2 Days in Disney World: Awesome Animal Kingdom & EPCOT Itinerary
2 Days in Disney
In Disney Day 1 – Copper Creek Dreams, Hollywood Studios Nightmares, & the Magic Pumpkin we returned to Disney World, staying at Copper Creek in the Wilderness Lodge. It was a hot and frantic time at Hollywood Studios, before some fun at Disney Springs and dinner at the Contemporary Resort. It’s now day 3 in the subtropical House of Mouse, and we are here for it. We’ve just spent another 2 days in Disney World and this is all about what happened!
Animal Kingdom Birthday
Sunday morning was a typical humid and overcast Animal Kingdom day, with early entry for Disney Resort guests at 7:30 AM. Once again, we drove to the park, and were chatting with the gate attendant by 7:10 AM, at which time he told us people had been arriving by 6:30 AM. Yikes!
This is usually the least busy of the four main parks, and while it was a bit crowded, we hoped for shorter lines than we’d had at Hollywood Studios the day before. The very first ride is in Pandora and is our favorite, Avatar Flight of Passage. We were on line before 7:30 AM, and mounting our dragon-like banshee about 30 minutes later. This is a breathtaking 3D simulator ride where you soar on the back of a banshee over the stunning landscapes of Pandora, feeling wind, mist, and the creature’s movements as if you’re really flying.
After finishing the soaring Banshee flight through Pandora, we immediately walked over to Na’vi River Journey for the slick Na’vi version of It’s a Small World. I mean, the ride is definitely more immersive and on a different planet and all, but how do we really know that they’re not chanting about how small Pandora is? Also, for those who have not see any of the movies or completely unaware, Na’vi are blue humanoid aliens.
Our time on Pandora completed, it time for the moment that occurs on most of our vacations. I needed to buy a hat because I’d left mine somewhere. The old bald noggin needs its protection. So into the Island Mercantile and then the Discovery Trading Company we went for a Disney baseball cap.
Overpriced hat on head, it was time for caffeine and breakfast, so off we went to Creature Comforts in Discovery Island. The only creatures it comforts are us caffeine starved humans, because it’s just Starbucks. We settled onto one of the bench/garden ledges in a nearby shady spot with our drinks and breakfast sandwiches.
Our spot was quiet and not too hot. It was really nice for a while. And then the birds came. An ibis approached along the ledge to my right, seeming to say, “Nice bread on that sandwich you got there. I, too, like sandwich bread.” And then another ibis approached along the ledge to Rona’s side as if to say, “It’d be a shame if something happened to that iced coffee.”
We left.
After crossing over into Africa, we opted for one our favorite shows in Animal Kingdom, Festival of the Lion King. This time we were in the lion section, and so got to roar whenever called upon. It’s a lot easier to manage a roar compared with whatever noise it is the giraffe makes, less taxing than the elephant and less embarrassing than warthog vocalization. Speaking of warthogs, animatronic Pumbaa was on his float just a few feet from us and as a result, the kid in the next row forward seemed to be having the best day of his young life.
Afterward, we went over to Kilimanjaro Safaris. Before Pandora opened in the park, this was our rope drop ride. The wait was an hour, and moved slowly today. After a while and before we were in the sheltered part of the line, it began to storm. We were at the winding part of the line where you’ve got no idea where you are or how close you are to shelter, so you just give in to mother nature.
During the summer in central Florida a little preparation in a string backpack goes a long way. Rona slipped on her poncho and I opened an umbrella, thus keeping us mostly dry, but so many people around us were unprepared. Some gamely stood under the drippy shelter of the surrounding trees, but a few others stood there and got soaked like professionals.
We had not done the safari in the rain before and discovered a pretty cool benefit. There were way more animals moving about. We had close encounters with the giraffe kind, watched a rhinoceros flashing its butt and zebras looking very demure, very mindful, and best of all, the lions were all awake and doing awake-lion things! These cats are usually visible up on the Kopje rocks but snoozing.
With the rain now at drizzle level, we set off for a lunch reservation in Asia at Yak & Yeti. This pan-Asian restaurant has been our regular lunch haunt for many years. The inside is rustic and ornate with a self-described Nepalese feel. Yak & Yeti is actually operated by Landry Restaurants, so if, unlike us, you are a member of Landry’s Select Club, you can take advantage of that.
