Epcot Introduction

Epcot stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, and Walt Disney’s original dream for Epcot was for it to be the ideal community in which to work, live, and play. Well, nobody lives here, and I don’t know it to be a prototype for any community, but it’s still a really fun and educational theme park! Epcot contains two distinct worlds- Future World, which is dedicated to technological advances and the like, and World Showcase, which houses 11 countries, teaching us much about the world around us. A family could easily spend two days exploring Epcot- one day for each world. I always look forward to a fun- and education-filled day at Epcot with my family- we especially love exploring World Showcase together. Please join me as I tour Epcot, highlighting my favorites!

(Spaceship Earth looks beautiful at night!)

Future World

My family has definitely got some do-not-miss attractions that we love in Future World. Soarin’, which was just ‘reimagined’, is a delightful attraction simulating riding in a hang glider throughout the world. I especially loved the tour over Sydney, Australia- Sydney is personal to me because in college, I spent one summer studying abroad in Sydney. This is a favorite of many at Epcot, and so you can expect long lines here at any time during your visit.

(My dad and husband in the queue for Soarin- we used a Fast Pass which is why we aren't in a long line!)

Test Track, sponsored by Chevrolet, is another favorite. If you wait in the stand-by line or use a FastPass+ (as opposed to riding Single Rider), you will have the opportunity to design your own car with another member of your party. It is a lot of fun creating a vehicle together, and during the ride, you get to see how your vehicle stacks up with the other vehicles designed by the folks riding in your car with you!

(Test Track car that a friend and I made!)

My son loves fish, and so The Seas with Nemo and Friends is always a must do for us. We also love checking out the aquarium- one of our favorite things to do is visit the manatees, who are rescues. When we were there earlier this month, one manatee was rescued after being injured in a boating accident, and one manatee was an orphan. There is always a cast member in this area who is happy to chat about the manatees.

(My husband and our son getting in their clamshell at The Seas with Nemo and Friends)

Finally, Spaceship Earth is a Disney classic that we hate to miss! This attraction takes you up into the famous geosphere while you learn about communication- how it was done back before Christ, and how our modern-day communication methods such as email came to be. It is actually very interesting, and my family loves to ride it at the end of the day, as it is a relaxing ride in the dark.

(Can you tell I love taking photos of Spaceship Earth at night?)

There are plenty more attractions in Future World that I encourage you to check out, as I’ve just highlighted a few of my family’s favorites. Be sure to take advantage of FastPass+ as well! You may make reservations 60 days in advance if you are staying at a Walt Disney World resort, or 30 days in advance if you are not.

If my family is eating a quick service lunch in Future World, our go-to spot is always Sunshine Seasons in The Land pavilion. We love the variety offered here- chicken and salmon platters, stir-fry, sandwiches and flatbreads, salads, and more. Everyone in my family can always find something they like at Sunshine Seasons! My favorite food served here, however, is the strawberry shortcake for dessert. I love my chocolate, and typically I’ll go for a chocolate dessert rather than a fruit-flavored one, but in this case, I will always choose the strawberry shortcake over anything else. It’s to die for!

(Sunshine Seasons is a great spot in Future World to grab a quick lunch)

We actually have never eaten at a table service location in Future World. We’ve thought making a reservation for Coral Reef Restaurant, which offers beautiful views of The Seas aquarium, or The Garden Grill, which actually rotates while you dine, offering different views of the Living with the Land attraction down below, but we continue to try different table-service locations in World Showcase instead. Garden Grill is a character meal, and the characters do look mighty cute in their farmer gear. I think when my son is a little bit older (and thus tolerates the characters a little more), we will add Garden Grill to our ‘must try’ list.

World Showcase

My family personally loves World Showcase best- we love sampling food and drinks from around the world. We love meeting cast members from the countries represented. And we love perusing the shops and attractions in the various countries. One neat thing for kids is that you can find Disney characters here in their home countries- for instance, you can find Snow White in the Germany pavilion, Princess Aurora in the France pavilion, and Aladdin and Jasmine in the Morocco pavilion (ok they are from Arabia, but Morocco is the closest represented country here in Epcot!). You can also find Princess Anna and Queen Elsa from ‘Frozen’ in the Royal Sommerhus, a brand new meet-and-greet located in the Norway pavilion.

