Disney World Christmas Part 1: Epcot

Christmas has come and gone and now I'm sitting here with weather in the single digits reminiscing about where I was a week ago. Missing those beautiful 70 degree days in Florida. Every other year my family goes away for Christmas, we've had this tradition going for the past 6 years. It's glorious. There's no gift buying, no snow, just lots of fun in the sunshine as a family. This year we picked Walt Disney World in Florida as our Christmas trip destination. Disney is such an awesome place to spend the Christmas holiday because they do everything over the top, every building is covered from top to bottom in tinsel and garland and bright colored bulbs and twinkle lights. It's so "Christmasy". We were there for a week and everyday was packed full of fun. The first day we spent at Disney's Epcot. 

Epcot is home of the "World Showcase" where various countries from around the world are brought to life. You can visit France, Morocco and Japan all in one afternoon. I'm always amazed at the attention to detail Disney puts into everything they do from the buildings to the souvenirs for sale, it's all so well thought out. Epcot is one of my favorite parks, there's not many rides, it's really low key. But I have to admit my favorite part of Epcot is the eating. You can get a crepe in France and a Bratwurst in Germany, and finish it off with a scoop of gelato from Italy! It's brilliant, really. Going into this post I just want to warn you, we ate. And ate. And ate, like I said that was my favorite part of Epcot. It's half the fun right? Right! So just a heads up there are many food pictures and descriptions. Don't think less of us OK? We just like food. That being said here's what our day looked like in Epcot...

Our first stop of the day was in Canada. We made a human totem pole and I though about my Canadian friend Maya...Hi Maya!

Next we made our way to England, where we saw precious tea sets, wandered in the gardens and took a break in a traditional English parlor. We got a basket of fish and chips to share and a box of shortbread cookies. Both were fantastic. The eating in England was awesome.

In Italy there were recognizable structures modeled after ones from all over the country, there were fountains that looked like they belonged in Rome, a tower from Venice and, many other little details from Florence. While in Italy we had to try the gelato. My mom and I split vanilla bean gelato sandwiched in between two chocolate chip cookies. And yes, it was spectacular.



Germany was next and surprise we ate some delicious food! A soft pretzel, Werthers caramel popcorn, a salted caramel, and a bratwurst with sauerkraut.While were were there we saw a life sized coo coo clock, people wearing lederhosen and beautiful German architecture.



We made a stop in France and listened to Pere Noel (Santa Clause) tell his story, saw gardens mimicking those of Versailles, and even saw a little art. All the while with the Eiffel tower peaking over the tops of the buildings. We finished our time in France with a crepe, and pain au chocolat. 

Next stop was Morocco where we saw a beautiful belly dancer and loved the colors and patterns and designs of their buildings and artwork.



We made a stop in Japan and loved the gardens and silky kimonos. We saw a Japanese woman retrieving pearls out of oysters and I got a box of my favorite Asian candy "Hello Panda". It's basically little chocolate filled fortune cookies that look like pandas. They're yummy. And cute. 

In China we ate yummy beef stir fry and "awed" over the replica display of the terracotta army.

We also visited America, Mexico and the Netherlands. It was a full and fun day.We finished they day with a beautiful sunset over the lake and an amazing fireworks show accompanied by Christmas music.