We had Epcot reservations on Sunday, so we set our alarms for 6:55, but I woke up at 6:45 feeling refreshed and ready to go. We had read about the new Genie+ system and knew we wanted to get Individual Lightning Lane reservations.

Before I go on, I have to digress to briefly explain the new Genie+ system at Disney World. Basically, the new passes are very similar to Fast Passes, but now they’re charging for things and had to give everything a new name. And, despite being brilliant marketers, they chose dumb names. Genie is the name for the mobile app that gives you suggestions throughout your park day. We didn’t find it very helpful. Genie+ is an optional service that you can pay extra for. At Disney World, it costs $15 per person per day. In a nutshell, you now pay for Genie+ to get Fast Passes, which are now called Lightning Lane access. Except that Genie+ doesn’t include the top two rides in each park; for those, you have to buy Individual Lightning Lane passes, which vary (generally $7 to $15 per person per ride) based on crowd size on any given day. Confused yet? Yes, because things were badly named.

Despite the confusing nature of the system, we figured it out enough to know that we wanted Individual Lightning Lane passes for the new Ratatouille ride. For people staying on-site, those opened up at 7:00 (they aren’t available to off-site guests until the park opens), which is why we’d set a 6:55 alarm. I was on the app exactly at 7, and I got the Ratatouille passes, plus Disney+ Lightning Lane passes for Frozen Ever After, which we’d never ridden before because the lines were always crazy long.

When we’d secured the passes, we got ready for the park, then walked to the Riviera for coffee and pastries. We journaled for a bit, then took the Skyliner to Epcot. As we approached the park, we could see a hugely long line for Ratatouille and knew we’d made the right call purchasing the Individual Lightning Lane passes. We decided we’d head first to Frozen Ever After and, if the line was not too long, change our Disney+ Lightning Lane selection (you can only have one at a time) to something else. Sure enough, the line was not terribly long, so we swtiched our LL to Soarin’ and rode Frozen Ever After.

Frozen Ever After was a completely gorgeous ride. The ride itself was kind of fun, but the artistry was what was truly impressive. The animatronic characters had projected faces, which made them very lifelike. The colors and images were so beautiful. I could easily see why people stood in line for so long. The funny thing is that the ride itself was the same as it had been when we were there in the fall of 2013, just a few weeks before Frozen was released in theaters. The girls plus a friend rode the ride four or five times in a row, because there was no line at all. After they rode and rode and rode, we walked right in and met Anna and Elsa with no waiting. Now both are top attractions at Epcot.

On the way out of the Frozen ride, we spent a while looking at the Norwegian (and Frozen) merchandise. I fell in love with a Norwegian wool cardigan. Unfortunately, it was pretty expensive. And since they still aren’t doing delivery to the park exit or resorts, we didn’t want to buy then anyway. We decided we’d think about it and buy it at the end of the day if I decided I still wanted it. The next thing we wanted to do was get second breakfast at Les Halles in France, so we walked through World Showcase and shopped and took pictures along the way.

The wait for Les Halles was the longest of our entire day — an hour from the time we walked in until we got our food. But the food there was SO good! From there, we walked over to England and grabbed beers at The Rose & Crown. We looked at a gift shop and then decided to ride the Nemo ride (I love that little ride!) because the line was short. After Nemo, it was time to head back to France for our reservations at Chefs de France restaurant.

We’d always wanted to eat at Chefs de France, but it didn’t make it to the top of the list until this trip. We both got wine to drink, Andrew a Bordeaux cab and later a Beaujolais, and me a Chardonnay. We got the escargot appetizer, because you don’t get the opportunity to do that very often. They were pretty tasty – lots of garlic sauce. For our main course, Andrew got the beef bourguignon, and I had salmon. It was so good, and I’m sad to say we didn’t have room for dessert.

After lunch it was time to use our Soarin’ Lightning Lane passes. I love Soarin’. It might be my favorite ride at all of Disney World. I like swinging my legs, and the smells, and all of the views. It’s not that thrilling, I know, but it makes me happy.

