A ride on the monorail from Magic Kingdom to Epcot was a new experience for us and we loved the aerial views of the park. We made our way to World Showcase again starting today with the first in the line-up of countries around the lagoon – Mexico. The pavilion here is a huge pyramid, dim and dark representing twilight and incredibly crowded inside. Everything in Mexico is housed in this building, we meandered around the big marketplace and looking at the plethora of Mexican goods on sale – everything from pottery to pinatas.

A cute little boat ride through a whole series of Mexican scenes accompanied by Donald Duck was tame but fun, then we headed back outside to watch the very entertaining Mariachi band – sipping frozen margaritas while we watched got the thumbs up from me.

Next was Norway and unlike Mexico, this place was virtually deserted. Quite quaint and laid out like a town square in Norway there is a replica fortress and a Stave church. I remember in the past a fun little ride with a backwards plunge past a troll – not thrilling but loads of fun. Unfortunately that seems to have gone and some kind of new Frozen ride was a work in progress during our visit.

Last but by no means least was China – entering through that impressive arch leaves you in no doubt which culture and country this represents.

We wandered for a while in the evening sunshine. One part of this pavilion has a big shopping area and restaurant and seemed to be extremely busy. The other side though was peaceful, quiet and very scenic with a lovely little pond and bamboo walkways.

The dragon acrobats were unmissable and we had front row positions for their wonderful show.

We made our way inside the (half size) Temple of Heaven building to watch the 360 degree film – Reflections of China. Very impressive they have rails you can lean against while you take in the sights of China on the vast screens all around you. Captivating and interesting but also, we found, a great place to cool down and get some respite from the sun.

Outside we had a look at the replica Terracotta Army and of course, a browse in the very intriguing shop.