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110. One Day Park Strategy: Epcot · Mom Street USA

0:05
Welcome everybody to Mom St. USA.
0:07
My name is Jackie AKA Wishes Mama.
0:09
And on today's episode, we are continuing our one day park
0:13
strategies that we have been working our way through both
0:16
Universal and Disney parks down in Orlando.
0:20
So if you've missed it so far we have covered USF, we have
0:24
covered Magic Kingdom, we have covered Animal Kingdom and we
0:27
have done Islands of Adventure. So we are four out of seven of
0:30
the total parks that we are going to be covering in this
0:33
series. And today we are going to be
0:35
talking about Epcot. So we are back at Disney today
0:38
to discuss our one day park strategy for Epcot.
0:42
Now, here's the thing about this series, and you've heard us say
0:46
this before, if you've heard these other episodes in this
0:48
series, is we are going to go over what is kind of the best
0:53
general plan for anybody visiting the park.
0:56
That being said, there may be things on this list that you're
0:59
like, Nope, my group doesn't want to do that.
1:01
Especially some of these attractions at Epcot can be a
1:05
little bit polarizing just because there are some bigger
1:10
thrill rides that you can potentially get on over at this
1:13
park. So keep that in mind as you are
1:15
listening today and as you are looking through the list of
1:18
attractions here because it is really split.
1:21
There are quite a few bigger thrill rides and then there are
1:23
a lot of more dark ride experiences as well.
1:26
So keep that in mind. Something else to note is we are
1:31
going to continue with the policy or not policy.
1:35
What's the word I'm looking for? We are going to continue with
1:38
the trend of doing kind of a two different approach method.
1:42
So we're going to 1st talk about doing it with Lightning Lanes
1:46
and what you should book and how that breakdown may look for you
1:50
and then we are going to swap and talk about it.
1:52
If you were just planning to do standby, what is your best
1:55
course of action to try to get as much done as possible?
1:58
So all that being said, let's go ahead and jump into our plans
2:02
for Epcot. A couple of general notes about
2:04
Epcot. You definitely want to arrive 30
2:08
to 40 minutes before you can gain access to the park.
2:11
So again, remember Disney Parks do offer that 30 minute early
2:15
entry to any resort guests that are staying at Disney.
2:18
So if you are staying on Disney property, you can get in 30
2:21
minutes before park open Epcot almost always, almost because
2:27
everything could change, you never know, but almost always
2:30
has a 9:00 AM opening, which means your early entry for
2:36
resort guests is going to be 830.
2:39
You are going to want to get there 30 to 40 minutes before
2:42
that time. And the reasoning behind that is
2:46
you really need to position yourself well for rope drop to
2:50
be able to get to the most attractions as you possibly can.
2:55
That being said, also rope drop happens at two different
3:00
locations in this park and this is the only park that has this
3:05
kind of happen at Disney. So there are two entrances to
3:10
Epcot. If you're unfamiliar, the main
3:12
entrance that happens to be right by the front of the park
3:16
by Spaceship Earth, which is the big iconic golf ball type
3:20
attraction. And then the second entrance is
3:25
called, called the International Gateway and that happens out in
3:28
World Showcase. It is between the UK Pavilion
3:33
and the France Pavilion. So if you are someone that is
3:37
taking the sky liner or you are staying at like Boardwalk or
3:42
Beach Club or Yacht Club Swan and Dolphins, some of those kind
3:47
of in that general area, that would be the entrance that
3:50
you're coming to. If you're someone that is taking
3:52
the monorail or you're driving or you are taking a resort bus,
3:56
you are all going to enter through the front of the park by
3:59
Spaceship Earth. So two different entrances.
4:02
It all really depends on the way that you're going.
4:03
Oh, and rideshare, sorry, I should mention that Lyft, Uber
4:06
and the minivan that is operated through Lyft as well will come
4:11
to the front of the park. So where you enter can greatly
4:15
impact what you do. So you'll hear me say that a few
4:19
times as we talk about kind of your initial first plans when
4:23
you get to Epcot because it really truly just geographically
4:27
on the map does matter because Epcot is a very large park.
