Epcot Tips & Photos

This park rivals Magic Kingdom for one of my favorite Disney parks. It’s amazing! There’s so much for kids AND adults to do here! We went on more rides here then Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios combined. And the food and drinks here were beyond amazing! Plus, for someone who has never been out of the country, this was like getting to travel around the world!

The other wonderful thing about Epcot is that they have different festivals for different seasons. This means that you can come at a different time each year and see and try different things. We went during the “Festival of the Holidays” which was from November 19-December 30. Right now they have the “International Festival of the Arts” (January 12- February 19), in the spring they have the ” Flower and Garden Festival”, (February 28- May 28) and in the fall they have the “Food and Wine Festival.” (End of August to mid November) The decor, activities, shows, food and drinks are different for each festival. (I think next time we want to try the Food and Wine Festival!)

Outfits of the Day:

Blair:
- Nike Mickey Polo. We actually bought his at a shop in Hollywood Studios. I can’t find the exact one online, but linked a similar one.
Me:
- Walt & Mickey Shirt. Bought at a shop in Magic Kingdom.
- Minnie Ears. I love the park ears, but to be honest, small shop minnie ears are way more comfortable.
Braxton:
- “I’m just here for the Snacks” Shirt

Fastpasses:

Character Meet & Greets: We decided to give it one more chance since it had been 4 days since we had seen a character. So glad we did! Our FP was to see Mickey, Minnie and Goofy. Although he was shaking, he didn’t cry! (This is the only Meet & Greet at Epcot where you can get a FP. It looked like the normal wait time was at least 45 minutes. We waited about 5 minutes.)

Frozen Ever After: The Frozen ride is actually in the World Showcase part of the park. It’s located in Norway. (Most of the other rides are in the Future World part of the park.) As soon as we got in line, the ride broke down. It was broken down for almost 3 hours! (We didn’t wait at all, as soon as it broke down we got out of line.) I was worried that getting out of line meant that we would lose our FP so we spoke with a cast member while getting out of line and were able to get 2 FP’s good for any ride at any time. We used one to get back in line for Frozen when it finally reopened, and used the other one for Spaceship Earth. It was so worth it to come back, the animation was incredible and Braxton loved the songs! He kept pointing at Elsa like he knew her. (You definitely need a FP for this ride. The usual wait time without one is at least 95 minutes. We saw it get over 120 minutes! With our FP we still had to wait about 20 minutes, but that was because it had broken down that day and anyone with a FP for that ride during that time were able to come back later, so it made the FP line longer then usual, but still worth it!)

(Since we were in the back row, you can’t see little Braxton between us, but he was there!)

Journey Into Imagination with Figment: An interesting ride, and lots of cool activities for kids at the end of the ride! (Usual wait time is about 20 minutes. With our FP we walked right on.)
Spaceship Earth: A ride that take you through how technology has changed through time. This is the ride that’s inside the “Epcot ball.” Very interesting and again, lots of cool stuff to check out after you get off the ride! (Usual wait time is at least 25 minutes. With our FP we walked right on.)

Other Attractions:

The Seas with Nemo & Friends: This was a last minute decision when we were about to leave the park. When I was planning our trip, I confused this ride with the “Turtle Talk with Crush” and figured it wouldn’t be worth it for us since Braxton isn’t talking yet. (For the record, the “Turtle Talk” is inside this building.) And since this ride is near the entrance, we didn’t see it until we left since we spent most of our day in the World Showcase area of the park. But this actually was one of Braxton’s favorite rides! At the time we went, the ride time said only 5 minutes and we ended up being able to walk on the ride without even waiting. It was so fun, and at the end of the ride, you end up in a giant 2 story aquarium. I’m pretty sure Braxton could have spent over an hour in here exploring! He was fascinated by all the fish, dolphins, sharks and turtles! There was even a scuba diver inside the tank who came up to the window to say hi to Braxton, but funny enough this was the only time he was scared.

World Showcase: (Food & Drinks)

Each country had a nice/fancy sit down restaurant, walk up food counters, drink bars, shops, and some kind of entertainment. They also each had a specialty food booth that changes with each festival. I loved that the specialty food was relatively cheap and came in small portions, so that you can try foods from each country! (They ranged from $5-10)

**Since there was TONS of food at each country, I’m only listing what we actually tried.

Mexico: We didn’t try anything here since we get enough Mexican food in Texas, but the margaritas were tempting!
Norway:
- Beer: Blair got a beer while we waited for the Frozen ride. I don’t remember the name of the beer, and we weren’t even sure what kind it was. It was in another language, but luckily the girl serving the beer was really nice and helpful! (About $8)
China:
- Orange Chicken: So good and one meal was enough for both of us! (About $10)
- Pork & Vegetable Egg Rolls: A specialty for the festival. Very delicious! Came with 2 so it was perfect for us. (About $4)

Germany:
- Beer: Blair loved it so much he got 2 of them. Spaten. (About $8 each)

Italy:
- Fusilli di Gragnano alla Carbonara: Pasta in a creamy parmesan sauce with pancetta and onions. My favorite food we tried that day! Even Braxton loved it. (About $7)
America:
- Seared Pork Tenderloin: Came with green bean casserole, roasted sweet potato wedges, and a champagne demi-glace. Blair’s favorite of the day. Braxton loved his sweet potatoes! (About $5)
- Beer Flight: (About $8)
  - Orange Blossom Brewing Cranberry Kringle Pilsner
  - Shipyard Eggnog White Porter
  - JDub’s Season’s Greetings Peppermint Milk Stout
Japan:
- I was really tempted to get the Cinnamon Mochi Cake! It was only $5.
Morocco:
- Frozen Orange Drink: Orange liqueur with orange juice and vodka. So good! My favorite drink of the day. (About $12)
France:
- Spiced Rum Punch Slush: Spiced run, rhum clement V.S.O.P., orange and pineapple juice with cinnamon. The spiced cinnamon was a little strong, but overall good! (About $12)

United Kingdom:
- Was tempted with the Eggnog, but didn’t get anything.
Canada:
- Hadn’t heard anything special about Canada, and wasn’t really tempted by any of the food.

Tips:

Refilling Water: The water out of the water fountains didn’t taste too bad, so we just refilled at water fountains. But to be honest, there was so many diverse and interesting types of drinks at Epcot, that we were more interested in trying out different drinks here!
Cast Members: This park had the nicest cast members of any park! It was also so interesting to meet them because the people working at each country were actually from that country! Most were college students that were part of the Disney College Program, and they were so sweet.
Walking: Be forewarned. This seemed to be the most spread out park, and we did the most walking here! I think according to our Fitbits, we walked almost 20,000 steps. (And that was just from 10:00am-6:00pm!)
Club Cool: You have to check this place out. It’s indoors so you can get out of the heat, and you can try different types of coca cola products from around the world for free! Watch out for the Beverly drink though. (Hint, it tastes awful!)
Pamphlets/Booklets: They have a booklet that lists all the countries and the specialty food and drink for the festival and that country. Grab one on your way in so you can start deciding what you want to try! We also took a lap around the countries before we bought any food so we could get an idea of the different things we wanted to try. (It was a lot more fun in my opinion to skip doing a sit down restaurant, and instead just try a lot of different types of food at the specialty walk up booths! They have tables and places to sit all over the park. It also makes for better views while you eat too!)