7:20pm: It just stopped raining. Right now Florida feels like sitting in a slightly moldy lukewarm shower. It didn’t actually start raining until the late afternoon but the weather in the morning was 100% humidity. Humidity is worse than rain, as least rain makes you slightly cooler. Humidity is oppressive and you look disgusting – my hair hasn’t been dry in two days. I am not sure how anyone ever looks cute in Florida. All the ladies must have keratin treatments or some secret I am missing.

7:40pm: We arrive at the Coral Reef restaurant. This is one of the oldest and most iconic restaurants at Epcot. For those you who were/are Full House fans it’s based on the two part “House Meets Mouse” in 1993 where the whole family goes to Disney and Jesse and Joey go swimming with dolphins in a tank that can be seen from the restaurant. The centerpiece of the restaurant is the windowed wall because who doesn’t want to see live fish before they eat fish? The Nadig Family has never eaten here so we decided to spice it up and not eat at the same 5 places we usually eat dinner.

7:50pm: We are seated sort of far from the windows but we still have a good view. It is pretty cool to see sea turtles and sharks at dinner but also a little sad because they are stuck in a tank so you can watch them at dinner… or are we stuck in a tank and the fish are watching us? Getting really philosophical here in Disney World.

source: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/coral-reef-restaurant/ — source: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/coral-reef-restaurant/

8:00pm: There are also lots of people diving in the tank that just keep waving and waving. Like guys didn’t you just pay obscene amounts of money to scuba dive in Disney World? Don’t you want to look at the fish and sharks and not at the people you can see for free all the time?

8:00pm: Our waiter Cliff from Orlando* seems like he is a little drunk. He is very slow and keeps asking us the same questions. At one point he comes to our table and talks with us for 5 full minutes about the weather in Orlando and drinking in Orlando and what he likes to drink. I will add that this conversation was sparked by a passing comment from me that it was very humid outside. I think he is just excited to have a table full of relatively normal adults with no kids or foreigners who aren’t wearing mickey ears.**

8:30pm: The food is good, but nothing exceptional. My dish came with pea risotto. I have very mixed feelings about risotto. Don’t get me wrong, I like risotto, it’s just never my first choice for a side dish or an entrée. I usually prefer pasta for the entrée or actual rice for my side dish. Risotto is always the kiss of death on cooking shows. It seems like one can never make risotto correctly. The judges are always saying it is “overcooked” or “undercooked” and the chefs swear they were trained in Italy and that’s the correct perfect risotto consistency. I honestly think no one really knows what risotto is actually supposed to taste like and the consistency is more of preference. Probably because in their heart of hearts everyone knows risotto is just mushy rice and it tastes good because you cook it with butter and white wine. Almost anything tastes good if you cook if with butter and white wine. I could cook shoe leather in butter and wine and you would be like “hmm this shoe leather is pretty good – a little chewy though.”

Yes add more salt that'll make it taste better too.

8:50pm: Since Cliff is taking his sweet sweet time with the check; my mom and sister decide to leave to try to go on Soarin’: my mom’s favorite ride. Soarin’ is a weird simulated hang gliding experience, where they pump out wind and the scent of pine trees and orange grooves so you feel like it’s real. Disney creates the grand capacity for a dystopian future were you never ever have to go outside or do things that might actually be dangerous. I am pretty sure the cruise ship from Wall-E is loosely based on a Disney World Theme Park.

9:00pm: Cliff comes out with a free chocolate lava cake that my Dad can’t eat. Gabby & my Mom have already run over to Soarin’. Cliff is really not a thinker, but at least now I have free cake for breakfast. Score.

9:15pm: My Dad & I wait outside the entrance to Soarin’. My Dad, being the sane person he is, thinks they are taking too long and is wondering if they are dead. It turns out that there was a 70 minute wait at Soarin’ but the guard took pity on my Mom & Gabby because they told him they had people waiting for them and he gave them a free fastpass+ so they could skip the line. WOOOO MAGIC!***

*It says on every Disney cast members name tag where they are from originally. I think they do this so you can bond with them on a deep personal level? Or because Disney wants you to know that the people in Epcot World Showcase are really from their respective countries? I am not sure.

**I think that in Disney this is sort of a rare occurrence.

***Or more likely some sort of flirting. Gabby is a pretty magical flirter a skill she inherited from my mom.