One of my regrets from our first trip to Disney was not spending enough time in Epcot. I was pleasantly surprised at how interested the boys were in exploring the countries and how much time we could have spent there. I wanted to avoid making this mistake again but with limited days and lots of ground to cover, I was left with roughly 8 hours there. We arrived around 1:00 and planned to stay for Illuminations at 9:00. That seemed like ample time to ride a few rides and wander around the countries. But as they say, the best laid plans…
In any event, we left our morning at Animal Kingdom and the epic wait time at Primeval Whirl to arrive in time for our 1:30 lunch reservation at Garden Grill. I thought this character meal (Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Harvest Feast) would be good for a few reasons: we would see some key characters (Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale), it is a unique restaurant that rotates through one of the rides, and it offers a good, non-buffet meal.
The restaurant was not at all full when we got there but they seated us at an inside table, which annoyed me a little. Part of the appeal of the restaurant was being able to look down into the Living with the Land ride, which we couldn’t do from our seats. But since it was nearly empty we still had a decent view from above and the boys could go down for a closer look whenever they wanted. The characters immediately started making the rounds – Mickey stopped by first and then Pluto. They were not rushed at all and spent some time signing autographs and goofing around with the boys. Chip and Dale soon followed and were up to similar antics. JB got his autograph book signed and both boys had some great interactions with all of the characters.
The food was really good, although not especially to my kids’ tastes. The meal was served family style and had a good variety of foods to choose from. Blair and I enjoyed it and the boys (who are not big turkey or vegetable lovers) still had plenty to eat with the good variety of sides.
The meal did take a while, which was a little surprising given that every table in the restaurant is served the exact same giant plate of food. But the benefit of the slow service and the restaurant being less crowded was that the characters all came around again. Imagine my surprise though when Mickey had shrunk nearly a foot since his visit a half hour ago!
And then he had magically grown again when we saw him on the way out. Strange! Anyway, the restaurant was so slow that Dale even had time to sit down and check out the menu and give us his recommendations.
All in all, it was a fun character meal. Beware of the rotating restaurant though – make sure your kids know that if they go into the bathroom, their table will be in another place when they come out!
We spent the morning in Animal Kingdom but had saved our FastPasses for the afternoon in Epcot. Of your three FastPasses in Epcot, you can only have one from the “Tier 1” rides, which include Frozen Ever After, Soarin’, Test Track, and IllumiNations. We had a hard time deciding between Soarin’ and Test Track but ultimately went with Test Track. So after lunch we went to Soarin’ to try our luck in the standby line. The wait wasn’t bad at all, probably about half an hour. On our first trip to Disney RB had waited on the line for Soarin’ and then chickened out at the last minute. (And at the exact same time, I was with JB across the park at the Epcot Character Spot and he was chickening out of seeing the characters. How far we have come!) But no worries about that this time around. We all LOVED the ride. It was so much fun. I loved how the ride engages four of your senses – the scents are an especially amazing touch!
Next we visited the Seas with Nemo and Friends, where we went on the Nemo ride and watched Turtle Talk with Crush. The boys had really enjoyed the Monsters Inc interactive show in Magic Kingdom and were excited to go to a similar show. The kids sat up front and the parents sat in the back. We were so excited when we heard Crush ask someone “Hey, what’s your name Little Duuude?” and a tiny familiar voice said “I’m JB.” So cool that he got to talk to Crush!
We also stopped to visit Baymax, and the boys thought it was hilarious that the cast member made them take off their pin lanyards so they didn’t pop Baymax.
We still had some time before our FastPass for Test Track so we headed over to the World Showcase. On our way, we stopped and signed up for Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure. This had been one of RB’s absolute favorite parts of our first trip and was the main the reason I wish we had spent more time in Epcot back then. Two and a half years later and it was still something he was really excited to do. They have upgraded since our last trip so that you can now use your own smartphone instead of having to carry around one of their devices. We signed up and got our phone ready to go and were quickly on our way.
We were starting to have some tired feet so we took the Friendship Boat across the World Showcase Lagoon. We hopped on near Canada and were let off near Morocco. It didn’t save a ton of time but did give us a much needed rest.