We shared the pork pot stickers, Rona had Beef Chow Fun off the specials menu, and I ordered the Dragon Roll Bowl off the main menu. The pot stickers were pretty standard, but the entrees were huge, hearty and full of flavor. Also, we might have consumed diet coke and coke zero as fast as the fountains could produce them.
With our bellies full, we decided to check out the bird show at Anandapur Theater called Feathered Friends in Flight! It’s a light hearted but educational show with a variety of exotic birds doing their thing – flying, eating, tricks, eating, stealing stuff, eating – while the animal behaviorists on stage act surprised and narrate it all.
Prior to this show, the theater housed UP! A Great Bird Adventure for a few years before the pandemic. Our fondest memories, however, are of the original show, Flights of Wonder, which ran for almost 20 years. Guano Joe telling us all to “follow the flag, people!” holds a special place in our hearts. There are still YouTube videos of the show out there, if you want to check it out.
With the sun making its debut for the day, it was getting pretty hot, so our last stop in the park was Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail to check out some gorillas, hippos and so forth. There was some construction in the area, so we couldn’t get to everything. Still, the highlight was a silverback hanging out, fanning himself with some leafy branches before collecting a bunch more and dragging them away because we were boring him.
On the way out of the park we stopped at the Joffrey’s coffee kiosk just outside the park gates. My hopes for iced tea were dashed as they were fresh out, but Rona got her favorite Disney coffee beverage, a Shakin’ Jamaican Cold Brew. The walk back to the car under the now blazing sun began to resemble the prior day leaving Hollywood Studios, but at least this time our destination was the Wilderness Lodge for some chilling out (literally).
Storybook Birthday Dinner
Rona’s actual birthday dinner was a reservation in the Wilderness Lodge at Storybook Dining at Artist Point with Snow White. The meal is a partially set menu, beginning with a set of three individually portioned appetizers for each person in your party. You pick your own entree off the menu, and then three individually portioned desserts come out. Both the appetizers and dessert are whimsically presented on a multi-tiered stand designed like tree branches, giving off an enchanted forest vibe.
The appetizers included Smoky Mushroom Bisque, Wicked Shrimp Cocktail and Hunter’s Harvest, essentially a turkey and chicken meatball. Rona’s favorite was the shrimp cocktail and wishes it had more than one shrimp. I love a mushroom soup, so that was mine. For entrees, Rona ordered Magic Mirror’s Slow-braised Pork Shank, while I had the market fish, which was grilled salmon over risotto. The pork shank was fall-off-the-bone delicious, and not the first time she’s had it. Before Storybook Dining debuted, Artists Point was known for their salmon, and it was amazing.
The dessert trio included Miner’s Treasure, a cookies & cream panna cotta that comes with multi color chocolate gems, Fairytale Seasonal Tart, which today was Gooseberry beneath a meringue, and most importantly the Poison Apple, a dark chocolate apple mousse with a sour center. The Miner’s Treasure came with a white chocolate Happy Birthday plaque. Everything was sweet, delicious, and we struggled to fit them in our stomachs.
The entire time you are there, Snow White, Dopey, and Grumpy stop by each table, interacting and taking pictures like any character dining experience in Walt Disney World. At one point, the lighting changes, and the Silly Song begins with a nod to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as the three of them dance and sing together.
The Evil Queen does come out, but she doesn’t stop at any tables. Instead, at the end of your meal your server delivers an invitation to meet with her, at which time you line up in the front of the restaurant to chat with the Evil Queen and take photos as she imperiously poses. The adult family in front of us featured a guy with an appropriate Evil Queen fanboy shirt, of which she approved. Rachel came with us a few years ago and offered a grinning two-thumbs up pose during the photo. The Queen’s horrified reaction was priceless.
The whole experience costs $67 per person plus drinks, tax and gratuity, and wound up totaling $175 for a fun, tasty and entirely memorable birthday dinner.
Later that evening, with a little bit of digestive room available, we returned to the Territory Lounge for a nightcap and the Territory Popcorn Sampler. Rona went with a margarita, and I chose to compare American and Canadian whiskey once again by ordering a Crown & Coke, after having a Jack & Coke with dinner. I am simply not a discerning whiskey drinker, so couldn’t decide which I liked better.