I’d been having trouble with my Photo Pass service. so after Soarin’ we went to the Guest Services building to get it fixed. It took a while, and actually I think in the end the lady just gave me another one because it was easier than making my original one work. After that we went to the biggest store in Epcot. After the delay at our resort’s security gate the night before, I wanted to get a new Magic Band, and I wanted to get gifts for the kids, too. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I couldn’t decide between the Muppets magic band and the R2-D2 magic band, so I bought them both. And a Princess Leia necklace.

Once again, we started making our way around World Showcase to France, because it was about time for our Lightning Lane passes for Ratatouille. Along the way, we stopped a few places. My favorite thing along the way was a Moroccan mule (in Morocco) made with fig vodka. I didn’t even know fig vodka existed! Somewhere along the way we got a notice that our LL passes were now good from the original start time until park closing. That seemed odd, but we didn’t think to investigate more.

We got to Ratatouille, and the line for the Lightning Lane entrance was long. We heard some people say the ride had broken down, which then made the LL change make sense. On the way we had passed a creperie, so we went there and got in line for some savory crepes for dinner. That line was the second-longest one we stood in all day, probably 45 minutes total. But something fun happened while we were there. We were sort of in a back corner of the park, and a wedding party came through a gate and headed toward the lagoon. A few minutes later, the bride and groom came through, and everyone in the area spontaneously started clapping! It was neat to experience.

By the time we got our crepes we needed to rush back around the lagoon to Mexico for another reservation. When I was making restaurant reservations for this trip, I noticed a ”La Cava Experience” tequila tasting. La Cava is the tequila bar in Mexico, and we stopped there last summer for a flight. I signed up for it thinking I could always cancel it, but then as it got closer we were really interested in doing the tasting.

When we arrived at the bar there was a long line, which we went to get into. The lady working there told us the line was closed, but we showed her our reservation. She had no idea what that was so sent us to the hostess at the front of the line, who did know and had us wait in a little uncrowded area. We waited a few minutes, and the hostess brought us margaritas because they weren’t ready for us yet. Before we even finished those they walked us in, and the setup was really cool. I expected a room full of folks with someone telling us what to do. Instead, it was Andrew and me at a table with the tequila expert. Her name was Hilda, and she started by telling us she was from Tequila, Mexico.

The whole tasting was terrific. Hilda started by showing us a mural on the wall that showed how agave is grown and harvested, and how it’s cooked and distilled to be turned into tequila.

At the table there was water and a huge plate of chips & guac. Hilda had us cleanse our palate with vodka, then she led us through tastings of five different vodkas. One was a traditional style, where the agave was cooked using a fire. Three were what we now consider traditional cooking methods. And the last one was a more modern cooking method, which she likened to using an Instapot. The last thing we tasted was a mezcal. Both of us had the same favorite — a tequila made only for that bar, called La Cava del Tequila. Of course, the one we liked best can only be found at Walt Disney World.

With each type of tequila, Hilda had us prepare our senses with different items from a plate. There was lime peel, and cinnamon, coffee, and chocolate, orange peel, and grasshoppers. Yes, grasshoppers. Those we were supposed to eat before the mezcal, with a bite of orange after. But I couldn’t do it. Andy did, and I may never kiss him again.

At the end of the tasting we got to choose another margarita. I chose avocado, and Andrew chose passion fruit. We definitely did not need more alcohol, but they were too good not to drink. Fortunately, they brought them in the plastic cups so we could take them with us.

After drinking all that tequila we wandered back into the gift shop in Norway. I had pretty much decided not to buy the cardigan, but let’s just say my decision-making skills were dimmed at that point. I decided to try it on, and then I loved it too much not to buy it. So now I have a lovely new sweater!

At that point the fireworks were about to start, and the crowds were all in their spots, so we made good time on our way back to France. When we arrived, the Ratatouille ride was working again! We pretty much walked right onto it with our Lightning Lane passes. The ride was fun. The idea is that you shrink down to mouse side and rush through the kitchen from the Ratatouille movie.

When we exited the ride, the fireworks had already started. We decided to leave the park then to beat the crowds. We got onto the Skyliner and were able to watch the finale from our carriage. It was a great ending to a great day.