4:32
It initially Brief history was supposed to be two different, it
4:36
was two different concepts for two different park parks.
4:38
And they kind of ended up putting them together.
4:42
So you have the whole front section of the park.
4:45
So that is the world discovery world, nature and world.
4:50
I can't remember the other one, but whatever those ones are
4:52
called, they just renamed them and I they those names.
4:54
I'm not stuck in my head yet. But then the back part of the
4:58
park kind of the the further you go into the park is World
5:01
Showcase and that is a very large mile loop that has all of
5:06
the different countries and their pavilions.
5:08
So kind of two different halves to the park.
5:10
So again, that's really why your entry point makes a big
5:14
difference. When we talk about rope drop
5:15
here in a minute, you'll hear me give you kind of a couple
5:17
different options for that. So let's talk about Lightning
5:22
lanes because the first thing that we are going to, the first
5:27
plan of action that we are going to talk about is if you're
5:30
utilizing Lightning lanes. Now, I do think that Lightning
5:34
Lanes are very beneficial at Epcot.
5:36
Can you get on a lot without them and without waiting for,
5:41
you know, an hour for attractions?
5:43
Yes, absolutely. However, now that test track has
5:47
reopened, it really does benefit you and give you more
5:53
flexibility and freedom to enjoy Epcot.
5:56
If you've got lightning lanes. Now, I understand that's not in
5:59
everyone's budget. We are going to talk about not
6:01
using lightning lanes later, but I really do think they're
6:04
beneficial for Epcot. So couple reminders about
6:07
lightning lanes. You can pre book ahead of your
6:10
trip. If you are on property, it's
6:12
seven days out from your check in date at your resort.
6:16
If you are off property, it is 3 days before your first park day.
6:20
So that is when you'll be able to jump online at 7:00 AM
6:23
Eastern on your mobile app, your My Disney Experience app and pre
6:27
book your selections. So ahead of time, here is my
6:31
suggestion for what you're what I would say you should book.
6:34
Now there are tears at this park.
6:38
So we've talked about that briefly.
6:39
We did talk about that at Magic Kingdom as well.
6:41
So some of the top rides are in Tier 1 and some of the rides are
6:45
in Tier 2. When you pre book you can do 1
6:47
Tier 1 and 2 two tier twos. So you'll hear me mention that
6:51
here just a second your Tier 1 is going to be.
6:54
My suggestion is Remy's Ratatouille Adventure as your
6:58
tier one. Now there are several other
7:00
options that are great as well. Frozen is another great option
7:03
for your tier one as is test track, but I would suggest Remy.
7:08
It tends to be the hardest one to find a lightning lane for
7:12
later in the day. So that is why I suggest that
7:15
one. The other reason I suggest that
7:17
one is because then you can plan more accordingly when you make
7:22
the trek out to the France Pavilion.
7:25
So we talked about that Epcot is kind of two parts squished into
7:29
one. Well, where Remy is located in
7:33
the park in the France Pavilion is pretty far into the back.
7:37
So it's one of those things where once you commit to going
7:42
out there, you commit to World Showcase.
7:44
So you really want to have a little bit more control over
7:47
when it is that you head out to the France Pavilion so that
7:51
you're not needlessly making that mile loop around World
7:57
Showcase Lagoon more than you have to do.
8:00
So I would suggest booking that for your tier one.
8:04
Now if your family doesn't want to do Remy, I would suggest one
8:07
of the other ones. Any of them are are great
8:09
options for tier one. For Tier 2 I would select Soren
8:14
and then my third option would be the Seas with Nemo and
8:18
friends because that ride tends to get a really long wait.
8:25
It's very very cute, very very enjoyable dark ride that is
8:30
Finding Nemo themed. And because it is accessible for
8:33
all ages and because of where it's located at the park, it
8:37
does tend to get a longer wait. So I would suggest booking that
8:40
for your third pre selection. Now ideally what I would suggest
8:46
is starting those lightning lanes about an hour after park
8:50
open, maybe even an hour and a half after park open.