(Meeting Aurora in France)

As a child, I can recall really enjoying buying a passport at a gift shop in World Showcase, and then having it signed in all of the countries of World Showcase. These passports were still available last time I checked, and make for a very fun day talking to cast members all throughout World Showcase. I can recall the cast member in Japan showing me how to write my name in Japanese, and the cast member in France teaching me how to say my name in French! The passport also makes for a fun souvenir for kids to take home.

Earlier this month, my family rode ‘Frozen Ever After’ in the Norway pavilion for the first time. This is a new attraction which replaced Maelstrom, a traditional Viking cruise through a Norwegian village. Frozen Ever After was cute, and I was happy we got to ride it, but beware- we had Fast Passes, yet still had quite a wait (twice). The first time we tried riding, it broke down and we ended up not being able to ride. We tried to wait it out, but finally after 25 minutes or so, we decided we couldn’t wait all day. We asked politely, and the cast member working the attraction honored our wish of Fast Passes for later in the day. When we came back to ride later that night, we still had about a 20-minute wait, even in the Fast Pass line. While our party enjoyed the ride, I would not wait upwards of 2-hours, as those without a Fast Pass do unless someone in your family REALLY loves Frozen!

(Anna and Kristoff in Frozen Ever After)

The other ride in World Showcase is in Mexico, and is a cute boat ride featuring the Three Caballeros. My family REALLY enjoys this ride right after enjoying a margarita from La Cava del Tequila bar next door! ;) Other pavilions feature movies and entertainment acts, but these two pavilions are the only two to feature actual rides. I do have to point out that the movie in France is beautiful, and is shown in a cool, dark theatre, providing a great break from the heat on those hot Florida days!

Now on to the food! From September through November, the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival is in full swing. Besides being able to get food from the eleven countries featured in Epcot, kiosks are set up all throughout World Showcase, and sell several different food and drink options from the represented country. It’s a lot of fun to meander through world showcase, trying different foods and beverages that you might not otherwise have a chance to sample!

(Delicious snacks and drinks in Mexico)

(My husband and our good friend enjoying sake from Japan)

We love to use our snack credits for items we sample during the Food and Wine Festival- you could even make a lunch out of these snacks, as we have in the past (please note that snack credits on the Disney Dining Plan are only valid for food and non-alcoholic beverages). The baked ziti and chicken parmesan dish at the Italy kiosk was huge, and it alone could easily make a light lunch. However, we also love checking out the different food options at the quick-service locations around World Showcase.

(Chicken parmesan and baked ziti dish from Italy)

We’ve gotten food from the quick-service spots in Mexico, China, the United States, Morocco, France, and the United Kingdom. While I believe you can’t go wrong with any of these spots, we especially loved the Shawarma Chicken Platter (lamb also available), served with hummus, tabbouleh, couscous salad, and bread served at Tangierine Café in Morocco, the delicious sandwiches served on croissants or French bread in France, and the fish and chips in the United Kingdom. I do want to point out, if you are on a special diet, or are traveling with someone who is- a friend I traveled with earlier this year is a vegan, and she was delighted with her dinner at Tangierine Café in Morocco (though I’m honestly not sure of what she had).

(Chicken Shawarma platter in Morocco)

(Hot ham and cheese on a croissant and a coffee in France)

My family has tried four of the table service restaurants in World Showcase, and are trying a fifth one early next year. Here are our reviews of the four eateries that we’ve tried, and how kid-friendly we feel that they are.

Biergarten (Germany)- A new family favorite, we just recently tried this restaurant earlier this month! The buffet features something to please almost everyone, including my 2-year old son who can be picky when it comes to what he eats. The beer is plentiful, and you can choose to order either ½ liter or 1 liter. Everyone in my family chose to order 1 liter, and we were offered to-go cups at the end of our dinner, so we could make a quick getaway outside to catch the 9pm fireworks! There is also a great show featuring a traditional Oktoberfest band, oom-pah and all! My son loved this place, and we loved that he could be as loud as he wanted, and he was even welcome to join the band up on stage at one point with the other kids dining here! One thing to consider is that this restaurant utilizes community seating, and so if you have a smaller party, you’ll be dining with others (we had a party of 7, and the tables seat 8, so we did not sit with another party).

