Disney 2016 Day Two

Today was Day Two of our Disney Trip, but we could probably nickname it--Our Rain Day. The day started out very rainy. There were thunderstorms when we awakened this morning. The rain let up a little to barely a drizzle when we first got to Epcot, but it was fairly constant all day, often getting harder, and occasionally lightening up. We decided to visit Epcot today, because it was close to our hotel (so we could go home to change wet clothes or to rest if needed) and because a lot of activities were inside.

I didn't bring my big camera because of the rain. I was hoping to get a bunch of photos taken by the Photopass photographers, since I bought the Memory Maker package ahead of time so I can just download those photos, but because of the sometimes heavy rain, even those photographers weren't out there taking pictures. We did manage to get a few taken, like this one with the Epcot "golf ball", and I was happy to be in some photos.

We started out in the Innoventions exhibit, because there were a bunch of indoor hands-on activities for the kids to do. There weren't that many people at the park yet, which was great because the kids could take their time and not have to wait for anything. We started with some hands-on science activities, and then proceeded to the new "Colortopia" exhibit sponsored by Gladden paint (at least new since we last visited five years ago), where the kids played games with colors. The next stop was an area where the kids designed their own ride, then got to experience the twists and turns that they planned out on a simulator type of machine. It's hard to describe, but I'm sure my big boys would have thoroughly enjoyed it. Eric was within the 48 to 54 inch height window where he wasn't allowed to go upside down, but I'm sure the big boys would have included some of that in their ride. I didn't participate, obviously, because rides just aren't my thing.

I did go on two "rides with the kids. We went on a ride of sorts that included a presentation on energy by Ellen Degeneres and Bill Nye the Science Guy. It was a low "thrill" ride that was mostly the presentation. Eric enjoyed the info and the part that included animatronic dinosaurs.

The other ride was Mission:Space. We chose the "mild" Green Team that didn't involve any spinning. As it was, I got a little light-headed in the simulator that enacted a space rocket takeoff and rough landing on Mars. This is a picture before the "ride" part began. With every ride, Eric was hesitant until we told him that it wasn't like a roller coaster. He has recently decided that he doesn't like roller coasters. He loved the Mission: Space ride. After that, we participated in a simulation involving two teams fixing their space ship, and our team, team Orion won!

We had lunch at the Electric Umbrella, a fitting name for the day. We all ordered the kids' cheeseburger meals, and lunch was only about $20 today. We decided to head back to our hotel room after lunch because we were so cold. The rain wasn't bothering us, but it was windy, and we couldn't take being cold any longer.

When we got back to Epcot, we proceeded to the World Showcase. I tried to get a picture at each country. I took this one in Canada. Natalie actually saw this photo opportunity first and asked me if I wanted to take a picture of them in it. She knows how important pictures are to me, and I love that she is being so helpful.

Next up was United Kingdom, and we ended up getting Patrick a little present there. We went into a lot of gift shops today, because they were interesting with the country-themed goods they had, but also because it kept us out of the rain. The rain actually let up for an hour or two, and we actually thought it would stay that way--of course not!

We were purposely heading toward France, because I decided that I wanted a crepe for dessert and I remembered that they make those in France. I had a chocolate crepe and Eric had the vanilla soft-serve ice cream. Natalie had a Starbucks Java Chip Frappucino earlier, so she declined. Eric's cone was big enough that it started really melting halfway through his eating it, and I got to eat some of that too. The next country was Morocco, then Japan.

I wanted to share two of the photos we took in Japan. This first one was taken by someone who I took a group photo for and who wanted to return the favor. I was going to get Natalie to take the picture of Eric and me, since there were no Photopass photographers around, and she was all set to do it, but then she didn't have to. Eric had been posing for the previous photos as if he had a lightsaber or gun in his hands, but I made him stand up straight since someone else was taking the photo for us.

I took this photo in front of the gift shop in Japan. Eric cracks me up with his posing, and Natalie was doing it too. I let him pose how he wants because these photos will tell me what stage in life he is in plus he still lets me take photos of him. All I have to do is ask.

The next country was America then Italy. In the gift shop in Italy, Natalie fell in love with some expensive perfume by Valentino called "Valentina". She seemed to want me to buy it for her, but that is not something I want to get on our vacation. She did say, "Maybe for my birthday?" I told her no promises, but my baby girl is getting more expensive taste.

Next was Germany, then "Outpost" which seemed to be the same as "Africa". In this picture, we're in the China section, and this was our last stop before trekking back to Japan to eat dinner. We were trying to make it all the way around, but it was already around 5:30pm, the rain was really starting to come down hard, and we had dinner reservations back in Japan at 6:10pm. We made the reservation yesterday when Natalie and I felt like Asian food and every restaurant in Disney that we looked at had only "American". We plan on going back to finish Norway and Mexico tomorrow evening.

As you can see from Eric wearing his hood on his head, the rain was starting to get heavier at this point, so much so that we decided not to wait before heading back to Japan, and it was a good thing, because the rain started pouring down by the time we got to the Tokyo Dining Restaurant--more on this later. Eric didn't bother posing with a lightsaber because we were trying to get under cover. We spent quite a bit of time in the gift shop trying to wait out the rain, but finally we had to go.

Again, the rain didn't really bother us, but it was raining hard enough that some of it was getting in my eyes and causing my eyes to burn. By the time we got to the restaurant, my hair was dripping wet. Our jackets were damp, but at least they were still keeping us warm.

Natalie actually felt like having sushi, so we both ordered some. I was not even going to ask Eric if he was going to have sushi, but they had a chicken tempura on the kids' menu, and I told him that was like chicken nuggets or tenders. They also brought him Miso soup and he just looked at that bowl like he was saying, "No way." He did try to use chopsticks because Natalie and I were using chopsticks. He had a hard time using them the way they are supposed to be used, so he started doing what he's doing in this picture. I even offered him a fork but he said he was doing "okay". Natalie thought I needed to take a picture of this! :)

The rain let up a little so we could get back to the monorail and back to our hotel without getting too much wetter. The kids were ready to take their showers and cuddle up under warm blankets. I was good and went to the gym at the hotel. I was all by myself in there, which was fine by me after fighting the wet crowds today.

Tomorrow we are headed to Universal Orlando to see the new Diagon Alley area. Eric started watching the second Harry Potter movie tonight, so he is primed and excited for tomorrow. The forecast says sunny all day. We're looking forward to staying dry.