Disney Day 2: EPCOT
If you haven't done so already, please be sure to read my Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Disclaimer! Publishing this series of Disney posts is really scary for me, and I want you--my friends--to know where I'm coming from when writing these posts!
EPCOT (an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) gets a bum rap. When I was doing my earliest Disney World research, several friends advised me to skip this park altogether. They said it was their least favorite park and there isn't much to do there. At the same time, my die-hard Disney-going friends private messaged me to implore me not to dismiss EPCOT and that is absolutely worth a visit! Having never experienced any of the parks as adults, Dan and I wanted to make up our own minds and planned to spend a day at this "underdog" park. However, our friends' warnings did not go unheard. When figuring out the order we would visit the parks, we decided to begin with EPCOT, so we'd be "setting the bar low" for our children's expectations. What did we end up thinking of EPCOT? Read on to find out!
EPCOT - busyness level 5/10
EPCOT is within walking distance of Beach Club! We just took a short stroll on a path outside our resort and found ourselves outside the park within a few minutes.
8: 15 - Even though the park didn't open until 9:00, we arrived at 8:15 for rope drop. The lady there told us we could wait "anywhere around here," but it would have been more helpful had she told us that they were going to form two lines for security. We waited off to the side, and other (savvier) people came in after us and started forming two lines. So... people who came in after us ended up in line before us. Not a big deal, but lesson learned.
8:35-ish - Security started checking bags and letting people through the gates and up a long path to form a line in front of the rope. Shane and Conner were asked if they wanted to "help" open the park, which consisted of them raising their right hand and promising not to be crazy and/or inconsiderate when the rope dropped. They received a special pin for their efforts. (Technically, Logan was asked too, but he didn't want to participate.)
8:55 - Rope dropped. (Don't be those people who try to bypass the line and feign ignorance. See "Don't Be Dopey" at the bottom for more!)
We made a beeline for Soarin', which was amazing, and was the favorite ride of our family for the day, if not the whole trip! Dan went on with S, C, and L, and I waited by the exit. (Rider swap.) For future reference, we should all approach the entrance together for rider swap. The fam can go in, and they will scan my MagicBand (and add a FastPass) along with up to two other riders, so I don't have to go on by myself.
I was worried we were going to miss our 9:40 breakfast reservation at Garden Grill. A cast member assured me my FastPass was good all day, so we should go ahead and enjoy our breakfast. (A further note - we asked the manager at the Garden Grill what kind of window we have for dining reservations, and he said it was pretty lenient, as long as it is on the same day!) I would not bank on this at all the parks, especially at popular restaurants such as Cinderella's Royal Table and Be Our Guest. I think the more typical window is 15 minutes.
Breakfast at Garden Grill was ah-mazing and SUCH a good choice! It was all you could eat family-style... cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, Mickey waffles, hazelnut ganache, tater tots. The BEST part is that the classic characters come to your table while you are eating! We met Chip, Dale, Pluto, and Mickey. Also, we had been there for a while and had only met Chip. I asked (in a just-asking-for-information-completely non-complaining way) if all the characters made their way to your table or if you just had to get lucky, and then the other three characters were at our table in a matter of mere minutes! Excellent service, friendly, yummy. Oh, and they gave us to-go drinks.
After breakfast, I rode Soarin' with Shane and Conner. Logan didn't like it, so he didn't mind staying behind with Dan and Theo. For this ride, you are seated with a shoulder harness over your head, and then you are lifted up in front of a big curved screen. You soar all over the world--the Arctic, Paris, the ocean, the Great Wall of China, Sydney--and it really feels like you are flying! Not only does the imagery add to the real-feeling, but there is also air blowing at you and even scents released into the air! I swore I could smell the ocean as I "soared " over it. So fun!
As long as we were in the building, we rode Living with the Land. The boat ride was kind of "meh." You could argue that it was worth the 15-minute wait BUT it set us back on the rest of our touring plans, so we missed out on quite a few of the other rides and experiences we hoped to do that day (Test Track, World Showcase). Next time, we're sticking to the plan like glue!
Then we headed to the other side of the park. We wanted to go on the Gran Fiesta Tour (Donald Duck's Three Caballeros), which was supposed to be located inside a large building resembling a Mayan temple. We entered and were scared off by the "Coco" decorations and displays. Until later in the day, we didn't realize you had to go further into the building (almost toward the back) to get in line for the ride.
