Visiting Epcot at Walt Disney World

I was 6 when I first visited Walt Disney World back in 1984! A lot has changed since then as only Magic Kingdom and Epcot were open. We stayed three nights at the Contemporary Resort for a grand total of $385.00. One night at the Contemporary in May 2019 was $563.00. 😐 I remember liking Epcot when I was little, especially buying little trinkets in each country of World Showcase. To this day I still enjoy buying things in World Showcase but more often than not, it’s wine or beer. 😏 To me, World Showcase is the best part of Epcot. However, massive changes are coming to this park. A Guardians of the Galaxy ride is being built as is a Ratatouille ride in the France pavilion and just announced Mary Poppins ride in the UK pavilion. Work has also started on a new entrance. So, just as Hollywood Studios finishes their lengthy construction, Epcot begins theirs.

GETTING TO EPCOT

Epcot has multiple options for arrival. In addition to driving yourself or taking the Disney resort buses (available to those staying on Disney property or at a Disney Springs Hotel), you can take the monorail from the Transportation & Ticket Center outside Magic Kingdom as well as a boat or the Skyliner. If you arrive by car, bus or monorail you’ll enter at the front by Spaceship Earth and the Future World section of the park. Epcot is one of the two parks you can walk to depending on your resort. If you are staying at a Boardwalk area resort (Boardwalk, Swan, Dolphin, Beach Club or Yacht Club) or coming from Hollywood Studios, you can walk or take the boat and enter at the ‘back entrance’ called the International Gateway. The Skyliner will also drop off there. You can take it if you are coming from Hollywood Studios or the resorts of Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach and Riviera. The International Gateway leads up to the World Showcase section of the park right in between the France and UK pavilions.

When arriving by monorail, you’ll get a birds eye view of the park before you debark.

FAVORITE EPCOT ATTRACTIONS

When you enter Epcot from the front you’ll be in Future World. Future World East holds attractions like the park icon of Spaceship Earth, Mission Space, Test Track and the park’s main store, Mouse Gear. Future World West holds attractions like the Living Seas exhibit (and Nemo ride) and the Land Pavilion which houses Living with the Land and Soarin. If you walk straight past Spaceship Earth you’ll cross over into the back section of the park which is where World Showcase is. You can navigate this section by either going left and starting with Mexico (the more popular choice) or go right and start in Canada. You can also cut straight across World Showcase Lagoon by taking one of the boats.

Fast passes are the best way to maximize your time in the park because they allow you to bypass the standby line. You can read more about Fast Passes on the Disney website here. My three favorite rides at Epcot are also the hardest to get Fast Passes and unfortunately all in the same category. This means you can only pick one of the three when selecting your Fast Passes. So know which one you want when you go to book. Frozen is an boat ride through Arenadle with no height requirement. Soarin and Test Track both have height requirements and are more thrilling than Frozen. Soarin makes you feel like you’re flying while Test Track can hit speeds up to 65mph. Once that is selected you can pick two other rides for your Fast Passes. A full list of Epcot attractions can be found here but we enjoy The Seas with Nemo & Friends, Living with the Land and the Pixar Short Films. When it’s hot riding the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico is always good as is seeing the movies in France, China or Canada pavilions. My personal most favorite ‘unofficial’ attraction is Drinking Around the World in World Showcase. Weekends, especially during the Food & Wine Festival, expect to see large groups of people doing this. More often than not acting loud and obnoxious with matching t-shirts. I prefer to drink around the world during less crowded times.

Popular character interactions include Wreck It Ralph & Vanellope and multiple characters around World Showcase related to the countries (Anna & Elsa in Norway, Belle or Aurora in France, Winnie the Pooh in the UK, etc.)

The nighttime attraction to end the day is currently Epcot Forever. The best viewing spots are around the lagoon (people start staking out places up to an hour and a half before the 9pm showtime) but prime viewing spots can be reserved by making dinner reservations at on-the-water locations such as La Hacienda de San Angel or Spice Road Table. The Rose & Crown Pub and Toyko Dining can work too but you need to be in certain sections of the restaurant to get the views. Making the reservation for somewhere around 8pm should be good for the 9pm showing. You can also book the Frozen Ever After dessert party. For a lot of extra money you get some drinks, dessert, a fantastic viewing location of Illuminations and a special ride on Frozen.

