May 19th
 

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Sunday, May 19th, 2024              

A couple of months back Tara made plans with Samantha to spend the day together, along with Jayden and myself. The original plan was to go to Disney's Hollywood Studios, but we always go there with Sam, so we instead switched our reservation over to Epcot. In my mind, this would finally give Sam her first chance to ride the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride, as we have missed out on the queue during other trips to the park with her. Thankfully I was able to secure a boarding group this morning, which meant that she was going to get her turn!

We finished getting ready so that we could get out of the house early enough to make it to Epcot for our callback time on Guardians, stopping for some caffeine on the way. We made it to the park with time to spare, so we first headed over to the Creations Shop to get in line for our Annual Passholder magnet - this time it was Stitch, Sam's favorite! We browsed around the shop for a while, looking for gift options for Sam's soon to be "nephew".

Our group was called for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind while we were shopping, so we headed over to join the queue. Although we missed most of the initial room explaining the basis of the Xandar pavilion, Sam seemed to get a kick out of the waiting areas and pre-shows. Like us, she enjoyed the ride even more! Though we didn't get the song we wanted ('Everybody Wants to Rule the World') we still have a good time, and ended up with 'I Ran' for our ride song (at least it wasn't 'Conga'!). As always, we wished we could get back in line to ride again, but alas we'll have to wait until our next visit. We stopped outside of the ride for some PhotoPass pictures with the Nova Corps Starblaster ship on display near the ride entrance.

We then decided to head across the park to take in the Turtle Talk With Crush show. The show was fun as usual, but I've yet to see one of those Instagram hilarious versions that I see online from time to time. One day! While we were on that side of the park we headed into The Land to take a tour on Living with the Land, which is one of Tara's all time favorites. After completing our boat ride, we headed over to Sunshine Seasons to sample the Annual Passholder-Exclusive Stitch Cake Cone. I didn't try it as it was covered with coconut, but from the feedback from both Tara and Samantha, it was not worth it. It was cute, though!

We left The Land and headed over to the United Kingdom pavilion, stopping at the Bambi's Butterfly House in World Celebration on our way there. We ended up at the Yorkshire County Fish Shoppe for lunch, with the changed intention to eat the lunches that we packed later in the day for dinner (and which we predictably didn't eat at all). We ended up splitting two meals, as that allowed us to snack on other park offerings later. While we were in the UK, we decided to try out an in-park game that Tara saw online - the Disney’s DuckTales World Showcase Adventure, which activated various activities throughout the World Showcase. It was a fun, but time consuming, side trek through the World Showcase that allowed us to see different parts of the various countries, which were Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Japan, France, and the  United Kingdom, leading to a grand finale (and apparently we completed the adventure in reverse!).

After the United Kingdom we stopped in France to see the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along show at Jayden's request. Samantha and Jay were definitely the stars of the show, singing along to each of the songs in the show. We then moved on to Japan, and while there Sam got a Ramen Cup from Hanami, which was a ramen salad shaken in a cup with fresh vegetables, grilled chicken, and dashi broth with chili oil and yuzu. While all of the ladies loved the ramen, they weren't as big of fans of the Ozeki Pineapple Nigori Sake drink that she got to wash it down.

After completing our adventure around the world, we found ourselves at Test Track for a quick test drive, getting in one last drive before it is shut down for a refurbishment beginning in June.

At this point it was time to leave, but we made one last stop back at the shop at the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride so that Sam could pick up a baby outfit for her "nephew".

All in all it was a great day spent together, even if we didn't get on as many rides as some of us would have liked. We got to try a new adventure and see plenty of new things on our tour of the world. Either way, I can't wait to spend another day with my girls! Love you guys!

 

Epcot


 

Samantha taking a picture of Jayden and Tara, as Rodney sneaks in.

 
 

A couple of photos from the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind queue...

 
     
 

...as well as this one of Rocket in the the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind shop.

 
 

I'm not sure what this picture is all about, but I liked the way that Jay and Sam were posing.

 
 

Here are a couple more shots of Jay and Sam in the Turtle Talk With Crush queue...

 
     
 

Some of my pictures from the Living with the Land ride...

 
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

...and the Hidden Mickey made of garden hose.

 
 

Rodney, Tara, Jayden, and Samantha on the Living with the Land ride.

 
 

Some more pictures from the Living with the Land ride...

 
 

...including this scene from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs...

 
     
 

...and this scene from Winnie the Pooh...

 
 

...and a worker cleaning a tank with fish in it...

 
 

...and finally, this unbirthday party scene from Alice in Wonderland on the Living with the Land ride.

 
 

Samantha showing off her Annual Passholder-Exclusive Stitch Cake Cone at Sunshine Seasons in The Land.

 
 

A closer look at the Annual Passholder-Exclusive Stitch Cake Cone from the Sunshine Seasons in The Land.

 
 

Here is a white peacock butterfly from the Bambi's Butterfly House in World Celebration.

 
 

A pair of Julia butterflies in the Bambi's Butterfly House.

 
 

Another white peacock butterfly.

 
 

We saw the topiaries of the Woody and Bo Peep and her sheep.

 
 

Jayden posing for a picture in the Canada pavilion...

 
 

...before being joined by Samantha.

 
 

Tara discovered the Disney’s DuckTales World Showcase Adventure prior to our trip, and activated various activities throughout the World Showcase. This was one of the scenes activated in the United Kingdom pavilion.

 
 

Sam and Jay enjoying themselves during the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along in the France pavilion.

 
 

Tara & Rodney in the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along theater.

 
 

Here are some pictures of the Passholder Lounge currently inside of the Restaurant Marrakesh in the Morocco pavilion...

 
     
     
 

Koi in the pond at the Japan pavilion.

 
 

Samantha and Jayden replicating the Elsa and Anna topiary poses in Norway.

 
 

Sam posing with Tyler Cameron, a contestant on season fifteen of The Bachelorette, who happened to be in the park today.

 
 

A model of a concept car in the Test Track queue.

 
 

The car that Tara designed before riding Test Track...

 
 

...and the car that Sam and Jay designed.

 

Here are some of the official Disney PhotoPass photos from Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, a PhotoPass spot outside of the ride, as well a couple of shots with the new "Walt the Dreamer" statue, and finally our ride photo from Test Track. Enjoy!
 


 

The official ride photo from Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.

 
 

Some pictures of Tara, Jayden, Samantha, and Rodney outside of the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride...

 
     
     
     
 

Rodney, Tara, Samantha, and Jayden...

 
 

...posing with the new "Walt the Dreamer" statue in World Celebration.

 
 

The official ride photo from Test Track.

 


 

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