Thanksgiving/My Birthday At Disney's EPCOT Center November 24th, 2022

- November 24, 2022

This year for Thanksgiving we decided that we would spend the day at a Disney theme park since we would be away from family. My birthday was also on Thanksgiving this year, so Ray said I could pick what we did for the day. Neither Ray or I had ever been to the Disney World Resort (except for Disney Springs, which we have attended a couple of times since moving to Tampa). Reservations to the parks are needed and Disney's Magic Kingdom had already sold out of reservations, plus I picture the Magic Kingdom being a lot like Disneyland in California, which I have been to many times. A Disney cast member I spoke with said that Thanksgiving is notorious for being the most crowded day of the year, so she recommended we attend either EPCOT or Disney's Animal Kingdom. We have been to many zoos, so we decided EPCOT was the place for us. We left our apartment at 6 am on Thanksgiving, so we could get to the park when it opened at 8 am. After a quick stop at Starbucks to grab breakfast, we arrived at EPCOT Center. I was so excited for Hope to experience the magic of attending a Disney Theme park. I'll just let you know now, that Hope's favorite thing about going to EPCOT was playing at the playground, and she has made it known clearly that she doesn't want to go on rides now whether they be fast or slow. Although I think she secretly really liked the Ratatouille ride. Ray and I loved it!

On our way into Walt Disney World. At 6 am in the morning on Thanksgiving, the drive from Tampa to Orlando was a breeze. We arrived just at they opened.

Hope watched the movie Ratatouille during the car ride to the park. Ratatouille is one of her favorite Disney movies. She has a little Remy stuffed animal that thankfully didn't get lost while we were in the park.

One of the first Disney movies Hope watched was the movie Coco. Still one of her favorites today.

Ray and Hope making rat faces while we were in line for the Ratatouille ride.

Make sure you watch Gusteau for a bit while you are in line in this room, for he moves. I love how the lines at Disney parks are fun for the family to experience.

Hope loves ice cream, so of course we had to get her a Mickey Mouse ice cream while at EPCOT.

Chomp! Chomp!

Hope having her first driving lesson with Ray.

Ray and Hope playing electronic shuffleboard.

A trip to a Disney Park wouldn't be complete without a light-up spinning toy. Note: Take batteries if you go to a Disney Park and plan to purchase one of these types of toys for your kids. The batteries don't last long at all. By 8 pm, the batteries that came with the toy were dead.