After exploring Morocco, we headed to Japan where we watched the talented and entertaining Japanese Taiko drummers and the boys started an Agent P mission. Japan was a great one to pick – it had some really impressive effects. By correctly following the clues, you can make Japanese characters magically appear on rocks, make the wind chimes rattle, and start a waterfall in the koi pond, all in an effort to stop Dr. Doofenschmirtz. Part of the fun of the game is that you really do feel like a secret agent. You’re following the clues and making all these things appear around you, and 99% of the people going by have no idea that it is happening. It’s fun to feel like you are in on something secret. The new smartphone interface was clean and easy to follow and the boys had a great time foiling the evil Dr. Doofenschmirtz. (“Curse you, Perry the Platypus!!!”)
We continued our way around the World Showcase, checking out the different countries and seeking out the delicious jumbo hot pretzels in Germany (which sadly are not counted as a snack on the Disney Dining Plan). At some point during our wanderings, I saw through the Disney App that Test Track was down. Since that was our one Tier 1 FastPass and our window was quickly arriving, I kept an eye on the situation as we made our way around the lagoon. After a while it became clear that it would not be back up and running during our FP window. And then we saw the Disney magic at work. Our FastPasses were automatically updated to what was essentially a wildcard ticket – we could go on any one ride (including Tier 1) at any time before the park closed. We just had to show up and scan our Magic Bands. With that in our pocket, we pondered the possibilities as we headed back towards Future World.
We made one last stop in Mexico to ride the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros. This ride holds a special place in my heart because I will always think of it as the ride that saved our first Disney trip. Epcot was the first park we went to on our trip 2.5 years ago and in their excitement, the boys ran straight onto Spaceship Earth as soon as we entered the park. But they were not prepared for the darkness and the slightly creepy animatronics. I saw our entire Disney trip flash before my eyes when I realized that my highly anxious children were completely freaking out on their very first ride. They had envisioned fun, happy rides and found their first one dark, creepy, and seemingly never-ending. When I saw the looks on their faces at the end, I really didn’t know if we’d be able to get them on another ride the whole trip. As we stood at the entrance to the Three Caballeros and the boys looked ahead and watched anxiously as the boats headed into the darkness, a wonderful cast member saw their concern and came over to talk to them about the ride and gave them a flashlight to take with them. They gave it a go and thought it was the greatest thing ever and our trip was saved. So I was happy to go on it again a few years later and see that they still got a kick out of Donald Duck chasing around his underwear hanging from a kite.
We stopped for some food and some shopping and then we saw that Test Track was back up and running! We headed over and used our FastPasses there. The boys loved designing their own cars, but the concept was a little too abstract for my youngest. We spent all that time designing our car that looked amazing on the screen, and then when we went to get on the ride each car looked exactly alike. Tough for a 5 year old to grasp that your car would “perform” based on how you built it but otherwise not resemble it in any way. It caused some initial confusion but did not take away from his enjoyment of the ride. They really loved that it started inside and went outside. Since it had already gotten dark by then, the effect of going from inside to out seemed especially cool. I was glad that we ended up getting to go on the ride after all.
By this time it was 7:30 and we had been in the parks for over ten and a half hours. And apparently that is about the max for my family. Everybody was done. We had absolutely no shot at staying for the 9:00 IllumiNations show. So we were 0 for 2 on nighttime shows, and you may remember that nighttime shows had been one of the main driving forces behind our park schedule. As I said, the best laid plans…
But we did get some really cool nighttime views of Spaceship Earth. And we left while everyone was still having fun. They were tired but not cranky so I consider that a win.
Epcot Tips and Take-aways
- Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Harvest Feast at the Garden Grill is a worthwhile character meal. The rotating restaurant is unique, the character interaction was great, and the food was good (although perhaps not the most kid-friendly).
- Pick your Tier 1 FastPass for later and go to the other Tier 1 ride(s) as soon as you get to the park. Don’t waste a Tier 1 FastPass on IllumiNations.
- There are a couple of good indoor character meeting spots in Epcot. There are some unique characters that you can only see in Epcot and having them indoors so you can get a break from the heat is a bonus. Just don’t pop Baymax when you hug him!
- Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure is fun for kids of all ages. Stop by and set it up on your way into the World Showcase so that you can start playing whenever you feel like it. You will have a blast.
- Epcot isn’t about the rides. Sure there are a couple of really great rides here but in total I think we only rode 4 rides. We still had so much to do and really didn’t even scratch the surface of the things we could have done there that I know the kids would have enjoyed.
