Help me, i just cannot get into Epcot!

[HappyLawyer]

I don't know why i love all the disney parks, i was just watching the travel channel when they did disney parks, there is more at Epcot then i thought, but i am still just not feeling it, i want the excitment that i have with the other 3 parks, but Epcot is just not hitting me on the head-what am i really missing from this park, parhaps your info and experiences will trigger the excitment or at least some anticipation-Help

 

[Panna]

Epcot is one of my favorite "adult" parks. The best experiance I had there was wandering around in the Bazzaar in Morocco and talking to the sales man about the similarities and differences between where he is from and where I am from. Three hours later I moved on to my next experiance.

Epcot is a relax and meander for a few hours park (atleast for me). I know they have rides and shows, but I really just stroll and absorbe all of the different cultures and talk to as many people as possible.

 

[wdwholic1206]

I too used to feel this way about EPCOT. I never really liked the park much. I would go w/ DH and walk around thinking can we hurry up and get this over with!!! Until one day DH made me go on a tour. I LOVED it. Really getting to get up close and getting all the info we did. I thought WOW maybe I should really pay attention to everything else. Now EPCOT is one of my Fav. parks. I just love everything about Future worls and my most fav. place to be is the world showcase. I love experiencing the different countries and their customs and foods. I have to spend at least 3 days there during our trips!!! Just try and get all the negetive things out of your mind and really relax and enjoy the park you'll love it!!!

 

[mytwotinks]

Even when they were 2 and 6 turning 7 my dd's loved Epcot! We tried a bunch of times to go after our daily nap and it just didn't work.
Finally one day we slept in an hour and just sucked it up and made an entire looooooong day out of it. We did future world until the world showcase opened and then did the "whole world!!!!" We did all of the kidcot stops and just took it pretty slow. My littlest dd fell asleep in the stroller. We rented a double stroller (this was the only day my big dd rode) that way we could just really go at whatever pace we wanted. There really is way more walking at Epcot than any of the other parks. We "snacked" our way around the world!

When we went back Epcot was really one of the things that my girls were looking forward to the most! They loved coloring their masks at the kidcot stops. We had a lot of fun in the shops and I really felt like my girls learned a little about each country.

Maybe I am a geek, but I also love Spaceship Earth!!!!

 

[jann1033]

what's not to like? i love illuminations, i think all of the pavilions are interesting, love the different foods and cultural experiences at ws( even the morrocan cm who pulled out a map to show me where her country was...i knew already but had mentioned Liberia and she didn't think it was on the same continent )........it is kind of a fantasy land too but that's not a bad thing to me. i really enjoy the movies also...esp. France -scenery and music gets me every time...I mean what are the chances of me ever actually going to china( slim) or morroco ( slim)? and i like the variety of shops, china so cheap and france so $$$$$

 

[tjmw2727]

A different feeling of "excitement" is why I like Epcot soooo much. We often do this as our evening park to just stroll the World Showcase. After a day of rides and shows and lots of stimulation Epcot WS does the trick. We start on one end and just stroll through the countries to see what hits us.

Aside from the great movies and beautiful pavilions we love the live entertainment and the personal quality of Epcot. My dd's love the acrobats in china and the candy lady in Japan, I love the voices of liberty in American Adventure and DH and I love the Beatle cover band in UK and off kilter in Epcot. You can always find an interesting representative of the countires at WS, dosen't matter if they are juggling or pouring you a beer, in my experience its been a pleasure meeting them.

Of course FW has some wonderful rides and shows like TT, MS, Soaring and our family favorite Spaceship earth so we often spend a morning in Future Wold but always several evenings at WS. You will also find some of the most wonderful dining in the vairous countries.

Epcot definately WOW's us and its not a trip until we spend an evening there but it wows us in a quieter way.

TJ

 

[mytwotinks]

I forgot about the fountain!!! We could sit for hours and watch the fountain in FW!

 

[Golliwobbler]

Hey dudes and dudettes - did anyone raise the flag for the margaritas in Mexico? Totally awesome and sure to make your lark in the EPCOT park a visit to nirvana. Righteous! And don't forget to visit me over with my fellow water lovers at Living Seas.

 

[mickeymousemom]

We love Epcot! It's the favorite park of DH and I and my 2 older girls(16 and 12) also love it. My 2.5 yo could care less, but I plan on letting her do the Kidcot stops this fall and I think she'll have a blast. We love the rides in Future World, but WS is our absolute favorite! We love the little things each country has to offer and the details involved in making it seem authentic. I love strolling through Morocco and eating my way around the world. Each country has so many things to appreciate if you just take the time to explore! I personally think FW has gone downhill and would love to see it the way it was 20 years ago, but we still love it and enjoy most everything it has to offer.

 

[dulluth]

We also love Epcot, but I could see, with all the exciting rides and sights in the other parks, where Epcot could seem "tame" to some. Of course there is MS and TT, HISTA, and Soarin', but much of the other stuff is "educational" , and sometimes people find that synonomous boring . Maybe if you looked up trivia tidbits about Epcot and tied them into your visit you might have more fun. Make a game of it. Or go with a tour if you can.

