Picture Perfect in Epcot

What a whirlwind of fun these last two weeks have been! We spent two great weeks in Orlando, FL with family and just loved all of our time spent with each other. We did a ton of different things here so I’ll have several posts coming soon about the trip.

Epcot was our first Disney theme park to attend and it started off way better than planned! We had breakfast reservations at the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Norway at 9:30am. Here’s a little secret: they will let you into the park before it opens if you have breakfast reservations so that you can be sure to arrive on time! Just look for the character dining sign off to the side and show the cast member your reservation and they’ll let you in – pretty simple!

The day we went, the park opened at 9am, and we arrived around 8:30. Parking was really easy and we were able to quickly navigate our way to the main entrance from there. Entry lines had already started to form so we split up our group and sent some to go find the character dining entrance while the rest waited in the regular queue. We quickly found a sign leading us to the cast member who would check our confirmation and allow us early entrance.

Our group of 10 got back together and entered the park before anyone else! Like, we were literally the FIRST people in there! Can you say VIP? Or how about ZERO photobombs!

We had plenty of time to take pictures with the big Epcot ball and at the entrance to the World Showcase. It was fun to let Olivia run around Epcot and not be concerned about her getting lost in the crowd or running into someone (hey, it happens).

After we had taken several photos in a few different locations, I looked at the My Disney Experience app and found that Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy were all going to be at the Character Spot at 9am. Since our breakfast reservations weren’t until 9:30, and we were still the only ones in the park, we walked over towards it.

The crowds started pouring in right on time at 9am so we rushed over to the character door and waited for them to let us inside the building. A cast member opened it, asked how many were in our party, and then said, “oh, here comes the big mouse himself!” And sure enough, out pops Mickey Mouse! He waved us all to come back and follow him to the photo spots where Minnie Mouse and Goofy were waiting for us!

We walked back to their rooms where they wait to meet all the other crazy excited families, and Minnie Mouse and Goofy were just standing there waiting on us! The kids nearly lost their minds (as did I) and we took an insane amount of pictures.

Once olivia realized that Minnie Mouse was in the room, nobody else mattered. She was waving like a crazy person and then it happened. Minnie came over and waved back at her. THEN, for the first time, and ever so clearly, Olivia says, “I love you” to her! It was so cute!

After we all finished meeting the characters here, we left on a Disney high! It was such a great morning already and we had only been in the park for about an hour! I already felt like the day couldn’t get any better, but then it did…

 We made our way over to Norway and found the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. We checked in and went inside where we immediately got to meet Belle in her beautiful gold ball gown! My niece & nephew had her sign their autograph books and we took a great family picture together.

We moved past her and were seated at our table where the other princesses would walk over to meet us and take pictures. Cinderella told us that she already cleaned the floors for her stepmother that morning. Adele got a lot of attention from Snow White because she’s even smaller than Dopey, and Ariel loved her because she reminded her of a guppy like Flounder! We also got meet Aurora.

We left breakfast and went back up front to ride some rides. Olivia and Adele weren’t tall enough for everything so we did a few before stopping for a lunch break. Then we rode one more ride before heading home to take naps. It was really hot outside (high 90’s) so a cool afternoon nap indoors sounded great for all the Rubio’s. The rest of my family stayed in the park and skipped naps that day.

We got back to the park around 5 and rode one ride before walking into the World Showcase and meeting the rest of the family in England. We had some fish & chips for dinner and continued walking through the rest of the countries. We got some gelato in Italy and sadly couldn’t eat anything from any of the other countries because we were just too full.

We left just before the fireworks started and made it home so that the girls could cool down and fall asleep in their beds.

Our day in Epcot was fantastic and we love everything that we were able to do. For me, the highlight was getting into the park early and watching Olivia meet Minnie Mouse.