Epcot: arrival at 10:00am
We laughed as we were arriving at Epcot - it was 10:00am, and lots of people were just arriving to start their day. But we had already experienced every major attraction at Disney Hollywood Studios, and this was our second park of the day! We knew the first thing that must be done - head to Soarin', but not to ride.
Read the rest of this blog series
Part 1 - List of attractions visited
Part 2 - How to plan for such a challenge
Part 3 - Hollywood Studios recap
Part 4 - Epcot recap
Part 5 - Animal Kingdom recap
Part 6 - Magic Kingdom recap
Part 7 - Final concluding thoughts
If you haven't yet read my recap of the first part of the day at Hollywood Studios, check it out before reading this section!
Part 1 - List of attractions visited
Part 2 - How to plan for such a challenge
Part 3 - Hollywood Studios recap
Part 4 - Epcot recap
Part 5 - Animal Kingdom recap
Part 6 - Magic Kingdom recap
Part 7 - Final concluding thoughts
If you haven't yet read my recap of the first part of the day at Hollywood Studios, check it out before reading this section!
Soarin' Fastpass
Getting Soarin' Fastpasses
Anyone who has ever been to Epcot knows that Soarin' has the longest lines, and also the return times for Fastpass are the furthest out. So we had to rush to Soarin' to get Fastpasses before the times were pushed too far out.
Happily, the return time was excellent - 12:05-1:05, or only two hours away. So the goal was to visit the rest of Epcot in those two hours!
Anyone who has ever been to Epcot knows that Soarin' has the longest lines, and also the return times for Fastpass are the furthest out. So we had to rush to Soarin' to get Fastpasses before the times were pushed too far out.
Happily, the return time was excellent - 12:05-1:05, or only two hours away. So the goal was to visit the rest of Epcot in those two hours!
Attraction 5: The Seas with Nemo (10:15am)
At 10:15, while everyone else is either in line for Soarin' or going like lemmings to Spaceship Earth, we were able to walk onto The Seas with Nemo. While there was literally no wait at all, we were slowed down by people walking VERY slowly through the long queue for this attraction. - probably cost us two valuable minutes. So I sort of want to count that long slow walk as a "wait" but technically there was no wait, so I won't.
Nemo is a very nicely done ride that sets the stage for the rest of the Living Seas pavilion. And the technology that makes it look like Nemo and friends are swimming with real fish is very well done. We did laugh at one point when a real shark started swimming towards Nemo and his friends!
Total Wait for Attraction: 0 minutes
Total Wait for entire day so far: 5 minutes
Nemo is a very nicely done ride that sets the stage for the rest of the Living Seas pavilion. And the technology that makes it look like Nemo and friends are swimming with real fish is very well done. We did laugh at one point when a real shark started swimming towards Nemo and his friends!
Total Wait for Attraction: 0 minutes
Total Wait for entire day so far: 5 minutes
Attraction 6: Journey into Imagination (10:25am)
Saying hello to Figment
Staying in the Future World West portion of Epcot, we headed to Journey Into Imagination with Figment. There was no wait, as expected.
As always, I felt this attraction is missing something. You'd think Disney could do a killer attraction about imagination, but it just lacks something. Kids are usually amused by it, but overall it just seems a little, uh, unimaginative.
Total Wait for Attraction: 0 minutes
Total Wait for entire day so far: 5 minutes
As always, I felt this attraction is missing something. You'd think Disney could do a killer attraction about imagination, but it just lacks something. Kids are usually amused by it, but overall it just seems a little, uh, unimaginative.
Total Wait for Attraction: 0 minutes
Total Wait for entire day so far: 5 minutes
Attraction 7: Mission: Space (10:40am)
Time to hit one of the "big guns" of Epcot.
Crowd levels were generally light at Epcot at this time (I suspect partially because the Food and Wine Festival was about to get people to head to the World Showcase portion of Epcot). So it was time for Mission: Space. I was anticipating a 10-15 minute wait but ended up with about a 4 minute wait.
And in case you're curious, we chose the "Green" experience (non-spinning centrifuge) instead of "Orange" (spinning centrifuge). Usually I'd pick Orange, but I couldn't take the chance of nausea this early in the day! Regardless, it's a pretty well done space launch simulation.
Total Wait for Attraction: 4 minutes
Total Wait for entire day so far: 9 minutes
Crowd levels were generally light at Epcot at this time (I suspect partially because the Food and Wine Festival was about to get people to head to the World Showcase portion of Epcot). So it was time for Mission: Space. I was anticipating a 10-15 minute wait but ended up with about a 4 minute wait.
And in case you're curious, we chose the "Green" experience (non-spinning centrifuge) instead of "Orange" (spinning centrifuge). Usually I'd pick Orange, but I couldn't take the chance of nausea this early in the day! Regardless, it's a pretty well done space launch simulation.
Total Wait for Attraction: 4 minutes
Total Wait for entire day so far: 9 minutes
Attraction 8: Gran Fiesta Tour (11:05am)
It's a small Mexico after all...
It was 11:00am. We still had an hour until our Mission: Space Fastpass, so we decided to visit World Showcase and add in some more attractions. First country visited was Mexico, and the Gran Fiesta Tour boat ride. It has been improved with the addition of the Three Caballeros, but I still pretty much consider it a clone of It's a Small World except the geography is limited to Mexico...
