Gab's Wish Trip, EPCOT Day, Akershus Review

I'm recapping, very slowly, Gabby's Make a Wish trip from July. Previous recaps here, here, and here.

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One of the things we were most looking forward to for Gabby's trip was seeing our families. We moved to SoCal in 2009, and Gabby hadn't seen my dad or her cousins since we left Florida. To kind of try to make things fair and balance time with our families, we planned on my in-laws being around Friday/Saturday, and my family Monday/Tuesday.

We had 8:15 breakfast reservations at Akershus in Norway. I maaaaaay have been a little overzealous, and we were the first people in the park. Literally.





Ever wondered what a really empty park looks like?







Akershus is probably my favorite Disney World restaurant experience - I love the interaction with the princesses, the food is delicious, it's just fantastic.

When your party is called in, you're greeted first by Belle in her yellow dress (always the yellow dress here - you can see her sometimes throughout EPCOT in her blue/white dress), signing autographs, and taking pictures. The photographer doesn't take PhotoPass, they'll come around later with the photo package for you (included in the price of the meal).

After you're seated, a Norwegian server comes by for drink orders, explains the buffet for you (cold items - meats, cheeses, fruit, yogurt, danishes), and then brings the hot foods - eggs, some potato cheese delicious casserole from heaven, bacon, sausage, etc.

While you're eating, the princesses make their rounds - they circulate through the room, spending a few minutes at each table for autographs, pictures, etc.








 

It's kind of pricey for breakfast - around $40+ for adults (ages 9+), $25 for kids - but if your kids are really into princesses, it's a fun choice.

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After breakfast, we headed back out towards the front of the park to meet up with my sister and her kids.



While we were waiting for my parents (and brother and other sister), we rode Spaceship Earth for the first time (IT'S MY FAVORITE!), then killed time visiting some characters (with the Magic Pass, we didn't have to wait for character ops, either - MAGIC).





After a kind of teary super exciting family reunion, we hit up (in order) Innoventions East, Mission Space, Universe of Energy, Soarin', The Land, the Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Journey into Imagination.








We ate a small lunch in the Land, somewhere in that madness, but I think most of us saved our eating for World Showcase.

World Showcase is my favorite place in Disney World, hands down. We took our time, wandering the World, eating all types of things, taking a million pictures, and... kind of just enjoying everything - the park, each other, all of it.

Here's a fun fact. This kid hates kisses. Even Snow White kisses.

Krissy at Shiawase Life used to be a Cast Member, and worked some amazing magic for us - reserved viewing of Illuminations! I'm a sucker for Disney shows (shocking), and this was one of the highlights of our trip for me.




Thanks again, Krissy :D.

Overall, we had an amazing time at EPCOT. It's hard to go wrong, in my eyes, since it's my favorite and all. But the characters really spent a great deal of time with Gabby, they all were fantastic. There was one run in with a rude parent who took issue with us "cutting" in line, but absolutely everyone else was kind and gracious.

Since this is already pretty OMGALLTHEPICTURESEVER.... here are some more. A photopass was included with our Give Kids the World stay, and we took full advantage. If you have kids, you know someone almost always ends up being not in pictures... usually me. Because I hate being in pictures. Photopass takes that excuse away, so I sucked it up and took #allthepictures.