I do have to say that Epcot was my personal favorite among the Disney parks, although I think it's geared more toward the adult crowd than the kids.
We were at Epcot during its annual Food & Wine Festival so the place was mobbed. It was enjoyable nonetheless.
At the front of the park off the main entrance, are the World of Nature, the World of Discovery and the World of Celebration. This is where you'll find the majority of the rides and unlike the other parks, there are only 11 rides at Epcot.
Behind these three areas is the World Showcase, with displays from 13 different countries around the world.
My suggestion would be you start with the World Showcase (lots of walking!) and then return to the other 3 areas on your way out of the park when you'll need a rest - unless there's specific rides you want to ride and don't want to have to wait in long lines to ride them. If that's the case, then head for the rides at rope drop.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN TOURING EPCOT
Stop and pick up a Passport book. They're available at Port of Entry at the front of World Showcase. for $16.99.
Photo credit: Epcot
Photo credit: Epcot
The passport comes in a plastic pouch and contains 11 sheets of “stamp” stickers, one for each country, an “Honorary Ambassador” button, and of course, the passport booklet. Each country gets a sticker sheet with seven stickers each, representing a mix of location-appropriate Disney characters and landmarks from inside the pavilions.
At each of the pavilions a cast member from that country will write something in your Passport in their native language and sign it. You can also use it to collect Disney character signatures as you encounter various Disney characters. They make a great souvenir and the kids love this activity.
If you have little ones, be sure to make a stop at each pavilion's Kidcot Fun Stop.
Participate in a fun discovery experience collecting activity cards at each country throughout World Showcase.
Pick up a memorable memento with facts and activities featuring the culture and traditions of each country.
Where to Find Kidcot Fun Stops
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Mexico Pavilion (near Mexico Folk Art Gallery)
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Norway Pavilion (at The Puffin’s Roost)
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China Pavilion (near the exit of Reflections of China)
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Germany Pavilion (at Volkunst)
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Italy Pavilion (outside, near La Bottega Italiana)
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American Adventure Pavilion (outside, near Art of Disney)
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Japan Pavilion (in the Bijutsu-kan Gallery)
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Morocco Pavilion (at the Marketplace in the Medina)
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France Pavilion (at Souvenirs de France)
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United Kingdom Pavilion (at The Toy Soldier)
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Canada Pavilion (at the exit of Canada Far and Wide in Circle-Vision 360)
Photo credit: Epcot
THE WORLD SHOWCASE
MEXICO PAVILION
This was my favorite pavilion, beautifully executed. It has the appearance of being night out inside. When you enter you walk into kind of an 'open air' Mexican market full of tradespeople selling Mexican products they've handcrafted.
After you get through the market, on your right will be a restaurant (The San Angel Inn) that has the appearance of an open air Mexican restaurant under a starry night sky with a Mayan pyramid in the background. Just beautiful all lit up in the dark.
Photo credit: Epcot
Past the restaurant you board the Gran Fiesta Tour ride...
When we rode it our boat got stuck. An announcement blared over the loudspeakers to remain seated in the boat until they got the ride fixed...which took several minutes. In the meantime, we were all laughing and joking around:
"Any lifeguards aboard?" "Should we make a swim for it?" "Maybe if we all got out and pushed..."
No one got upset, we all kind of bonded making a joke out of the whole thing while we were dead in the water.
My next favorite pavilion...
NORWAY
Disney execs have since tinkered with this pavilion, changing the popular Maelstrom ride to Frozen - which has absolutely nothing to do with Norway whatsoever. ??? Sometimes you have to wonder what Disney execs are thinking.
We stopped at the Kringla Bakery to indulge in some Norwegian sweets.
I had the lefsa and waffles while Barb ordered Fastelavnsbollar, which is essentially a Norwegian cream puff. Both were excellent.
One of the best things in the Norwegian pavilion was a full scale Viking ship..
What replaced the great Maelstrom ride:
CHINA PAVILION
In this pavilion you could watch a movie about China in Circlevision, that showed different parts of China.Of course there was a large gift shop. But what was so amazing about China's pavilion were the Jeweled Dragon Acrobats - who are KIDS! I spoke to a couple of them and they told me they start training to be acrobats when they're only 4 years old.
