Mexico and Norway- Epcot

While enjoying a nice Valentine’s Day with Norwood I began to think about the upcoming Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival. This year will be my first Flower and Garden Festival (it runs from March 18- May 31) and I cannot wait! My camera and I will drag Norwood to as many events as he can stand and I will share those photos and experiences here. But sadly it is only February 16 so we have about a month to wait! In the meantime though I thought we would spend this week walking through the World Showcase together before the blooms.

Let’s begin our journey in Mexico…


Mexico’s main attraction is the Mayan pyramid that houses a festive little boat ride with the Three Cabelleros and the San Angel Restaurant. I remember the first time I walked into Mexico I felt like I was entering another world where time suddenly had no meaning. Walking back out into the sunshine and heat later on was a shock. My favorite memory in Mexico is meeting for the first time Jackie and her family there for dinner. The one thing you must do while in Mexico is… have lunch or dinner in San Angel (try to get a table toward the water so you can wave to the people on the Gran Fiesta Tour) and then after a delicious meal walk right over to help find Donald Duck on the Gran Fiesta Tour.



After a meal and a pleasant little boat ride that end in fireworks trek the world again and head on over to Norway. Back in 2003 (which was the last time we had been to Disney World before 2008) Norway was our favorite place to eat. I liked the traditional Norwegian Food that you could get at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. When we went back in 2008 we were not disappointed but surprised by the changes. Now it truly is Royal with all the Princesses joining you in your meal and the food is slightly different. My favorite Norway moment is that first dinner back in Norway after five years. We were so shocked to see all the Princesses there and I will never forget how embarrassed Norwood was when we took a photo with Belle. But now he is an old pro at taking photos with the characters.

If you have not yet eaten at Akershus I do recommend trying to at least once but be sure no matter how many times you have been there to check out Maelstrom. I really like the scenery on this boat ride and I have to admit that each time I ride it I prepare for the trip over the falls. It is mellow but fun.

Tomorrow let’s continue our look around the World Showcase and dream of the Flower and Garden Festival that is soon to come.

Special Mouse Beat Guests!

Way back in June I received an email from one of my Mouse Beat readers telling me how much she liked my blog and how neat it was that Norwood and I are doing it. Since then we have emailed back and forth chatting and when it came time for her trip to Disney with her sister in law and mom she actually asked me if Norwood and I might meet up with them at Disney! She told me she was a fan of the blog and thought it would be fun to meet us both. Norwood and I were extremely flattered and of course we said yes!

We all meet up at San Angel Inn located in Epcot's Mexico Saturday night and talked, laughed and had an overall great time for three hours. It was great to meet people out there who are reading the blog and now we have new friends in Seattle! Thanks to all three great ladies for sharing a part of their vacation with us, we had a great time and look forward to seeing you on your next trip to our neck of the woods.

Shopping in Mexico

I have to admit it is not often that we make it to Mexico. As the World Showcase goes we tend to spend a lot of our time in America, Japan and China. But I do recommend a trip on over to Mexico. All the attractions are located inside the Mayan temple which is set up to resemble night time. We feel like you are in a different world when you enter Mexico. Everything is so colorful inside the dark night. The shopping in Mexico includes sombreros, ponchos, interesting art and more.

It is defiantly worth the trip to Mexico and while you are there you might want to take the Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros.

If you would like to see more of my pictures of Mexico check out my href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/avisualzen/sets/72157606772870065/">flickr set.