8:53
So I would book something like Sauron around 10 and the seas
8:59
with Nemo and friends around 10:45, if you're able to
9:04
manipulate your times that way. The other thing is your time for
9:09
Remy, just get it as early as you can.
9:13
That one's going to have less flexibility for going in and
9:17
modifying it because it is such a popular attraction for
9:20
lightning lanes that you just want to get it as early as the
9:23
app will let you and call it good.
9:26
Now if you've got kiddos that need to take a nap or things
9:28
like that, you can play in your lightning lanes around that.
9:30
But again, we're talking, you've got one day in Epcot.
9:33
We're trying to make the most of your time, so just get it as
9:36
early as you possibly can. Please remember that you can
9:39
always hold 3 multi pass lightning lanes at a time.
9:42
So as soon as you use your first one, then you can go on to the
9:46
app and book your next one. So keep that in mind as well.
9:50
As far as single pass lightning lanes at Epcot, we're just
9:54
looking at Cosmic Rewind, definitely beneficial for you to
9:58
be able to purchase that just to save yourself the hour plus
10:03
weight that it typically is. So you want to book Cosmic
10:07
Rewind based on when you think you're going to venture over to
10:10
that side of the park. So I didn't exactly give a time
10:13
for that one just because it may depend on what you do with the
10:18
additional information that I'm about to give you for what order
10:22
to do your different other attractions at the park.
10:25
So keep that in mind with when you're booking your time for
10:29
Cosmic Rewind, you want to kind of see where you think you'll be
10:34
at what time and kind of go from there for when you're creating
10:38
your plan before you book your lightning lanes ahead of time.
10:41
All of that being said, let's talk about what you're going to
10:44
do at Rope Drop. So with your itinerary, I'm
10:48
going to go based on the fact that you booked Remy's so we
10:54
don't have to worry about rope dropping that.
10:56
So that's kind of what I'm going to go off of with this
10:59
itinerary. So you can substitute these
11:02
first rides depending on what you booked for your Tier 1 and
11:05
what is left out of tier one. But whatever your tier one
11:09
attractions are that your group wants to do, that is what you're
11:13
going to head to 1st. So if it were me and I knew I
11:17
had a Remy booked and I knew I had a Guardians of the Galaxy
11:20
booked, I would do either Frozen or test track for my rope drop.
11:27
If you're entering at the front of the park, I would go to test
11:30
track. If you are entering at World
11:35
Showcase at International Gateway, I would go to Frozen.
11:40
So that would be my suggestion for that.
11:43
And again, getting there 30 to 40 minutes early is going to set
11:46
you up in a really great place for those attractions to be in
11:49
and out within about 20 minutes. Ideally, you would be able to
11:54
hit maybe both of those before the lines get too long and
11:59
before your first lightning lane time, right?
12:02
Because I said our first lightning lane is not going to
12:04
be until about 10:00. So if we're early entry, that
12:08
gives us from 8:30 to 10:00 to do both Frozen and Test track.
12:14
Or again, this is where you kind of just have to know what your
12:17
top choices are at Epcot because if you're a big Guardians of the
12:20
Galaxy fan and you love Cosmic Rewinder, that's like your top
12:24
attraction at Epcot that you want to do, then go ahead and
12:26
rope drop that. So it really just depends on
12:29
whatever your top choice ride is for your party.
12:32
And don't be afraid to split up for this rope drop time.
12:35
Your lightning lanes for your group will likely be booked
12:37
together if you're doing it, you know, all together on your app.
12:41
So if you've got a group that really wants to hit Frozen or if
12:45
you really want to do Guardians of the Galaxy, then that is what
12:49
you know. You can divide and conquer that
12:52
way when it comes to that. So that would be my suggestion.
12:55
Go to either your top ride and then your second ride, ideally
12:59
getting them both in before that 10 AM Lightning Lane start.
13:02
So like we mentioned earlier, 10 AM will be your Sauron time.
