Our 4th day in the World was the only one that we had planned to split up.  Our friends were off to Animal Kingdom, and while my mom and I enjoy that park, there isn’t enough that we like to do to occupy more than a few hours.  So, we were off to Epcot for the day… and, for whatever reason, I was wearing a dress (more on that giant lapse in judgement later).

Epcot is definitely my favorite park in Disney World, so I couldn’t wait to get there.  I always get chills when you can finally see the giant Epcot “ball” breaking through the lush foliage.  It was fitting then, that our first ride was Spaceship Earth.  We hadn’t been on it since the changes had been made and, despite what I had heard on-line, I really enjoyed it!  I loved the “vacation of the future” part… very Horizons-like and very fun!

From Futureworld, it was off to the World Showcase for something sweet and breakfasty. 🙂  We ended up in the Norway pavilion and had pastries at the Kringla Bakeri og Kafe, which we had never tried, and it was amazing.  So yummy and so serene sitting on the patio, watching World Showcase guests stream by.  When our pastries had been devoured and we had soaked up every drop of peaceful relaxation that we could, we were off on a whirlwind journey around the World Showcase.

We spent hours finding hidden treasures in each country’s shops, munching on Fish and Chips at the Rose and Crown, and sweating ourselves silly in the extreme Florida heat.  We found doggy dresses in China, wonderful teas in the UK, Bellinis in Italy, amazing sweets at the Karamell-Kuche in Germany, and even the requisite souvenir: Duffy the Disney Bear.

Arms loaded with shopping bags, sweat dripping from our brows, and wonderfully content, we headed back to the French Quarter after nearly nine hours of Epcot goodness!

Oh, and remember that dress I told you about?  Well, when we arrived back at our hotel room, I came to the painful realization that when one has sensitive skin and wears a dress while walking for nine hours in 90-plus degree heat and almost 100% humidity, one will find themselves with giant, purple, rashy welts on the inside of one’s legs.  Yes, that’s right, the inside of my legs looked a lot like I had run two or three marathons that day, and I spent the rest of the evening using my iPhone to research remedies for chaffing.

Bandaged and hurting, I gave in to the urge to curl up in bed with a good book and a little Disney Channel background noise, but I wasn’t any less content with our romp around the World Showcase, nor any less excited to rejoin our group in the morning.  It was a wonderful, magical, Disney kind of feeling that reminds you why you did all that in the first place.

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