Episode 22
Exploring Epcot: A Comprehensive Overview of Walt Disney World's Second Park
Epcot, the second park established within the Walt Disney World complex, epitomizes a remarkable evolution from its original conception as an educational city envisioned by Walt Disney to a vibrant theme park that now boasts an array of attractions and experiences catering to diverse audiences. This episode delves into the extensive transformations Epcot has undergone since its inception, highlighting its unique appeal as a destination primarily for adults. We explore the park's rich tapestry of dining options, cultural experiences, and the myriad of festivals that punctuate its calendar, emphasizing Epcot's role as a hub of culinary delights and international celebrations. Additionally, we reflect on the park's historical significance, tracing the shifts in its attractions from the educational focus of yesteryear to the thrilling rides and character encounters that define its contemporary allure. Join us as we navigate through the history, evolution, and current offerings of Epcot, uncovering what makes this park a quintessential component of the Disney experience.
Takeaways:
- Epcot, originally envisioned as a city by Walt Disney, has undergone significant transformations over the decades.
- The park is renowned for its educational attractions, offering a diverse range of experiences for adult visitors.
- Dining at Epcot is unparalleled, featuring an extensive variety of cuisines from around the globe, suitable for all tastes.
- The World Showcase serves as a cultural hub, allowing guests to immerse themselves in the traditions and flavors of various countries.
- Epcot hosts numerous seasonal festivals that enhance the visitor experience, especially during the Food and Wine Festival.
- The park's evolution has led to the introduction of thrilling rides that attract a wide array of guests, including families and adults.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Walt Disney World
- Universal Studios
- Epcot
- Magic Kingdom
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Mission Space
- Soarin
- Living with the Land
- Garden Grill
- Remy's Ratatouille Adventure
- Voices of Liberty
- Festival of the Arts
- Food and Wine
- Flower and Garden
- Jollywood Nights
- Coca Cola
Transcript
Foreign episode of the Wands and Wishes podcast.
Speaker A:Thanks for joining us.
Speaker A:I'm Tony Desiri along with Lauren Mallard of all the Magic Travel.
Speaker A:And this is the second of our in depth series as we go over the parks of Walt Disney World and Universal Studios.
Speaker A:We did the Magic Kingdom a week ago, so you can check that out on the podcast library.
Speaker A:And now we're going to the second park that was created at the Walt Disney World complex, and that is Epcot, or as I remember it, Epcot Center.
Speaker A:And boy, that is a park that has a lot of change.
Speaker A:It was originally thought of by Walt Disney as a city, not a theme park, a city.
Speaker A:And he wanted everything to be in an epicenter.
Speaker A:You can still see remnants of that idea when you go on the People Mover Tomorrowland.
Speaker A:You can go through a model of that.
Speaker A: But after he passed away in: Speaker A:And at the time it was an educational theme park.
Speaker A:Not a lot of thrill rides.
Speaker A:Not really, really any rides, to be honest with you.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker A:But it was very educational and there were no characters.
Speaker A:And it had a lot of people wondering, what exactly is this?
Speaker A:And over the years, it has really changed absolute dramatically over the years.
Speaker A:And now it has one of the most exciting roller coasters in the all of the four parks.
Speaker A:And it also has a lot of different types of rides that are just some of the more popular attractions at Walt Disney World.
Speaker A:Hi, Lauren, how are you?
Speaker B:I'm good.
Speaker B:How are you, Tony?
Speaker A:So I thought of this question as I was preparing for this park to go over this park, I thought of this question, and this is more of as a Disney adult, if I were to have, if I needed to go to Orlando for business and, you know, I had maybe two days of conferences and a free day, and the company that brought me down there said, hey, for the free day, we're going to offer you one day ticket to any of the theme parks in the Magic Kingdom.
Speaker A:Enjoy yourself, have a good time.
Speaker A:What park would I choose?
Speaker A:And I'm thinking to myself, if I was going all by myself and I started going, where would I go all by myself?
Speaker A:And the answer was Epcot.
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker A:Okay, yeah, the answer was Epcot.
Speaker A:And I think a lot of it is because while Magic Kingdom has a great fantasy element to it and it's got great nostalgia, I think this is more of the adult theme park.
Speaker B:It really is.
Speaker B:And, you know, I've actually got.
Speaker B:Got two sets of clients that are in Walt Disney World this week that are just adults.
Speaker B:And the amount of time that both of those sets of clients have spent in Epcot is so much bigger than my typical client of a family that's there for a week.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A:And if you're going with children, obviously the Magic Kingdom and the.
Speaker A:And the whimsical fantasy of.
Speaker A:Of that park plus Star Wars.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But while I'm not going to tell you that that Epcot's not for kids, it certainly has frozen.
Speaker A:But this is where drinking around the world is.
Speaker A:This is where the real dining experiences are.
Speaker A:This is where some of the, again, more adult sort of entertainment.
Speaker A:You're going to see festivals and shows and concerts and nostalgic concerts of 80s music stars.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's a little bit more, again, on that idea of.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:If you're two adults going, or three adults, or you're going with a party of adult friends, this is the park you're probably going to go to the most.
Speaker B:Yeah, I like to think of it as like a browsing park.
Speaker B:So, like, if you want to just kind of Meander through the World showcase, you definitely can do that, especially right now.
Speaker B:And we're going to talk about the different festivals, but you can go in and see the different paintings that are available for Festival of the Arts.
Speaker B:You can go in all the shops.
