Struggling to understand EPCOT

[emij]

thank you!

 

[EagleG17]

Go from country to country and drink beer all day long....best thing in the world...

 

[GoofyGirl1717]

One of the more interesting things I did when my children were younger going through WS was to give each of them a disposable camera to take whatever photos they found interesting. DS actually used those in a report in 2nd grade when we returned. So fun to see things from their perspective. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[momimouse27]

We have loved Epcot since my kids were little. We always take more than one day there, and it used to take 2 full days because it took us so long to enjoy Innoventions. But yeah, its spread out and it is just time consuming walking it. But even as adults my girls still love it. We can spend hours just in the The Land, its probably our favorite pavilion in Future World.

 

[ness0905]

Something I didn't see mention that my family loves is when you get off mission space there is an interactive game that the whole family can play and you play with a bunch of other guests it's really fun and we always spend at least an hour there I do not ride mission space but I walk through the gift shop and it leads to the game also my kids are 6 and 9 one boy one girl and we all love it. Epcot has also been my children's favorite Park for the past three years need to enjoy the agent pay that I can be a little daunting for the parents we do one Mission each time we go the drummer's in Japan and in France this crazy guy who balances on chairs look for the little things like that that may not be Headliners but make that part great

 

[crazymomof4]

Everyone has given such great responses here so I won't write a post repeating a lot of info that has already been given.
I will add that, for me, the WS part of Epcot is similar to AK in that I like to just slow down and "absorb" the atmosphere of the pavilions. I've not had a life filled with world travel but I do so enjoy the different cultures of the world. I like browsing the authentic goods in the shops but even more I enjoy just wandering all the nook and crannies of the pavilions and noticing the unique architecture, listening to the piped in music and imagining what it would be like to actually BE in that country!
When my kids were little I used to enhance their appreciation for cultures (and by extension, the WS) by getting books and videos from the library about the countries of WS. We would also search the internet for recipes for foods from the countries and have a "Norway Night" (and so on) for dinner. This helped make the WS more appealing when they were little, and honestly it did so for me as well.

Here's a bit of an Epcot Walt connection for you --- For the 1964 World's Fair in NYC Walt and his Imagineers designed the "it's a small world" exhibit and "Carousel of Progress" exhibit. (along with one other). The 2 parts of Epcot follow the themes of Walts concepts for those two exhibits: Future World, like "Carousel" speaks to progress. The World Showcase, like "small world", celebrates world cultures and unity.

 

[nilla]

We do four days at Epcot, and the last ones are always the best. We book FPs, but beyond that, we just show up and see where Epcot takes us.

 

[gr8leg8]

Ideal trip
2 days MK
1 day AK & 1 day HS
3 (or 4 days) EP

 

[samsteele]

Ideal trip
2 days MK
1 day AK & 1 day HS
3 (or 4 days) EP

Agree completely! And if you can add 2 more park days, then 4 days EP and 2 days AK (plus 2 days MK & 1 HS). The more time I spend in AK, the more I appreciate the imagineers & their incredible work.

 

[chigirl]

It would be cool if they rebranded the Future World side to Howard Stark's Stark Expo. That side of Epcot is so dated, it looks like the "futuristic" community college in my hometown. They could make that side the Marvel properties they can legally use east of the Mississipi and not have to change the buildings too much. Look at Stark Expo in "Captain America: The First Avenger".

That being said, Epcot is my least favorite park, but its still fun. The WS side is really cool and its neat to see the cast members from different countries. I like the performers, too, and the Mexico pavillion is my favorite. Love the boat ride and Donald Duck there!

 

[alex9179]

It would be cool if they rebranded the Future World side to Howard Stark's Stark Expo. That side of Epcot is so dated, it looks like the "futuristic" community college in my hometown. They could make that side the Marvel properties they can legally use east of the Mississipi and not have to change the buildings too much. Look at Stark Expo in "Captain America: The First Avenger".

That being said, Epcot is my least favorite park, but its still fun. The WS side is really cool and its neat to see the cast members from different countries. I like the performers, too, and the Mexico pavillion is my favorite. Love the boat ride and Donald Duck there!

It's funny you said that! It was on last night and that thought crossed my mind, too. Especially when the hover car went down. Reminded me of WDW's attractions, LOL.

