Yep, I said it - Epcot is my favorite park at Walt Disney World! When people think about Disney World, they have visions of walking down Main Street towards Cinderella's Castle or seeing the fireworks in front of the Millennium Falcon in Galaxy's Edge. How could my favorite park be one that houses the 40+ year old Spaceship Earth ride?! Read on for my top reasons for loving Epcot.
Festivals!!
Epcot is home to four festivals throughout the year:
January - February: International Festival of the Arts
March - July: International Flower and Garden Festival
July - November: International Food and Wine Festival
November - December: Festival of the Holidays
Note that there are weeks during the year when there is no festival happening at Epcot, but I always time my Disney visits with festivals because I love them! The park transforms for each festival with unique decorations, activities, festival food and beverage stands (more on this in the next section), entertainment, and merchandise! I feel like every time I go to Epcot, there's something new to experience or explore because of the rotating festivals. A few examples of past activities (besides eating and drinking) include:
Chalk Art during Festival of the Arts - Not only can you see the amazing chalk art made by others, they had a section where the little vacationista could make her own chalk art and she didn't want to leave (I know, we could have done this at home)
A Paint by Numbers mural at Festival of the Arts that everyone can participate in
The Disney on Broadway concert series during Festival of the Arts
Strolling through the gardens and seeing the Disney character sculptures during the Flower and Garden Festival
The Garden Rocks concert series during Flower and Garden Festival
The Eat to the Beat concert series during the Food and Wine Festival
Candlelight Processional during the Festival of the Holidays - book a dining package to get tickets for the show as this is a popular one and fills up fast
Eating (and drinking!)
This one kind of goes hand in hand with the festivals, but I'll add some more here. I mentioned that each festival has different food and beverage stands. You can find these scattered throughout the park. Make sure to grab the festival passport booklet they hand out with the list of items available at each stand. The best part is the options change with every festival! There's also usually a food "challenge" where you can get a free item if you collect enough stamps in your festival passport. For example, they have a holiday cookie stroll during Festival of the Holidays where you purchase 5 cookies at stands throughout the park and then collect a free special cookie. The food can be hit or miss but it's so much fun trying the different options! A few past items:
You get the point. But the festivals aren't the only option for dining at Epcot. We rarely do a sit-down meal in Epcot but a few sit-down options we've tried (or want to try):
Biergarten: In Germany and one of my favorite buffets at Disney. The schnitzel is good, and they even have a German band playing as you eat. The best part is unlimited pretzel bread and cheese soup...need I say more?
The Garden Grill: This is a family-style character dining restaurant inside the Land building. The restaurant actually rotates as you are dining (not in a fast, dizzy way) and the scenery changes throughout your meal. The food was decent when we were there a few years ago, but the appeal was the characters.
Space 220: Cool ambiance. I really wanted to like this but the food was some of the worst I've had at Disney. Full disclosure: we went when the restaurant first opened. I think they have changed the menu since and I hope they've worked out the issues because it had potential and a super cute atmosphere.
Takumi-Tei (Japan): Okay, so I've never actually been here but I really want to try it! They have 2 prix-fixe omakase menus, and they even have a kid's omakase menu. They just started accepting reservations again so definitely on my list to stalk for dining reservations.
For quicker options, here are a few favorites:
Yorkshire County Fish Shop (in the United Kingdom): The fish and chips are outstanding and you can mobile order. I have to grab this every time I go.
The little snack stand outside of the Land (if you are facing the Land, it's to the left): You cannot beat the frozen coke from this stand on a hot, hot day.
So this isn't an exhaustive list, but hopefully it gives a sense of the range of options available at Epcot!
Rides
Okay, so Spaceship Earth isn't going to make this list. And definitely not Mission Space either. But there are so many good rides at Epcot!
Guardians of the Galaxy! Cosmic Rewind - Currently, my favorite ride of any park. The music is awesome, the ride is awesome. I just love it.
Test Track
Frozen Ever After
Ratatouille
Soarin - Another favorite, I will never get sick of Soarin! (I mean, I am a vacationista after all)
Living with the Land - I know, I know, but I love it. You get to see all the greenhouses and it never looks the same as the last time. Tip: if you go during the holidays, ride it at night when they light up the ride with tons of lights
The Seas with Nemo: Okay, so this ride actually kind of sucks. But the aquarium you end up in is a favorite spot of ours, especially awesome on a hot day. You can skip the ride if you really hate it and just enter the aquarium directly through the doors to the left of the ride entrance.
Currently under construction, the new Moana attraction is also set to open at Epcot in late 2023. Technically it's supposed to be a water exploration trail rather than a ride, but we'll include it here.
Scavenger Hunts
There's usually a scavenger hunt happening at Epcot. Often, the theme coincides with the festival that's happening. You have to pay for the scavenger hunt map and then you go to the different areas to look for a specific item or character that will be holding a certain food item or holiday tradition. Then you put the corresponding sticker of what they are holding at that location on your map. At the end, you trade in the map for a small prize. The prize isn't that noteworthy but the little vacationista loves the hunt itself. We've done Pluto's Pumpkin Pursuit, Remy's Ratatouille Hide and Squeak, and Olaf's Holiday Tradition and she never gets sick of them. I actually don't think I ever walked into every country in the World Showcase until we started doing the hunts, so it's a great way to explore the different countries!
Shopping
Shopping during festivals is great, but Epcot is also home to other shops all over the park. The Creations shop is huge and I can often find items there that I can't find elsewhere in WDW. The Fjording in Norway is home to a large Helly Hansen collection that I love browsing. Mitsukoshi in Japan used to have the Pick a Pearl oysters but I don't think that has reopened. Many of the other countries have little shops as well so there's always something to browse!
Easy Access
If you read my DVC post, you know I love to book a DVC resort in the Epcot resort area. It's literally a 5-minute walk to Epcot (International Gateway entrance) so it's very easy to get to and from the park. You can also access Epcot via Skyliner from hotels on the Skyliner route or monorail from the hotels on the monorail loop. And, if you have your own vehicle, parking is right in front of the park.
DVC Lounge
Okay, so this last one is for DVC members only. But, do you ever get tired or hot or stuck in the rain and just want a place to sit down for a few minutes (or hours)? Epcot has a DVC members lounge next to the Figment ride, complete with snacks and Coca Cola Freestyle machines.
So, that's it! My top reasons for loving Epcot! Even if you don't love it as much as me, give it a try and you might find something there that you didn't know existed. Just don't find Spaceship Earth or Mission Space (Orange Mission anyone?) because you might end up on the Epcot is the Worst team.
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