Speaker B:There's some pretty unique things.
Speaker B:It's not going to be all Disney themed, so you can really use that time to just.
Speaker B:Just kind of sit back, just take a deep breath and just enjoy yourself throughout Epcot.
Speaker A:As I mentioned earlier, I'm old enough to remember the opening of the park.
Speaker A: years old, went in: Speaker A:And everyone was buzzing about it, though, even back then, because it was going to open in October of that year and I think we had gone like a few months prior.
Speaker A: And I remember in: Speaker A:And I'm not going to lie, I thought it was incredibly boring.
Speaker A:I thought it was terribly boring and I didn't know what the fuss was about.
Speaker A:And, yeah, it was cool to be in the ball and it was.
Speaker A:And animatronics was still kind of new to me as a kid and seeing how that worked, that was kind of a new experience.
Speaker A:But I can specifically remember riding Universe of Energy, going through the dinosaurs and, like, hearing, like, for the next 22 minutes, we're going to show you how oil is extracted.
Speaker A:And while my parents might have Thought, this is great.
Speaker A:That's not.
Speaker A:I didn't go to.
Speaker A:I didn't go on vacation to go to school.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:And I wasn't interested in any of that.
Speaker B:It's kind of bad when back in the day, the most exciting attraction at Epcot was Body Wars.
Speaker A:Right, Body wars, exactly.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:And there were no characters.
Speaker A:And while I.
Speaker A:I thought Figment was a great, cute character, it wasn't an iconic Disney character.
Speaker A:So this is not what you were seeing in the original Epcot Center.
Speaker A:And as history, you know, goes, Michael Eisner famously went to the parks when he took over as CEO of the company.
Speaker A:And he.
Speaker A:And he was walking through Epcot and he was wondering, where's Mickey?
Speaker A:And they said, oh, Mickey's not really here.
Speaker A:And he's like, well, we're changing that.
Speaker A:And that's.
Speaker A:It became a place where he could see some characters off to the side.
Speaker A:But what he wanted was a little bit more popular in a.
Speaker A:In a park that didn't really have a lot of pop, other than these sort of slow moving, dark, educational rides that, as I find out later, as I've gotten older, nostalgia has really kicked in because you can find Horizons T shirts.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Like people who remember the old attractions and remember when they were great and remember they were awesome.
Speaker B:And that's right.
Speaker A:Boy, that was.
Speaker A:Someday we're gonna be looking back and someone's gonna go, I can't believe Guardians of the Galaxy replaced Universe of Energy.
Speaker B:I miss that man.
Speaker A:So much.
Speaker A:Like it' it was.
Speaker A:It's tapping into a nostalgia from the 80s for kids who went there, who all admit it was pretty.
Speaker A:Pretty boring park, but now it's one of the more exciting, fun parks to go to it.
Speaker B:Definitely.
Speaker B:Yes, it's definitely evolved.
Speaker B:And we'll talk about, you know, just the changes.
Speaker B:I don't even know what to call parts of Epcot anymore.
Speaker A:Right, exactly.
Speaker B:Because everything has changed.
Speaker B:But, yeah, it's definitely, definitely evolved.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:It starts with that iconic ball as you walk in and you see Spaceship Earth.
Speaker A:This.
Speaker A:This ride has not changed all that much other than the voices has changed.
Speaker A:They've done a little bit more in terms of the interactive game, but this is a trip through communication.
Speaker A:So if you want to see some really great animatronics, I mean, this is some of Disney's finest animatronic works.
Speaker A:The one thing about this ride that I will say is every time I'm on it again, I.
Speaker A:I like it.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:It's one of the rides I go on, I feel dated I feel like I can.
Speaker A:I can see the grinding.
Speaker A:I wish they would just kind of re.
Speaker A:Refurbish this a little bit.
Speaker B:That would be really, really nice if we could get a little bit better track that moves a little smoother.
Speaker B:Everything else the same.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:The smell and the fire smell, that's.
Speaker A:That's great.
Speaker A:But, yeah, you can feel like, okay, this one's.
Speaker A:This one.
Speaker A:But the engineering of that is incredible.
Speaker B:It really is.
Speaker A:And if you go through, like, what they.
Speaker A:You know how to windproof that during hurricanes?
Speaker A:I mean, it's pretty intense.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But it's.
Speaker A:It's slow moving.
Speaker A:And if you have little kids, I would would think that this is a good place for them to sort of veg out for a little bit.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And I think for kids, this is probably, like, number one on their list for Epcot until they actually get in there and they realize what it is.
Speaker B:But, you know, I still cool at the end of the day.
Speaker B:It's one of those things you got to say.
Speaker B:I went inside the ball at Epcot.
Speaker A:So now I always tell people, don't go right away.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:That's the first thing people jump onto.
Speaker A:It's right there, wait till the end, because you can get.
Speaker A:You can pretty much walk on it towards the end of the night.
Speaker A:So I would skip this and move on.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Now, because Walt Disney World is in the spoke.
Speaker A:It's sort of the spoke, the wheels design.
Speaker A:It means that you can, you know, the shortest point between two spots is a straight line.
Speaker A:You can find a straight line way to get to the center and get to where you're going.
Speaker A:Epcot is a gigantic park.
Speaker B:It really, really is.
Speaker A:I mean, there is just no if, ands, or buts about this.
Speaker A:You are walking.
Speaker B:There are no shortcuts, really.
Speaker B:And especially when all the construction was going all along, you kind of had to go around the world just to get.