 

[tcufrog]

Here's how we tackle EPCOT. The first day we work our way through the first half of EPCOT. In the evening though we book Rose and Crown for dinner and try to schedule it for during Illuminations. Before we eat dinner though we make our way to the bandstand in the UK pavilion to meet Pooh and Tigger (gift shop next door) and listen to the cover band British Revolution. We all love rocking out to their British rock covers. The next day we spend the whole day in the World Showcase. The kids love Kidcot and getting their passports stamped while we love the shopping and restaurants. Each time we try new restaurants.

 

[chigirl]

It's funny you said that! It was on last night and that thought crossed my mind, too. Especially when the hover car went down. Reminded me of WDW's attractions, LOL.

Lol!!! Totally!
Marvel totally makes Howard Stark into a Walt figure. "Iron Man 2" Tony watches the film of Howard with what is basically Walt's vision for Epcot. Tony even finds the models, which look like the models in HS of the parks. I think it would be really neat! I am a huge fan of Marvel and Star Wars and Muppets...love that theyre all Disney now.

 

[FastPasser]

.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Epcot is a fabulous park. When we went the first time, we spent 2 days there, and did a lot but not everything. We left off Test Track due to fumes and asthma, Mission Space, Ellen, and Figment because they didn't appeal to us. We didn't see the Pixar short films because we didn't have time. We did pretty much everything else, though. We have since learned our must-dos and things we don't care to do again just given the age and interests of our family members. World Showcase is definitely our favorite so we will spend most of our time there next trip. We thoroughly investigate each country and watch the films, so it takes several hours for us to travel through the entire showcase. We will also do Spaceship Earth (probably a few times if lines are short), Soarin', Frozen Ever After, the Gran Fiesta boat ride in Mexico (again several times) and Living with the Land. We will probably stop for pics with Joy and Sadness and Anna and Elsa. And we will try to get a pic with peasant Belle this time since we missed out last time. On one of our days, we will enjoy breakfast at Akershus and then snack around the World for dinner later on. On our other day, we will eat at Les Chefs de France. We will stay for Illuminations at least one night. We will visit the aquarium and hopefully catch some of the chats about the manatees and dolphins. My daughter will probably want to spend time watching the glass bead maker in the Mexico pavillion again. We also intend to do the pick a pearl thing in Japan this time. Because of how much time we spend in World Showcase, I'm pretty sure we will still need every bit of our two days this time even though we don't feel the need to hit all the rides. I hope dropping some things off our list helps our time at Epcot feel less rushed. With all the photo ops and kid-friendly rides, I can't imagine a day at Epcot would be a waste for your family. You could also purchase the passport kits for the kids so they have something just for them in World Showcase.

 

[Canooknic]

Epcot has always been my boy's favourite park.

They love Soarin', Turtle Talk and Living with the Land but World showcase is the best part for them. They love walking around he countries, getting snacks and watching the performers.
Agent P tops the charts! We have allocated 3 days of our next trip to Epcot so they can hopefully complete all the countries and still have time for lunch at Beaches & Cream and if they finish earlier than planned we'll just hop to somewhere else!

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I love Epcot. MK used to be my favorite park, but Epcot and AK have now taken my interest. After going to MK so many times, and doing everything over and over, I really took the time to explore Epcot and not rush through it and found that not only was it exciting and fun but the countries can be very relaxing and a great learning experience. My kids love the seas pavilion, spaceship earth, figment, and the boat ride in Mexico. We found a lot of the live entertainment through the countries to be excellent especially Server amusant in France and the young Asian acrobats in China. I also love trying the different cuisines.

 

[gr8leg8]

Agree completely! And if you can add 2 more park days, then 4 days EP and 2 days AK (plus 2 days MK & 1 HS). The more time I spend in AK, the more I appreciate the imagineers & their incredible work.

Yes to the AK love! I could even do two days at HS, mostly because I am getting older and move more slowly these days.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

A huge number of guests I talk to seem to treat Epcot like a bar with a really high cover.

I don't actively dislike the park, but I generally don't go there as a guest outside of festival seasons (or when I need to check out new entertainment for 'product knowledge' - I need to go see the new acts in Morocco and Germany sometime soon). World Showcase is lovely but the lack of shade makes it hard for me to spend a lot of time there.

 

[kreckl]

I'm happy to see this thread as I was wondering the same thing. I always think I love Epcot, but then when I'm there I wonder what to do. We do Soarin, The Land, SE and TT....
When people are saying "explore the countries" what are you all doing? We always manage to eat everywhere, and love the American pavilion, eat in Mexico and ride the boat....but not interested in standing 20 minutes for an outdated movie.
I would love to find some new and exciting things to do there- we are staying at BC for part of our trip.