Day 5: Epcot

We arrived at Epcot on Friday bright and early to get a good spot in line.  We had debated whether to even try to view Elsa and Anna, characters from the movie Frozen, that were in the Norway area of Epcot.  We finally decided that I would run over and get in line first thing and Ben and the girls would run over and ride Soarin.  When I got in line they said the wait was already 2 hrs 45 minutes.  Within about 30 minutes it skyrocketed to a 5 hour wait!  Who does that?  Not worth my time at Disney.  I headed over to meet up with the rest of the gang at Soarin.  It's another one of our favorites.  You ride with your legs dangling in front of a huge screen and you feel like you're flying over California.  There are breezes that blow by when you fly over the mountains and your hit with the smell of pine trees and then you fly over orange groves and smell oranges.  It's amazing and so much fun.  I did a rider switch and got to go with Tori and Alyssa.

A few funny pics while we waited.  Kira has been trained by her older sisters to pose when a picture is being taken. 

  Kira's face cracks me up in this picture.  Mackenzie didn't like how her feet dangled on the ride so she sat out the second time.   

Next we headed to the aquarium area of Mr. Ray's Blue Lagoon. 

 

 It was a little tricky fitting 4 kids in that mouth.  If a shark ever comes along, I guess we'll get to pick one child to save!

 There was a dolphin demonstration going on in part of the aquarium where they were showing how they train their dolphins.  This dolphin could see an image in the other room of the aquarium and then he came to this one and would point to the same image.  It was so fun and amazing to watch how smart these animals are. 

For lunch we headed back over to the Norway land and ate at Akershus.  This is where the Frozen characters were and Ben got a few pics of them from the gift shop just so we could see what they look like. 

 

 Random girl posing with the characters.  Could we photoshop our kids in?

 The lunch at Akershus is so much fun.  All the princesses come around and I get to enjoy Gjetost!  (Goat cheese.  One of my Norwegian favorites.)  There are several Scandinavian things on the menu, but there are plenty of things for the kids as well.  It's fun to hear the waitresses and servers speak because they're all from Norway or Sweden.  Even the workers in the gift shop are Scandinavian.  Disney recruits them to come out for a year to work.  Brings back memories of my trips to Norway.  

 Tori not thrilled with the princess thing anymore. 

 After lunch, Alyssa and Mackenzie did a little scavenger hunt based on the show Phineas and Ferb.  Kira and I messed around in the China area while we waited.  I thought this little elephant was just her size. 

 Tori was bored.

 Checking out the clues on their phone.  They borrowed a special phone that would give you clues to find things all over the China area.  Then you entered your answers in the phone and you would get another clue.  The girls had a good time being spies like Perry the Platypus with Dad. 

Then it was off to Test Track.  Well, it was nap time for Kira so everyone else went on Test Track while Kira slept in the stroller.  Disney's also improved the wait area for this ride as well.  You weave around inside the building and while you wait you design a car on a computer.  They then run the cars through simulations and you see how well yours did. 

Wish we could drive this one!

One of the girls' cars. 

 

A final look at the Epcot ball as we left the park.

 

Our final meal of the Disney experience was the Cinderella Banquet at 1900 Park Fair.  This is another buffet where each of the step sisters make an appearance as well as the step mother, Cinderella and Prince Charming.  These characters really get into their parts and are very entertaining. 

 Drizella

 Prince Charming

Cinderella

 Wicked Step Mother.  She's always great.  She downplays everything Cinderella does. 

 Anastasia bounces around the room shouting and just generally being obnoxious. 

 Cinderella and Prince Charming dancing together. 

 A view of the lobby of the hotel.  This would be an amazing place to stay, but it's on the pricier side of Disney. 

Whew!  We were worn out on Friday night, but we had a ton of fun on this trip and have memories that will last forever.  We often talk about funny things that happen on our trip and our favorite parts of Disney.  My favorite part is just having fun together as a family.