Speaker B:Just to get a little bit aways over to, like, the land, to be able to do Soarin or something like that, and that's kind of gotten a little bit better.
Speaker B:But, yeah, there's no easy way to tour Epcot, and so you have to kind of go in with a plan and a strategy so that you see certain attractions within a time period and then move to another section of the park.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:I mentioned earlier Guardians of the Galaxy, and this is the one you've got to get that virtual queue for.
Speaker A:You better land this quick.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:I actually did that this morning for a guest.
Speaker A:Oh, nice.
Speaker B:So, yeah, so the best.
Speaker B:If you're wondering what a virtual queue is, this is the free way to experience Guardians of the Galaxy.
Speaker B:And so what you do is you go in and pre select your party maybe by like 6:55 Eastern Time, it's going to drop at 7:00am and so you can get to a page on the app that's says refresh at the bottom.
Speaker B:Once you have your party selected, you can start refreshing that at 6:59 until it gets to 7.
Speaker B:And it'll say join virtual Queue.
Speaker B:And you will either get a group number or you will get.
Speaker B:I'm sorry, the queue is full.
Speaker B:Full.
Speaker B:But so once you're in a group, then when your group is called, you'll get a little ding on your phone and you'll head to the line and then it's.
Speaker B:It works kind of like a standby line at that point.
Speaker B:It's not a lightning lane, but it guarantees you a spot in line.
Speaker A:And this is to prevent a three hour wait, a four hour wait, so you don't go standing and standing there and waiting trying to get first come, first serve kind of situation.
Speaker A:This is, I think this is one of Disney's great, great coasters.
Speaker A:It's, it's smooth, it's fun, it's, it's unique in that it breaks away and it goes backwards and spins and.
Speaker A:But on the scale of coasters for you, especially a mother of little ones, how do you put it compared to rock and roll, Roller coaster, Everest, Big Thunder Mountain.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So before we wrote it, I think Chris wrote it before I did and he said, I feel like it's kind of a hybrid of rock and roller coaster, Everest and Space Mountain, because you kind of get components of all three of those.
Speaker B:I find the intensity to be similar to rock and roller coaster.
Speaker B:I have said before, I can't do Guardians.
Speaker B:I did it one time and I said, I can't ever do that again.
Speaker B:I think it's.
Speaker B:And I can do Everest.
Speaker B:I can go backwards on Everest.
Speaker B:I don't know what it is about Guardians that does that to me, but I will say Guardians is the smoothest of all of the coasters in Walt Disney World.
Speaker B:It's got a lower height requirement than Rock and Roller Coaster.
Speaker B:So if you've got a kid that's tall enough to ride it, certainly give it a go, see if they can do it.
Speaker B:But the intensity is going to be pretty far up there too.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I think too, another thing to consider.
Speaker A:And I was, my wife was.
Speaker A:She's brought this up because she Liked the coaster, but it was very chaotic because there's a.
Speaker A:There's music, it's a soundtrack, there's noise.
Speaker A:It's like Tron.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, like, Tron is a loud.
Speaker A:Every rock and roller coaster, same thing.
Speaker A:Hits you with so many different.
Speaker A:It's sensory overload.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:Like, there's so much going on.
Speaker A:You're seeing things.
Speaker A:You're hearing things at a loud volume.
Speaker A:You're moving.
Speaker A:You're moving in different directions.
Speaker B:You don't know what direction you're going.
Speaker A:And for some people, it's the most thrilling thing.
Speaker A:For some people, there's.
Speaker A:They can only take so much of that.
Speaker A:So, again, if you're one.
Speaker A:If you're prone to saying, gee, I went on rock and roll, roller coaster, and it just bombarded me too much.
Speaker A:And it was.
Speaker A:Yeah, Guardians, give it a try.
Speaker A:But it may.
Speaker A:You.
Speaker A:I'm warning you, that's gonna be the same kind of experience.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:But as I mentioned, this replaced universe of energy, which, again, was a cool, animatronic thing, but it was really more educational.
Speaker A:And now they're trying to get into the more.
Speaker A:Let's give some real energy and some exciting rides.
Speaker A:And they certainly landed.
Speaker A:And also, to some.
Speaker A:Some ip, this.
Speaker A:This was a park that lacked IP for a long time, and now they're doing that.
Speaker A:All right, is there any more ride in all of Walt Disney World that is as controversial as Mission Space?
Speaker B:That's a great point.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:I think you're right.
Speaker A:It has its haters.
Speaker A:I mean, haters.
Speaker B:I'm one of them.
Speaker A:And it has its, you know, people who just absolutely love it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:There is almost no in between.
Speaker A:It is people who, like, I will never ride that again.
Speaker A:I don't know why.
Speaker A:Blow that thing up.
Speaker A:Start all over again.
Speaker A:To people saying, I think it's great.
Speaker A:I wanted to train as an astronaut one day.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:This is as close as I'm ever going to get to the G forces, you know?
Speaker B:And I think it's confusing, too, because if you don't know going into it, there are two sides to it.
Speaker B:It's kind of like your.
Speaker B:Your centrifuge ride at a fair.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:So I did that one time at the fair, and it unfortunately ended very, very poorly.
Speaker B:And I realized that I could never do another centrifuge.
Speaker B:So to that point, I've never been on Mission Space, even the green version, because I was just scarred for life.
Speaker B:And so it's your centrifuge.
Speaker B:And so the green version is not going to be as full a full experience.
