Disney 2011 Day 1 Epcot

Everyone knows that we absolutely LOVE Disney World. I think my mother nailed it when she said it's our happy place. We even honeymooned there! We have gone every year of Zoë's life and plan on continuing until she tells us she no longer wants to go.

On our way there, Zoë got a special visitor while she was sleeping. I'm just glad Chris happened to look back to check on her and quickly took a picture with his phone before she disappeared!  :)

We arrived at our resort rather early (like 7 am), but surprisingly they had our room ready. Glad I told them when we would be arriving. lol. So, we unpacked the car and headed to catch a bus to Epcot. Zoë jammed to a little Lady Gaga while we waited at the bus stop. Chris got a little impatient waiting on the bus, so we just got in the car and drove. We drove everywhere this trip. We stayed in Coronado Springs, so we were pretty much in the center of everything.

Our first ride of the trip was the ride inside the ball. I can't remember the name of the ride. Then we headed over to the Nemo ride, but of course, we Fastpast Soaring first.

This was the first year that Zoë actually sat down in front of Crush's tank during Turtle Talk with Crush. She even raised her hand a few times to ask him a question!

We then headed to the countries for lunch. This was our first time to do the regular Disney Dining Plan. They were offering free dining the first day we arrived, and my travel agent managed to get it for use the whole time we were there, so why not take it right? We usually get the Deluxe Dining Plan. The regular one worked just fine. I just wish Disney offered a plan where like a quick service breakfast was included or maybe just adding another snack credit. This family is a breakfast family.

Our first country stop was Mexico. We ate at Cantina Hacienda Angel. Their nachos are pretty good. Chris got beef brisket tacos and seemed to enjoy them. :)  

After lunch we headed into the Mexican street market. Of course, we had to try on sombreros.

Zoë's first character of the trip: Donald Duck! Last year, we bought Zoë an autograph book toward the end of our trip. She had fun this trip getting autographs.

My little viking princess conquering the troll. After viewing only 2 countries, we had to head back toward Soaring for our fast pass time. After soaring through California (awesome ride by the way!!), we headed back through the countries but this time started with Canada.

We saw Alice

and Mary Poppins in England.

In France, we saw Marie from the Aristocats.

All the countries had someone telling a little bit of holiday tradition.  This was France's version of Santa Claus.

We ate dinner at Via Napoli (a pizzeria) in Italy.  This was our second time eating there. It's one of our favorites!

 Day 1 was a full day! Stay tuned for Day 2: Animal Kingdom!