Epcot

Reviews 4

CH

Chad D

If you are thinking of coming to Epcot for the "rides", you may not be looking for the right thing here. Epcot has rides, but nothing like thrill-rides at amusement parks like Six Flags, where roller coasters are the main attraction. If youre looking for adventure, excitement on record-breaking coasters, seek them elsewhere. Epcot provides something different. This park is designed around shaping the future, with a better tomorrow as the goal. The only way to improve tomorrow, is to educate the youth of today. Walt Disney knew this better than most when he and his team conceived the idea for this place. A visit here will expand the horizons of every visitor, young or just young-at-heart. Much of what youll experience here is full of edutainment, heck, even education. They even have a research lab on site doing research on better ways to grow food. You can even take a tour, if you pay the $25. If you spend your time at the indoor attractions, you can even get away without applying sunscreen. ;-) The Seas pavilion is amazing. If you start with the Finding Nemo ride, you get a preview of their aquarium, which is one of the largest in the country. Do not miss the manatees. Go inside the round viewing area of the aquarium, if youre lucky, youll get to see scuba divers in addition to the outstanding collection of creatures, and they often come to you & pose for pictures. Remember, flashes bounce off glass. Kids will get a kick out of talking with Crush the sea turtle, which is incredibly interactive. The Land pavilion has a short but very impressive ride called Soarin. Fastpass this one, or the wait is killer. Another great one, where you get a quick preview of their lab is called Living With The Land, a "boat" ride with no splashing. Its very interesting & showcases some very cool new farming techniques. Then there are character meet & greets with Bay-Max, Joy & Sadness, then also three main classics together, Mickey, Goofy, & Minnie. We saw one of the last showings of Ellens Energy Adventure, which is probably closed now, so all I will say, is that I cant wait to see what replaces it. Test Track is cool, enjoy the experience. We love it. Then there is the World Showcase, a circular concourse with pavilions featuring the culture & architectural styles of many countries with concentration on North America & Eurasia. Theres a scavenger hunt with something to find or do at each country. A great day-spanning activity for kids over five-ish. The countries also feature relevant foods & drinks. The day caps off with an impressive show of lights, fireworks & fire over the lake. The fire is huge & HOT. You can feel the heat from across the lake. Make sure to get a spot where you can see the globe. It is the shops centerpiece, and is covered with moving pictures.

---

AN

Anto Grayo

Educational in areas and a good opportunity to culture yourself, but instead of investing time into really understanding the potential diversity on offer, EPCOT would rather try to flog you items from each country at extortionate prices. There are some really good concepts, like the pixar short film screening (although it is really short!) and the Soarin simulation (brilliant ride). But both of these attractions are really short and leave you wanting more. Other attractions are interesting and educational but can struggle not to leave you feeling bored. The food is rather expensive and my advice to you is "in for a penny, in for a pound". The average meal is $20 main which goes up to $30+ if you add drinks. In each country showcase you will find 2 restaurants; one more expensive than the other and my advice is to go for the more expensive as the quality is pretty good. I myself went to Japan for the Teppanyaki (Hibachi) which was delicious and very entertaining, but the meal (meat, noodles, 2 cocktails and a beer) cost me $74). Great experience, but not advised if you are on a budget. There are opportunities to meet characters from the Disney universe around the park and a few cinematic and theatrical performances/ screenings in some of the countries showcasing a bit of history and/or cultre relating to that country. At 9 oclock (pm) the park closes with a fireworks show that is pretty spectacular and is definitely worth staying for if you find yourself still in the park by afternoon. All in all, EPCOT is an interesting place that is definitely worthy of a place on your bucket list if you cant afford to go to the actual countries featured in the showcase, but I would say the park is more suitable for children, families and elder adults. If you are in the age range of 15-31 and looking at theme parks, I suggest looking at universal or somewhere else in Orlando. Disneys EPCOT does not offer much in the way of thrills.

---

DA

David Parry

I am genuinely saddened, Epcot used to be one of my favourite places, however after my recent visits in 2014 and 2017, I do not think I can bring myself to visit again. Epcot needs to decide if it is a family theme park or a place for people to get drunk at the world showcase, it cannot be both. My son was elbowed in the face (which resulted in a nose bleed) in Mexico by a guy who had way to many by 1pm, I witnessed a girl staggering and vomiting in the UK around 2pm (which makes it more authentic I suppose) all the while intermingled with families with young kids. Historically, prior to fast pass plus, we have been able to get on 20 to 30 rides per day without issue, however since fast pass plus, we have been lucky to be able to go on 10 per day, in the case of our last visit we only managed 6. I have been visiting the various Disney parks pretty regularly since the mid-80s, and am sad to say that they are very much diminishing in quality. A day at Epcot has always been an exhausting but fun experience, however these days it just feels unrewarding, between the long lines for every ride (3 hours for Soarin & Test Track), the awful and unfair fast pass plus system, it seems that Disney has forgotten that golden rule that people are supposed to enjoy themselves while being fleeced of hard earned cash. Its a pity that they are putting profit before the magic. My advice: *1 Set a daily limit on tickets so the park doesnt become horrifically overcrowded. *2 Revert to the old fast pass system which was equal and fair. *3 Incorporate the park hopper option into the standard daily price. *4 Be more vigilant on alcohol sales. *5 If you are going to keep Fast Pass Plus, at least allow people to book up to nine rides per day in advance.

---

GA

Gabrielle Nelson

Although Epcot is a great place to go especially for young children to learn and explore the world around us Im only giving it two stars. We will not be back to Epcot and here is why, the staff there is extremely rude. We come to Disney world at least once every year & this year instead of magic kingdom we decided to try out Epcot. Magic kingdoms staff is amazing theyre extremely helpful and they literally go out of their way to be nice. Epcot on the other hand lacked this completly. There were several occasions where we would ask someone directions etc and their answers were short & rude. I never thought that someone who hated their job so much would continue to work at that place. There was a point in time were an older lady named Nancy started screaming at a child in crushs turtle talk because he laid down. She started yelling at him saying that it isnt nap time and he can not lay down & was extremely rude to the audience instead of insturcting is where to sit it was more like dictating. So many people got upset that they left. Another instance was a worker gave my 4 year old daughter at card with a lanyard on it, he proceeded to tell us that we needed to give it to the second staff member. Well we couldnt find any until the end of the ride so my husband gave the girl the card and asked oh, what is this for? She just snatched it out of his hand and said give me that. There are other stories that I could share. But to get to the point im not pleased with the staff & for that reason we will never go to Epcot again.

---

---

Other organizations