Speaker B:It's going to be milder.
Speaker B:And then you have the orange version, which is going to be a full centrifuge type attraction.
Speaker B:If you have motion sickness, I beg you, don't do this.
Speaker B:But I think a lot of people don't realize that going in.
Speaker B:They don't even know which side should I try?
Speaker B:And it's kind of like.
Speaker B:Like that confusion of it all.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:They.
Speaker A:They're.
Speaker A:It's not a.
Speaker A:I'm glad you brought that centrifuge because I didn't know for years that that's.
Speaker A:That's what it was.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, I would go on it as a teenager and a young adult.
Speaker A:I didn't know what made it the way it was.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And then one day I real.
Speaker A:You know, they say, oh, yeah, it spins around like.
Speaker A:Like the county fair.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I'm like, oh, is that what it does?
Speaker A:Oh, okay, that.
Speaker A:Then I'll get it.
Speaker A:This was designed by astronauts with the help.
Speaker A:With the help of astronauts.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:To give you a sensation of weightlessness.
Speaker A:To give you the sensation of the.
Speaker A:You would feel taking off.
Speaker A:And for some people, it is a thrilling experience to have that.
Speaker A:But for others, it's not.
Speaker A:It's not something that can just mess you up momentarily.
Speaker A:It can bother you the whole day.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A:If it's.
Speaker A:If it's 95 degrees outside, you might be feeling that turn in your stomach all day if you're not used to that kind of thing.
Speaker A:This is a ride that replaced Horizons, and Horizons has its lovers.
Speaker A:I mean, people really miss that.
Speaker A:That was a kind of a cool, cool ride.
Speaker A:You got to choose, like, if you wanted to go space, land, sea.
Speaker A:It was kind of.
Speaker A:It was kind of before its time.
Speaker A:But I.
Speaker A:I've got.
Speaker A:As I've gotten older, I've gotten less and less interested in mission space.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think they could definitely use that space and kind of evolve that a little bit.
Speaker A:A little more.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Test Track is a cool way, cool thing to talk about because we don't have any idea what it's going to be.
Speaker B:Oh, I'm so excited to see test track 3.0.
Speaker B:And let's see, you know, let's see what we're gonna get.
Speaker A:But I'm really excited it's going to open up later this year.
Speaker A:So your guess is as good as ours as to what Test Track is going to be.
Speaker A:This was World of Motion, and this was a dark ride that just went through transportation.
Speaker A:And then it became one of the more Popular rides in the park because it was a way for you to design a car and then see that car go through different methods of testing handling, suspension, speed, etc, and it kind of this accelerating, banked turn that went.
Speaker B:It was the only thrill ride.
Speaker A:It was the only thing.
Speaker A:You're right.
Speaker A:It was the only thrill ride.
Speaker A:And it was.
Speaker A:It was a very cool change from World of Motion to that.
Speaker A:Now we'll see what they're.
Speaker A:What they're going to do.
Speaker B:Super fun.
Speaker A:Well, you got that track, so you better do.
Speaker A:You better keep that.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:So again, we.
Speaker A:We don't know is.
Speaker A: It'll open later on in: Speaker A:So let's go over.
Speaker A:If you're walking into Epcot, and let's move over to the right side.
Speaker A:Journey under the Sea with Nemo.
Speaker A:Simple Disney kind of ride with a little cartoon Nemo and friends.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Giving you a.
Speaker A:A sort of a fun ride.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:This is a good spot for if you've got little kids, if you've got toddlers, start them here.
Speaker B:It's a dark ride, but it's not a scary ride.
Speaker B:So go ahead and take them in there.
Speaker B:They'll be able to see Nemo.
Speaker B:And then when you come out, you can go in the aquarium.
Speaker B:And there's gonna be some little Nemo and Dory fish in the aquarium.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's cool.
Speaker A:A lot of people don't realize the aquarium, it's.
Speaker A:There's a.
Speaker A:It's rather big.
Speaker A:It's got a lot of different fish.
Speaker A:A lot to see in the aquarium.
Speaker A:I mean, yeah, it's not Sea World, but it' was trying to bring an element of that to.
Speaker A:To Epcot Center.
Speaker A:Now we're going to go over to the Land Pavilion.
Speaker A:The Land Pavilion has two rides, Soarin and Living with the Land, which is one of the more popular rides for people.
Speaker A:Living with the Land is kind of a cool ride.
Speaker B:I really enjoy it.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I like it.
Speaker A:Lori thinks it's boring.
Speaker A:I think it's fascinating.
Speaker A:I find it fascinating every time I go on it.
Speaker A:Yes, it's a boat ride that will go through the ag.
Speaker A:This is going to sound terrible because this is the way I'm describing it sounds bo Agricultural advancements in Walt Disney World.
Speaker B:But I think it's so neat where they tell us, you know, this is where a lot of the food from the restaurants comes from in Epcot and all across Walt Disney World.
Speaker B:And you can see how they're growing it there.
Speaker B:And it's really interesting what They've built just to be able to manufacture just for themselves.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:Just for themselves.
Speaker A:You're right.
Speaker A:And the way they have all sorts of different, you know, the tomatoes, the trees for the different fruits and vegetables and all of that, that I find it great.
Speaker A:I think it's a fun ride.
Speaker A:It's relaxing.
Speaker A:I think it's one of the best educational rides at the park.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And while we're in the land, one of my favorite restaurants at, at Epcot is in there called Garden Grill.
