EPCOT'S Flower and Garden Festival

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2011

This morning we slept in a bit again. Why not? We're on vacation! We had plans to go to EPCOT later in the day, when we would be joined by Nana and Baba once more. For breakfast, we went down to the mill again - that's the restaurant at the resort. Breakfast has been good, and so has lunch, actually.

We walked around the stores there for a bit too. Daddy and Mommy got a few souvenirs, and some rice crispy Mickeys. Ever have one of those? Mommy and Madison always have to have a Rice Crispy Mickey each time they come to Disney.

Once Nana and Baba arrived, it was time for our quick ride over to EPCOT. Or, at least as quick as the bus that eventually showed up could take us. Once we arrived it was GAME ON for EPCOT's International Flower and Garden Festival.

This is another picture that Madison took with her camera. She's doing a great job, isn't she? Here, you can see the topiaries in front of the park, these two from Toy Story 3. This was a big reason we went to EPCOT this time around, as everyone enjoyed looking at the topiaries. Although Madison was more into the characters to begin with! Look who she saw just entering the park:

She's been really happy to see Daisy Duck lately. She also saw Stitch, who started to eat her autograph pen. Madison got onto Stitch: "Naughty, naughty!"

Madison does like Stitch a lot. In fact, "Lilo & Stitch" just might be her birthday party theme! We're thinking of

a luau sort of party. Aloha!

Once the two split up, we rode on Spaceship Earth, and next visited the Living Seas to find Nemo. She did find Nemo, but as you can see here, she also found Bruce the shark! Uh-oh! Madison is friend. Not food! We had a lot of fun at what we used to call the Communicore buildings - now called "Innovations." Inside these buildings there are plenty of fun activities: Madison played a piggy bank game for a while, and special card holders like ourselves had a great opportunity to meet up with the big cheese himself:

Madison was delighted! To continue our dinosaur theme - and because it was plagued hot outside, we next visited the Universe of Energy. This is a LONG ride, but it's all indoors, dark and cool. And it has DINOSAURS. So it was a win-win for Madison, and everybody actually.

Roar! That's what Madison said. After this, we saw plenty of topiaries along the way, including a whole section dedicated to Tinkerbell and Pixie Hollow. This had a playground, an interactive guide sheet that she could color in once she found all the fairies, and some other interesting things. It was nice for Madison, actually. Here's one of the fairies in a very colorful environment:

Afterwards, we went to the World Showcase, where we visited Donald and his friends in Mexico on that fun boat ride. The theme is "Where's Donald?" Fortunately, Madison found him, just outside and signing autographs!

Time to eat! Immediately afterwards we went China's Nine Dragons restaurant for dinner. We just missed Mulan again. We just missed Mulan last time too, when Daddy was vowing, "Okay, next time I promise we'll get Madison to see Mulan." And we just missed her. Again. Maybe next time.

Meanwhile, Madison enjoyed the Chinese food, of course, and enjoyed the topiaries along the World Showcase, which are set up very well. We saw Snow White, Rapunzel's Tower, Timon and Pumbaa and Lady and the Tramp. There was a lot to see - but we made time to eat at that fantastic pastry shop in France. Yummy! This has become somewhat of a tradition for us - there's a back alley area with tables and chairs where you can eat outside and people watch. It's a nice place to stop for a bit, which we did. Madison ate chocolate, while Mommy and Daddy had delicious pastries.

The final thing we did was see the fireworks show at EPCOT. It's more than fireworks, of course: it's a show called "IllumiNations," and it's worth checking out. Madison enjoyed it, although I think she enjoyed the "Wishes" show at the Magic Kingdom a bit more.

Tonight we headed back to the hotel a bit earlier than previously. The park closes earlier, which was fine by us: everyone was pretty zonked! Sometimes vacations tend to wear you out a bit. Part of the reason this time might be the temperature. No rain, but the sun was quite intense for us who aren't quite used to it.

In any event, we got back to our hotel room eventually and fell asleep quickly. We have just one more day to go on our vacation. Time goes by so fast, doesn't it?