Eating our way around the "world"

I've been on vacation this last week.  I took my kids to Disney World in Florida.  We love Disney World.  Although we never took the kids when they were really young, they still fell in love with it about 5 years ago. We have gone every year since.  It's so wonderful to see my 16 year old daughter (almost 17) act like a little girl again.  My 13 year old son actually wanting to spend time with us is pretty rare, too.  Disney brings out the kid in all of us.

I thought it would be fun to blog about all of the fantastic food we ate while there.  Specifically, in EPCOT's World Showcase.  If you've never been, World Showcase is a collections of pavilions in EPCOT that showcase 11 different countries of the world.  You can walk from one country to the next, exploring their unique cultures and sampling their foods along the way.  They are all situated on a lagoon, so it's a nice stroll around the "world".  Or in my case a roll.  I am having more ankle trouble and have to have yet another reconstructive surgery at the end of the month.  But, I didn't want to cancel our family vacation, so I toughed it out.  My poor husband and kids took turns pushing my wheelchair.  But, we made the best of it and enjoyed our time together (especially the food!).

Here is a look at how we ate our way around the "world" (it took us two visits - we were so full the first day, we had to come back another day to finish!):

The first stop was in ENGLAND or the UK.

My son loves the FISH AND CHIPS at the Yorkshire County Fish Shop.  He eats this every year.  It has to be our first stop.  We sat in a little area near the lagoon while he ate his fish and chips and then ran off to see the birds that are always hanging around, hoping for a bit of dropped fish.

 Our next stop was in MOROCCO.

My daughter and I love the platters you can get at the Tangerine Cafe.  We chose the CHICKEN SHAWARMA platter.  It included grilled chicken, pita, hummus, chick pea salad, couscous and tzatziki sauce.  It was enough food for us to share.  Plus, we had BAKLAVA for dessert!  It was delicious!  My old-school Italian husband wouldn't even look at it.  He didn't even get the platter in the picture!

 My son couldn't wait to get to the JAPAN pavilion.  Why?  Does he love the Sushi?  Ha-ha, of course not! He loves this Japanese candy called HI-CHEW.  It's pretty much fruit flavored taffy.  I think he ate three packs while I wasn't looking.  If you look closely at the pic of my daughter eating Baklava, you'll see him eating the candy in the background.  He ran ahead while we were still in Morocco to buy the candy.  Here's a pic of him in JAPAN with the candy:

 GERMANY was our next stop.  My husband loves the big soft PRETZELS they sell at Sommerfest.  My son had one, too.

 My daughter and I went for the APPLE STRUDEL.  It had golden raisins inside and was topped with a warm vanilla bean sauce.  Wow!  And it was gigantic, plenty enough for two.

By the time we got to AMERICA, I was so full I couldn't bring myself to eat anything else!  So, here is a pic of me drinking GATORADE.  Hey, it's American.

 
The next day, my son got a gigantic SMOKED TURKEY LEG in AMERICA.  It was really tasty.  Here he is with it.  He finished that whole thing by the way.  I was shocked!

It was cold and rainy on this day, so Coffee was a must.  We stopped at a cart in ITALY to get some CAPPUCCINO and were ecstatic to find that they had CANNOLI!  It had a chocolate shell with a hint of orange in the mascarpone cream filling.  Yum!  Needless to say my old-school Italian husband was thrilled.

Next stop was CHINA.  There was a small cart called Joy of Tea.  It sold tea, but also Egg Rolls.  My daughter and I shared PORK AND VEGETABLE EGG ROLLS.  Bonus, we could use the Snack Credit on our Disney Dining Plan to get them.

After the egg rolls, we wanted something sweet.  NORWAY has a bakery called:

We got a PEAR AND ALMOND TART.  It wasn't too sweet and had a buttery crust.  Delicious!

While in MEXICO, we saw Mariachi Cobre, a mariachi band, playing music.  We also rode a boat ride featuring Donald and the Three Caballeros.  We had a lot of fun.  There are several restaurants to choose from as well as Margarita stands.  We've eaten there in the past and gotten nachos, tacos, etc.  My son, however, chose to get a bag of DORITOS.  I thought that was too funny.  So, here is a pic of him enjoying his Doritos in front of the temple:

We worked our way back to FRANCE.  I love this pavilion.  It has a replica of the Eiffel Tower and is filled with art.  It also has Boulangerie Patisserie.  It is a bakery filled with pastries and sandwiches.  I chose the HAM AND CHEESE CROISSANT.  It was warm and gooey and so good!  Here are a few pics of the FRANCE pavilion and one of me with my croissant:

The last pavilion was CANADA.  It has an amazing steak house called Le Cellier.  But, we didn't have reservations(which are a must).  So we just strolled around and looked at the pretty scenery.  I thought we wouldn't have anything to eat there until I went into the gift shop.  I pondered drinking a bottle of Maple Syrup (just kidding), but I found these CHIPS instead.

I am a chip-a-holic.  I love to try weird flavors.  So, MONTREAL STEAK SPICE was a must-try for me.  They were very savory and different.  I enjoyed them.  I also enjoyed the french writing on the back of the package.

Here are some pics of my kids in CANADA:

So, that's how we ate our way around the "world".  I hope you enjoyed it.  We had a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again!