Frozen Ever After - get ready to sing along during the whole ride!

FAVORITE EPCOT RESTAURANTS

Epcot is, by far, my favorite park to eat in because of all the options in World Showcase. Almost every pavilion has both counter service and sit down restaurants. Also, when there is a festival going on there are additional food and drink booths where you can also snack your way around the world.

In Future World our go to is Coral Reef Restaurant located right by The Seas with Nemo and Friends. It is a fun, unique experience because you are essentially underground and stare right into the Living Seas exhibit. Aside from plenty of fish, you may see some scuba divers taking part in the DiveQuest tour.

In World Showcase you really can’t go wrong anywhere (well, I’d avoid the restaurant in America as it’s just typical theme park food) but we have several favorites:
Morocco: Spice Road Table (sit down, alongside World Showcase Lagoon) and the counter service Tangerine Cafe.
Japan: Their two less expensive sit down restaurants are great - Teppan Edo (they cook in front of you on a hibachi grill) and Tokyo Dining (we go here for the sushi). I’ve heard good things about Takumi-Tei but it is out of our price range.
Italy has the wine cave themed Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar and the Naples inspired Via Napoli Ristorante (they import a ton of ingredients direct from Italy).
In Mexico we love La Hacienda de San Angel. This is their sit down restaurant right on World Showcase Lagoon. The Mexico pavilion also contains La Cava de Tequila. This tequila and margarita bar is located inside the Mexico pavilion. The margaritas are super pricey (~$14 each) but unique and really good.

Another good drink option - and the best liquor drink in all the parks - is the Grand Mariner slushy from the Les Vins des Chefs de France kiosk across from Chefs de France restaurant in the France pavilion. Before you get your drink, go inside the pavilion to the Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie and get the macarons. And then sit by the fountain and enjoy them.

To help decide where to eat, I love using AllEars.net for their always updated park menus. If you or someone in your party has food allergies like me, you can also check out Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW for the places that offer allergy friendly menus. And, if you’re a passholder, be sure to ask if you get any discounts at every restaurant!

Grand Marnier Slushy from the France Pavilion

FESTIVALS IN EPCOT

Epcot has become Festival Central as they are constantly going on except during the peak summer season (June - August). Expect additional food and merchandise booths mostly around World Showcase and additional activities including nightly concerts on the stage in the American pavilion. Some of the activities are free, some you need to pay for. Some of the free ones do require waiting in line. All the concerts are included in your park entry but some of the bigger names result in people lining up well before show time. We also encountered lines at Festival of the Arts when waiting to draw characters at the Animation Academy. It wasn’t too long but just check out the times of the activities and plan ahead.

The most popular, and longest running festival, is the Food & Wine Festival from September to November. Food & Wine has the largest number of additional food/drink booths and also the largest crowds. This used to be my favorite festival. But if you attend on the weekends, the crowds have become almost unbearable. Combine that with the fact that it’s still pretty hot in September and October and that equals no fun. If you want to try a lot at this festival do not attempt to do it in one day. I would even suggest three days over two. Three days allows you to really try everything at an easy going pace - and physically able to take on the next day. Additional activities at Food & Wine can include food and beverage pairings and culinary demonstrations. The ‘Eat to the Beat’ concert series tends to draw the biggest names you’ll see at Disney all year.

Once Food & Wine ends it’s time for the Festival of the Holidays to begin. This festival runs from late November to just after Christmas. And, as its name states, is all about the holidays. They will have some holiday themed food/drink booths and all the pavilions - minus Morocco - will be decked out in holiday decorations. This is one of my favorite times to visit as I love the Christmas decorations and the cooler weather. The crowds are some of the lowest you’ll see all year (with the exception of the week leading up to Christmas!). All the parks have amazing Christmas decorations and special events which adds to the appeal of going at this time of year. The most popular additional activity at Epcot during this festival is the Candlelight Processional. Dining packages are available that include reserved seating if you don’t want to wait in line to enter.

