Why EPCOT is Best

This week in our series “Why _ is Best” we cover the advantages of Disney World’s second park, EPCOT. We think this is a great place to spend a day and want to convince you of the same thing. Something tells me, you may already agree!

EPCOT is an anacronym for experimental prototype community of tomorrow. The original idea was to have an advanced community that would show the world an advanced way of living together. This was going to be the closet thing to living in Disney’s you could get. As much as you would love to live in a Walt Disney designed prototype, the park ultimately went in another direction. I’m glad it did because now I can visit EPCOT as a guest anytime and so can others. EPCOT has become the second most visited Park in Disney World and has positioned itself in the running for “the best park.” Here are some reasons why EPCOT holds its head high when going for the the title, “The Best."

Festivals

Let’s start with festivals. Locals and repeat visitors alike know all about these endearing events. If you don’t know about the festivals, then you should keep reading and exploring so you can enjoy these incredible events. As of now, there are four festivals a year in EPCOT. They are” The Festival of the Arts, The Flower & Garden Festival, The Food & Wine Festival and the Festival of the Holidays.

But why are these festival events legendary? There isn’t one reason, there are many reasons that give a cumulative effect. The visual artwork is world class, the theming is fun and immersive, the feel of vacation sticks on you the whole time, but most of all the culinary side of these events are what tips the scales. You’ll find food delights unique to each festival throughout the park. Notably, each region in the World Showcase will have foods themed to their specific region of the globe. Each festival also has a “theme” and the food largely follows this theme. For example, the Flower & Garden Festival has a lot of “floral” tastes in the foods and also makes use of honey. Now this isn’t to say flavors permeate every dish, but there is a theme. The Art Festival gives each dish an artistic flair that simply isn’t going to be found other places period. The Festivals of the Holidays focuses on the Holidays, and the Food & Wine Festival focuses on very unique foods that represent each country of the World Showcase. The good news is that it doesn’t really matter which festival you go to first unless you just have a strong leaning for a particular event.

Want an added bonus of the festivals? They manipulate the “feels like” crowd. This is how crowded the park feels on your visit versus the actual numbers in park that day. Crowds aren’t always represented accurately using just a visual test. Many times EPCOT will seem very crowded because food booths have drawn crowds from the rides to the outdoor food lines. It may seem counter intuitive to think you will have shorter ride lines at EPCOT during a special event. However, during the day it may play to your favor. The park will "look full” because people are in outdoor lines but the ride times will actually be shorter. Another good “low crowd” time is September (the exception being Labor Day weekend) and the few days between festivals as people are waiting for the new one to start.

Fun Rides & Unique Experiences

The Attractions

EPCOT is home to what is now many peoples new "favorite” attraction, Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind. This is a story coaster and is first class at the top of the pecking order in both quality and fun. That assessment goes not only for EPCOT but for all of Disney. Although Guardians has a height requirement, there are many other rides that the whole family can enjoy together. Test Track is unique not just to Disney, but pretty much everywhere. One exciting thing about Test Track is that you get to design you car and test its performance against the track. Spaceship Earth is something completely special because your ride takes place in “THE giant EPCOT ball” (geosphere) and then exits the riders in a futuristic exploration center. The Land & Seas Pavilion offer everything from an aquarium to an exploration in an inventive oversized green house that explores new growing and farming methods. This ride (Living on the Land) is criminally underated. If you know, you know. Soarin’ is a must do for everyone and Ratatouille is just what EPCOT needed for a little dose of fantasy in an otherwise “real world” park. The ride scene is strong in EPCOT and enjoyable for any age or taste.

Culinary Scene

So, we like to talk about food a lot and we have found a lot of people who share that passion. EPCOT is the scene where you can try amazing restaurants that represent their country accurately. Just how good are some of these restaurants in the world show case? A couple of restaurants here are vying for a Michelin status food rating. If you don’t know what that is, google it, it’s a big deal. At EPCOT, people move from their respected countries to serve you as authentically as you can get here in the states. The French Pavilion is especially phenomenal at giving you the expected experience of France in restaurants like Monsieur Paul. Basically, this type of culinary diversity is a huge reasons adults love EPCOT. The food scene is good, diverse, plenty and strong. Here https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/#/reservations-accepted/ is a link to Disney’s official dining list for places to eat in EPCOT. It is always best to reference Disney’s website for this as options and availability change.

Nighttime

People like nighttime at EPCOT for different reasons. I like this experience mostly because of the work that Disney’s Imaginerrs have put in this park. The neon and futuristic designs feel like motion and energy are everywhere. Another plus for EPCOT nights are that it is much cooler in the summer at this time. The last bonus is that most of the crowds are in the World Showcase leaving you with an almost deserted (by Disney standards) half of the park. At this time waits for attractions drop drastically. You can take advantage of this or you may be just as inclined to keep your eyes open and feast in the visual experiences that are EPCOT.

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