A traveler's guide to EPCOT
EPCOT rewards people who like walking and eating more than people who want eight coasters. The festivals are the calendar.
EPCOT is the Walt Disney World theme park split between a future-world half and a lagoon of country pavilions. It is in Bay Lake, Florida. Walk it as two parks: rides in the morning, food and the lagoon after lunch.
When to go
The same mild months as the rest of Orlando. Flower and Garden and Food and Wine change the menus and the crowds; check which festival is on before you promise someone a specific booth. Evenings are when the park feels like itself.
How to see it
Ride Guardians and Test Track, or whatever is replacing your old favorite, while the park is still filling. Then cross into World Showcase and stop pretending you will see every pavilion. Mexico, Japan, and France are the ones people remember. The lagoon show is the closer.
Tickets and time
EPCOT is the park most often bolted onto a Hopper evening, and that is a good use of it. A full day still wants a Lightning Lane if Cosmic Rewind is the reason you came. Festival booths are cashless and the good ones run out.
If you only remember this
- The park is a loop. Pick a direction and stay with it.
- Drinking around the world is a sport. Eat real food first.
- Skyliner reaches EPCOT from the Caribbean Beach and Riviera side of the resort.
- World Showcase opens later than the front of the park. Check the board.