How much time to allow for Epcot World Showcase???

[jenhelgren]

I have not been to Epcot in a LONG time! We will be visiting Akershus for the princess lunch and want to try and walk around the world before our ADR. We are not planning on doing any attractions like Test Track or Soarin. I had planned on stopping at the Character Spot and Nemo and Friends if we arrive before 11. Does the World Showcase always open right at 11am? I would like to start in Canada and work our way around to Norway for lunch. If we just want to look around and meet the characters that are available in each land-how much time should I figure it will take and how much walking is it? We will be visiting on a Thursday during Food and Wine and this will be my daughters first trip without a stroller so I want to make sure we are not taking on too much!
Thanks for all the Disney regulars who can help me out!!

 

[ericstac]

It's roughly 1.25 miles so if you walked straight around it would take about 1.5 hours but surely you will want to stop in some of the countries right? We usually snack around the world and I want to say we spend about 3 hours to get around and this includes stopping at most of the countries..
There is also a cool little game your young one can do where you are looking for clues in the countries. It's some pheanis and ferb thing.. My kids enjoy it. Takes about 30 minutes for each country you do

 

[Alesia]

We find that we need about 3 or 4 half-days just for the world showcase. We don't do character meet & greets, but we see all of the performers and explore the pavilions. I can't imagine being able to get it all in in just one partial day.

 

[figment_jii]

I agree that's it pretty unlikely that you would be able to tour all of WS and make it to Akershus for lunch. If possible, I would start with lunch at Akershus and then spend the rest of the day touring WS. I have not done the character m&g, but I did ask a few of the CMs about how long the line was and the typical answer was about 30 minutes. So I would plan on a minimum of an hour per pavilion if you wanted to try and do a m&g and see a little of the pavilion itself. Also, it's worth noting that the characters are generally on a scheduled, so if you're there at the wrong time you might miss a character. As the PP mentioned, there is a lot of "street atmosphere" entertainment that is fun to see.

 

[Hopefully]

We find that we need about 3 or 4 half-days just for the world showcase. We don't do character meet & greets, but we see all of the performers and explore the pavilions. I can't imagine being able to get it all in in just one partial day.

I agree completely. I wouldn't even bother with trying to walk around before lunch. You need way more time

 

[bwang123]

It's roughly 1.25 miles so if you walked straight around it would take about 1.5 hours

you must walk extremely slow.

 

[JimmyV]

We usually find ourselves in WS from around 2:00-6:00 and then have dinner. On that schedule we take two days to explore it. Three if we watch all three films and catch concerts by Off Kilter and British Invasion.

 

[jco_direwolf]

you must walk extremely slow.

That is what I'm thinking. Admittedly yesterday in less than 1.5 hours, I jogged 10k (6.2 miles) so maybe I'm not the best judge. But typically walking is between 2-3 mph.

If you take a look at this map, you can see mile markers.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vGTAkUzDo7c/TtuN8laCTNI/AAAAAAAAFyA/FfeyzJW8cNw/s1600/Map.png

I'd call it more like 1.5 miles around, and at 2 MPH, you are talking about 45 minutes to just walk it.

 

[CanadianPaco]

It's roughly 1.25 miles so if you walked straight around it would take about 1.5 hours

How did you come up with this?

 

[bigbabyblues]

WS doesn't open until 11, what time is your ADR? We usually spend at least two afternoons/evenings in WS.

 

[disnut8]

World Showcase does open at 11. What I would suggest, since we do at least one walk around World Showcase every day we are at Disney (yes, we like it that much), is to get there at 11, start in Mexico and explore the pavilions on that side of the Showcase since Norway is over that way, have your lunch and then after lunch, walk around past America and do the other side of the Showcase finishing in Canada. That way, you aren't rushing to fit in the lunch.

 

[nooneshome]

We do FW stuff until around 12 or 1 and then head to WS for the rest of the afternoon. We usually leave around 8 or so. For some reason we are not big Illuminations fans. I always desired that they create some type of amphitheater seating around the lake so you could have a place to seat while waiting for Illuminations. We also do EPCOT twice each trip. It is DWs favorite thing to do and she deserves it. She waits for us while we ride the rides for the rest of the trip.

 

[DebbieB]

deleted

 

[LilyWDW]

Personally, I spend multiple afternoons/evenings in World Showcase alone. Between all the food, shopping, little details, and entertainment it takes me forever to make my way through. Heck, I can spend 1+ hour in the Japan Pavilion alone!

 

[itchin2go]

World Showcase does open at 11. What I would suggest, since we do at least one walk around World Showcase every day we are at Disney (yes, we like it that much), is to get there at 11, start in Mexico and explore the pavilions on that side of the Showcase since Norway is over that way, have your lunch and then after lunch, walk around past America and do the other side of the Showcase finishing in Canada. That way, you aren't rushing to fit in the lunch.

This is a very good plan.

Character M&G - These are on a published schedule. When you get to a country, there may or may not be a M&G in the near future. I'm a pretty crazy planner, and that kind of thing is hard to plan for me. For instance, if you're in Germany, but Snow White won't appear for 45 minutes, and you've exhausted all there is to do in Germany, what do you do? If you're me, you move on to another country, and by the time Snow White shows up, you're too far away to make it work.

We rarely watch the movies and could spend 3 days in WS alone. We love the shops and treats.

If you're stopping at the F&W kiosks, add in some more time. We did 3 partial days last trip, and never made it fully around the showcase. If you don't want to get too caught up in F&W, get the kiosk list/menus ahead of time and narrow down where you want to stop. My daughter LOVES trying all the desserts.

Kidcot coloring will take up some more time. It seems silly, but my daughter LOVED doing that when she was little.

 

[disnut8]

If you're stopping at the F&W kiosks, add in some more time.

The OP is having a lunch in Norway so I doubt they would be hungry for the Food & Wine kiosks which is unfortunate (at least in my opinion) because that is one of the most pleasant ways to tour World Showcase without plans. You just start on one end, snack, drink, shop, tour, visit all the way around to the other end. You don't have to rush and can take your time and do what you want. Also, that gives time to see some of the great entertainment the World Showcase provides at each pavilion.

 

[jhenson84]

It's roughly 1.25 miles so if you walked straight around it would take about 1.5 hours

I don't think I could make a 1.25 mile walk take that long if I tried. Where did you come up with this calculation?

 

[asmit4]

We can easily spend an entire day in Epcot WS...but we are bringing a 2yo so we will probably move along fast. I'd plan 3-4 hours in WS and that' just to hit every pavillion and hang around for a little bit.

 

[MataHari22]

I do it the way disnut8 said. I start on the side closest to where my lunch is, and then work my way around. I take my time and see all the movies and then I grab something for dinner, and after that, I grab a spot for illuminations. For me, EPCOT is a day and a half to a two day park, and I still don't get to experience everything.

 

[jenhelgren]

Thanks for all the helpful advice and comments! Are the character meets really all around 30 minutes in late September between 11 and 12? I had heard to expect the WS to be more crowded during Food and Wine but wasn't sure if that would affect the character greets. We have one unplanned day to spend the week of our visit for anything that we want to go back for or to help account for weather issues. So-I really just want to glance around and check things out and meet Mulan and Pooh for sure. If we love Epcot and the kids are up for the walk we could go back a second day and get more in depth in each country.