The popcorn comes out in five ramekins, each with a different flavor, including sea salt, barbecue, truffle, spicy, and caramel. We opted for two barbecues instead of the truffle, but the table next to us wound up with our order, which was soon rectified. We did have a lovely conversation with the family from Georgia at that table.
Rona loved the barbecue popcorn, while I, purist that I am, liked the sea salt and caramel varieties. When all was said and done, however, we had overestimated how much we could still eat, and wound up taking much of the popcorn to go. Tomorrow was EPCOT, and promised much more food and lots more steps.
An EPCOT Labor Day
After the last two rope drop mornings, we did not have it in us to do it at EPCOT, especially since we planned to stay until regular park closing time, and possibly into the extended evening hours for Disney deluxe resort guests. Disney theme park tickets are expensive to begin with, and neither of us want to give them any more money for Lightning Lane, which in our view is a lesser version of the old fast-pass system that used to be included in your admission.
Nowadays there are a few versions of Lightning Lane. First, there is “Multi Pass”, previously known as GENIE+, that enables you to reserve an arrival window for up to three experiences, and then as you complete each one, you can reserve another. This pass does not include the top tier attractions at each park, currently Guardians of the Galaxy at EPCOT, TRON and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom, Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios, and Avatar Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom.
For those in-demand attractions, you can purchase “Single Pass”, which lets you reserve a single timeslot for one such attraction. The other attractions are broken down into two groups, one for the more and the other for the less popular attractions. With Multi Pass you select one attraction from the more popular and two from the less popular groups. At EPCOT, you’ve got Test Track, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Frozen Ever After in the more popular groups.
The Multi Pass and Premier Pass also include varying levels of digital downloads from Disney PhotoPass. Disney resort guests can buy these passes up to one week in advance and start reserving arrival windows at that time. Pricing for all this varies based on date, park, and for the Single Pass, the attraction.
Disney is also trying out a “Premier Pass” that lets you show up to any ride, including the premier ones without a reserved timeslot. When we were there it cost the same or more than the actual admission to the park, so it was a hard pass.
On Saturday, out of an abundance of being hot and tired after just Hollywood Studios, we forked over $25 each to Disney for the EPCOT Multi Pass on Labor Day. Two days before our visit to EPCOT, the available arrival windows were limited. Disney does let you find and select them before buying the pass, so we were able to find time slots that worked for us before begrudgingly moving forward with the purchase. Was it worth it? We’d soon find out.
But before EPCOT, and after a good night’s sleep and in the midst of a laid back morning we went for a quick service breakfast at the Roaring Fork in the Wilderness Lodge. It was coffee, and a bacon, egg and cheese croissant for me and Mickey waffles for Rona. This was a well spent $30.
Instead of driving, we opted for Disney transportation over to EPCOT, and by 10:15 AM we were on our way to the Wilderness Lodge bus stop when we ran into Donald Duck. He’s a chatty sort of duck and he and Rona had a nice chat.
By 10:45 AM we were snapping one of those iconic photos of Spaceship Earth in the front of the park from the manicured gardens with the Food & Wine Festival sign.
The Food & Wine Festival is a global culinary celebration where you can sample creative dishes, drinks, and unique food experiences from around the world at various locations spread across EPCOT.
We had scored a lunch reservation at Space 220 in World Discovery shortly after the booking window had opened 60 days prior, as well as a late dinner at San Angel Inn in World Showcase’s Mexico pavilion. When we picked our arrival windows for Lightning Lane Multi Pass, the goal was to ensure we could hit the rides we wanted while making our dining reservations. This wound up being Mission Space right after lunch, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure mid afternoon, and Soarin’ at night. Spaceship Earth had closed the week before for routine maintenance and refurbishment, and was supposedly scheduled to re-open later in 2025.
With all the recent construction complete, EPCOT is now organized into four main neighborhoods. These are World Nature, which is on your right as you enter the park, featuring attractions dedicated to the natural world and the balance of the environment, World Celebration, which is the main hub and is in front of you as you enter, World Discovery, to the left as you enter with attractions focusing on technology and space, and then World Showcase, which sits at the far end of the park featuring pavilions representing 11 different countries.
