Well, Epcot wasn’t nearly as exciting as the Animal Kingdom or the Magic Kingdom. But it had its bright spots. First of all, the park was not at all crowded. We got on every ride right away. We never felt crowded.

First stop: The Living Seas. The Nemo ride was fun, and had a couple of intense moments. The aquarium was really fun for us, too. They had a diving tank and diver who did a neat presentation. The best part of the Living Seas was Turtle Talk with Crush. It was an interactive show with Crush the sea turtle. It was really clever and funny.

Epcot had a KidCot Fun Stops around the park which the boys enjoyed doing. Each stop had a craft table, and they give you a little art project to hang on a badge. When you collect all the badge pieces, you get a “special prize” The special prize is really lame, and one of the Fun Stop Cast Members spilled the beans and let us know what it was before we finished. I was very annoyed to her for doing that. I mean, why ruin the surprise like that? It was less of a surprise when I found out that the Cast Members who man these Stops are usually injured or unable to perform their usual Cast Member duties.

After the Living Seas, we had lunch in The Land at Sunshine Seasons. The food was actually really good here, overpriced, but good. From there we hit the KidCot Fun Stop, and then went on the Living with the Land boatride.

The boys were now all about the Fun Stops and collecting their special prize. So we went over to Innoventions West, where there were video games for the boys – Nemo and The Incredibles. While they played games, I got to attend a Segway orientation, and then took a ride on a real Segway. That was super cool for me! We found the KidCot table and got the badge from there – a Kim Possible themed one, at that. We also sent a electronic postcard to the grandparents with our photo. We carefully steered the boys away from the computer games and headed out.

Now over to Innoventions East, where Zevan got to make paper from pulp. This is also where we found the the KidCot Center, and the cast member revealed that the prize was a “poster”

Finally, we made our way over to Test Track, where Zander refused to ride, even though he was tall enough, and Zevan was too short to go on. We looked at the car showroom and sat in a bunch of vehicles, and played some of the games on the walls. We found the KidCot center, got the last badge and received our special prize. It was a 8.5″ x 11″ illustrated mini poster with Disney Characters on it. We were unimpressed, but glad that the KidCot Fun Stations gave our boys something to do.

We went over to the World Showcase, were the boys were understandably bored. We hit the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring Donald Duck, Panchito and Jose Carioca. Then we got a FastPass for the Maelstrom. When we returned for our ride, the Maelstrom was being evacuated and shut down. They had to wait for the fire dept to arrive and inspect it before they could start it up again. So we missed out on that ride.

We went back over Future World’s Spaceship Earth and took a ride on Project Tomorrow. It was actually pretty neat. They took a picture of you at the beginning of the ride. Zevan and I were in one car, Zander and Doug in another. At the end of the ride, they ask you, through a series of multiple choice questions, what you’d like to see in the future. With your answers, they create an animated short with you and your companion, depicting the choices you made. That was really neat, and the boys enjoyed seeing their (and our) faces on-screen.

It was fairly early, so we headed out on the monorails to have dinner at one of the resorts. Doug had a childhood memory of eating at a resort restaurant and seeing the monorail cars going through while they ate. I thought it would be great if the boys had that, too.

At first we stopped at the Polynesian, thinking that wouls be fun. After looking at the menu, we decided to look elsewhere. Back on the monorail and over to the Contemporary Resort, where our choices were Chef Mickey’s Character Dining or the Concourse Steakhouse. While I would have loved character dining, Zander has an aversion to it, so we chose the Concourse Steakhouse. It was by far the best food we had since we got there. On the children’s menu, there was a pizza with chicken that Zander was eager to order. Zevan went for a more traditional and familiar mac & cheese. I ordered a steak. After ordering, the boys colored their menus and did the activities (connect the dots and mazes). Then Zevan decided he had to go potty. #2. Sigh.

I took him to the bathroom and we were in there for 15-20 minutes. By the time we got back, Zander and Doug were eating their food. They brought the food out for Zevan and I. Zander RAVED about his pizza. It was the best pizza he ever ate, he kept saying. He even told the chef when he came by. I had to agree, my steak was perfect. I saved half of it, along with half my mashed potatoes, just so I could have room for dessert – key lime pie. Yum!

We left the resort, and headed back to the car right around the time the Epcot Illuminations show was about to begin (9 PM!).

Jennifer and her kids were going to arrive that evening, and I promised a client that I would do a web site launch for him that day.

When we got back to the villa, the boys got ready for bed, and I headed over to the Business Center where I paid $21 for 3 days of unlimited internet access – just in case. And it was only accessible at the business center!

While at the business center, I finished up my launch, and gave Jennifer directions to the villa. When she arrived at Orange Lake Resort, I left to meet her. YAY!