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On the second full day of our Disney trip, we went to EPCOT. One of my main priorities for EPCOT was experiencing the Food and Wine Festival. We had read that the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival can be very crowded on weekends, so we went on the Friday of our trip. On the other hand, that day was a “Extra Magic Hours” day, which are also are rumored to be more crowded.
Either way, between a good Touring Plan and a use of our fast passes, we didn’t have to wait in any lines longer than 15 minutes or so. (And most lines were even shorter than that.)
Around EPCOT
We got to EPCOT shortly after it opened. We made use of our Disney Photo Pass and had some Disney photographers take pictures of all of us at the entrance.
We took lots of pictures of Spaceship Earth before actually heading over there to stand in a very quick line for the ride itself.
It’s kinda crazy how so many of the exhibits are exactly the same as when I was a kid. It’s good for nostalgia!
After Spaceship Earth, we headed over to “The Land” area, where we had Fast Pass tickets for Soarin. Since we were traveling with our 18 month-old nephew, we also did a baby swap.
In that same area, we also rode Living with the Land
I thought it was fun that they had placards indicating what types of foods were being used for various dishes at the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival.
After Soarin and Living with the Land, Ken and I split from his sister and her family. Ken and I were going to start our way around the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival, and my sister-in-law and her family were heading to a Princess Character Breakfast at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. Although it looked like a fun place to eat, Ken and I wanted to focus on all the different options at the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival and not fill up too much on other foods!
EPCOT Food and Wine Festival
I’ll cover the details of the Food and Wine Festival in a separate post, including a complete list of everything we ate!
More Rides
After Ken and I did a round of the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival around 11:30AM and were thoroughly full, we met back up with my SIL’s family and continued on more rides, including Figment, the Finding Nemo Ride, Mission Space (Green only!), and Test Track.
We couldn’t get a Fast Pass for Test Track, and that was about the longest wait for a ride that day. Ken and I decided to ride it as single riders, and that wait was only about ten minutes.
Then, we did an informal “Baby Swap.” My sister-in-law, her husband, and their 7-year-old daughter went on Test Track (waiting in the normal line for about 35 minutes), and Ken and I took the baby back to the World Showcase area with us as we did more Food and Wine Festival tastings. (Again, more on the Food and Wine Festival in a separate post).
The baby started to fall asleep a little bit, so we were having fun with different poses for him.
Character Spots
We all visited some character spots together, and fun was had by all!
Dinner, IllumiNations, and EPCOT at Night
We all had dinner at Via Napoli. And then it was time for the IllumiNations show.
And we took lots of pictures of EPCOT at night! And, we also made use of our Disney Photo Pass and had the Disney photographers take pictures of us.
We closed out the park that night! We were all the way back in the World Showcase area when the park officially closed, and we just took our time walking back to the main entrance. The park was very empty, the weather was gorgeous, and we just enjoyed our tired stroll through the park. (Even though our feet were tired!)
It was time to go back to the hotel, get some sleep, and start all over again tomorrow, but this time at Hollywood Studios!