Disney’s Epcot Itinerary – Explore Like A Pro

Epcot for me is absolute magic. I know everyone doesn’t feel the same way; but for many of us it is a favorite park and we could literally spend days there. It’s such an amazing place to spend time, with its many changes of scenery and sampling of food and cultures from around the world. Make the most of your park time with this Epcot Itinerary – it’ll guide you to the can’t miss attractions!

The Perfect Day – Your Epcot Park Itinerary

One of the remarkable things about Epcot is that despite being the second largest Walt Disney World theme park, it is remarkably easy to get around and to set your own pace. This Epcot Itinerary is very approachable and can be handled in a variety of ways – put your own twist on it. It’s just one version of a perfect Epcot day in Disney World.

A perfect Epcot day consists of balance between planning and improvising. There are 4 “E ticket rides” (known as the best), plus 4 others including the iconic Spaceship Earth.

There are also 7 shows a 6 gallery exhibits around the world showcase. While it is nice to visit Epcot with fewer crowds, a Perfect Epcot day must include one of the international festivals the park is so famous for. My favorite is the Festival of the Arts.

Arrival: Epcot Park Opening

Future World opens at 9:00, which is two hours before World Showcase opens. That means that if you time it perfectly you can get most of your rides down before noon. Spaceship Earth is the geodesic sphere that stands as the symbol for the park. Many refer to it as the silver golf ball.

It’s the first thing you come to when you enter the park, so the standby line is going to be long at first. You will want to skip it and make a left turn after you pass it, but first pick up a park map and a festival passport. You will want to sit down and look it over soon, but this Epcot Itinerary starts off with a bang: by heading straight to the two most thrilling rides.

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©Disney2019, Matt Stroshane

Related: Guide To Eating Keto At Epcot

Epcot’s Future World East

Future World is divided into two sides. The easterly side is home to Test Track, Mission: Space, the Festival Welcome Center and soon Guardians of the Galaxy. For the perfect experience, having a Fastpass for either Mission: Space, or Test Track is ideal.

If you have a Mission Space Fastpass, go straight past it, to Test Track, before the standby line gets long. After your drive, get in the fastpass line for Mission Space. This works the other way too, but in a perfect scenario you don’t use Fastpass for Test Track. This is because only in standby are you allowed to design your own car for testing, which is more than half the fun in my opinion.

When you have finished both thrilling attractions, you should have time to spare before World Showcase and the festival marketplaces open up, so head back passed Spaceship Earth and through the breezeway into Future World West.

Epcot’s Future World West

World Showcase opens at 11:00, but you don’t have to be there right at 11:00. As a matter of fact, it’s good to let the crowd move on ahead a little bit and give you some space to finish enjoying Future World. If you continue Straight ahead you will come to The Land pavilion.

This is a three part stop that is perfect for collecting yourself and prepping for the rest of your day. Head downstairs to Sunshine Seasons, a counter service location that specializes in fresh produce grown in the greenhouses of the Pavilion. Grab a table in the food court and have a quick bite for breakfast, while you look over the festival marketplaces in your passport and study your map.

Since there is so much to do in this park, this Epcot itinerary consists of looking over the options and picking the things you want to do most. If you have never been to Epcot, this is the best way to avoid missing out by finding out about something too late. While you are still in the Land Pavilion, you can ride Living With the Land and Soarin’

If you have kids, you will also not want to overlook The Seas and Imagination pavilions. Both include slow moving dark rides and The Seas has Turtle Talk with Crush, in addition to plentiful views of active marine life from seahorses to manatees.

©Disney, Photo composite

Epcot’s Spaceship Earth

By the time you wrap things up you will be coming onto the early afternoon, which is a perfect time to head into Spaceship Earth because the standby line will be really low. Spaceship Earth is a must-do for the perfect Epcot day so don’t pass up the opportunity. Even if you have a Fastpass for later, it is better to jump into a short standby line, than to try to get back from wherever you are later on. After the ride, make sure you email the photo to yourself. It’s free!

©Disney2019, Gene Duncan

Club Cool Featuring Coco-Cola

Before you finally move on to World Showcase, there is one more stop you need to make for the Perfect Future World experience. Club Cool on the right, near Fountain View is a Coca-Cola shop that has free self serve samples of popular sodas from around the world. It’s a tasty, educational treat, especially on a hot day – try “The Beverly.”

Navigating Epcot’s World Showcase

By now, you are probably coming up on 3:00pm. You have finished half of the park and are about to get on to what I think is the best part. It’s also the easiest part, so if you are feeling like you need a break, don’t worry, because World showcase is a no rush zone. If you’re visiting during a festival time, there are tons of food in festival marketplaces and within the pavilions.

This is where you want to be on the lookout for great sounding dishes you want to try. Menus are posted outside of all of the marketplaces for convenience. World Showcase is a loop around a lagoon, so you start on one end, take your time and come out the other way. Epcot Itinerary Pro Tip: Most people go clockwise and start with Mexico, so in order to go with the majority flow of traffic that is the best way to take.

As long as you are enjoying yourself there is no wrong pace or length of time to spend in any pavilion. However there are a few things that make up a perfect day for me. That includes getting the most out of the Japan pavilion by going up stairs and dining at the outdoor seating areas of Katsura Grill. I also enjoy an in depth experience of the France Pavilion including Impressions De France, and Les Halles Boulangerie and Patisserie. I also love stopping at Karamell-Kuche in the Germany pavilion for a sliced caramel apple.

Don’t miss the chance to ride Frozen Ever After in the Norway pavilion, or The American Adventure show at the American pavilion. Both are exceptionally done and will make the day even more perfect. If it’s a must-do on your Epcot itinerary, be sure to do Frozen Ever After right at 11am, when World Showcase opens. That way you aren’t waiting for a long queue time.

Epcot’s Illuminations Nighttime Show

At 9:00 the final event draws the evening to a close. Illuminations is a firework spectacular that is a celebration of our world. The show takes place over the waters of the World Showcase and it will only be running until September 30, 2019, when it will be replaced by an exciting new nighttime show. Whether you catch Illuminations in its final year or see the all new show, it’s going to be the perfect end, to a perfect Epcot day.

FREE Epcot Itinerary Planning Printable

Want all of this itinerary in the parks? Download, save and print this free guide. You can be sure to get the Fast Passes and visit all of my attraction picks for Epcot! You can use legal size paper or print on two pages.

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