We arrived at Epcot around 11:00am, and once inside we picked up the International Flower & Garden Festival Passport to browse through the food and beverage options in the various booths.

We started on the Mexico side of the World Showcase, making our way to the China pavilion to stop at Lan Yuan, where we tried the House-made Cheesy Crab Wontons (which are fried wontons filled with cream cheese, celery, and imitation crab stick drizzled with plum-chili sauce). Everyone thought that these were tasty overall, and even I didn't mind them. The rest of the group also tasted a couple of drinks - the Brew Hub Honey Jasmine Lager, which was determined to be good and worth doing again, and the Frozen Lucky Peach Peach Whiskey (peach schnapps, oolong tea, simple syrup, and lemon juice), which was rated as a meh (not bad, but not worth buying again).

Our next stop was the Germany pavilion, where we stopped at the Bauernmarkt: Farmer's Market, where we grabbed a couple of snacks and another beverage. We tried the Toasted Pretzel Bread (pretzel bread topped with black forest ham and melted cheese) and the Warm Cheese Strudel with Berry Compote. Drew loved the pretzel bread, while everyone else thought it was pretty good as well. Jayden wanted to the strudel, but she was not a fan of it at all, though the rest of us thought it was just so-so. The beverage that everyone else sampled was the Stiegl Brewery Raspberry Radler from Salzburg, Austria. Everyone seemed to agree that this was a good beverage overall, and they would enjoy another taste.

Up next was Italy, where we visited the Primavera Kitchen. Here we tasted the Primavera Cacio Pepe e Gamberi (penne pasta, shrimp, zucchini, peas, asparagus, and creamy cacio pepe sauce) and a Chocolate Dirt Cannoli (a cannoli shell with cookies and cream cannoli cream filling). We all agreed that the pasta dish was better than the cannoli, as the pasta was more flavorful than the hard and relatively bland cannoli. They also sampled the Italian-inspired Blood Orange Margarita, which was tequila, Triple Sec, and blood orange liqueur. Samantha was not a fan of this one at all, and none of the others were in favor of trying it again either.

We also stopped at the Magnolia Terrace in The American Adventure pavilion. Here we tried a couple more items, including the Spicy Chicken Gumbo (gumbo with andouille sausage and long grain and wild rice) and the Bananas Foster Bread Pudding, which was topped with a rum-caramel sauce. We all agreed that the gumbo was the absolute best dish that we had over the course of the entire day (I didn't care for the rice, but everything else was good), and for the price the amount of food that we actually received was extremely impressive! Everyone except for Jay liked the bread pudding, though it wasn't likely something I'd ever order on my own. The rest of the group also tried the Spiced Rum Cocktail (spiced rum, coconut rum, Simply® fruit punch, and Minute Maid® orange juice). Grandma Terry and Drew thought that this drink was good, while Sam and Jay were not fans.

Continuing our trek around the World Showcase, our next destination was the Japan pavilion, and the Hanami outdoor kitchen. We went crazy in this booth, sampling three foods and two drinks. We tried the Frushi (strawberry, pineapple, and honeydew wrapped in coconut rice and tri-color soy wrap served with coconut cream sauce and toasted coconut), which everyone seemed to agree wasn't overly enjoyable. We also had the Ramen Cup, which was a ramen noodle salad shaken in a cup with fresh vegetables and grilled chicken served with yuzu-soy vinaigrette and chili oil. Sam thought it was good, as did Jay, though she would have preferred it to be warm instead of how it was served cold. I wasn't a big fan of the sauce on the noodles, nor did I care for it cold. Our final food dish from this food booth was the Takoyaki, which is octopus tako balls served with spicy mayo, okonomiyaki sauce, and crunch rice pearls. Sam thought this was pretty good too, though none of the rest of us particularly cared for it. As for the drinks, they had the Kyoto Boba, which was crafted with Kyoho (Japanese black grape) juice with strawberry popping boba). This was primarily for Jay, and she enjoyed it. Sam got the locally crafted Japanese-inspired pilsner with aromas of cherry blossom and ginger, and she too enjoyed this one.

Despite having a bunch of other items that we wanted to try, we were running out of room for more food. We did squeeze in one last stop, though this wasn't at one of the festival food booths. We headed over to the France pavilion to stop at the Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie for dessert. Grandma Terry, Samantha, Drew, and I each ordered a Framboise (raspberry mousse, chocolate cake, and raspberry jam), while Jayden opted for a Macaron Framboise et Citron vert (a macaron with raspberry and lime cream). Grandma Terry also grabbed a half baguette as well. Since the dining area was jam-packed here, we took our food over to the England Pavilion and sat behind the Rose & Crown to enjoy our desserts.

We headed over to World Discovery next, to get in line for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Grandma Terry and Uncle Steven stayed behind, opting to hang out in the seating area near the Creations shop. The four of us passed our time in line by playing "Heads Up" on the phone, and enjoying the pre-shows. Once we were on the ride, we were blessed with One Way Or Another by Blondie as our song, and we all had a blast during our time on the coaster. This is definitely my favorite ride currently at Walt Disney World, and I think the others all agree.

While we were on the ride, Grandma Terry went to the Florida Fresh food both located in the CommuniCore Plaza to pick up the Florida Strawberry Shortcake (which came with vanilla pound cake, macerated strawberries, strawberry sauce, and whipped dream) that Drew wanted to try. We all met up together after the ride to taste this treat, and though I wasn't a fan of the pound cake the general consensus was that it was good overall.

At this point in the day we decided that if we were going to get on any of the rides at Disney's Magic Kingdom that Drew wanted to experience, that we better get heading that way, so we made our way to the exit and the monorail station to make the ride over...

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom, and despite wanting to stop at the Spring Roll Snack Cart for my favorite snack, the pizza spring rolls, the line was just too long to wait for them. Instead we headed to Frontierland to take Drew on his first ride on the newly refurbished Tiana's Bayou Adventure. Despite it being cold, we proceeded with our wait in line to enjoy our tour through the bayou. Drew and Samantha got the front row of our log, while Jayden and I got the second row. This meant that we got soaked during our ride, which wasn't ideal as the sun had set and the temperature was not at 56°. Despite enjoying the ride, we regretted how cold we were afterwards!

While we were in Frontierland, we decided to see the Country Bear Musical Jamboree show, which Drew had also not seen since the refurbishment. The changes that were made really do make it an enjoyable watch now, and one I don't mind seeing often.

Despite it getting late, Drew still wanted to ride TRON Lightcycle / Run. Although we froze our tails off while standing in the outdoor portion of the queue, all of that was forgotten about when we boarded our lightcycles and made our way out under the canopy that was lit up in the darkness of the sky. Even though I have never seen a minute of the Tron movies that this ride is based on, the ride itself is worthwhile regardless, and especially cool at night seeing the lighting. Just before Steve, Sam, Drew, Jay, and I boarded the ride, I texted Grandma Terry to see if she was interested in heading back to get the car, and she was OK with that so she made her way to the monorail to make the trip back to Epcot.

By the time our ride ended, it was extremely late. In fact we were past park closing, so we began making our way up front. It was then that I realized that Grandma Terry probably couldn't get the car into the parking lot to meet us, and she was just arriving at Epcot anyway, so we boarded the monorail ourselves and made the trek back to Epcot to meet here there.

Once we were all back together, we loaded up the car and began the trip back home. We did make a stop at McDonald's tonight instead of our usual Chili's break, because it was far too late for a sit down meal at that point! Despite the late hour, it was a great day at the parks with family. I couldn't imagine a better day!