So, with time before lunch and zero wait, we walked into World Nature and climbed into our clamobile on The Seas with Nemo and Friends in search of Nemo, who is always getting lost. After that, we had a 15 minute wait for Journey Into Imagination with Figment and our opportunity to sing the imagination song. This 23+ year-old version still features Eric Idle, of Monty Python and Spamalot fame, as Dr. Nigel Channing.
There is an interesting back story to the Figment ride, which debuted in 1983 as Journey into Imagination, featuring the iconic Figment and the Dreamfinder, who created the purple dragon. In 1999, Disney introduced a new version of the attraction entitled Journey into YOUR Imagination, with Eric Idle as Dr. Nigel Channing, but it largely removed Figment and Dreamfinder from the story. Fan backlash caused Disney to rework the attraction, bringing just Figment back as a co-star. Interestingly, Eric Idle admitted on social media he did not remember filming or recording any of it, nor had he ever been to the ride.
After Figment, we were walking through the Imagination pavilion, headed for the entrance to an upstairs DVC member lounge called the ImaginAtrium, which stands along the left hand side as you pass through the store. We do love to stop off here for a drink, snack, and a quick charging of the phone, however there was a good-sized line, and since we hadn’t been in the park very long, and time is Disney money, we decided to give it a pass.
Instead, we wandered over to World Celebration and scoped out the Creations Shop, a.k.a. the big store, for anything new. Tucked around the corner from the big store is the new location for Club Cool, where you can taste free Coca Cola brand soda from around the world. My favorite is the tropical fruit flavored Bon Bon Anglais from Madagascar, and Rona’s is the Viva Raspberry from Moldova.
Inside Club cool is a series of soda fountains with the various flavors, and you grab small paper cups with which to try them. Originally called Ice Station Cool when it debuted at EPCOT in 1998, it used to have a frozen cave entrance, which was always a nice way to step out of the Florida heat. Also, did I mention free drinks?
Next up, we crossed into World Discovery and joined the single rider line for Test Track, which has recently been updated. The Test Track changes include elimination of the Design Your Car segment you experienced while on the standby line, scaling back of the test chamber style scenes, and a lot more visual spectacle, especially right before the car zooms outside onto the track.
I cannot stress enough how much time you will save if you go single rider. The standby line was 70 minutes, but those of us who went single rider were climbing into a vehicle less than ten minutes after queuing up. In some cases you might even wind up in the same car with others in your party, since each car’s two rows are three seats across. You will miss the exhibitions that you’d otherwise see while waiting, but they’re not immersive or in our opinion integral to the attraction.
One car behind Rona, I climbed into mine with a family of five. After how long they waited, and hearing about my single rider experience, they’re going to be single riders from here on out; their kids are old enough to do so, given the minimum age is 7.
Little did we know the weather would change in the short time we were inside. As the car launched us to 65 MPH on the high speed outside track, mother nature greeted us by hurling rain at our faces. Some Disney PhotoPass computer takes your picture out there as you zoom along the track, and sadly our eyes were clamped shut from the high speed sky juice. It also turned out that my vehicle was the last one to set out before Disney paused the ride due to the weather.
Given said weather, we waited a few minutes in the Test Track gift shop before making the short walk to our lunch reservation, the two of us scrunched under the one small umbrella we’d been carrying everywhere in my backpack.
Space 220 is in the same pavilion building as Mission Space, and even though it is a hard reservation to get, we kept having second thoughts about it based on the price and some middling reviews we’d seen on YouTube. We need not have worried.
After checking in you are led inside and over to a space elevator called Stellarvator. This takes you 220 miles straight up to Centauri Space Station, which stays in orbit directly above EPCOT. I couldn’t quite figure out how that would work, and ChatGPT told me it can’t unless the space station were in geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles up. Still, the first rule in fantastical entertainment is to suspend disbelief, so up we went, questioning nothing.
The elevator has both ceiling and floor viewports in the middle, so you can watch EPCOT and the rest of the planet fall away and Centauri Space Station come into view as you travel 220 miles in 15 seconds. You also get the reverse experience when you leave the space station.
