I had planned to go to Epcot on Tuesday to take advantage of EMH in the morning, but wed ridden just about everything we wanted on Saturday. We slept a little later and took our time getting ready. Once we got to the park, we pretty much walked on to Test Track.
We also rode Spaceship Earth as a walk-on. Once the World Showcase opened up, we strolled over to Canada.
I loved the topiaries during the F&G Festival!
This was one of my fav countries. Great souvenirs -
The only time I've seen him with hair!
It was so peaceful back here!
Id tried to get reservations to Le Cellier, but no luck. Maybe next time.
After Canada, we strolled over to Paris (how cool does that sound?).
We were all getting hungry and I wanted to try Boulangerie Patisserie. Im so glad we did! DH and both kids got the Ham and Cheese Sandwich and I tried the Ham and Cheese Croissant. The real treat, though, was since we were on the dining plan we each got to pick a dessert. The choices were amazing!
I ended up with the Chocolate Éclair, DH got the crème brulee, Goofy got the chocolate cake and Princess got the Napoleon. We all shared and the hands-down favorite was the chocolate cake. Looking at the menu on Allears, I think it must have been the cake of the day.
Once we got our food, we lucked out with a small table right outside. I can see why people complain about the lack of seating, but if you get lucky or are willing to carry your food to find a seat, its a great place for a simple meal and wonderful dessert.
After our lunch we walked through Morocco, but the kids were begging to go swim. It was a beautiful day and I knew wed have plenty of time to finish the World Showcase since we planned on going to Illuminations that night. We went back to the hotel and swam for a couple of hours. After their pool fix, everyone was happy to go back to Epcot.
We took the boat from the entrance of the World Showcase over to Morocco. We shopped in Japan and Goofy was in Pokemon heaven. After prying him out of the store, we got a snack at Kaki Gori. Id heard great things but it was just
okay. Good but not as good as our local Shiver Shack, so I think we were just spoiled.
We strolled through the American Adventure and Italy but nothing really caught our eye until Germany.
We planned to eat at Biergarten later but we were still too early for our ADR and too full for our snack, so we walked over to Mexico and checked out the Gran Fiesta. It was cool and fun (my husband called it A Mexican Small World).
I loved the shops inside and DH said he wished Id made our dinner reservations for San Angel Inn because he loved the atmosphere. If I had known what I know now, I would have!
We were closing in on our ADR time, so we headed back to Germany, stopping in Norway to snag FP for Maelstrom. I didnt think we would need them since the crowds were still really low but I wanted to ride it and wasnt sure how much time we would have between dinner and finding a good place for Illuminations.
We got our buzzer for dinner at Biergarten but only waited about five minutes before being shown to our table. We were seated with a really sweet couple from Canada who both spoke German. They suggested drinks and talked about the food with us before we all got up to hit the buffet.
My son was in hog heaven. Hes a picky eater but for some reason loves hot dogs, bologna, etc. There were a dozen different types of those meats on the buffet and he pigged out. I tried a lot of the salads (the tomato salad was excellent) but most of the meats were just too breaded and heavy looking for me. My DH, Princess and I all just grazed but thats the most my son ate all week!
The desserts were okay, but I think wed been spoiled earlier in France so they didnt make much of an impression on us.
The entertainment, however, was fabulous.
The kids loved listening to the horns and bells. Princess even talked me into getting up and doing the polka with her (of course, thats the only time the whole trip my DH decides to take a picture when Im making a fool of myself!).
We had a good time but everyone except Goofy voted it the worst meal of the trip.
After dinner we used our FP for Maelstrom (which I remember being scarier). Im glad we had them, because the park was really getting crowded and without them we wouldnt have gotten to ride. We scored a good spot between Norway and Mexico to watch the fireworks and settled down to wait.
We sat next to a great family Im not sure where they were from but they didnt speak much English. We mainly communicated with hand gestures, but their kids played with ours and it made the time go much faster.
Illuminations started and the whole family loved it! I didnt take any pics because the crowd started getting really obnoxious, pushing us into the rail and crowding our kids. I ended up putting the camera up and wrapping my arms around my son to protect him while DH picked our daughter up. Other than that, we enjoyed the night. We shuffled out with the rest of the crowd and after a remarkably short wait, grabbed a bus back to the hotel.
Im sorry for the lack of pictures on this update, but I promise there will be more on the next!
Sorry you didn't like Biergarten. We tried it for the 1st time this past trip and really enjoyed it. Of course it was the day I ran the marathon so anything probably would have tasted fabulous!
& I got hungry thinking of the great deserts in France! I wish I still had some Christmas cookies to go eat right now. 
