We keep on keeping on towards Italy. By this time the park is getting pretty crowded, I have no idea
where all these people came from but we seem to be walking against the flow. Italy is pretty packed though so we take some pics just outside by the lagoon area that they’ve set up to look like Venice.
Here’s Monica by some Gondola’s:
Here’s me taking a picture of Yani who’s taking a picture:
[
And here’s Yani’s version of the same picture with me (I looked like this half the trip anyway):
We head back towards the Italy pavilion and there’s some kind of show going on but it’s hard to see because there’s a huge crowd. DC wanders off into a store.
I ask Yani where she is and she tells me where she went. DC and Monica are doing some perfume testing. Ok I like perfume as much as any other gal, but the place was starting to give me a headache
and the perfume is way overpriced. Collette joins us and Yani decides to wait for us outside because she was getting a perfume headache too. DC asks me to help her look for a necklace they had that is sorta porcelain-y in the shape of a cross. They’re very pretty and not too pricey. So we start the endless search of the perfect cross for DC. OMG this child is picky, at one point she had like 5 necklaces in her hand trying to decide which one to buy. They all looked the same to me.
So I told her that and she then proceeds to explain to me that this is this and that is that-- Seagull!! You went up to the surface again didn’t you?!….. Uhhh sorry
. Anyhoo, she was looking for a certain color combination on the cross (because the cross had little colored flowers painted on the porcelain). I eliminated some of the ones she had in her hand and we were down to 2!
Ok making some progress. She wasn’t really convinced. We searched the racks some more and eventually had seen every single type of that necklace they had on display so I told her to make a choice. Monica and Collette were looking at jewelry too and finally DC decides on what to buy. I say good, let’s purchase it and get outta here. I let Monica and Collette know we would wait for them outside.
Yani was waiting outside with a coffee. I decide I want a gelato because Italy has some great gelato. I went in search of an actual gelato shop, but there was none.
Yani told me they had some gelato by the coffee stand. So we all walk over there and DC decides she wants a coffee too, oh wait cappuccino.
I ask the CM if we can use our snack credits and he tells me no, ok. I order my little gelato which isn’t really a gelato, but an Italian ice because they didn’t have real gelato. Oh well. Then we wait for them to make DC’s cappuccino.
As we’re waiting a cute little squirrel is scampering about the stand eating up little crumbs. Some people give it some crumbs and walk off. We are all amazed at how unafraid this little squirrel is. These tweens come up and start trying to hit the squirrel, I really hate when people try to hurt animals so I say “Hey!” and give them the Leave that squirrel alone look
and they leave it alone. Apparently the squirrel was really thankful because he scurried up to us. DC had bought a scone or something so she gave it a little piece. It immediately came closer to us to retrieve it. She thought he was so cute so broke off another piece and was leaning down to give it to the squirrel when it plucked it out of her hands. Awwwww!
There were some crumbs nearby so I pushed them towards the squirrel with my foot and he immediately came over and started eating them right in front of my feet! By this time I have the camera out and we take some pics of our new furry little friend.
Those are my shoes:
Here he actually looked at us:
A little crowd is starting to draw around us as we’re interacting with the squirrel. Some guy comes along and puts some crumbs of food in his hands and the squirrel goes right up to his hand and eats it right out of his hand. He has this heavy duty professional camera and snaps a few pictures; he got a great one of the squirrel looking right up at him. Some more people gather and some kids come around and start trying to pet the squirrel. One kid actually said he touched it. This whole time the squirrel didn’t get spooked by all the people around it. I’m telling you they must’ve had Snow White come and train these animals in WDW because this was not the only time we saw animals not be scared of humans. We decided to find Collette and Monica because there still was no sign of them. DC ventured back into the store, which was kinda dangerous.
Yani and I waited outside.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Still no sign of DC, Collette or Monica. Great! As I’m about to march in and find them DC comes out and tells me they’re paying. Good.
So we wait.
And wait.
And wait.
Finally they emerge. Good. Off we go now. We tell them about the squirrel and start walking to the next country. As we’re walking Collette decides she wants to go back really quick to Italy and buy this necklace she saw..
So she and Monica go back to the store and Yani, DC and I wait for them by a bench by the lagoon.
Here’s Yani and DC on the bench:
We wait for what feels like forever
, but eventually Collette and Monica come back and we continue our trek to The American Adventure.