GERMANY
Germany was pretty much what you'd expect - beer and German music. It was staged to look like an old German town. With the obligatory cuckoo clock. The restaurant in the Germany pavilion is the Biergarten.
Biergarten restaurant Photo credit: Wal Disney World
UNITED KINGDOM
Loved the United Kingdom pavilion, it felt like you were in London. When we were there, British tourists were there on holiday and we had a great time with them.
CANADA
The Canada Pavilion was absolutely phenomenal. It truly represented what Canada is like including breathtaking gardens.
All of the different Epcot pavilions have gift shops that hawk products from their own countries as well as Disney merchandise. Canada's shop was the only one we really walked through as they had some preety cool stuff from Canada for sale.
Off Kilter was playing while we were there. We watched nearly their entire show.
There's also a Circlevision movie about Canada that was great, wonderfully done.
JAPAN
I could've spent hours in the Japanese gardens surrounding this pavilion alone - the koi ponds, the bonsai trees...all amazing.
We also watched the Matsuriza Drummers perform.
MOROCCO
I found the Morocco pavilion colorful but a bit on the odd side. It seemed you had to travel down alleyway after alleyway to see the pavilion. Even more strange was the fact there were only women in the pavilion!
Not a man in sight! I did eventually find all the men...
Boys will be boys!
FRANCE
Impressions de France was what one would have expected the France pavilion to look like - a Frnech town with French music playing. There really wasn't anything that stood out to me.
ITALY
The Italy pavilion reflects Venice. Pretty but no rides or attractions here, shops line both sides of the street.
It just leaves you feeling like there should be more so it fell flat in my book.
Italy features a lively & upbeat show with Sergio. Sergio is part mime, part juggler and he presents an interactive show multiple times per day that relies on audience participation. Sergio wasn't performing when we were there.
AMERICAN PAVILION
After seeing the beautiful job done on all of the other pavilions I was EMBARRASSED by our own pavilion.
With all this country has to offer, all of its history, the American pavilion was downright LAME. There was not a single thing remotely interesting to look at. It was as if Disney had thrown something together in 5 minutes just to be able to say an American pavilion existed.
I don't think we spent 5 minutes in the American pavilion. It was our least favorite pavilion out of all of them.
I don't think we were alone in thinking that. All of the other pavilions had been mobbed and there was hardly anyone in the American pavilion.
LUMINOUS: THE SYMPHONY OF US FIREWORKS
For the disabled; There is a separate handicap section reserved for the disabled to view the fireworks. The WDW rule is that the disabled person can take one caregiver into this section with them to watch the fireworks. However, there is no Disney cast member overseeing this, so you have some people taking 6 and 7 people into this section with them. The result is the handicapped are crammed in like sardines and one wouldn't even be able to get out to use the restroom or get medical attention if they needed it. So my advice would be to avoid those special handicapped sections and getting trapped in there for your own safety and well being.
BEST RIDES AT EPCOT
SOARIN' AROUND THE WORLD
The next best thing to actually hang gliding! Even if you have to wait a little longer, try to get a front row seat.
The videography is phenomenal. I just wish the ride had lasted longer than it did.
LIVING WITH THE LAND
I really thought this ride would be a snoozefest. We ended up going on it twice. This is the dome where WDW grows most of the food served at its parks and the dome contains just about any kind of tree or plant you can imagine. There's also a small aquaponic gardening display. Quite interesting!
SEAS WITH NEMO
I loved every part of the Seas With Nemo. It's just the cutest thing ever, especially the guy who does the talking for Crush the turtle. He's hilarious and very quick witted.
SPACESHIP EARTH
The 15-minute ride takes guests on a time machine-themed experience, demonstrating how advancements in human communication have helped to create the future one step at a time. Riding in Omnimover-type vehicles along a track that spirals up and down the geodesic sphere, passengers are taken through scenes depicting important breakthroughs in communication throughout history—from the development of early language through cave paintings, to the use of hieroglyphs, to the invention of the alphabet, to the creation of the printing press, to today's modern communication advancements, including telecommunication, mass communication, and the internet.