FastPass #1 - Since we couldn't find Gran Fiesta Tour, we used our FastPass and headed to Frozen Ever After. We were incredibly grateful for our FastPasses, as we jumped a huge portion of the line. The boys weren't super-thrilled with the ride, but Dan and I loved it. Dan said it was his favorite of the day. We were very impressed with the animatronics, and I love how every character in the movie shows up on the ride!
Mistake alert! Because we were staying onsite, I was able to make our dining reservations 180 days in advance. You guys, that's 1/2 a year in advance. I ingeniously (if I do say so myself!) planned two character meals that would win us the autographs of the classic Disney characters without having to wait in a single line! (Garden Grill --> Mickey, Chip, Dale, and Pluto. Cape May Café for "Minnie's Beach Bash Breakfast" --> Minnie, Daisy, Donald, and Goofy.) Unfortunately, because the dining reservations were made so far in advance, I (not-so-
We waited in line to meet Donald and get his autograph. (One of my children, in particular, insisted that we do this, but then he got hot, tired, and moody shortly thereafter.)
We headed across the park to our lunch reservation at Coral Reef Restaurant.
Can we just talk about... Coral Reef Restaurant. Over the eight days that we were at Disney World, all of our dining experiences were excellent except for our lunch at Coral Reef Restaurant. It is the only dining experience we would describe as "BAD" and would definitely skip the next time we visit EPCOT. The ambiance was not what was expected, the waitress was not knowledgeable or helpful, and the service was painfully slow.
The set-up for Coral Reef Restaurant sounds amazing. There is a giant aquarium inside, so you can enjoy your meal while sharks and tropical fish lazily glide by your family. Unfortunately, we were seated so far away from the aquarium, we didn't get this effect at all. While we were waiting (and waiting and waiting) for our food to arrive, we had to walk quite a distance from our table to get a look at the sea creatures.
The menu was limited and strange, and our waitress was not knowledgeable about it. For example, I wanted a salad, but it did not come with an optional protein as offered by every other restaurant on the planet. I asked if I could get grilled chicken with my salad.
"You probably could," our waitress replied. "Grilled chicken is offered in another entreé. I could just take it from that entreé and add it to your salad."
"Will I be charged for two entreés?" I asked. Considering that Disney dining is anything but cheap, this was an important question.
"I don't know," she said.
"Can you check, please?"
"No."
Um, what?!?! Dan told me to just go ahead and order the grilled chicken with my salad. When it arrived, the chicken breast was massive and probably large enough to feed our entire family.
In addition, the items on the Kids Menu were strange, and our children didn't really know what to order. To give you an idea, the best thing we could find for Theo was lobster bisque, which, by the way, was forgotten entirely when everyone else's meals were brought out.
Now, Disney does not allow you to book FastPasses too close to your dining reservations because they do not want the two to conflict. So we should have been able to eat at Coral Reef and have plenty of time to make it to our second FastPass selection, "The Seas with Nemo and Friends." Nope. Even though we arrived a bit before our dining reservation time, the service was so slow we were in grave danger of missing our FastPass! To avoid the FastPass window closing on us, we had to take our desserts (ice cream sandwiches) as carry-outs and sprint next door as ice cream dripped down our arms.
Oh, and we also had to pay a pirate's ransom for all of this. So, just to reiterate, we would not go back to
Fast Pass #2 - The Seas with Nemo and Friends. We rode in giant shells that passed by scenes from the movie Finding Nemo. With little kids, this was a good ride, but I would probably skip it with older kids (and definitely skip it for myself).
We followed it up with Turtle Talk with Crush. It was neat seeing the children interact with "Crush," who was on the screen. The kids sat on a carpeted area in front of the screen, and the parents could sit on benches behind them.
We explored "The Seas - Main Tank," which housed lots of fish, sharks, dolphins, a giant sea turtle, manatees, etc.
