Epcot has a rather interesting history, for example, did you know that Walt Disney originally planned for it to be a futuristic community? It was supposed to be a fully functioning town with the latest technology that people live in while also being a tourist attraction.

Today, though it is possibly the most educational of the Disney Parks. It has the fewest rides but is brimming with culture and information.

Epcot’s Layout

The first thing that you will see as you pass through the ticket barriers is what we affectionately called “the Orb”, which basically looks like a giant golf ball and is home to the ride, Spaceship Earth. It is possibly the most recognisable sight in Epcot.

Behind Spaceship Earth is a large lake which is surrounded by areas themed around different countries (all of which have a Disney film based there). However, the areas closest to “the orb” aren’t related to a specific location, but are more education based with rides such as Finding Nemo, which leads into an aquarium, or Mission: Space which is a flight simulator.

The Rides

Epcot isn’t a Disney Park that is known for its thrill rides, instead it has a number of slower paced rides and rides that are full of educational value. In various locations around the park there are theatres showing a film about the country that you are “visiting”.  We went in to watch the one’s for France and China while there and were a little disappointed. We can’t speak about the film for China as we haven’t been there yet, but the French one seemed a little outdated.

Spaceship Earth

Spaceship Earth is actually the ride that it inside the giant golf ball that is the iconic sight that greats you as you enter the park. It guides you through the progression of technology through the ages, showing how engineers and the ride’s creators saw its progression to modern day then you can design your own future using a touch screen. It seems a little dated but was quite interesting. The ride stops in a room that has multiple activities showing possible ways technology can be used in your home in the future.

Test Track

Test Track is another ride that many will recognise the name of. Harry used to love driving games when he was younger and was the one to suggest going on this ride. I’m glad he did honestly. The queue for Test Track is a long one, but along the way you are able to create your own car; choose how aerodynamic you’d like it, how sustainable it will be and how safe the car is. Thrilling and fast paced, the ride shows how a car is tested before being mass produced. You even have the opportunity to test how your own design would have fared!

The Grand Fiesta Tour

Located in Mexico, you will find the Grand Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros. If you like gentler boat rides then this is a great ride for you. The ride is inside the Mexican Pavilion (which in itself was amazing!) and parts of the ride can be seen from certain areas of the Pavilion. You and your fellow riders follow two of the Three Caballeros around South America while searching for Donald Duck. It was a really nice, relaxing ride that I would recommend going on after a meal.

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is one of the few rides that I’d wanted to go on but we didn’t get a chance. The queue time was constantly over an hour! The wait time only confirms what I’ve heard about the ride though (all of it is good), although as Harry pointed out at the time of our visit it was one of the few traditional rides at this park.

Food and Drink at Epcot

Part of the appeal of Epcot is the variety of food and drinks that you can find at the park. Each of the areas relating to a location has restaurants specific to that country’s cuisine. You are spoilt for choice when deciding what to eat. I think the way that we decided was to pick one of the restaurants closest to where we were at the time.

In each of the different sections you have multiple options on where and what you want to eat. In fact you have probably heard of Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival (which I will explain in a minute) as there is so much choice!

Festivals at Epcot

Epcot International Food and Wine Festival

Part of the appeal of Epcot is the International Food and Wine Festival. In essence it is a celebration of food around the world, and is a great way to try things you wouldn’t normally.

It isn’t an event that we attended during our visit as it runs from July to November and we visited in May. Although, maybe this was for the best as apparently the festival can become rather expensive.

There are even different events and activities link to the festival such as Eat to the Beat where there are concerts/performances, some of these will require an extra ticket though, so make sure to look into them before you visit.

Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

Now, this festival was ongoing when we were visiting as it runs from March to early July. It was a really pretty experience for us, all of the exhibits are based on characters from the Disney films (making them instantly recognisable!).

Similar to the Food and Drink Festival there are plenty of events and activities linked to this festival helping to connect you and the environment.

There is also the Garden Rock Concert Series, which we hadn’t heard about until we saw others queuing up for one such concert. Even though we didn’t purchase an additional Garden Rocks Dining Package we were lucky enough to be able to hear the music from where we decided to eat dinner that day.

Epcot International Festival of the Arts

This festival, as you can probably guess, is a celebration of the arts (music, art and as is to be expected of Epcot, food).

Using food to celebrate art may seem strange to some, but the plates created in partnership with the festival include creative and colourful twists. The food itself can be classed as art.

Throughout the park there are various demonstrations of the various arts. There are musical performances in the World Showcase Plaza, as well as acrobatic demonstrations and street artists in the middle of their own pieces of work.

During the Epcot International Festival of the Arts, you will even be able to join in on the fun. You can learn how to draw a Disney character (look at our Animal Park blog – Harry loved this experience), or you can contribute to a paint by numbers mural, and for kids there is the opportunity to create chalk art!

Harmonious

We just couldn’t resist the opportunity to see another Disney lights and fireworks display. When we saw this display it was still fairly new, but that didn’t change how good we thought it was.

This light show is a way to show how the Disney music and stories bring people together using colours and instantly recognisable songs from the films.

We loved watching how they used the water to improve the lights and firework display. It was definitely a unique and breath-taking firework display.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a calmer day at Disney World, Epcot is the park to go to (although it will still involve a lot of walking!). It is the best place to explore cuisines from all over the globe and learn more about the world around us.