13:07
So after you tap in for Sauron, you're going to want to book
13:10
test track or Frozen. If you weren't able to do them
13:14
standby. So whatever your next big ride
13:18
is that you weren't able to hit already in the morning, that's
13:20
going to be the first one that you try to book for your
13:23
lightning lanes. Now chances are good that
13:25
something like Frozen or test track may be sold out or maybe
13:30
later in the day. That's where you're modifying
13:32
comes into place. And if you need more information
13:35
on how to modify, then you need to go back to our episode that
13:39
we did on Lightning Lanes and Genie Plus to, to, to get my
13:44
step by step directions on how it is that you are going to work
13:48
to modify that and what the little tricks are to be able to
13:51
do that. And if it is available, then go
13:54
ahead and grab it. And you can always still modify
13:56
it for an earlier time as well. So by around 11, you should have
14:01
gone through probably 3 to 4 attractions.
14:05
If you're already in the building with Soren, go ahead
14:07
and do a living with the land while you're in the land
14:09
building because that will save you the track of having to go
14:12
back into the land later on throughout your day.
14:16
And then after that will be your next lightning lane time.
14:19
Because like we said, ideally you're booking Nemo for around
14:22
11:00 or so. And then you will be able to
14:26
redeem that. And as soon as you have done
14:27
that, you can do one of two things.
14:30
You can either book a journey into the imagination with
14:34
Figment if it's like almost an immediate time just to save a
14:38
little bit on that weight, or you can do that standby and
14:42
still achieve the, you know, still have the ability to get on
14:45
that ride and then book mission space.
14:47
So those would be my next two options whenever it comes to
14:50
booking your after you have tapped in for your Nemo
14:53
lightning lane. So at that point in time, it may
14:56
be a little bit close to lunch. You may be able to get on one
15:00
more attraction before lunch. Ideally the goal would be to
15:03
kind of finish off that world nature side of the front part of
15:09
the park before your lunch break.
15:13
As far as lunch goes, lots of options.
15:16
It really just depends on where in the parks you are.
15:19
I typically like to do festival booths.
15:24
Now the tricky thing about festival booths is they are all
15:27
out in World Showcase, or at least close to World Showcase
15:30
for the most part. You have a few that are
15:33
scattered in throughout the other parts of the park, but
15:36
ultimately most of them are out in World Showcase.
15:38
So you really have to kind of plan accordingly.
15:40
Now, if you're on that side of the park where Figment and the
15:45
Land are, there is a cluster of festival booths that are just
15:50
past Figment as you're going towards the Canada Pavilion.
15:56
There's a cluster of about three of them right there that you may
15:59
be able to just grab a quick snack.
16:00
You can also eat inside of the Land pavilion downstairs.
16:04
They have just a little cafeteria style kind of quick
16:08
service, Sunshine Seasons that is in there that you can grab
16:12
lunch at. So those would be your options
16:15
if you are on that part of the park.
16:17
You can also hop to the center of the park and visit the main
16:23
kind of quick service eatery that is right by the center of
16:26
the park that is called the Connections Eatery.
16:29
So that is also an option that you have that's not too far and
16:33
kind of on your way towards your next attractions anyway at that
16:37
point in time. So that kind of takes you up to
16:41
your lunch period. Now again, if there are things
16:44
on that list that you're like, Nope, we don't want to do it,
16:46
great, skip it and move on to the next one and continue on
16:49
throughout your process of working your way through Epcot.
16:54
But then in theory, after you have enjoyed a lunch, you won't
16:59
have as many rides to do because you will have gone on almost all
17:03
of them. So after lunch you will have
17:06
mission space if that is something you want to do.
17:09
I know a lot of people feel some type of way about that ride, but
17:14
mission space is an option that you can book.
17:17
After you have tapped into mission space, you are going to
17:19
just look to book anything that's left.