As we’re walking there we hear loud music. Apparently there was some kind of concert going on. Collette, Monica and Yani head for the bathroom. DC wanders off to find popcorn because she smells it and wants some. I spot the pin trading cart and decide now is the time to buy myself a lanyard because I’ve been putting it off and lost a pin
that I had pinned onto my camera/purse thingy. I buy my lanyard, the blue one that says “Where Dreams Come True” and I also bought myself a Donald pin. I sit by the fountain and transfer all my pins onto the lanyard while I’m waiting for everyone. DC joins me then Yani. We take some pics as we wait for Collette and Monica. Yani and I look at the map to see if there’s anything here we should see, there’s some show on America but we opt not to watch it because we’re going to soon be losing daylight. I tell Yani that we need to finish the WS so we can go back to Mexico to watch the fireworks and eat something. She’s cool with it that, which is why I love
her so much. Collette and Monica show up and I guess they were watching the end of the concert or something. I tell them that we have a few countries left and that I wanted to finish them so we can get back to Mexico around 8:30 pm or so we can eat before we leave. I didn’t tell them about the fireworks because I wanted it to be a surprise
, since it’s their first time and all. They say ok and are up for the plan and I even make sure they don’t mind eating Mexican food and they’re down with that; good
. (Remember this)
So we say goodbye to the good ol' US of A and head over to Japan!
The Rest of the World
. We came upon a little kiosk selling stuff and Yani and DC decided to try on some hats:
Wooohooo!! 
Alright Buddha! The China gift shop is huge and heads outside,as we were still browsing the part that’s half outside but still under the roof looking for our Chinese Zodiac Medallions we see Mushu walk through the shop and goes away through the door. Oh No!!! I missed Mushu! I whined. Oh well. Monica and DC bought some stuff and we headed to the outside and into more kiosks. I look over and see a line of people and I get all excited to see Mulan standing there! Wooohooo!
How fitting that I get to meet another Disney Princess after having just met the others! DC and I walk on over to the line which is short again while Yani, Monica, and Collette take a seat in a shady area because the heat is now out and nice and warm, a big difference from our freezing morning. As we’re waiting, guess who walks back to the meet and greet area?! No other than Mushu! Woohoo!
, more so than the other kids standing in line and it was soon our turn to hand over our photopass to the photographer and get our pics taken with Mulan and Mushu. They were so sweet and short awwww. Poor Mulan had a lipstick smudge on her teeth, I so wanted to tell her but never got the chance to because we had to keep the line moving and photographer was snapping away.
). There was a Lion King scene for the Flower & Garden festival and as I’m taking pictures this lady comes up to me and asks me something. I didn’t really understand what she was asking so I said I’m sorry to her, but a polite I’m sorry.
So she points at my little purse/camera thingy that I’m carrying and repeats her question. I’m still confused and then I see Collette running up doing the Focker sign saying “Hello Focker!” 
I look down at my LGMH hanging from my little purse/camera thingy and start laughing and saying “Oh yes!” I asked her if she was a Focker, because I didn't see a LGMH on her, she wasn't but she spotted
my LGMH. She asks me my DIS name and I tell her, I don’t really think she understood me and I asked her hers and she tells me it and for the life of me I can’t remember it. I know it was Miz or Miss something and she said that she mostly frequents the WISH boards. We chat a little and she asks me where I’m from and I tell her Miami and she says that she lives in Florida too and she was a very sweet lady who had come with her husband to spend the day at Epcot to see the Flower & Garden Festival. We said our goodbyes and I was just so excited to meet a fellow DISer because I had a bunch of LGMH’s in my camera/purse thingy that I brought to give out and I completely forgot about them. Still very fun and exciting and I wish I remember her name. 
excitedly about having encountered a DISer. I told her she wasn’t a Focker, and Collette was a little bummed about it because she really likes the Focker sign so much. Yani then gasps and grabs my arm and I look up and see Dopey! DC and I get all excited and she’s already opening up the backpack and pulling out our autograph books. Yani does a little skip-jump into the line because she loves
Dopey and DC and I follow. We got lucky again that the line wasn’t too long and were quickly meeting Dopey. He’s so cute with his big ears and he was giving everyone kisses with that little poppy thing they use to make the kiss sound. 
. They smelled good too Mmmmm. Monica comes out and she gets Collette to show her something. I go inside the shop too and find Yani and DC, Yani calls me over and says, “Li for my wedding I want this castle.” She points into this glass case and inside is the Cinderella castle out of Swarvoski crystals. OMG
I tell Yani that when I win the lottery that I’ll buy it for her. 
China's one of my favorite places to hang in Epcot, second only to Japan.
