Epcot: Exploring the World

I created keepsake passport for each of the girls for our trip to Disney!!! Jillian, Faith, and Anna were so excited to get their passports signed in each of the countries at Epcot.

Norway:




After our lunch at Akershus, we did a little more exploring of the country Norway.  First, we rode the ride Maelstrom, which the girls loved! (It was super exciting for me because that it was relevant to our study of Leif Ericson that we had earlier in the year for American history!)


Then we went to the Kidcot station to get the girls Duffy the bear on a stick. Each of the World Showcase countries has a special Kidcot station that provides an opportunity for your child (and parents too) to meet a native of the country you are visiting!!   In Norway, Anna spent a lot of time coloring her bear.  She was quite intense about it. It was really cute.

Meanwhile, Faith and I did a little exploring in the shop next to the Kidcot station. Faith discovered Pippi Longstocking! (Pippi is actually not Norwegian. She is Swedish, but apparantely Pippi is a big hit in Norway!)  The girls and I love Pippi! We read two of her books this year, the original, and Pippi Goes on Board (it is on Sonlight's list for Kindergarten read-aloud books)! They were both excellent and the girls were genuinely sad when we were done reading them. The good news, I am excited to surprise them with one last Pippi installment soon, Pippi in the South Seas!

China:

We had perfect timing for our arrival in China.

We were able to enjoy the Dragon Legends Acrobats show!

Then we went to the Kidcot station to have our Duffy bear stamped.  Also, each of the girls had their name written in Chinese characters in their special keepsake passport.

Then, we did a little shopping and Faith discovered the perfect souvenir, a necklace that says her name in Chinese! 信仰

She was so excited. Faith has wanted to visit China for some time now, so being in "China" at Epcot was really special to her.

Faith said her necklace made her think of her beloved friend Mackenzie (who was born in China)!  I thought that was super sweet.

Germany: 

Then we made our way to Germany!  I am extremely sentimental about the  beautiful country Germany.  My mom was born in Germany and lived there as a teenager as well.  

I especially loved browsing the Christmas shop.  It was always my mom's dream for our family (while growing up) to go to Germany for the Christmas markets. So many of the wonderful Christmas traditions that American have adopted (the Christmas tree, nutcrackers, gingerbread houses, advent wreath, many of the classic Christmas carols, etc.) originated in Germany.   

We met a young woman from Germany at the Kidcot Station.  She was extremely friendly and the girls learned a few phrases in German too! 

The "architecture" in Epcot Germany genuinely reminded me of the city of Munich! 

Then, the girls enjoyed the miniature train and German village.

Italy:

The display of several masks in Italy was really neat. 

And I loved the authentic feel of all the fenced courtyards. 

In Italy, we enjoyed the comedic and musical show of the Ziti sisters! 

Brad and the girls with the Neptune Fountain (reminiscent of Rome's Trevi Fountain).

USA:

Next, we made it to the American pavilion. 

We enjoyed an incredible concert by the Voice of Liberty.

The Liberty Voices is a world famous, eight part a cappella group that sings Americana, Folk and Patriotic Songs. And a fun tid-bit is that they have performed for five United States Presidents.

Japan:

As we walked up to Japan, we heard the sound of drums! 

We made it in just in time to hear the Matsuriza show that performs a traditional Japanese drum show!  Anna was especially enamored by the percussionists! 

Kidcot: Japan station

Then we enjoyed a little of Miyuki and Japanese Fantasy Candy Art!
A Description of the "Art": 
"Her candy sculptures begin as a ball of hot, malleable rice starch candy — this looks a lot like pulled taffy. Miyuki takes requests from the audience to determine what her sculptures will look like, adds food coloring to the candy ball, and begins stretching, sculpting, and painting the candy to create delicate, detailed works of art. Miyuki then hangs the piece in front of a fan to cool down the hot candy and set the design."