(The oom-pah band really sets the mood at Biergarten in Germany)

(My husband enjoying his liter of beer at Biergarten)

Chefs de France (France)- If I could describe this restaurant in one word, I’d sum it up as simply ‘cute’. I really enjoyed this restaurant- my steak was decent, our server was a lovely young man from the French Countryside, and the atmosphere in the restaurant is playful and charming. Personally, I think you can find better food at other World Showcase locations, but if you like France, I think you’d be very happy eating here. We dined here when I was pregnant with my son, but it was not necessarily quiet, and there were many kids eating here with their parents, and so I would say it’s a moderately good place to eat with your children.

(Back in 2013 at Chefs de France)

(The interior of Chefs de France)

(Delicious-looking steak at Chefs de France)

Le Cellier (Canada)- This location is a Signature Dining location, and so if you are on the Disney Dining Plan, you’ll use two credits to eat here. The food is wonderful- my family loves filet mignon, and it was delicious at Le Cellier. The restaurant is on the dark side, and tends to be more quiet than some of the other World Showcase locations, and so I would hesitate bringing younger children here unless they tend to be rather well-behaved. When we ate here in 2015, my then-3-year-old nephew sat quietly and watched TV on my brother’s phone, but my then 1-year-old son was rambunctious, and I spent most of the meal out in the lobby so that he would not bother other guests trying to enjoy their nice meal.

(This was our first visit ever to Le Cellier when our son was 8 months old)

Teppan Edo (Japan)- If you love hibachi, then Teppan Edo may be a big hit for your family! We do have a hibachi restaurant in our town that we enjoy, but we still adore Teppan Edo. The servers are just wonderful- they are very attentive and cater to your every need. I mentioned to our table mates that we were in Disney celebrating our son’s first birthday, and one of the servers overheard me, and ended up bringing out a special dessert, along with a chef’s hat signed by the staff and an origami animal for him. As is common at hibachi restaurants, if you are a smaller party, you’ll be sat with others- on that trip, we sat with a family of five who loved Disney just as much as us, and had a really fun time chatting with them about our trips! There are multiple tables per room, and so it can get loud in this restaurant- perfect if you’ve got a kid who’s a bit on the loud side!

(Our chef at Teppan Edo)

(Chefs hat the servers gave us at Teppan Edo for my son's first birthday)

We’ll be trying out Via Napoli in the Italy pavilion on our next trip to Disney, and we are very excited about it. My ‘BDF’- or ‘Best Disney Friend’ ate there with her husband in September, and had nothing but great things to say about the food and the service that they received. They are known for the fact that they import their supplies from Italy, and their pizzas are traditional wood-fired pizzas. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

If Epcot sounds like your kind of place, and your budget allows, I would recommend staying at one of the Crescent Lake resorts. You can read about most of these resorts on my Deluxe Resorts and Villas blog post at http://danasmousetails.blogspot.com/2016/06/deluxe-resorts-and-villas.html. I don’t cover the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resorts, but you can check those out here. Being able to walk to these resorts in the morning, and back home at the end of your day at Epcot, is a huge bonus, and will save a lot of time in the long run if you plan on spending quite a bit of time at Epcot during your stay (boats are also available from these resorts to and from Epcot and Hollywood Studios). Please note that these resorts are some of the first to sell out during the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival for this very reason.

Epcot is full of great learning opportunities, but you’ll be having so much fun that you won’t realize you are being educated! While at first glance Epcot may seem like it’s geared more towards adults, I truly believe that kids of all ages can gain so much from a visit to Epcot, so please don’t count it out. Epcot is connected to the Magic Kingdom via monorail, and so if you’d like to split your day, as we have done in the past, this makes it convenient and fun (my son ADORES the monorail!). As always, feel free to email me at dana_aimee@hotmail.com if you have any further Epcot or Disney-related travel questions. Happy Travels!