After the photo-op you are taken to your table and the waitress/waiter will ask what beverages you want. They serve you a family style platter of bacon, eggs, potato casserole and sausage and then you can go to the self serve buffet to get pastries, oatmeal, cereal, yogurt with all the fixings, fresh fruit, bagels as well as Norwegian options like smoked salmon, marinated fish, cheeses and the like. The food wasn't anything special, but we weren't really there for the food. ;)
The beautiful Epcot lake
On the third day our Walt Disney World Trip we planned to spend the whole day at Epcot Theme Park. We had to get up very early that morning since we had reservations to go to the Princess Breakfast at Akershus. The restaurant is located in the Norway Pavilion of the park and they offer a breakfast service as well as lunch and dinner. Reservations are highly recommended since this is a popular spot to meet the Princesses. Once checking in and entering, you are invited to take a photo with a Disney princess that greets you at the door. For our visit, it was Belle and the staff takes a digital photo in which they print out and give to you at the end of your meal.
Apologies for the bad quality, it is a photo of a photo and my niece wanted her face hidden! :(
Once everyone in the banquet hall looked about half way done with their food, the princesses started coming out and visiting each table for a couple of minutes to chat with the guests and take photos. It was actually pretty exciting since that was what everyone was waiting for and just seeing all the kids get giddy and happy was enough to enjoy the experience. The princesses that were visiting each table were Ariel, Cinderella, Snow White and Aurora.
This was our group's first ever time meeting the Disney princesses and we were very impressed at how much in character they were and how fun they were to talk to. Each Princess took the time to talk to everyone at our table and didn't mind taking multiple photos. Poor Ariel kept blinking in her pictures so we didn't get a good one from her.
After the princesses were done making their rounds, they invited all the kids to do a parade around the banquet hall with them to some music. Of course all the little kids joined in, but my 11 year old niece felt she was too old to do it. So we just sat and watched all the kids parading around. It was a great opportunity for all the little girls to wear their princess dresses and walk around with their favorite princess.
We were then ready to take on Epcot Park and looking at the map, it's a rather huge place. We decided just to go around the World and hopefully complete the full circle.
After the princesses were done making their rounds, they invited all the kids to do a parade around the banquet hall with them to some music. Of course all the little kids joined in, but my 11 year old niece felt she was too old to do it. So we just sat and watched all the kids parading around. It was a great opportunity for all the little girls to wear their princess dresses and walk around with their favorite princess.
We were then ready to take on Epcot Park and looking at the map, it's a rather huge place. We decided just to go around the World and hopefully complete the full circle.
Current Epcot Park Map (courtesy of: Orlando Theme Park News)
Mexico Pavilion was right next door so we decided to go in that direction to walk off some of the breakfast we ate.
Mexico Pavilion with the impressive Aztec details
Inside the Pavilion looked just like a Mexican Outdoor Market at Night
We took advantage of the cool hats that were available for some great pictures
They offered a great variety of traditional Mexican art crafts to bring home as memorable souvenirs
It was difficult to not buy them all!
Mexico Pavilion offered some restaurants and one boat ride that featured the Three Caballeros. My niece really enjoyed this ride since it wasn't scary and the music was pretty festive. After completing the ride we decided to move on to the next pavilion which was China.
My niece was very excited about China Pavilion since she has an interest in Chinese culture. She was just in awe with all the colorful buildings and bridges. The attention to detail in this park is just so outstanding down to the people working in each pavilion represent their home country. We were actually lucky enough to catch Mulan hanging out here and she was kind enough to take a photo and chat with us. They had a fairly large shopping area that offered many souvenirs from China, very similar to what you might find in your neighborhood Chinatown district.
Ready for battle to defeat the Huns
Chinese Dragon
After spending quite a bit of time checking China out, we were working up an appetite. We decided to walk over to the next pavilion, which was Germany.
Germany seemed like a very popular spot due to the crowds that were already here in the early afternoon. Everyone here had beers in hand and were enjoying themselves quite a bit! :) The Bratwurst aroma was difficult to ignore so we decided to order a few and hang out for awhile.