Morocco:

Morocco was beautifully done, I genuinely felt like I was wandering in the bazaars of a North African country! Interestingly, it is the only pavilion that the country's government aided in the design.  Also, King Hassan II sent Moroccans to design and create many of the mosaics. 

The guys in Morocco were hilarious (both friendly and flirtatious) to all of us girls! 

I genuinely enjoyed Morocco and its authentic feel, we enjoyed the many citrus trees, date palms, and olive trees in the pavilion too!

France:

French Formal Garden: "Jardin à la française is a style of landscaping based on balance and symmetry. The idea is to impose “order” into nature. This style of gardening reached its apex in the 17th century when landscape architect André Le Nôtre used his talents at Versailles. In the decades that followed, this style was widely copied by other courts of Europe. A recreation of this gardening technique can be seen in the France Pavilion."

 At the bakery, the Boulangerie Patisserie, there was a wide selection of French pastries! It was difficult to choose "only a few" but thankfully, they were all divine. I don't think we could have gone wrong with any of them. 

A local retired man, and a former fire-fighter, sat at the table next to us while we enjoyed our French pastries.  We enjoyed talking to him and in our fairly short conversation, he nearly convinced us that Florida is the place to go for retirement!

After all, perhaps all the great-grand kids will come to visit us while on their Disney trip and we will get discounted admission for us old retirees!! :-)

He was very nice and offered to take a family photo of us (this was our first  photo of our entire family together at Disney)!  

Our girls wearing their Eiffel Tower shirts (thank you Aunt Beth and Uncle Nate for their matching shirts, they were perfect for Epcot France) while on the beautiful streets of Paris! 

Being able to experience Epcot France genuinely made me miss Paris, it is an enchanting city (both in France and in Florida)!  :-)

And I definitely think that my parents-in-law need to make a trip to Disney to relive the beauty of Haussman's Paris (Brad's mom is a descendant of the distinguished Haussman).

I found this commentary for Mom Holmes:
"Epcot’s France derives most of its aesthetic appeal from the city of Paris. However, as with the other World Showcase pavilions, all elements work together to present a very authentic and easily recognizable destination. Most features reflect the La Belle Epoque—or Beautiful Age—period between 1850 and 1900, when the city’s master planning was led by Baron Von Haussmann. “The Grand Design,” as it came to be known, is designated by mansard roofs and dormers and quaint pedestrian appeal."

United Kingdom:

Upon our arrival in the UK, we were able to listen to the band British Revolution. The band performed a collection of greatest hits from the 1960's to the 1980's featuring: Police, Rolling Stones, and my favorite, The Beatles.  They were fantastic.

And then we saw a couple of very special someones...

Anna could not contain her excitement! :-)

There were hugs given all around.... 

and big smiles with Tigger and Winnie the Pooh! 

A little later, Tigger even played a little peek-a-boo with Anna! She was in Disney Heaven. :-)

At the Kidcot station, we enjoyed talking to an genuine English woman!! She was delighted that I knew all about Sainsbury's, Tesco's and Boots!!! :-)  And we talked all about how America is such a car-oriented country. She laughed, "People look at me all wacky if I want to walk somewhere here."  

Then, we enjoyed fish and chips from England. We were still full from our lunch at Akershus, pastries at Paris, so, we were completely satisfied with only a couple of plates (complete with English cookies too). 

Canada:

By the time, we made it to Canada, it was very dark outside and we were unable to get good pictures of the beautiful miniature Victoria garden, the totem poles, and the castle, but we did meet a very nice Canadian!

He was very proud of his native Canada and shared some interesting trivia in the girls' passports.
For instance, did you know that Canada is the : home of the first chocolate bar, home of ice hockey and basketball, and home of IMAX theater?

As we departed the park that evening, at the 9PM closing, we were thankful that we could look forward to having a half-day to return to Epcot (on our day of departure).  We did not even come close to being able to fit in everything that we wanted to do.  But all that we managed to fit in was incredible; it was happy, fun- filled day.