Epcot is my second favourite Disney park, very close behind the
Magic Kingdom. I like to think of Epcot as the 'grown up' Disney park as its Disney elements are very subtle. It has some fancy restaurants, masses of shops and some of the most beautiful views you'll ever see. What's not to like?
The park is made up of two main areas: Future World and the World Showcase. It has a large lagoon in the middle of the park where you can actually get a boat to different areas of the World Showcase. You might think this sounds lazy, but Epcot is huge. Make sure you wear comfortable shoes!
Spaceship Earth, Epcot's iconic landmark, is one of the most impressive things you'll see in the whole of Disney World. It is absolutely MASSIVE, and there's a ride inside it! The ride is a very slow and relaxing train which takes you right to the top of the ball while telling you the story of mankind from the very beginning to the present day. Test Track, Mission Space and Journey into Imagination with Figment are also great unique rides which you won't want to miss. All these rides are in Future World, which largely focuses on technological innovations.
After spending the morning in Future World, you definitely need to go for a wander around the World Showcase. Make sure you leave enough time as it's a big area to cover! The World Showcase, without any exaggeration, is one of the most fascinating places I've ever been to. Eleven countries are literally showcased around Epcot's lagoon with restaurants, shops and landmarks accurately reflecting each country's culture and lifestyle. People from each respective country are employed to work in the World Showcase which adds to its authenticity, and everything in the World Showcase is imported from the countries themselves.
China
Germany
The UK!
Morocco
Japan
Italy
As you can see, a huge amount of effort has gone in to making sure the representations are as authentic as possible, and the countries themselves all have a big say in how their own little corner of the World Showcase is depicted. My favourite countries are China, Japan and Italy. I love the food in China and Italy, and China and Japan's gift shops are amazing!
After spending all day in the park, Epcot's night show is a good chance to stop, take in your surroundings and marvel at the beauty of the park. You can watch the night show (Illuminations: Reflections of Earth) from anywhere in the World Showcase area. I'm not going to try to describe the show because I could never do it justice just by using mere words, but I can't think of anyone who wouldn't think it was spectacular. I can see why some people would positively hate the night show at the Magic Kingdom, but Epcot's night show is majestic and isn't cheesy in the slightest. It celebrates the diversity and multicultural nature of Epcot, along with its focus on innovation, and is just an amazing spectacle. They play some fantastic music throughout the show... the memories are actually giving me goosebumps! A firework show is incorporated in to the night show, and it's probably the most impressive firework show in Disney World. So to sum up, Epcot's night show is great and you should definitely witness it at least once!
I met some lovely characters in Epcot this year...
Duffy the Disney Bear, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Donald Duck! Although the park isn't overtly Disney-esque, there are still plenty of opportunities to meet characters if you're in to that kind of thing. I didn't meet any characters when I went to Florida last year, but I wasn't quite so shy this year. Duffy was definitely my favourite character... he even gave my Duffy teddy bear a hug!
Although 'beautiful' is a very overused word, it does pretty much sum up my opinion of Epcot if I could only use one word to describe it. Just look at this view over the lagoon... it's hard to believe that this is in the middle of a Disney World theme park!
I haven't covered half of what I love about Epcot in this blog post as I could go on for ever, but hopefully it's given you a flavour of what Epcot is all about. Have you ever been to Epcot? What was your favourite part?