Inside, Space 220 feels like an elegant, futuristic space station dining hall with massive “windows” showing Earth and passing spacecraft in orbit. You might spy astronauts floating around and even dogs in tiny space suits.
Lunch and dinner here are prix-fixe, with two courses for lunch and three for dinner. For appetizers we shared the Apollo 16 Shrimp Tacos and Neptuna Tartare. The shrimp tacos were fresh and flavorfull, served in a crispy wonton shell. The light and refreshing tuna tartare was served in a crispy panipuri shell and layered with avocado, pineapple and mango.
For entrees, Rona ordered the Galactic Miso Salmon, and I had the Interstellar Steak & Frites. The salmon was among the best Rona has ever had and my strip steak was juicy, full of flavor and cut like butter. The service was impeccable, and our server Charles even brought out a specially decorated blue ice cream that, after much guessing, turned out to be Happy Birthday cake flavored. Bonus points go to the uniquely flavored iced tea, and we would gladly go back and pay the $140 for the food, drinks, and gratuities. Ask for Charles.
No sooner had we journeyed back to earth than it was time to return to space! With our first Lightning Lane time window at hand for Mission Space, we followed the signs for the gentler Green Mission right up to the front, only to find there was no wait for standby. This was largely unsurprising because Mission Space has become far less busy over the last several years, although there weren’t enough guests to even fill the pre-brief training room.
Even if we hadn’t just eaten lunch, a predisposition to motion sickness would have kept us from the Orange Mission. It employs a centrifuge to spin and tilt the shuttle and simulate the G-forces of spacecraft launch and reentry. Rona and I plus two strangers boarded the X-2 Deep Space Shuttle and piloted it through a flight path with amazing views of our home planet. Orange Mission guests actually take off for Mars.
In retrospect, this Lightning Lane arrival window in and of itself was a waste, though there weren’t really any better alternatives at the time. To be fair, the more popular Orange Mission appeared to have a small line, so for those more adventurous folks, it may have paid off.
Once back on earth, we could have booked another Lightning Lane arrival window for one of the eight secondary attractions, though there were only seven available with Spaceship Earth closed. Since we already had Soarin’ booked and had already ridden three of the others, this left us with either visiting those attractions again or going to Turtle Talk with Crush, Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival, or Living with the Land. Only the Land was interesting, but there were no times available that worked for us the rest of the day. Oh well.
Rona and I walked back back across World Celebration to CommuniCore Plaza to catch the outdoor show, ¡Celebración Encanto!, during which the family Madrigal performs songs from, you guessed it, the movie Encanto. We grabbed a covered table since the skies were ominous once again, and watched a few of the performers take the stage. Moments later, distant thunder rumbled, the performers said goodbye, and the Disney loudspeaker gods announced this performance was cancelled. Yay, Florida in late summer.
Since we did have a late afternoon arrival time window set for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in the France Pavilion, with our umbrella at the ready we chanced the weather and briskly walked toward World Showcase. The plan was to cross the middle bridge from World Celebration and then go right toward the Canada Pavilion, which is followed by the U.K. and then France. Halfway to World Showcase, however, the skies and our umbrella opened, so we diverted to the stores just across the bridge, Port of Entry and then Disney Traders, where we joined by many other park guests to wait out the storm.
It was only about 15 minutes later that the rain let up enough for us to continue the day, so we set out for the United Kingdom pavilion, bypassing several Food & Wine kiosks and the Canada pavilion along the way. We don’t usually stop in Canada, unless one of the Canadian bands is playing at the outdoor Mill Stage or we have a dinner reservation at its excellent Le Cellier Steakhouse.
Upon arriving at the United Kingdom pavilion, we navigated into the first shop on the right, The Crown & Crest to check out the latest British music memorabilia, mugs and cups, and other keepsakes. Halfway back through this store you can get your family’s coat of arms on a plaque, which we’ve never actually done and weren’t doing now, but it’s a pretty cool idea.
We had timed this so our brief wander around the store culminated in arriving at the garden in the back of the U.K. pavilion just in time for Command Performance playing a short set of British rock in the gazebo. The bands change over the years, but there’s always a talented one playing British rock, and we usually go.
