Why Epcot reigns supreme, no matter how neglected

[jedi jen]

We love Epcot. That is what started me going to WDW and never going to Disneyland......because no Epcot (and now AK and DHS). We are going in a month and the park my 19 year old DS talks about most is Epcot. Sharing the Epcot love.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Great post!! I loved your epiphany while you were planning to squeeze in 2 more rides and just ended up getting in the moment. I had something similar while my 5 year old spent an ungodly amount of time coloring a Duffy bear

I loooove all of those things as well- so beautifully written.

The other parts of Epcot that I love? Like when I close my eyes and imagine that I'm there? The music and the ambiance. Man I love that Future World music right at the fountain- such a sense of possibility, of exploration, of adventure. Love!!!

I also like the space- you can stop and smell the roses, watch the fountains, whatever- without being elbowed to death. Flower and garden is my favorite time, but it's always awesome.

Yay!

 

[lars1989]

I absolutely love your post. I have two boys (6 and 9) and they love the attractions that they have after the rides, especially test track. They love simply trying out all the cars! I really wish they would show some love to the Journey Into Imagination Pavilion. Everyone loves the water jumping area, but it needs some attention!

 

[FrenchGirl]

My dad took me to Epcot the year it opened which was also my first year to visit Disney. I was 11. I was completely mesmerized by it. Took my kids for a visit in 2013 and even though it had changed a lot, I still had much love for it. We're heading back in September and will spend at least two full days there exploring the F&W Fest and taking the time to go slowly and take it all in.

 

[mikebb]

Great post and sentiment! EPCOT too is tied with MK as my favorite park for the reasons you mention. If only Disney would commit something (anything!!) to Innoventions and WoL, re-imagine Journey into Imagination, and a few other small updates to the other attractions the park would be just about perfect in my eyes. No massive overhaul, no "IP all the things" needed...

My first Disney trip was in 1983 and the most vivid memories I still have of that trip are of EPCOT. Now, my 4 year old loves wandering and getting her Duffy stamps/coloring, wife and I love meandering around the World Showcase taking in the sights (and drinks!), and who doesn't love Spaceship Earth and Living with the Land?

 

[skipfierce]

EPCOT is my favorite park as well. I love just strolling along in the WS and checking out the architecture and cultural stuff. The kid loves the Kidcot stations as well. Hoping to get back there next spring for the Flower and Garden fest.

 

[TiffanyA]

If this was Reddit, I'd be giving you gold. Loved the post OP. My sentiments exactly.

 

[ljmclin]

Love your post. I'm not sure what it is, but when I get to WDW and it's "Epcot Day," I get so excited. Something about that park makes my Disney trip. Not to mention, Illuminations is my FAVORITE!!!! The older I get, the more I love Epcot.

 

[ucfknight]

I've been in love with Epcot since 1981, and nothing has changed since.

I still remember as a kid that year being absolutely fascinated with basically everything shown at the Epcot Preview Center on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom. We then took a monorail ride from the TTC over to see the construction site. The monorail station was the only thing fully finished and open to the public. You were allowed to get off the monorail and go down one level to the viewing platform to stare out at the work being done. Just looking at Spaceship Earth as it was being built blew my mind. When we left Florida to go home I just kept pestering my parents for the next year to plan another vacation to Orlando for some time after October 1982. When I first set foot in the park as a 10 year old, it exceeded even my own lofty expectations. It was always my favorite park at WDW from that point on.

It has been sad to see the neglect that Epcot has had to endure over the years, but it is still my favorite park.

 

[North of Mouse]

Will always love Epcot - it's so much different than the three other parks - in a good way! Always try to go for Flower & Garden Festival, as flowers are my passion.

MK will always be #1 for me though, just because, to me, they are so opposite in lots of ways. I love each for what they represent. MK brings out the 'kid' in me, while Epcot seems to bring out the 'adult' in me!! Both in very good ways!!

 

[merrick]

great post. we have only been to WDW once but keep trying to go back!

our entire family liked epcot best as well. we are determined to stay at the yacht club and have booked park hoppers for our next trip... i am confident we will end up at epcot many times during our 9 night stay in december (if i keep saying it, it will be true).

on the day we arrived we went to MK for several hours, then returned for the full day the following day. i was exhausted, overstimulated and "over it" by the time i made it to epcot. i remember walking up to the entrance and thinking "three more parks?? i don't think i can do it". but it was lovely, green and peaceful. it was the "anti-MK" and we went twice that trip yet still did not get to fully explore all the pavilions.

 

[EdmondD]

Some pavilions that people think are vacant and unused are used for special events and group activities on a regular basis.

But if you're not one of the groups nor there for a special event and your only experience with it is that it's never open, isn't it, for all intents and purposes, vacant and unused? Especially if it's a pavilion that used to house an attraction(s)? It would be like them closing BoG restaurant and only using it for high-end corporate events. From a general guest experience, BoG would then essentially be unused.

 

[NH-to-FL]

Epcot is our favorite park as well. It started back in the mid 90's with our first trip to WDW staying at the Boardwalk. What a delight it was to discover the walk to Epcot. We ended up spending every evening there. As others have noted we found the walk around the World Showcase very relaxing.

