was one point on the ride where Disney even managed to make it smell like food was cooking. It was incredible!! After our ride with Remy, we stayed in France to get a small bite to eat. We had a reservation at a restaurant in Italy later that day so we didn’t want to eat lunch, but we did want something to hold us over for a bit. So, we stopped at the wonderful little French bakery, Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie. While I wasn’t able to stick to my gluten-free diet there, the quiche and strawberry tart that I split with my sister were wonderful.

    We walked around World Showcase, sticking close to Italy, until around 3:15 pm and then we went into Tutto Italia Ristorante, the place we had our reservation at. The restaurant was very nice, there was good service, and the food was very tasty too! I had the steak with rosemary fingerling potatoes and green beans. While I enjoyed my entire meal, I would have to say the green beans were my favorite part. The food was pricey, but we were expecting that and purposefully booked a reservation there for a nice meal. We were too full for dessert otherwise I would let you know how their dessert menu was. In another time, in another time! The most special part of our first day at Epcot came after our meal. We were just walking around and my sister pointed out Stitch, and Chip, and Dale, and Meeko, and DONALD DUCK. So of course, I got a picture with him. It was pretty great. And that was a perfect ending to a perfect first day at Epcot!

    EPCOT

    Day 2 at Epcot started with a very relaxing boat ride on Living With the Land. Following that, we did the Finding Nemo ride and had a chance to see the wonderful aquarium that Epcot has! There were dolphins and manatees and so many colorful fish and other creatures. All the animals looked and seemed pretty happy too so that made me happy. Our next ride was Figment’s Journey Through Imagination (or something like that). I didn’t know who Figment was prior to this ride, but I came to love that cute, mischievous, purple dragon. After hanging out with Figment, we headed back to World Showcase and visited the countries we had missed the day before. We visited Canada and the United Kingdom! And with that, we had pretty much finished everything we wanted to get through at Epcot. On our way out, my aunt and uncle stopped for one more Dole whip and my sister and I tried out a wonderful desert violet lemonade that is exclusive to Disney World’s 50th anniversary. I highly recommend it if you’re going to be at Epcot any time soon!!

    Dinner that night was near our resort at Ford’s Garage. The food was pretty tasty and they’ve got a lot of good looking burgers on their menu. If you’re big on cars too, this is the spot for you!

    The next day, we sent my sister home and then the following day, my aunt, uncle, and I headed home. If either my aunt or uncle is reading this, thank you so so much for such a wonderful and special trip. We truly had a blast and I just can’t thank you enough. ❤️

    Epcot was so much fun and Disney World, in general, was just so great. There are things I’d love to go back and do again and I look forward to my next trip to Florida, whenever that may be. I hope you all have a great week and I’ll see you next weekend!

  • A Day at Disneyland

    Disneyland, the happiest place on Earth. This past week, my family and I were able to go travel to Anaheim, California to spend two days at Disneyland. Those two days were some of the best days of my life, ever. My family and I had so much fun, ate plenty of good food, had a lot of fun on the rides, and were able to make some wonderful memories. I was disappointed that my dad wasn’t able to come with us because he had to stay and watch our dogs, but we were still able to get stuff for him and fill him in on the entire trip. Anyway, here’s my experience at Disneyland.

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    Thursday we decided to stay at Disneyland the entire day. That was a wise decision because there was so much to do! Being there in June, I was worried that the lines would be terribly long and it would be hot and humid, but it wasn’t too bad for either of those things at all. It was overcast both days and the temperature was cool but still comfortable enough to wear a tank top and shorts. We waited in the security lines for about ten minutes and then headed into the park.

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    I had seen plenty of pictures of Disneyland before but none of them compared to being at Walt Disney’s creation in person. After walking around Main Street for a little bit, my family and I found our way to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and the little area in front of it where Walt is holding Mickey’s hand. We definitely took lots of pictures and then headed to Tomorrowland.

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    We decided to go on Nemo’s Submarine Voyage first and that was a cute, fun way to start our experience out. After that, we decided to head to the Matterhorn in Fantasyland. I did not like this ride at all. Some people might enjoy a fast, jerky, extremely loud ride through a mountain while you’re being followed by an angry yeti, but I don’t. I didn’t get sick but I was disappointed with how that ride turned out. My family and I were getting kind of hungry by now, since it was around noon and so we found a little shop that sold giant turkey legs and corn on the cob. I had a giant turkey leg and it was delicious but kind of greasy. I needed help finishing it because there was so much turkey! Once we were satisfied with food, my aunt, uncle, mom, sister, and I travelled to It’s A Small World, which was super cute and a nice, relaxing ride compared to the Matterhorn. Then, we did Storybook Land which was a little boat tour through a land where a bunch of the castles and settings from Disney movies were displayed. That ride was also fun. We made our way back to the Sleeping Beauty castle to get on Peter Pan’s Flight which was a ride following Peter on his trip from London to Neverland. This ride was a joke. We waited in line for an hour and a half for a less than two minute cheesy experience. I probably would have enjoyed this ride if I was younger, and it was still really cute, I was just irritated that waiting in line for almost two hours wasn’t really worth the wait.

    Finding Nemo's Submarine Voyage
    Finding Nemo’s Submarine Voyage

    It's a Small World
    It’s a Small World

    Entering the whale from Pinocchio at Storybook Land
    Entering the whale from Pinocchio at Storybook Land

    While I may not have enjoyed that ride, the next three rides my family and I did after dinner were wonderful. For dinner, my family and I ate at Café Orleans in New Orleans Square. I’ve never been to New Orleans, but according to my aunt and uncle, it really reminded them of the actual city. The food at Café Orleans was delicious and the service was great. I ordered their “Crescent City” salad which was amazing and the pomegranate lemonade was really good too. With full stomachs, the five of us adventured to Pirates of the Caribbean, which is also in New Orleans Square. This ride was well done, exciting, and overall a great experience. The next one we did was Haunted Mansion, which was not scary at all, and it was really cool. Finally, we ventured to Adventureland and decided to tackle the Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. There was a long line for this ride, but our hour wait was definitely worth it. A majority of the ride was computer generated and it was so cool! While the jeep moved quickly and we did make a few sharp turns and sudden stops, this ride was awesome and so much fun.

    This was my salad and it was probably one of the best salads I've ever had.
    This was my salad and it was probably one of the best salads I’ve ever had.

    Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye
    Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye

    After a long day of rides, churros, other delicious foods, long lines, pin trading, and crazy Disney fans, my family and I called it a day and headed back to our hotel which was walking distance from the park. We must have lucked out with the weather and wait times on most of the rides. The reported wait times for the most popular rides we went on were anywhere from 30-90 minutes and with the exception of Peter Pan’s Flight and Indiana Jones, we were in line 20 minutes at most. The cast members at Disneyland were all very helpful, welcoming, and sweet. Our first day was a little hectic and overwhelming at first, but overall it was a great first day at Disneyland. Disneyland really is the happiest place on earth. 🙂 The next day we would check out California Adventure, and I will share my experience from California Adventure next week.