Day 2-EPCOT

I woke up at 6:55am to make our first Genie+ reservation and to try for virtual queue for Guardian’s of the Galaxy with the intention of securing the reservations and going back to sleep. Well, I logged on at 6:59 and refreshed right at 7:00am and got error messages for everything that I tried! I kept refreshing over the next 10 minutes (I even tried from my laptop too) and nothing that I did worked. I finally gave up and just went back to sleep with no Lightening Lane or Virtual Queue secured.

Mom and I got up and ready to leave around 10:30am and I decided to check the app again to see if I could get a Lightening Lane reservation. I was able to secure a reservation for Frozen for around 2:00 in the afternoon and I was so excited! We got a coffee at the coffee chop next to Kona Cafe and got on the monorail around 11:00am. We went over to the TTC where we transferred to the EPCOT monorail and made our way to the park. We got in around 11:30am and went to Connections Cafe so I could get Starbucks to drink while we waited in line for Spaceship Earth, which had a 20 minute wait.

Now, it’s important to note that when we were on the EPCOT monorail that Spaceship Earth was down and not working, so we were happy to see it had a posted wait time again when we got there. We got my coffee frap (it’s hot outside so I needed a cold drink) and got in line. If you know Spaceship Earth, you know that it’s a dark ride that is constantly loading, so standing in one spot in line is not common. We didn’t move for about 7 minutes and decided to leave and head over to The Land.

On our way, I checked Genie+ and it was time for me to make another reservation and there happened to be one for Soarin’ that started in 15 minutes! We got to The Land and had a few minutes to kill, so we went on one of my favorite EPCOT rides, Living with the Land. In my opinion, it is one of the most underrated Walt Disney World rides and rarely has a long wait. Of course it was practically a walk on and I was in heaven! It’s so interesting to look at all of the crops and fish farms that Disney is growing and how they use them in the restaurants around the parks and resorts. This was also during the Food and Wine festival-so they had markers up throughout the ride showing you where some crops are used in the options at the festival.

Afterwards, we headed to Soarin’ Around the World. Although we had a Lightening Lane for this ride, we still probably waited 15 minutes to actually get into the theater/ride. It’s always worth it though-especially this time because we got the middle row in the middle section of the ride, which is the best for views! However, what happened at the end of the ride left me super upset. When you get on, you’re instructed to put everything-including Minnie ears into the pouch under your seat…so I did…and those ears were never to be found again. They were my favorite pair and brand new too! They probably fell out of the pouch and someone picked them up and walked off with them. I did file a claim for lost items as soon as we got back to the resort that night, but got an email a week later that they weren’t found so they closed the claim. Thankfully they were briefly back in stock on Shop Disney a few days later so I got a replacement.

At this point, we were getting pretty hungry, so we started our trek around the World Showcase for the Food and Wine festival! We started with the shrimp from Australia for Mom (although I did try one and it was delicious) before moving onto my classic favorite…the pork sliders from Hawaii! Next we decided spur of the moment to try the sticky ribs from Swanky Saucy Swine and they did not disappoint. Next we went into one of the permanent buildings where they have wings every year and I got the buffalo wings (best bang for your buck this year) and mom got the brussel sprouts. Finally we finished up the start of the World Showcase with getting mom a frozen margarita from the San Angel quick service in the Mexico building (highly recommend!).

It was time for our Frozen Ever After Lightening Lane, so we kept on going to Norway and hopped on in less than 5 minutes. I always love this ride and the lights at the beginning are so beautiful! Afterwards, we got the Peri Peri shrimp from the Kenya booth before walking around the shops in the Germany pavilion. We ended up in the American Pavilion and were sad to see that the Voices of Liberty weren’t performing that day-but we took a much needed break from the walking and heat to sit inside the main building for a little while.

Afterwards we continued around the World Showcase, but honestly got too full from our earlier eats to want anything else from the rest of the festival. We did decide to take another break for mom’s ankle on the Skyliner because I had never been on it before! We took it from EPCOT all the way to Coronado Springs where we got off and got back on to ride back. It was such a relaxing ride with a great view! I highly recommend using this as a break if you need to or staying at a resort with the Skyliner if you plan on going to EPCOT and/or Hollywood Studios during your trip.

Finally we made it back towards the front of the park where we decided to look around in Creations Shop for a while. They surprisingly still had some 40th anniversary merchandise and a lot of other cute things as well, but I didn’t end up getting anything…there were too many options! We checked out Spaceship Earth on our way our of the park, but it seemed to be down again as the line wasn’t moving. We hopped back on them monorail and made our way back to the TTC and then caught the connecting monorail back to the Polynesian Resort.

I did get hungry later that evening, so I went over to the quick service food option at the Poly, Captain Cooks, and did a mobile order for a kids meal. I picked it up (this was the longest wait that I had for any mobile order on the trip by far) and then took it back to the room to eat. Pro tip: the kids meals are a great portion and half the price! You can also find great snacks like giant pickles, veggies and ranch, hummus and pretzels, apples, oranges, yogurt, and more at Captain Cooks as well as frozen treats like Mickey Bars.

After I ate, I showered and got right into bed. Even though I did sleep in some, I was still exhausted from the previous two days and had to get up SUPER early the following day for Animal Kingdom! I had a Capture the Moment Photoshoot at 8:00am and we had to catch the bus to get over there on time. I did watch the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom from our bedroom window though before going to sleep…I cannot recommend staying at the Polynesian Resort enough! Stay tuned to learn more about Animal Kingdom, Capture the Moment Photo Shoot, and Ohana :)