Speaker B:And so you can actually kind of get a little sneak peek into living with the Land, because that restaurant rotates very, very slowly.
Speaker B:You don't even realize you're moving.
Speaker B:But you get to see parts of living with the land while you're dining.
Speaker B:And then all the food that you eat there, all the vegetables, at least all the produce comes from living with Land.
Speaker A:And it's a character D experience too.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:So you want to check that out if you're looking for character dining experiences.
Speaker A:Garden Grill is fantastic.
Speaker A:And then there's Soarin.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:This came from California.
Speaker A:California had it in its California Park.
Speaker A:And then they brought it to Disney World.
Speaker A:They brought it to Epcot Center.
Speaker A:And if you're afraid of heights, this is not going to help you whatsoever.
Speaker A:Even if you don't go high up.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:It's just the optical perception that you're high up.
Speaker A:It's a hang gliding ride through various parts of the world.
Speaker B:Very cool, very relaxing.
Speaker B:I love this ride.
Speaker B:I want to do it every time I'm there.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:I think it.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:There.
Speaker A:There's something about the technology of this.
Speaker A:It's great.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I thought, when I, I wrote it at Disneyland years ago, and I thought it was soaring over California, which is what they had originally before they changed it to Soarin.
Speaker A:Around the world.
Speaker A:I think the technology is great.
Speaker A:It's so fun.
Speaker A:They've done a little bit better with the projection because I know the famous leaning, Leaning Eiffel Tower.
Speaker A:I think they fixed that a little bit.
Speaker A:But again, you.
Speaker A:I've done this with my wife where she goes, I'm afraid of heights.
Speaker A:I'm like, well, you're not really that high up.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But she's like, it doesn't matter.
Speaker A:I feel like I'm high up.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I didn' that until I did virtual reality goggles.
Speaker A:And when I.
Speaker A:When I'm high up on something, I go, hey, I know I'm standing in my office.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:But yet I feel like I'm 90ft again.
Speaker A:So I get the feet wobbling thing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So she doesn't ride it.
Speaker A:I ride it.
Speaker A:So there you go.
Speaker A:And then there's water with Moana.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Which is a very cool walkthrough experience.
Speaker B:I think it is awesome.
Speaker B:Again, a great area for little kids.
Speaker B:If you've got toddlers, take them through this.
Speaker B:Even if you don't have toddlers, this is kind of neat.
Speaker B:It's interactive.
Speaker B:The water will kind of play along with you.
Speaker B:And then, of course, Moana is also there to meet.
Speaker B:And GRE outside of Journey into Water with Moana.
Speaker A:And then there's the last one.
Speaker A:Figment.
Speaker A:Journey into your imagination.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Now, we talked a lot about some controversy that's gone on with Epcot, and anytime you change a park, it doesn't matter.
Speaker A:There's going to be people that will scream about the old days.
Speaker A:They'll scream about what you're doing with it.
Speaker A:This one.
Speaker A:This one is the weirdest history of all the attractions at Disney World, because when it first came along, was sponsored by Kodak, and it was a rather long ride.
Speaker A:Yeah, it was a big ride.
Speaker A:It was a long ride.
Speaker A:It featured Figment and Dream, Dreamfinder, and it was one of the more technologically great experiences.
Speaker A:It was the best part of going when I was 12.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:Like, that was the coolest ride I remember.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And then cuts came and they trimmed the ride, and now it just doesn't have an identity.
Speaker A:It doesn't know what it wants to be.
Speaker A:It's done a number of iterations.
Speaker A:The one now, Journey into your imagination.
Speaker A:With Figment, it's.
Speaker A:If you.
Speaker A:If you're new to it, that's great.
Speaker A:But if you're old to.
Speaker A:If you've been to every iteration, it's not the best iteration of.
Speaker A:Of them all.
Speaker A:But Figment is an original IP of Epcot Center.
Speaker A:So I tell people all the time, go to it.
Speaker A:I'm not going to tell you you're gonna have.
Speaker A:It's the best ride in the park, but at least you're gonna get to experience one of the great characters of the park.
Speaker B:Park, yes.
Speaker A:People line up for two hours for a popcorn bucket because of Figment.
Speaker B:That I'll never understand.
Speaker A:They love Figment, so.
Speaker A:But that.
Speaker A:That is the one that you'll see in the front of the park.
Speaker A:Now we go to the World Showcase.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Once again, as a.
Speaker A:As a kid, I got it.
Speaker A:But as an adult, I got it even more.
Speaker A:How cool this is.
Speaker A:This is one of the cool experiences.
Speaker A:So do we have to go to.
Speaker A:We have to go to Mexico, right?
Speaker B:Well, you know, I guess if we're over here at Figment, I guess we can start at Canada if we must.
Speaker B:So we can go either way.
Speaker A:We can walk all the way over to Mexico.
Speaker A:That's we always recommend walk to Mexico.
Speaker A:Do it clockwise, don't do it counterclockwise.
Speaker A:I always see the counterclockwise people.
Speaker A:I don't know what they're doing.
Speaker A:Yeah, Mexico.
Speaker A:There's a couple of things here that I.
Speaker A:Grand Fiesta Tour is my favorite ride.
Speaker B:I love it.
Speaker A:I think it's great.
Speaker A:I just love the music.
Speaker A:I love the silliness of it.
Speaker A:I love the cartoon on the wall.
Speaker A:My.
Speaker A:My family thinks I'm crazy.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:I just think it's a great ride.
