drinking and reminiscing all around the "world"

with the competition over, we were finally free to relax and enjoy our visit to disney world.  and for our first full day of fun at the parks, we had reservations for EPCOT.  the old lady and i had been looking forward to this day because we love "traveling around the world" at the world showcase in this park.  we knew it would be a little different with the 'rona having driven away all of the international cast members who typically staff their country's pavilions, which was kind of a bummer.  still, it promised to be a super fun day of rides, snacks and adult beverages.

i think this is the only place that we got to have a non-selfie family photo.

and it was the first chance we got to recreate an old photo, too.  2013 and 2021:

it also happened to be during the EPCOT flower and garden festival, so there were lots of fun topiaries and floral decor to look at throughout the park.

we made a beeline for the world showcase, with mexico being our first stop.  the old lady was really interested in the one ride here, only having seen it once before when she was little.  and so while the hub stood in line for margaritas, we headed on inside.

by the time we got out of there, it was almost time for our lunch reservation at one of the restaurants in the italy pavilion.  

gotta love being photobombed and mocked all in the same photo.

food and drinks were pretty good here, and it was a relief to sit down in an air-conditioned restaurant and take our masks off.  

the old lady and i were rocking our pre-trip presents from the hub - super cute mickey backpacks.

drinking our way around the world was pretty fun, i gotta say.

the bean obviously didn't partake, but she was pretty happy to score a nutella-filled crepe in the france pavilion.

as we continued to wander through the countries, a trolley full of disney princess crossed our path.  this is how they were handling socially distant character appearances in this lovely time of covid.

in the UK pavilion, we got to recreate another old photo from that same 2013 trip.  i love these.

and while the bean used one of her disney gift cards she'd been collecting on this corgi stuffed animal, i found a hat that i couldn't resist.

by then, the hub had had enough disney for one day.  he headed off to the cigar lounge at disney springs to enjoy a stogie while the rest of us finished off our to-do list at EPCOT.

the fiancé is pretty anti-anna and elsa, so he was happy to wander off and find more beer while the girls and i stood in line for the frozen ride in norway.  

and in germany, i picked up a bag of the fresh caramel corn i'd been waiting over a year for.  this stuff is so stinking good, i dream about it.  i wish i had some right now.  if you make your way to the world showcase, have some caramel corn for me.  better yet, bring me a bag.  i'll be your best friend.

as we made our way out of the world showcase and back into future world, we joined the line for test track.  the old lady knew that the fiancé would enjoy the ride, despite the fact that the interactive section of the queue had been eliminated.  you usually get to customize your car, but the system relies on touch screens and we sure can't have THAT right now.  oh well.  it was still a fun ride anyway.

out of all the times we've been to EPCOT, i'd never sucked it up to experience mission:space.  the warnings always freaked me out, and i had terrible visions of spinning and barfing.  but i let myself get peer pressured into going along, and to appease my fear the kids chose the less intense "green" version of the ride.  still, it was pretty close quarters in there and the oh-so-convenient stack of barf bags on the dashboard didn't do a lot to calm me down:

i am pleased to report that i managed to emerge from that spaceship unscathed and barf-free.  phew.

our last ride of the day was spaceship earth.  after all, it was the fiancé's first trip and you can't skip it...it's a classic!

we met up with the hub at disney springs and had dinner at morimoto asia, which was fun and delicious.  it was a great way to cap off a long day, and i think everyone was pretty happy to get back to the hotel to get cleaned up and fall into bed.  

day one of four, check!