You can choose to join the Oktoberfest celebration in the buffet hall or order a bratwurst and beer to-go
The little souvenir shops were so cute!
We then made our way to the Italy Pavilion where they showcased iconic statues and architecture. They even had a live show of singing and dancing by the Ziti Sisters that was very entertaining. The restaurants in this pavilion looked rather fancy, as did their souvenir shops that featured designer Italian cologne and Ferrari/Ducati apparel.
Very nice replicas of famous works of art in the Italy Pavilion
They had gondolas along the lake but I wasn't sure if they were just for show or not?
After hanging out in Italy for a bit we made our way to the next pavilion which wasAmerican Adventure which we kind of bypassed since the time was running pretty quickly from us and we wanted to be able to see the rest of the park! It featured a very nice colonial style building and of course American food! :) I was very excited about the next pavilion next to American Adventure, a favorite of most of my friends and myself...Japan.
Gorgeous Japanese garden
The Japan Pavilion did not disappoint, everything there made me feel as if I was transported back to Kyoto. Again, the attention to detail was magnificent and the landscape was just beautiful. The garden was great for picture opportunities as well as the buildings surrounding the area. What made me most excited was visiting theMitsukoshi Department Store which is the only one that exists in the US. It is a huge store offering a variety of Japanese goods ranging from traditional to popular items. I must have spent two hours just going through the whole store buying up so many goods that I regretted not buying when I last visited Japan.
While I was going crazy shopping at Mitsukoshi, my family got tired of waiting around and went to go look at the rest of the Japanese castle.
My niece hanging out in front of the castle entrance
Japan Pavilion featured statues and replica artifacts pertaining to Japanese culture
After my long visit to Japan, we were finally ready to move on to the next pavilion which was Morocco!
While in Morocco, we caught up with both Aladdin and Jasmine!
Morocco was pretty amazing despite the small space it occupied. What we liked the most was the little alleyways that contained the shops that sold lamps, carpets, candles, etc. My mom who had been to Morocco once before said that it was a very good representation of how it actually looked like.
We decided to try some Moroccan coffee and desserts while hanging out here and they were quite good. We actually had dinner reservations later on that night at the restaurant here called Restaurant Marrakesh. After our quick little break we headed to France!
We saw Beast from Beauty and the Beast hanging out in France but by the time we tried to stand in line to take a picture with him, his handlers told us that he was leaving. :( But that was okay, we ended up meeting someone who was equally as cool later on.
Like with the other Pavilions, the attention to detail was amazing!
They actually had a little cart that was selling these slush drinks that contained Grand Marnier and Grey Goose. The were to DIE for. Especially on a warm day like the day we were there! Drinking one was enough to make me very happy. :)
While hanging around we were the first to meet Marie from the Aristocats! She was very cute and cuddly indeed. Since we still had an hour before our dinner reservation in Morocco, we decided just to hang out in France and check out their stores. In their stores you can buy authentic French perfume and other goods, lots of eiffel tower and Disney Paris memorabilia as well.
The sun starting to set in the Paris Pavilion
Restaurant Marrakesh was a nice restaurant that showcased some belly dancing entertainment while enjoying authentic Moroccan food. It was a busy place and rather noisy but a nice dining experience nonetheless. Out of all the restaurants we tried during our stay, we enjoyed this one the most.
Yummy Shish Kebabs
After we finished with dinner we only had a couple more hours before the park closed. It was a bummer since there was still so much to see, but we were hoping to have time on another day to come back and check the rest out. So we hurriedly went through the U.K., Canada and Future World.
Iconic British Red Phone Booth
By far this was my family's most favorite park at Walt Disney World. I think part of it was because we met the most characters here and it exposed us to different countries that we probably won't even get to visit in real life. It was definitely an experience we won't soon forget. Sadly we didn't have enough time to come back to this park during our trip so if we ever do return, we will make sure to reserve two days to see this whole park and enjoy its attractions!
So this concludes our third installment of our Disney World trip. Stay tuned for Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and Harry Potter World! Here are links to Day One and Day Two.
So this concludes our third installment of our Disney World trip. Stay tuned for Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and Harry Potter World! Here are links to Day One and Day Two.