As for the WS, I agree with other posters that it is to be savored. Have you taken the time to stay and watch the performers, or tried some of the food? Norway's pastries are awesome. There was mention made of the margaritas in Mexico, and even a pretzel and a beer in Germany is a nice treat. Do the passport, kidcot activities, take pictures with or of the CM's in each country, take pictures of yourselves with a hat from each country, check out the candy in the Japan pavilion. In other words, dig deeper, but in a fun way! Never know ... it just might help you see Epcot in a whole new way!
BTW, I don't usually add the little character guys, but my 10yo DS is at my side, and insists that it would be cool to add them!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Epcot started out as being my least favorite of the four parks (that's relative because I still really enjoyed it) but it grows on me with each visit. I have learned that for my family we have to do Epcot separately, that is World Showcase one day, Future World another. I love everything in Future World and we can spend a whole day there. We usually venture as far as Mexico for lunch and then go back in that evening for Illuminations. Then another day we do the WS. We usually do our WS day our last day at WDW when we have ridden pretty much everything and are ready for something relaxed and slower paced. I have to see the movie in France about three times each trip, I love it so much! Even after five trips to WDW, and doing Epcot one to three days each of those trips, I feel like we have not scratched the surface of World Showcase. Its kind of nice to know that we always have something new to do. I also think the best way to appreciate WS is to arrive hungry and eat your way around it! But I do think the reason I didn't like it as much the first time is we tried to cram too much into our day and therefore couldn't appreciate it as much.

 

[Pollito916]

Epcot is DH & I's favorite park! Especially in World Showcase. We just love the more relaxed atmosphere of not running around to wait in one line after another. And IMHO, it has some of the best restaurants in WDW property. It's also a very romantic place to stroll around at night with your honey. Ahhh, I can picture us there now.....

 

[TooBoyz4us]

I have the opposite problem.,,,,

I can't get into MGM. Ofcourse, DH and our boys love it bc of the rides, but I am not a ride person at all.
I much prefer Epcot, but they could take it or leave it.

 

[Lizzybee]

My kids love Epcot, especially my DS11 the budding scientist. They also enjoy going "around the World", you can try lots of great foods from other places, IllumiNations is great (kids' fav, but I'm a sap for Wishes, still it's a not miss for us) and our number one priority at Epcot....Soarin'! Sooo cool.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

i wasn't really "into" Epcot for a while myself. the one thing i noticed that i didn't mind......not as many kids in the park! lol. don't get me wrong, i love kids and it is Disney and all, but sometimes it's nice to just get away, you know? anyway, i finally got into Epcot this past year. i didn't do too many of the rides or anything, but i really enjoyed just walking around the countries sipping a margarita and just looking throughout the different stores and learning and seeing new things. it's a good park to just go and relax at

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

It is definitely in a league of its own. I think what helped me appreciate EPCOT so much was when DS and I had to come up with a school project to take back to his class for missing school. We chose WS and as researched the countries and really developed an understanding for what was there. Before there was so much in EPCOT we had overlooked and still so many things I want to do and see on our next trip. EPCOT will definitely always be on our itinerary.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I don't know why i love all the disney parks, i was just watching the travel channel when they did disney parks, there is more at Epcot then i thought, but i am still just not feeling it, i want the excitment that i have with the other 3 parks, but Epcot is just not hitting me on the head-what am i really missing from this park, parhaps your info and experiences will trigger the excitment or at least some anticipation-Help

It's the least Disney of all the parks. I felt it too when I went. We all did. When you go to the magic Kingdom, it's totally imersive. You're in Fantasyland, you're in Tomorrowland.
When you go to MGM same thing. Same with Animal Kingdom.

But then there's Epcot. You go into future world. Ok I guess that's a theme but it looks far more like a disjointed set of buildings each with its own disjointed theme. And it suffers the same thing as tomorrowland did befoe they rethemed it to the fictional sci-fi version of tomorrowland. Many of the attractions just don't fit the "future world" theme. And then there's world showcase which doesn't really connect at all with futureworld. Other than Maelstrom and the mexican river ride, there really isn't much. It's good for food but my kids were bored. There are only so many shops that you can go in before your head explodes. The coloring was nice but 60 bux a day to color? Uh no. To me it was just a bit too superficial to be genuinely educationally interesting and it needs some more rides and attractions to be amusement interesting. It's almost as if they tried to combine an educaional fair and a theme park and thus it does neither exceptonally well. Plus, it was so big, even over two days, we only had time to do 4 of the countries just long enough to get the kidcot mask complete. If we had it to do over, I'd just do the front section, then pick one country to do thoroughly and eat there for lunch. Pick another to do thoroughly and eat there for dinner. And save the rest for the next trip.

Still, despite its faults, it's worth a trip. It's our least favorite Disney park, but it still puts a ton of other parks around the country to shame.

All 4 Disney Parks have their faults and I hope that Disney gives all four some attention before they decide to build another.

 

[pamluvsdiz]

I love Epcot !!! Can't decide which is my favorite (MGM or Epcot)???? Not sure what my opinion might be though, if I had small children. Please don't miss Epcot, it's very magical !

 

[Perdygirl]

My whole family loves Epcot, DH38, DS13, DS8, and DS5. Epcot is great for it's big attractions like Illuminations, Soarin (my personal favorite), and Test Track. It's also great for some it's non-headliners like Ellen's Energy Adventure, my 5 year old insisted that we hit that one twice. My kids also liked Journey into Imagination with Figment and the pavilion has some fun games and shows. My kids also had to be dragged out of the Innoventions pavilions.

Also, if you happen to be there during the food and wine festival, you can sample small portions of all kinds of tasty foods, for very reasonable prices. I sipped French Champagne while I wandered throught the World Showcase, Fabulous!!!

I live on the West Coast, and I actually think that Disneyland is more fun than MK, but Disneyland doesn't have Epcot, so the trip to Florida is worth it!

 

[HappyLawyer]

maybe the park is too laid back for me, to tame, to relaxed i guess, well at least i love the other three, in addition to the many other things we do while in fl