The geodesic sphere in which the attraction is housed has served as the symbolic structure of EPCOT since the park opened in 1982.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: COSMIC REWIND
The backward-launch coaster and rotating cars make this one of the most unique thrill rides I’ve ever done.
If you’re prone to motion sickness, take note—this ride can be disorienting even for those used to roller coasters so be aware of that.
MISSION: SPACE
There are 2 versions of this ride - orange and green. Being the adrenaline junkie I am, I rode the more intense Orange version right off the bat and regretted it the rest of the afternoon. The Green side is less harsh, but this ride left me feeling off. I highly recommend you start with the green version and see how you tolerate it - it still gives the space launch vibe without the overwhelming forces of the orange version.
DINING IN EPCOT
ROSE & CROWN PUB IN UNITED KINGDOM PAVILION
I have to say Rose & Crown was above the usual Disney standards. We had lunch reservations but they were running behind given all the Brits were here "on holiday" as they say. We were given a beeper and beeped when our table was ready. We didn't mind the short wait, we loved talking with the Brits.
We ordered bangers and mash and Scotch eggs. My sister also had a leek soup that she said was phenomenal. I loved the Scotch eggs, had never had them before. The prices were what you'd expect in Disney but I don't mind paying a bit more if the food is good. Thumbs up on Rose & Crown.
LES CHEFS DU FRANCE
Les Chefs du France is probably the most notable restaurants in Disney and certainly the most expensive. Although for the life of me I can't figure out why it's so notable. We had 5 pm reservations for when the restaurant opened. The highlight of our dinner at Les Chefs ended up being the French acrobats that performed while we were waiting for the restaurant to open.
We both ordered the Beef Bourguignon. The best part of the meal was the French bread.
We were both under impressed with the beef, there was just nothing notable about it.
Nor was the service that great either given the restaurant had just opened so wasn't filled with diners.
I was glad I could pay for the meal with my Disney Dollars or I would've felt really ripped off. Thumbs down on Les Chefs.
CORAL REEF
This was definitely one of our more enjoyable dining experiences at Disney. I kind of got the feeling it's a bit of a hidden gem as far as WDW restaurants go.
When we arrived, we asked if we could be seated at one of the aquarium windows. We had to wait a few minutes but it was well worth the wait.
We were seated right in front of a big 'ol sea turtle that appeared to be comatose. My sister said to our server "Uh, I think your turtle is dead..."
The server laughed and told us the turtle's name was Toestool - so named by the divers that cared for him as he was 75 years old so pretty much all Toestool did was nap - so they could use him as a footstool.
Toestool didn't much as flinch a muscle during our entire dinner or even open one eye.
We both ordered the grilled mahimahi which was perfectly cooked and delicious.
We were about to leave after our meal when suddenly a shark apparently swam too close to Toestool for his comfort.
That old boy shot to the surface at warp speed! We were relieved to see he wasn't dead!!
If I could give 4 thumbs up on Coral Reef I would.
Our server was very attentive and sociable, the food was delicious and Toestool provided entertainment during our meal. The atmosphere was relaxed and casual and it was great feeling like you were sitting in the middle of an aquarium.
My review of Epcot:
Fantastic park but it can be deceivingly tiring, especially making your way through the World Showcase.
Your best bet is to build in time to slow down. It's easy to hit an exhaustion wall about mid afternoon unless you pace yourself.
Use Genie+ strategically: Genie+ isn’t a must for every EPCOT attraction, but it can be a timesaver for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Frozen Ever After, and Soarin’ Around the World. Learn more about Genie+ here or get practical tips in this Lightning Lane strategy guide.
If I had one criticism it would be the overabundance of shops hawking Disney merchandise. I felt like Disney was trying to pickpocket me the entire time I was in EPCOT, especially in the World Showcase where every pavilion had at least one Disney shop if not more.
Beef Bourguignon