After the show, we checked out the three other interconnected British shops from back to front, especially the Queen’s Table and Tea Caddy, which sell sweet treats, teas and various other things you might find on a Queen’s table. But now it was time to cross the English Channel and head for France for our next Lightning Lane arrival window.
The entrance to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is around the back of the France pavilion, tucked in past La Crêperie de Paris and Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along. The standby line for Remy was 45 minutes, whereas our Lightning Lane arrival window had us boarding the ride wearing 3D glasses in just a few minutes. So Lightning Lane worked out well here.
If you haven’t been, this is a 4D trackless dark ride that shrinks you to rat size and takes you racing through Gusteau’s famous Paris restaurant with Remy. The ride vehicle is a scurrying rat-shaped car that seats six guests in two rows of three, and is designed to mimic the movements of a rat darting through a kitchen. It’s a super fun ride, but beware those who suffer motion sickness from the combination of 3D screens, trackless spinning, and quick darting movements. We were good with this one.
Being in France during the Food & Wine Festival, we hit up our first international food kiosk for a $7 Vanilla Crème Brûlée with Blueberry-Lime Compote and Evian water because … France. We sat along the central fountain in the main plaza and ate the really tasty mid-afternoon dessert, while planning our next move.
Since we’d used the fancier lightning lane reservation on Remy, we checked availability for a timeslot for either Frozen Ever After or even Test Track later that evening, but they were all gone. That marked two additional lightning lane windows we could not or would not book after using the original one.
After France comes the Morocco and then Japan pavilions. I’m a big fan of the Mitsukoshi department store in Japan, so we made our way over to it. When we arrived, Matsuriza, the group of traditional Japanese drummers had begun their performance at the base of the pavilion’s iconic pagoda, so we hung out and watched before heading into the store. It’s fun just to walk through the store, looking at all the pop culture and video game merchandise, traditional Japanese apparel and home goods, pick-a-pearl, Japanese snacks and sake.
The American Adventure is next after Japan, so I bought an Orange Blossom Pilsner at the Block & Hans kiosk, and drank most of it while Rona bought a Food & Wine Festival Corkcicle at a nearby popup shop. Beer consumed and shopping done, we were right on time for the next Voices of Liberty performance, which we always try to see, but had sadly missed during our last visit to EPCOT. They are an a cappella group that performs patriotic and traditional American songs with stunning harmonies inside the pavilion’s rotunda. The 30 minute animatronic American Adventure show begins upstairs shortly after, but we weren’t looking for a break (or nap), and so moved on.
After the American Adventure are the Italy and Germany pavilions, both offering lots of food and/or shopping (we see you Karamell-Küche), but instead we stopped at the Spain Food & Wine Festival kiosk between the two pavilions. We opted to ruin our dinner appetites by ordering Paella Caldoso and Trio de Pintxos because Barcelona was awesome and we miss it. We ate in the sheltered area by the nearby restrooms as a light rain had begun.
The paella had rock shrimp, scallops and mussels, and was smoky and delicious. The trio included some traditional Spanish tapas dishes, Jamón Croqueta, a croquette filled with chopped ham and creamy béchamel, Pan con Tomate, toasted bread rubbed with ripe tomatoes, and Tortilla Española, a Spanish omelette. The tapas were tasty, but the paella was far better.
Umbrella opened once again, we proceeded to the China pavilion for a wander around their big store, the House of Good Fortune. Far more than in the U.K. pavilion, and possibly more so than Japan’s Mitsukoshi, there is just so much to see in this store. It offers traditional Chinese merchandise, including silk clothing, fans, teas, panda-themed items, decorative swords, and unique snacks.
With our dinner reservation coming soon and the popular Frozen Ever After ride’s stand by line requiring a 70 minute wait, we bypassed the Norway pavilion for now and headed toward the pyramid that is the Mexico pavilion. Inside the pyramid is a festive ambiance with colorful architecture, warm lighting, and the sounds of traditional Mexican music, evoking the feel of a bustling Mexican marketplace and courtyard. With no wait here, we boarded one of the boats for the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Cabelleros. This is a gentle boat ride where you take in various sites of Mexico, while two of the three band members try to find the third, Donald Duck, who has gone missing.