We wanted to do Test Track (one of the most praised rides at EPCOT), but the line was too long, so we rode Mission Space - Green. (There are two versions of Mission Space. Green is the milder version, and Orange is the version for those with iron stomachs.) We had to do a rider swap on this one. I went with Shane, Conner, and Logan. We all pretended to have different roles on a space shuttle and went on a mission in a simulator. We had to push buttons when they told us to and use a joy-stick as directed. Shane and I felt a bit queasy afterward. The ride was "meh." I found Dan with a passed-out Theo. Dan transferred Theo
Club Cool. OK, this was fun. Club Cool is just a little stop where we could sample a variety of sodas from around the world. This isn't a ride or show, and there isn't really a line. You just grab a sample cup and try lots of sugary drinks that your parents wouldn't normally let you have! Ahem. A favorite among our kids was a melon-flavored soda from Thailand, and I really liked the pineapple Fanta from Greece.
FastPass #3 - Spaceship Earth. I really liked this ride, except I was trying to settle the squirrely toddler and missed selecting English as my language, so the entire ride was narrated in Portuguese. So annoying! In spite of this, I still liked Spaceship Earth, especially due to many of the scenes reflecting events in our CC timeline. At the end of the ride, you are supposed to answer questions on the screen, and it builds "your future earth." It showed a creepy picture of me with one eye blacked out. I had no idea how I was answering the questions because they, too, were in Portuguese. The next time we visit EPCOT, I want to ride Spaceship Earth again... in my native language, please!
Unfortunately, the line for Test Track was still quite long, so we realized that we could either devote the rest of our time
We waited in line to meet Daisy and get her autograph. (Another unintentional time-waster. Oops!)
I had done some quick research on my phone and found that Gran Fiesta Tour was not retired as Dan and I originally assumed. We tracked it down and rode that. Cute! It was a leisurely boat ride through "Mexico" with lots of nods to Donald Duck and his "Three Caballeros." The ride was a bit old-school, but I really loved that about it! It was sweet, simple, and classic Disney, with modern video screens thrown in. The boys really liked it too.
Mistake alert! We happened to visit EPCOT during one of the last days of its annual International Food & Wine Festival. Because of this, EPCOT was far busier than it otherwise would have been, especially around the World Showcase area. In my defense, I didn't know that the Food & Wine festival was a thing, so I didn't know to avoid it.
Shortly before 7:00. It was quite dark, and we were hungry, so we went to the World Showcase to find some food. It was packed due to the International Food & Wine Festival. I regretted not being able to spend more time in this area. The "countries" were all charming (and educational), and sampling the food was so fun! We grabbed some grub from "India" (curry, chicken, and naan) and "Germany" (huge pretzels and beer).
Now that we had a little food in our bellies, we were all tired so we walked back to Beach Club and called it a great day at the park! Logan fell asleep in the stroller on the way back and we were, again, super-grateful we rented a stroller for him.
So, what's the verdict on EPCOT? We loved it, and I have a strong desire to go back to:
a) take our time and enjoy World Showcase
b) experience Test Track
c) ride Spaceship Earth with the narration in English, and
d) ride Soarin' again, which was Shane's and my favorite ride of all four parks
That said, if someone told me I could only visit 3 parks, I would cry a lot. I would scream and lie on my back and kick the wall with my shoes on, leaving marks on the wallpaper, Ramona Quimby-style. (Sorry, we just finished Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary as our most recent read-aloud.) Kidding aside, if I had to choose one park to eliminate, it would be EPCOT. And it wouldn't be because I dislike EPCOT in any way. Far from it! I loved EPCOT. It would just be because I liked the other parks that much more. This park also happened to be the second-favorite of two of my children!
Stay tuned for my next Disney post... We're headed to Animal Kingdom!
Don't Be Dopey!
After being checked by security, we moved closer to the EPCOT park entrance and became part of a very wide and long line. I could not believe the number of people who just walked past everyone standing in line, thinking they would be able to take a place in front. (Security promptly sent them to the back of the line.) Now, granted, some of these people did have early breakfast reservations, which actually does allow you into the park before it officially opens for the day. (We did this at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and it was the coolest!) But what astounded me was the audacity of the people who didn't have early breakfast reservations and just thought they could bypass everyone else. (The worst was a very whiny teenage boy who complained loudly about how he had to wait in [gasp!] a line.) Oh my word. Don't be Dopey! If you don't have early breakfast reservations, take your proper place in line and be pleasant about it. After all, you are in the happiest place on earth.
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