After the Holidays, the recently formed Festival of the Arts starts up. This festival hasn’t been around for long but after going two years in a row, it’s already one of my favorites. It goes from mid January to late February so the weather is almost always good! They have additional food/drink booths of course but the focus is on the arts and specifically, Disney art. Dozens of booths surround World Showcase with unique pieces from Disney loving artists. You can buy their work and often meet them and get personally signed pieces. The additional activities are a lot of fun too - you and hundreds of other guests contribute to a giant mural painting, special PhotoPass locations are set up so you can be in classic works of art and, my personal favorite, the Animation Academy. I loved this attraction when it was at Hollywood Studios and was sad when it left. So be able to learn to draw Disney characters again is so fun. The concerts become Disney themed with singers from Disney movies and Broadway shows.

Another crowd favorite festival is the Flower & Garden Festival. This runs from March to early June so if you go at the beginning of the festival, the crowds are lower as are the temperatures. They have more food/drink booths than the Holidays and Arts festivals but less than Food & Wine. The centerpieces of this festival are the character topiaries placed all around the park. A lot of the same ones are used each year but they often make some minor changes to them and always introduce some new ones each year. This year, in preparation of the release of Toy Story 4, Bo Peep was added alongside the Toy Story gang. The entire park is covered in beautiful flowers in a rainbow of colors. It is one of my favorite times of the year to take pictures at the park. Additional activities include the Royal Tea Garden Tour in the UK pavilion and visiting the butterfly garden.

For all the festivals if you want to maximize the food and drinks you are trying - split them! You’ll get full less fast and potentially spend less money. Also avoid large beers or large frozen drinks. Both will fill up your stomach and not allow you to try anymore - so don’t dismiss the smaller beers you get at the festival booths. They are doing you a favor!

Spending can get out of hand at the festivals so to help, a lot of people will put a specified amount on one of the festival themed gift cards. This helps you not overspend and you can wear it around your wrist so you don’t have to be pulling out your wallet every time you get to a new booth (I actually wear mine on a lanyard as the first time I used the bracelet one, it actually fell off. Luckily I noticed it right away so I didn’t lose the money I had just put on it). Once the festival has started, AllEars.net will publish all the booth menus along with prices. They are a great tool to get an idea of how much to spend - and what you want to spend it on. There are one to three weeks in between festivals (aside from the summer break) so depending on your timing, you could hit the end of one festival and the beginning of another - you just might not be able to experience everything that festival has to offer. For example, the last week or two of Food and Wine, almost all the Christmas decorations are put up but none of the additional holiday activities have started. At the end of Festival of the Arts, you can start to see the topiaries come up but not things like the butterfly garden.

Winnie the Pooh topiaries during the Flower & Garden Festival

MISC THINGS TO DO AT EPCOT

If you didn’t know, #wallsofDisney is a thing. Disney has some colorful and creative walls in Magic Kingdom and Epcot that inadvertently started a trend on social media with selfies by the wall. Leave it to Disney to find a way to monetize this as you can now by mouse ears that match the wall in Epcot. The ‘Bubblegum Wall’ can be found as you exit the Spaceship Earth ride on either side. Even if you aren’t riding the ride as you walk into the park you will walk right by the walls. They’ve yet to put a Photopass photographer there so you can take a selfie or ask someone as they’re exiting the ride to take it. People have also been taking photos at the Guardians wall which will, for now is only temporary as it’s the construction walls around the forthcoming Guardians of the Galaxy ride.

Epcot has some other fun activities that aren’t widely known. Mainly because they cost additional money. You can take the Behind the Seeds Tour in the Land Pavilion and see where a lot of the park’s vegetables are grown. You can scuba dive or snorkel in the Living Seas Exhibit or get a special backstage tour of World Showcase with the DestiNations Tour. If you’re a passholder, be sure to ask for any passholder discounts.

Due to Epcot’s location you can also get direct access to the Boardwalk area. The Boardwalk, in addition to resorts, has restaurants, shops, a dance hall and a piano bar. You can exit out Epcot’s back entrance to get to this area. Just keep in mind when you are ready to leave this area, you may not have a direct route back to your hotel unless you are staying at one of the resorts that has Skyliner access. If you leave the Boardwalk area before 9pm you can go back into Epcot and walk to the front of the park to catch a bus back. You can also get an Uber/Lyft from the Boardwalk area back to your hotel. A free, but longer, option would involve taking a bus from any of the Boardwalk resorts to Disney Springs. Once at Disney Springs you can board a bus going back to your hotel.

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