With Donald Duck reunited on stage with José Carioca and Panchito Pistoles, we poked around the Arribas Brothers shop along the side of the pavilion and a couple of the kiosks in the center that are set up like the aforementioned open-air nighttime marketplace. Using the Disney app, we checked in for our reservation at San Angel Inn, which is in the back of the pavilion, set along the river on which the Gran Fiesta Tour boats glide by, and in the shadow of a Mayan pyramid. After about 15 minutes we were seated at one of the lantern-lit tables.
Here is where it gets a little less fun. The table was set for four, and we overheard our server complain to the person who sat us about seating two at a table for four. Neither of us were planning to order a cocktail or beer tonight, and we were now sensitive to the possibility that maybe the server was disappointed there wouldn’t be a 4-person tip. It sure took a while for our diet cokes to come out, and the glasses remained empty later for a good while before he came back and asked if we wanted refills.
After our drinks came and even though we weren’t ravenous due to our recent snack in Spain, we added an appetizer anyway perhaps to set our minds at ease. In retrospect, worrying about something beyond our control was stupid. Could the server have had other reasons to complain about only two people sitting at a table for four? Sure. Could it have been a coincidence that it took a while for the sodas to come out and even longer to be refilled? Again, sure. Maybe.
Anyway, the Totopos came – chips with salsa and cheese. There were plenty and the salsa and cheese were solid. Rona ordered Camarones a la Diabla, sauteed shrimp in garlic and pepper sauce, and I picked the Chicken Enchiladas covered with Mole Negro. Rona’s dish is a hot one, so she got it with the sauce on the side. The shrimp were cooked perfectly and she enjoyed the dish. The enchiladas were massive, the Mole sauce added a deep, earthy taste, and I made a show of eating almost half of it.
Though the tables are pretty close to one another, we really do like the ambiance of San Angel Inn. The food all came out in a timely fashion, and is really quite good. The service is usually fine and the entire meal with our slowly refilled sodas cost and average gratuity was $98. There are a lot of dining choices at EPCOT, but I still would not cross it off the list.
There was time after dinner before our Lightning Lane for Soarin’, so we violated one of our cardinal rules of EPCOT: never backtrack. Well, we backtracked. But sometimes you just have to let it go, so we walked back to Norway and joined the 45-minute standby line for Frozen Ever After.
The folks on line were chatty, which helped make the 45 minutes go faster, and soon we were boarding our open air Viking longship headed to Arendelle for a musical tour of the wintery world of Frozen. It’s a cute ride with all the familiar characters, though clocking in at five minutes, it is a among the shorter Disney’s attractions.
The sun had set as we wrapped up our time at World Showcase, and regular park hours were soon coming to a close. Spaceship Earth was lit with a multitude of colors as we crossed back over the bridge and set out for Soarin’ Around the World in World Nature’s Land pavilion.
We normally head for Soarin’ as soon as we enter the park, and there’s always a long wait, so we were excited to use our final lightning lane arrival window. When we got there, the overhead sign indicated standby had a five minute wait, but in reality there was no standby line for us to overtake as we trekked along the hallway before arriving at the only boarding gate with people.
At this point, it didn’t matter a whole lot that the lightning lane reservation wasn’t needed, and it was actually more interesting to realize for future visits that night time may be a great time to visit Soarin’. We quickly boarded our hang-glider and were lifted and swept through the air, gliding over world landmarks like the Great Wall of China, the Eiffel Tower, and the African savanna, complete with wind effects, gentle motion, and even scents to make the experience feel real.
We next intended to ride Living with the Land, which is in the same pavilion and had no wait when we’d initially arrived for Soarin’. However, the park had just shifted to extended evening hours, and Living with the Land wasn’t open during them. Bummer. A quick check of the Disney App told us that both Test Track and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind had 70 minute standby lines.
We were pretty tired after three non-stop days of Disney Theme Park’n. It was time to say goodbye to the theme parks for this visit, so we headed out of EPCOT and caught a Disney bus back to the Wilderness Lodge to do some packing for our return home late the next afternoon. This meant we didn’t have the stress of an early resort departure, while leaving us more time at the resort and then Disney Springs.
Stay tuned for our final post on this Disney trip when we will reflect on the Lightning Lane Multi Pass and the 3-Day 3-Park ticket, and also name our Food Favs this trip.