Speaker B:You gotta do it and you typically don't have to wait but maybe five minutes to ride this one.
Speaker B:So go ahead and do it.
Speaker B:It's gonna be the style of It's a Small World.
Speaker B:Boats are gonna be the same.
Speaker B:But it's.
Speaker B:It's a nice way to cool off before you walk the rest of the way around the world.
Speaker A:And all of the stuff is within the temple.
Speaker A:Most of the stuff anyways.
Speaker A:Within the temple there's a shopping center, there's a restaurant, and then there's the ride.
Speaker A:So it's kind of a cool experience to walk in, get a little cool and see all sorts different things you can do to do and buy.
Speaker A:We'll get to some of the restaurants down the road, but I want to get over to Norway.
Speaker A:And this is where you're going to find Frozen ever after.
Speaker A:Get in, get a lightning lane for this one or you're going to be waiting a long time.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:You either want to rope drop this one or get a lightning lane for it.
Speaker B:And most of the time what I'm seeing now is if.
Speaker B:If this is not the attraction that you choose for your Tier 1 attraction with lightning Lane, which I tend to gravitate more for, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure for your tier one attraction is I'm finding that there are no lightning lanes available same day for Frozen ever After.
Speaker B:So it's going to be one that if it's a priority, you got to get there early.
Speaker A:You better get there early.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:This used to be Maelstrom again, another controversial change.
Speaker A:But Disney nailed this one because I don't.
Speaker A:I've never saw a line outside all the way to China for.
Speaker A:For Maelstrom.
Speaker A:Like when I see images of people on vacation and they go.
Speaker A:The line For Frozen goes all the way to Germany.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I go, good Lord.
Speaker A:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:Like, that never happened on Maelstrom.
Speaker B:So, fun fact.
Speaker B:I actually had a text from a client yesterday.
Speaker B:I think they listened to this podcast, and he texted me and said, hey, here's where the end of the Frozen line is.
Speaker B:And it was China.
Speaker B:And I said, how long did they say it's gonna be?
Speaker B:And he said, the cast member said, It'll be about 50 minutes.
Speaker B:I said, okay, that's doable.
Speaker B:That line moves pretty quickly.
Speaker B:The queue is actually kind of neat and kind of fun and.
Speaker B:And believe it or not, yes.
Speaker B:He texted me, and it was about 40 minutes later, he said, I can see the boat.
Speaker B:We're almost there.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's great.
Speaker A:That's great.
Speaker A:So get in that.
Speaker A:Get a lightning lane for that.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I think if.
Speaker A:Especially if you have kids who like the movie and like the characters, you got to do it.
Speaker A:Don't leave Epcot without doing it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:The line may be long if you don't get a lightning lane, but it's.
Speaker A:It's a cool frozen IP experience.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:China.
Speaker A:Reflections of China.
Speaker A:Do they even still have that?
Speaker A:I haven't seen that in years.
Speaker B:I have no idea.
Speaker B:I have no idea.
Speaker A:That was like a 360 movie back in the day.
Speaker B:It was never my favorite.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Then you go to Germany.
Speaker A:I always tell people, get a pretzel.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Get a pretzel.
Speaker B:Delicious.
Speaker B:Or a brat or a Br.
Speaker B:If it's Food and wine festival.
Speaker B:That's always my favorite thing.
Speaker B:The pretzel brat.
Speaker A:Italy.
Speaker A:There's no attractions, but Via Napoli is a great place to eat.
Speaker B:Must do.
Speaker A:Must do.
Speaker A:And if the pizza place is open on the outside, get a slice of pizza.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:The United States, if we're talking about like a clock and it's going from like 7 to like 5:30, the noon is where you'd find in the United States.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker B:And my favorite thing at the U.S.
Speaker B:pavilion is the Voices of Liberty.
Speaker B:If you don't know what that is, they are an incredible vocal group that you can hear.
Speaker B:I want to say it's about every couple of hours.
Speaker B:It's a great way to cool off and listen to them because they are phenomenal.
Speaker A:There's also the American Experience, which is an animatronic show about the history of America.
Speaker A:Mark Twain and Ben Franklin kind of go over the United States.
Speaker A:The history.
Speaker A:They.
Speaker A:They kind of gloss over some of the dark history of the United States.
Speaker A:But nevertheless, it's a cool.
Speaker A:It's a patriotic tribute to the United States.
Speaker A:Then Japan, which is no attractions, but very.
Speaker A:Some unique goods over there.
Speaker B:A really cool shop.
Speaker B:My kids love going in there.
Speaker B:They have everything from hello Kitty to Pokemon to just whatever you can find in their little trinkets.
Speaker B:Junk.
Speaker B:So in some.
Speaker B:In some instances.
Speaker B:But things that my kids love to look through.
Speaker A:Then there's Morocco.
Speaker A:I have to admit, I just sort of walk by Morocco and I know I don't really do anything there, but they.
Speaker A:They now have like a passholder lounge there that you can hang out in and they think you can get your picture taken with Genie.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Which is there.
Speaker A:But I don't really.
Speaker A:I just kind of buzz right through them.
Speaker B:Yeah, me too.
Speaker A:It's kind of too bad.
Speaker A:France, it used to just have impressions de France.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Which was just a cool little movie about France.
Speaker A:Now it has one of the more popular rides in Epcot Center.
Speaker A:That's Remy's Ratatouille Adventure.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:And get on Remy's Ratatouille R in one of the newer attractions.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:My wife thought it was just okay.