Regardless, there was no wait!
Total Wait for Attraction: 0 minutes
Total Wait for entire day so far: 9 minutes
Regardless, there was no wait!
Total Wait for Attraction: 0 minutes
Total Wait for entire day so far: 9 minutes
Attraction 9: Maelstrom (11:19am)
Norway Troll
On to Norway! Maelstrom is a cute boat ride through Norway, with a nifty backwards section after a three-headed troll "curses" you. Too short, but fun.
Once again, arriving only shortly after World Showcase was open, there was no wait for us.
Total Wait for Attraction: 0 minutes
Total Wait for entire day so far: 9 minutes
Once again, arriving only shortly after World Showcase was open, there was no wait for us.
Total Wait for Attraction: 0 minutes
Total Wait for entire day so far: 9 minutes
Touring World Showcase and Sampling Food and Wine Festival
I'm not counting this as an attraction (though I probably should), but we walked through the rest of World Showcase. Epcot's Food and Wine Festival was going on at the time, and we tried several samples of food (no wine - too much to do for that to be a good idea). The shredded pork lettuce wraps from a Korean booth were incredible. Also a fan of the lamb meatball from a New Zealand booth.
Here are photos of me in each Epcot country - you'll notice I'm usually holding some sort of food! I also visited Club Cool to try sodas from around the world
Here are photos of me in each Epcot country - you'll notice I'm usually holding some sort of food! I also visited Club Cool to try sodas from around the world
Mexico
Norway
China
Germany
Italy
America
Japan
Morocco
Paris
United Kingdom
Canada
Club Cool
Attraction 10: Soarin' (12:10pm)
Finally, the Soarin' Fastpass time has arrived!
As usual, there was a moderate wait for Soarin' even using the Fastpass - about 12 minutes. This is to be expected with Soarin' even using Fastpass - it's one of the few attractions where you will still have a wait (albeit much shorter) using Fastpass.
It's fun to note that the 12 minutes of waiting for Soarin' is longer than the first nine attractions I've visited... combined!
Total Wait for Attraction: 12 minutes
Total Wait for entire day so far: 21 minutes
As usual, there was a moderate wait for Soarin' even using the Fastpass - about 12 minutes. This is to be expected with Soarin' even using Fastpass - it's one of the few attractions where you will still have a wait (albeit much shorter) using Fastpass.
It's fun to note that the 12 minutes of waiting for Soarin' is longer than the first nine attractions I've visited... combined!
Total Wait for Attraction: 12 minutes
Total Wait for entire day so far: 21 minutes
Attraction 11: Spaceship Earth (12:32pm)
Final attraction of Epcot was Spaceship Earth. There was no wait (free tip of the day - save Spaceship Earth for last - many people visit it first since it's at the front of the park - we were calling these people the lemmings - the lines decrease dramatically later in the day once all the lemmings have ridden it.)
Spaceship Earth is very well done (other than the "descent" at the end, which is kind of lame) and after already having walked several miles, I enjoyed sitting for fifteen minutes or so!
Total Wait for Attraction: 0 minutes
Total Wait for entire day so far: 21 minutes
Spaceship Earth is very well done (other than the "descent" at the end, which is kind of lame) and after already having walked several miles, I enjoyed sitting for fifteen minutes or so!
Total Wait for Attraction: 0 minutes
Total Wait for entire day so far: 21 minutes
Epcot - COMPLETE!
Before 1pm (when, amazingly, some people are still just arriving for the day), we had completed the seven biggest attractions at Epcot, (along with the four biggest attractions at Hollywood Studios). In addition, we visited each country pavilion in World Showcase and got several food samples from the Food and Wine Festival.
And if you're curious about Test Track - unfortunately it was closed for renovations, so we couldn't include it in the quest. Perhaps next time!
So after completing every major attraction at Epcot, it was time to head to our third Disney park of the day - Animal Kingdom! It was early afternoon - when the infamous Disney crowds hit their peak. Check in to the next blog entry to see if we will be able to successfully tour Animal Kingdom while still leaving enough time for the Magic Kingdom at night!
Read the rest of this blog series
Part 1 - List of attractions visited
Part 2 - How to plan for such a challenge
Part 3 - Hollywood Studios recap
Part 4 - Epcot recap
Part 5 - Animal Kingdom recap
Part 6 - Magic Kingdom recap
Part 7 - Final concluding thoughts
And if you're curious about Test Track - unfortunately it was closed for renovations, so we couldn't include it in the quest. Perhaps next time!
So after completing every major attraction at Epcot, it was time to head to our third Disney park of the day - Animal Kingdom! It was early afternoon - when the infamous Disney crowds hit their peak. Check in to the next blog entry to see if we will be able to successfully tour Animal Kingdom while still leaving enough time for the Magic Kingdom at night!
Read the rest of this blog series
Part 1 - List of attractions visited
Part 2 - How to plan for such a challenge
Part 3 - Hollywood Studios recap
Part 4 - Epcot recap
Part 5 - Animal Kingdom recap
Part 6 - Magic Kingdom recap
Part 7 - Final concluding thoughts
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