TIP(S) OF THE DAY:
My brother-in-law, Tim, told me he heard that the reason Hollywood Studios was not crowded today was because we were there on a day that they did not have the Fantasmic show. So, even though I told you that you should see it, if you want less crowds, go on an off-day.
Brad and Aimee really wanted to go on Soarin', but the wait time was 75 minutes with no FastPasses left. When we checked the wait times the next day during a rain break thinking they could run over there it was 120 minutes. The tip is to FastPass for Soarin' :)
After nap, we headed over to Epcot. Their Flower and Garden festival was going on and there were a lot of beautiful displays.
We had only managed to get two dinner reservations for our party of 9 for our entire trip, and Monday's was at San Angel Inn in the Mexico pavilion at Epcot. We had all eaten there before on previous trips to Disney, and it is definitely a family favorite. I just love walking into the building and you feel like you are on the street in Mexico! Street vendors, cobblestone floor, and the restaurant is set up like an outdoor cafe with a twilight lit ceiling and a mural of ruins with a volcano erupting in the background. The food was good (soft tacos for the kids, steak taco for Brad and my mom, crab tostadas for me and my brother in law, ribeye for dad, and not sure what my sister had, she was too far away from me) and everyone had plenty of margaritas and tequila, not to mention chips and salsa. I also had the guacamole and my husband had the tortilla soup and they were both delicious!
Brad with his tequila shot tasting board.
My dad after the tequila shot tasting board.
Following dinner we went on the little boat ride that is in Mexico, The Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros. This is a really simple boat ride through "Mexico" that is enhanced with cartoon 3 amigos, featuring Donald Duck. The kids really liked it so my mom took them on it again, the wait was maybe 5 minutes.
My nephew, TJ, who is 5, was ready to try Test Track. My sister, Tim, and Brad headed over there with him. Here he is just tall enough to ride! He LOVED it! Such a little daredevil! A need for speed!
While everyone else waited for Test Track, my dad, mom, my niece, Trey, and I headed over to the seas to ride Nemo (no wait so worth it but I don't know if I would wait longer than 15 minutes for this one), wandered through the aquarium, and ended up at Turtle Talk with Crush. This was definitely one of the best things for kids we saw all week! The show is interactive with Crush the turtle from Finding Nemo answering questions from kids in the audience. The animation was spot on with the voice and the kids loved that Crush could see them and answer their questions.
By this time it was 8 pm, and even though we headed over to the Land of Imagination to check out Figment, the attendant told us all rides were closed at this point to get ready for Illuminations (the night time fireworks show). Brad and I had remembered this show being very good so we were excited to see it again. We managed to find seats along the water by the boat launch for my mom, sister, and the kids, while my dad, me, Brad, and Tim, all chilled out on the rock wall further back by the coffee shop. Illuminations was "ok" but not as impressive as I had remembered last time, lots of fireworks though and it all takes place over the water so it is very beautiful. After it was over, we joined the mass crowds heading for the exit and booked it back to the hotel in anticipation of getting up early....we were headed to see the Mouse tomorrow!
Side note: Even though I LOVE the countries part of Epcot, we knew the kids would be bored there so we skipped it. This did enable us to do the park in half a day but it is definitely one place I wish we had had a little more time in.
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