Speaker A:Like, she didn't say it was just okay.
Speaker A:She was like, all right, it's cool.
Speaker A:Like, I thought it was wonderful.
Speaker B:I have to close my eyes at times.
Speaker B:Remy.
Speaker B:But I do think it's a.
Speaker B:It's a really cute ride.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:It is worth the wait.
Speaker A:Cuz it is new.
Speaker A:You are shrunken down to the size of a rat and you're running through the kitchen and I won't spoil it, but there's all sorts of different sensory things you can feel.
Speaker A:And it's kind.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's a very cool experience.
Speaker A:So I highly recommend it.
Speaker A:Again, get a lightning lane for that.
Speaker A:Although if you're going on a.
Speaker A:On a day where it's not as busy, the line does move pretty quickly.
Speaker B:Yes, it does.
Speaker A:It's one of those lines where I.
Speaker A:I like.
Speaker A:Like your client saw it was like 70 minutes and it was really like 50.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:So it was.
Speaker A:It wasn't that bad.
Speaker A:And then there's Great Britain, Great Fish and chips, great stores.
Speaker A:If you're a Winnie the Pooh fan, you can go to Christopher Robin's room.
Speaker A:Get.
Speaker A:A lot of people don't know that, but there's.
Speaker A:It's kind of in the back.
Speaker A:Ask a cast member where it is and you can get your picture taken with Winnie the Pooh at certain times.
Speaker A:In Christopher Robin's back bedroom.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:And then there's Canada.
Speaker A:Oh, Canada, the 360 film.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:I haven't seen that one in years either.
Speaker A:Did you recently see that?
Speaker B:I haven't seen it probably in 20 years.
Speaker A:I think it was narrated by Martin Short.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think that was.
Speaker A:That was it.
Speaker A:But I don't know if they've changed it or not.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I don't do the films anymore.
Speaker B:We don't either.
Speaker A:You know, my.
Speaker A:My.
Speaker A:When I was younger, my dad was a.
Speaker A:We're gonna do everything at this kind of person.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, And I was like, okay, we're not leaving until we get everything done.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I think my dad got everything on vhs, too.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:All the shows.
Speaker A:Ex.
Speaker A:The last time, I probably was.
Speaker A:I do know I have a story about O.
Speaker A:Canada.
Speaker A:My sister and I went to Epcot on a family reunion trip, and we did go into that filming.
Speaker A: This was like: Speaker A:And we did go into that filming, and as we were standing there, the guy said, my sister asked how long the movie was, and he said, 28 minutes.
Speaker A:And my sister faked an emergency, and we got out.
Speaker A:I didn't mind staying.
Speaker A:She was like, I ain't staying for.
Speaker A:I'm not staying for 28 minutes watching a movie about Canada.
Speaker A:I was like, oh, that's too bad.
Speaker A:I was like, okay.
Speaker A:I missed.
Speaker A:Missed it.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:You mentioned earlier, the festivals.
Speaker A:This is where you're going to find some great festivals at Epcot Center.
Speaker A:Depending on when you go.
Speaker A:Festivals such as Festival of the Arts.
Speaker A:Food and Wine, which is my personal favorite.
Speaker A:Food and Wine.
Speaker A:Feels like it goes on forever.
Speaker B:It really does.
Speaker B:It's getting.
Speaker B:I feel like it's getting a little shorter.
Speaker B:It was really too long for a long time.
Speaker B:And I think they've kind of tried to shorten back down.
Speaker A:Back down off of that a little bit.
Speaker A:Flower and Garden.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Which is really great.
Speaker B:I love that one.
Speaker A:That's a great one.
Speaker A:One.
Speaker A:And then if you go during the holidays, they have a very unique one that doesn't get talked about a lot because Jollywood Nights at Hollywood Studios, of course.
Speaker A:Mickey's Christmas Party.
Speaker A:It's Festival of the Holidays.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:It's the shortest festival, actually.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:It's great because you get to go around the World showcase, and you get to hear stories about the way the countries celebrate the holidays and some of the traditions in the holidays and.
Speaker A:And some of the folklore around the holidays for each country.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Which I think is just a fascinating, cool, cool experience.
Speaker A:Candlelight procession is very, very popular.
Speaker A:Be careful about that one.
Speaker A:If you, you got to get there really early and whatnot.
Speaker A:But this is where this is.
Speaker A:Festivals are tricky.
Speaker A:And, and here's why.
Speaker A:What I mean by that, if you're planning a trip and you, and you say, we're going at a non peak time, right.
Speaker A:And you go, okay, like maybe going in September, there might be a festival and Epcot may be absolutely slammed.
Speaker B:That's right, Great.
Speaker B:Avoid the weekends.
Speaker A:Avoid the weekends.
Speaker A:We went, when we went in September, we went on Saturday to Epcot for food and wine and it was.
Speaker B:All the locals are there to try all the booths.
Speaker B:So definitely, if you want to avoid the crowds in the fall, avoid the weekend.
Speaker A:I agree with you.
Speaker A:If, if you're, if you're planning this, and this is why it's good to have a planner who knows when these are.
Speaker A:If you're going, all right, we're going to plan our trip.
Speaker A:If you know that there's a festival there, try to pick a week night, weekday to go.
Speaker A:Make your Epcot day like a Thursday or whatnot.
Speaker A:Because again, Saturday is when people around Florida, especially pass holders, are like, what do you want to do today?
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Let's go to Flower and Garden.
