FLD5 Epcot Center

Today we went to Epcot Center in Disney World. It was the first time for me, and Astrid. Although Uwe did an internship there years ago before he moved to the United States permanently. He remembers watching the sunset in Florida for the first time with other Germans, and one guy saying, "This is paradise." That was pretty much the shared sentiment of everyone in the group.
Uwe and Astrid in front of the Epcot sphere called "Spaceship Earth."

This visit (I say "this visit" because we will be back), we didn't enter the sphere or go on any of the rides. Astrid is too young to enjoy all that stuff so instead we focused on "World Showcase". That was so much fun! They have replicas of 11 different countries: 1) Mexico, 2) Norway, 3) China, 4) Germany, 5) Italy, 6) America, 7) Japan, 8) Morocco, 9) France, 10) United Kingdom, and 11) Canada. The 11 countries are located around a lake called the "World Showcase Lagoon" so you can basically walk in a circle to see all the different countries. The music is superbly choreographed so that as you leave one country the music fades out and you hear the music of the next country you're walking into. I was blown away by this. It was really well done.

We spent the majority of our time in Germany. Not only was it interesting because Uwe used to work there, but it was also the best of the featured countries in terms of size (the largest), shops, food, and entertainment. And it was the cutest!As you can see from the photo above of Uwe and Astrid in Germany, it was a cold, windy day. There was a freeze watch in effect (the local news was having a field day with the unusually cold weather) and it was so cold that I kept expecting it to snow any minute. Luckily we brought some warm clothes with us since we're also planning on going to Atlanta for a few days, but even with warm clothes you had to keep moving (or go inside) to keep from freezing.

But even in the freezing cold we had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves. Another pic of the front of the beer garden in Germany. The entrance to the beer garden.The sign posted says, "Celebrating Oktoberfest Everyday." They had an all you can eat buffet with a selection that was surprisingly good. I had seconds.After we were seated (they seat you at long tables with other people) Uwe went to the restroom to change Astrid and asked me to order a large beer for him. So when the waitress asked me if I wanted "regular" or "large", I told her "large." You can see from the pic above it's the size of a pitcher. When Uwe came back and saw his "large" beer on the table he was shocked. He didn't remember the beers being so big, but he wasn't complaining.Look at that smile...priceless!

Baby Astrid wants some of what Papa's drinking too. (Her hair looks like that because she was wearing a knit hat.)

Uwe was disappointed that I stuck to hot tea, but it was cold outside and I needed to warm up. There was no way I was drinking ice cold beer in the freezing weather.Oh yeah get the party started with some uhm pa pa music. All of the band members are wearing Lederhosen and they're playing on a stage that has a backdrop of a countryside in Germany. So cheesy but so good.

As soon as the band came on stage, all the cameras came out and people starting taking photographs. There isn't an authentic native German in the bunch (as we could tell from their American accents when they tried to speak German) but their music was professional and good.Astrid seems to be enjoying the show from her view on papa's lap.Thanks to the magic of Disney we're actually sitting inside the beer garden (a restaurant), but it looks like we're sitting outside, in the light of the moon in Germany.This pic cracks me up. It looks like Astrid got into Uwe's beverage when he wasn't looking.Another shot of the inside of the beer garden. You can see that the waitress is dressed in a Dirndl (traditional dress based on the historical costume of the Alpine peasants which was introduced into fashion after World War I).Stomachs are full and Astrid's all bundled up to go back out in the cold. You can see Astrid is wearing shoes for the first time. Uwe's niece sent them from Germany. They each have a teddy bear on them.As we walked past the Disney characters we saw that many of the parents were taking photos of their kids with them, but when we looked down we saw that Astrid was fast asleep. I was happy she was comfortable even in the cold weather. Uwe and I were both worried that it might be too cold for her. We tried our best to keep her warm by bundling her up in a warm outfit, a hat, a thick jacket, a blanket, and even shoes. And we pulled the cover of her stroller down over her to keep the cold wind out. Inside the doll shop.Uwe playing with some finger puppets.In case you were wondering what he was doing...he had the cop beating the rat (bad guy).You can create your own doll and watch it being made.
With Basic Dress - $120
With Deluxe Dress - $145
With Disney Dress - $160The different doll heads to choose from.If Astrid was older I would have purchased one for her, but she's still too young for dolls.The cuckoo clock shop.For our friends Bill & Jill (who were nice enough to collect our mail for us while we're away), we got them a miniature beer stein from the German store.
A view of Spaceship Earth from the far side of the lagoon.In case you ever have a trivia question on the different Disney locations, they are: 1) Florida (Orlando), 2) California (Anaheim), 3) Tokyo, 4) Paris, 5) Hong Kong.I found these socks for sale on our stroll through Japan. They're made to be worn with the traditional Japanese shoe that separates the big toe from the rest of the toes. But also perfect for people who wear socks with flip flops. A tourist shot of Uwe and Astrid in front of the Japanese arch overlooking the lagoon. We swapped positions and Uwe took this photo of me with a view of Spaceship Earth in the background. The sun is out but it's still cold and the wind is as cold as ice.Here we are in Morocco standing in front of rugs and various tapestries and woven baskets for sale. (I hope to one day visit the real Morocco and shop at the local bazaars.)Strollers galore. I've never seen so many strollers in one place.This area is called "Stroller Parking." Strollers aren't allowed inside the aquarium so we had to park ours here and hope it was still there when we got back. The basic premise being we're in Disney World and what low life would steal someone's stroller in Disney World? So okay we left our $300 stroller there and it was still there when we got back.Since it is Disney, they tied the aquarium, "The Living Seas" in with the movie, "Finding Nemo." While everyone was standing around outside waiting their turn to take their photo in front of Nemo, we went around to the more interesting fish, Gill, (the voice by Willem Dafoe).Uwe carrying Astrid into "The Living Seas" attraction.This photo is kind of dark but you can see Astrid sitting on Uwe's lap as she's watching the fish swim by.

It was tricky taking photos inside the aquarium with it being so dark inside and the flash would reflect off the glass and water. In addition to all sorts of fish, we also saw a shark and two large turtles.
Astrid standing up pressing her hands against the glass.
Uwe loved showing Astrid the schools of fish swimming by.
Yep, more fish and Astrid peeking back at me.
Exiting the park. We will be back!
Finally a photo of all 3 of us together. We're sitting at the fountain in front of Spaceship Earth. If you look closely you can see the bottom of the sphere behind us.
Astrid with hat hair on the drive back to the hotel. All nice and warm inside the car. She did great at the park and we will return when she's a bit older.