December 2014 Walt Disney World Trip Recap: Part One Epcot

I spent December 2-5, 2014 in the most magical place in the world! This trip was so much better than our Disneymoon trip in February 2014, mostly because I wasn't deathly sick this time! In fact it was my husband who wound up sick this trip, but luckily not until the last few days.

We spent the first day of our Disney days in Epcot. I normally like to start in Magic Kingdom but we went during the Christmas season so Magic Kingdom was closing early our first day for the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. (We decided to skip that!)

I got this amazing shot on the monorail! 

Since were staying at the Shades of Green Resort on Walt Disney World property we were able to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours that morning. Since Extra Magic Hours are only for guest staying in a Walt Disney World resort, or in our case Shades of Green, lines are extremely short! We were able to walk right on to Soarin', a ride that normally keeps a wait time of about 70-90 minutes,

From Soarin' we explored The Land Pavilion and rode one of my very favorite classic boat rides at Disney, Living with the Land. This ride might seem boring to most but I find it so fascinating, it takes you on a journey of the development of agriculture and then through the green houses where Disney grows produce for their resort and park restaurants.

 

After we finished with The Land Pavilion we headed over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. I seriously think this is one of the greatest parts of Epcot and sadly it is over looked by many first time visitors, especially ones with older kids. This pavilion is not just a ride based of the movie Finding Nemo, its an aquarium! Its massive, in fact the main tank is large enough to hold Spaceship Earth. The ride part of The Seas is also pretty entertaining, I think kids of all ages will enjoy the journey to find Nemo! We spent a lot of time in the aquarium, I think I could have stayed in front of the dolphin tank all day. This is a great part of the park to head to take a break from the heat if you are visiting in the summer. 

After the visiting The Seas with Nemo and Friends we hit the other great rides in Future World. Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, & Ellen's Energy Adventure. Ellen's Energy Adventure is one of my favorites, it is a classic to me! This is a 45 minute ride (yes it really is that long) so keep that in mind when heading over, its a great ride to sit back, relax, and take a break from the park crowds, the heat, or to avoid one of Florida's quick rain storms. 

From Future World we headed into The World Showcase! I love this part of Epcot and I feel that I never get enough time in it to see everything. And this time wasn't any different, we got hit by a horrible rain storm. Since I got sick last time from being rained on in the cold, we decided to head back to the hotel and not brave the rain. We did end up going back to Epcot a few days later at night to have diner at San Angel Inn and explore the World Showcase. 

While in Epcot we also got to catch the Candle Light Processional narrated by Neil Patrick Harris. It was beautiful and if you are in Disney for Christmas it is a must see! Unfortunately I didn't get any good pictures of the Processional, but trust me it was beautiful.

So there's our day(s) in Epcot in a nutshell! Stay tuned for part two of my Disney Recap for our day in Magic Kingdom! (It was epic!)