Speaker A:This is great.
Speaker A:Hang out.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Get some, get some good stuff.
Speaker A:But the, the last part of this, or maybe not the last part of this, but I.
Speaker A:One of the things I brought up earlier was the fact that Epcot, I feel like, is an adult park because I think it has the best dining.
Speaker B:Oh, it absolutely does.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker A:And it's not just the World Showcase, but it, it has some of the most, from cheap eats at kiosks to fine dining.
Speaker A:You can find everything at Epcot.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:So I've said before, my favorite quick service in Epcot is the fish and chips over at uk.
Speaker B:But if you're not feeling that that day, you can have anything from sushi to tacos to Moroccan food to fish and chips.
Speaker B:Or you can go back over into the world formerly known as Future World, and go to Connections Cafe.
Speaker B:Connections Cafe, something like that.
Speaker B:There's, there is so much to eat at Epcot.
Speaker B:That is really good.
Speaker A:And so places like Nine Dragons, places like San and Helen, which doesn't get great reviews, I wish they would bump that up a bit.
Speaker A:That's the restaurant or Grand Fiesta tour passes by.
Speaker A:I've had so many people say, I went there and it was just okay if that seems to be almost universal from people.
Speaker A:So I hope Epcot or Disney World is listening and bump that up A little bit.
Speaker A:Just like they've done to other restaurants that used to get bad reviews and now have really turned the corner and become great places.
Speaker A:But places like Lelier, which is expensive.
Speaker A:M.
Speaker A:Paul, which is expensive, but it really.
Speaker A:If you want fine dining and you want.
Speaker A:Don't mind dropping a few bucks on a really good meal, they've got those kind of restaurants, too.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:But some of the kiosks outside the World Showcase where you can get, you know.
Speaker A:Oh, is it Joy of Tea?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:You can get some really great stuff.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Excellent things and unique offerings at Epcot for sure.
Speaker A:So that, that we really.
Speaker A:And then we brought up Garden Grill earlier.
Speaker A:Again, if you're looking for a cool charact experience with Mickey and Chippendale and Goofy and whatnot, Garden Grill is a great place to go because the food is delicious and you're going to get a great.
Speaker A:Get a great character experience.
Speaker A:So that is Epcot Center.
Speaker A:Anything to add on your point about this very large park?
Speaker A:Bring your.
Speaker A:Make sure your shoes are broken in.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:Make sure that you have your walking shoes on.
Speaker B:Don't try to wear shoes that are cute to Epcot.
Speaker B:Wear shoes that are comfortable.
Speaker B:There are a lot of characters in Epcot.
Speaker B:You're going to find a lot of princesses along the World Showcase.
Speaker B:Look at the map.
Speaker A:Map.
Speaker B:You will see the little Mickey heads.
Speaker B:That's going to indicate where there is a character.
Speaker B:It won't always show you what character is there, but if you see a Mickey head on the map, that's to tell you that there is a character to meet there.
Speaker B:So be sure to look out for different ones.
Speaker A:And don't forget the Coca Cola Cool Zone.
Speaker B:Try everything.
Speaker A:Try everything.
Speaker A:Including Beverly.
Speaker A:I know, I know, I know.
Speaker A:But try everything.
Speaker A:That's always fun to do at Epcot Center.
Speaker A:But I think the.
Speaker A:One of the overriding point about that, about that park, and I think you brought it up earlier, is that you spend four or five days and find something new.
Speaker A:You can find something unique if you're really looking for it.
Speaker A:If you spent a whole day and you said, I'm just doing the World Showcase and all I want to do is go into every shop and every nook and cranny and try a glass of wine in Italy or some sake in Japan.
Speaker A:You can make a whole day of just that alone.
Speaker A:That there are so many different unique things to do just in the World Showcase.
Speaker A:And it was kind of the overall point.
Speaker A:Point of the World Showcase was to bring that country's culture.
Speaker A:You can go in and find things that they sell in that country that you can't find in the United States.
Speaker A:Yeah, I remember getting German gummy bears when I was a kid.
Speaker A:Like, it was so.
Speaker A:It was great.
Speaker B:So neat.
Speaker A:It was so great.
Speaker A:So, by the way, I forgot to mention there are two ways to enter Epcot Center.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Go through the front gate.
Speaker A:You can also go through the back end by France and Great Britain if you're staying in one of those resorts.
Speaker A:Or you take the monorail to that area.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:So again, large park.
Speaker B:Park.
Speaker A:Bring walking shoes.
Speaker A:And if you have a reservation, they don't take reservations on the 15s.
Speaker A:I got told that.
Speaker A:So don't lie and say you have a 7 to 15 reservation when you had a 7 reservation and you're 20 minutes late.
Speaker A:That's the one my family keeps bringing up.
Speaker B:That's so fun.
Speaker A:All right, so please like this podcast.
Speaker A:Subscribe to it.
Speaker A:We are going to be doing our in Depth series all the way through for the next.
Speaker A:We got.
Speaker A:We got about seven more.
Speaker A:Eight more episodes to do on their in depth series as we go through Walt Disney World and Universal Studios.
Speaker A:If you need to reach Lauren, please do so.
Speaker A:Lauren at all the Magic Travel, you can reach me travelwithtonydeet at gmail com.
Speaker A:We would love to hear from you and please share the podcast if you find it informative enough for your friends and neighbors.
Speaker A:I'm Tony Desiri, that's Lauren Mallard and this is the Wands and Wishes podcast.