Soarin' immediately became our favorite ride. And the first place we would head at the start of every trip. Spaceship Earth is a close second.

Of course another reason might be that I grew up watching Walt on TV first build Disneyland, then break the news about the "Florida Project", and teased us with the concept of the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. It was many years later that I first got to experience Disneyland and then another number of years before the Disney bug bit again and took us to Florida. Now we are hooked.

I am excited to hear about the possibilities for Epcot enhancements. I hope the Imagineers keep a bit of Walt's vision in mind as they invent the future of Epcot.

 

[FastPasser.]

But if you're not one of the groups nor there for a special event and your only experience with it is that it's never open, isn't it, for all intents and purposes, vacant and unused? Especially if it's a pavilion that used to house an attraction(s)? It would be like them closing BoG restaurant and only using it for high-end corporate events. From a general guest experience, BoG would then essentially be unused.

The former Wonders of Life Pavilion is the F&G and IF&WF Festival center and is open to everyone on certain days of the week for about 6 months. The World Showplace pavilion is sometimes open to day guests as a F&B venue as well during busy periods. Are there any others?

 

[ucfknight]

The former Wonders of Life Pavilion is the F&G and IF&WF Festival center and is open to everyone on certain days of the week for about 6 months. The World Showplace pavilion is sometimes open to day guests as a F&B venue as well during busy periods. Are there any others?

Not an attraction, but the old Odyssey restaurant is open to general park guests during some special events.

 

[bladiator]

Great post!! I loved your epiphany while you were planning to squeeze in 2 more rides and just ended up getting in the moment. I had something similar while my 5 year old spent an ungodly amount of time coloring a Duffy bear

Oh man ... I gotta keep away from Kidcot I guess! That made me laugh and cringe all at the same time.
OP, you are a man that gets EPCOT. It's my favorite as well. I have only recently had my first child (and not taken a trip yet) but I still remember how much my wife and I enjoyed waiting for what seemed like ages in the TT line just so we could enjoy the 10 minutes together creating the most ridiculously stupid looking car of the future, haha!

"Thingies" for sure.

 

[FastPasser.]

Not an attraction, but the old Odyssey restaurant is open to general park guests during some special events.

Yup, it's the Craft Beer location during the IF&WF.

 

[EdmondD]

The former Wonders of Life Pavilion is the F&G and IF&WF Festival center and is open to everyone on certain days of the week for about 6 months. The World Showplace pavilion is sometimes open to day guests as a F&B venue as well during busy periods. Are there any others?

Maybe I'm cynical (and I love Epcot), but we're really stooping to defend Epcot's lack of good attractions by citing buildings that used to hold actual attractions and be a real destination that now host completely unrelated things...and only from time-to-time. And really just kind of to sell stuff.

 

[FastPasser.]

Maybe I'm cynical (and I love Epcot), but we're really stooping to defend Epcot's lack of good attractions by citing buildings that used to hold actual attractions and be a real destination that now host completely unrelated things...and only from time-to-time. And really just kind of to sell stuff.

No stooping or defending on my part, just posting info regarding Epcot. I really don't have a dog in this fight as I can't remember the last time I was there as a guest.

 

[LinderInWonderland]

Great post and sentiment! EPCOT too is tied with MK as my favorite park for the reasons you mention. If only Disney would commit something (anything!!) to Innoventions and WoL, re-imagine Journey into Imagination, and a few other small updates to the other attractions the park would be just about perfect in my eyes. No massive overhaul, no "IP all the things" needed...

My first Disney trip was in 1983 and the most vivid memories I still have of that trip are of EPCOT. Now, my 4 year old loves wandering and getting her Duffy stamps/coloring, wife and I love meandering around the World Showcase taking in the sights (and drinks!), and who doesn't love Spaceship Earth and Living with the Land?

1983 was the year I first went to Epcot as well! I barely remember MK from that trip, but Epcot 1983 is still clear as day! Back then, they still had the double decker bus that would take you from country to country in World Showcase. My father had us ride the whole loop so we could take in all the countries and then decide where we wanted to eat dinner (which ended up being China). On my next trip in 1986, we ate in Japan. Both times, World Showcase was not treated as a place to explore. We spent most of our time in Future World.

I didn't go again until 2014. This time, I was determined to explore more of World Showcase. We got all of the U.K. and Germany and just a little of France. In 2016, I planned an entire day in World Showcase of just wandering. Unfortunately, my husband had a heat meltdown at AK the day before and needed more time to rest, so we headed to WS in the late afternoon. This time I got to explore Morocco in great detail and a little of Japan, America when the skies just unleashed non-stop buckets of rain for the rest of the night. We quickly booked a table at Chefs de France to wait out the rain, but no go. We explored as much of France as we could that late at night, but finally left in defeat.

Our next trip there will be in 2021 (for my 50th and MK's 50th). I will stay in an Epcot resort and I WILL SPEND AS MUCH TIME AS I WANT IN WORLD SHOWCASE! ::haha::