This is an absolutely beautiful day to be at Disney World! The sun is shining as we begin our day! I think we will head for Epcot. It is not too busy as we drive up to the Epcot parking entrance. As we drive onto the parking lot, I can see we are going to park at the far end of this parking row. Once we park, we decide to walk to the park entrance.

As we begin to walk, the family who parked beside us has a little one melting down. I stop and say, “Hi!” and they begin talking about how the little one did not want to ride in his stroller. As we are talking, they mention that they are going to walk and not take the tram since they have 2 strollers that they would need to fold in order to board. I mention that we are going to walk to the entrance too. They were a delightful family to chat with: the mom and dad, their daughters, and the grandkids. I knew they were going to have a wonderful day!

We say our goodbyes, go through the bag check, scan our MagicBands and enter into Epcot! We make our way through the crowds and around Spaceship Earth. We see Starbucks on the right, located in the Fountain View. The lines today are not very long, so we stop and grab a coffee. It is pleasantly warm outside, so I order a Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher with Raspberry Syrup.

As we leave Starbucks, the music is playing, and the big water fountain outside is giving a great show. We head for the World Showcase Lagoon and turn toward Canada.  We notice that the flowers are going in for the annual Flower and Garden Festival that happens March 4th through May 17th.  Can you spot the Hidden Mickey shape in the flowers?

The Canadian Lumberjacks are beginning a show as we walk through Canada. I hear the lead lumberjack let everyone know that there is a Canadian Lumberjack photo opportunity, and see the team strike a pose! Many in the crowd are laughing and taking pictures. It is a really great place to stop and see these Canadian Lumberjacks.

We make our way through Canada and now walk through the United Kingdom. I see Alice greeting guests, and soon we see Mary Poppins signing an autograph book for a little girl. As we walk up toward the bridge to France, we see Cinderella taking pictures with little ones. We have never seen her in this area, and are surprised that Tinkerbell is directly across from her talking to a little girl. It is so much fun to see Alice, Mary Poppins, Cinderella, and Tinkerbell all near the United Kingdom pavilion. After a moment of watching and taking all of this in, we begin to cross the bridge to France.

I stop on the bridge and look across to an area with benches that we have seen regularly, but it is usually packed with people. I told the kids that the benches were empty, but I was not sure how to get down to that area by the water. Twinkie said that she would take the lead and she found the path, past the fish and chips shop, to that little peninsula. We picked a bench and sat for a few minutes as we were greeted by a swarm of seagulls flocking toward us to see if we had brought any tasty snacks that they could snag.

As we sat, we realized that as people tried to bring their food into the area, the seagulls began swooping down and trying to get their food. After several failed attempts by the seagulls, a young couple made it to a bench with their food, just as seagulls swooped down again. I hollered and said that the birds were after their food. The couple laughed and turned toward each other to block the swooping birds. It became even more interesting about 30 minutes later as we heard the gulls squawk. We looked up to see a couple with their child across the way, close to the fish shop, looking out over the water as they were trying to share a fish dinner. The dad waved the seagulls away a few times. The lady swatted a seagull off of the wall and we could hear the swat. Soon, a seagull swooped down, flapping its winds just in front of her face; it even looked like it touched her. We heard them say something about one of the seagulls bothering their child as the dad turned, leaving his fish dinner on the wall. Two seagulls instantly swooped in and grabbed a big fish filet! The dad hollered, and turned to swat at one seagull, when another swooped and grabbed some French fries in a fast swoosh. The dad hollered at the seagulls again as a cast member approached and started talking to them.

We decided that there had been enough action going on, so we walked back up to the walkway, and headed for France. Our mission today is to walk around the World Showcase. It is fun walking “around the world” on such a beautiful day.

We go through France, Morocco, Japan, The American Adventure, Italy, Germany, The Outpost, China, Norway, and Mexico as we finish our 1.1 miles around the World Showcase Lagoon. There are no clouds now, and the sky is so very blue. I enjoyed seeing so many families having fun. Today it seems like there are a lot more grandparents with their families and grandkids. I love seeing the three generations interact. I love seeing grandparents having just as much fun as the kids! As you enjoy your vacation, it’s fun to look around and notice the wonderful families who are here with you. There are some really amazing families enjoying their time here at Epcot today!

Now we make our way back to the park entrance and walk out to our car. It has been a wonderful afternoon. It was so fun seeing all of the characters and countries today!