17:21
So at that point in time, you're not going to have too many rides
17:25
left. You will have Spaceship Earth as
17:27
an attraction that you can book, and then you can always go back
17:30
and book things that you did via standby in the morning if
17:33
they're still available. They may or may not be available
17:35
at that time, or you may or may not have to work a little bit of
17:40
Lightning Lane magic and use your app to kind of try to see
17:43
if you can get a time to pop up for those.
17:46
So mission space then from mission space I would head out
17:50
into you have one or two things that you can do.
17:53
You can either circle back to the front of the park and go on
17:56
spaceship Earth. I would highly suggest if you're
17:58
going to try to plan to do Spaceship Earth after mission
18:01
space that you have a lightning lane for it because it is right
18:06
at the front of the park and it is kind of a slower moving and
18:11
slower loading attraction. There are people that just go
18:16
there because, oh, this is a ride, let's go ahead and ride
18:18
that right when you walk in the front of the park.
18:20
So it does get a long wait time because of that reason.
18:24
So I would go ahead and book a lightning lane if it's available
18:27
and if it's somewhat near the time you need it to be, just to
18:31
save you a little bit because it could be like a 20 to 30 minute
18:34
wait for Spaceship Earth in that time of night or afternoon.
18:38
I guess it would be at that point in time.
18:40
So keep that in mind. So after Mission Space, you can
18:43
circle back to Spaceship Earth, or you can leave Spaceship Earth
18:45
until a little bit later in the day, closer maybe to around
18:49
dinner time. But it really just depends on
18:51
what your plans are for the evening and if you plan to be
18:53
out in World Showcase wandering around.
18:56
So after you have made a decision, Mission Space,
18:59
Spaceship, Earth, and then you're going to head out into
19:02
World Showcase, whenever you go through the Mexico Pavilion,
19:07
make sure you hit 3 Caballeros that is in there.
19:10
The Grand, what is it? Grand Fiesta Tour starring the
19:13
Three Caballeros I think is the official title of that
19:16
attraction, which I love. Cute, super cute boat ride in
19:18
the Mexico Pavilion. And then from there you will
19:22
just have your time for Remy that you have booked already,
19:25
that you've been kind of holding in your back pocket since you
19:28
pre booked your lightning lanes ahead of your trip.
19:32
And so whenever that time becomes available, you can
19:34
utilize that. So your time for Remy will
19:37
determine potentially which direction you go when you get to
19:40
World Showcase. If you don't have a Remy time
19:43
until closer to dinner, you can go either left or right.
19:46
When you get out into World Showcase.
19:48
If you've got a time that's like 2:00 or so, 3:00 or so, then you
19:53
may want to kind of head directly towards France first to
19:57
make sure that you are not having to double back or like
20:01
zoom through some of the countries to get to France to
20:04
get to Ratatouille. So keep that in mind when you're
20:07
looking at which direction you want to go when you get out into
20:09
World Showcase. So after you have ridden Remy,
20:14
that will pretty much take care of all of the attractions that
20:17
you've got over at Epcot. So with Lightning Lanes, very,
20:21
very achievable to the point where about three, 4:00 in the
20:26
afternoon, you could potentially be done with the majority of the
20:29
attractions at the park, which is wonderful because Epcot has
20:32
so many other things to see outside of just the attractions
20:36
to do. There are so many amazing
20:39
pavilions out in the World Showcase.
20:42
There are live performances and all sorts of other things.
20:44
So let's talk about some other things that you can enjoy in
20:48
your afternoon at Epcot. Like I mentioned, there are
20:53
several shows that happen out in World Showcase.
20:55
If you are someone who enjoys either a live entertainment or
20:59
they have a lot of what Disney has called in the past
21:03
edutainment. So it's like edge, you know,
21:06
educating entertainment type attractions as well.
21:09
So things like the American adventure Canada, far and wide
21:13
reflections of China. Those are all really great
21:15
videos that you can go and view. There is the also in the France
21:21
pavilion. It rotates with another video,
21:25
but there's a Beauty and the Beast sing along that is really
21:27
super fun that you can do as well.
21:30
There are tons of character meet and greets, especially during
21:33
the morning and into the early afternoon out in World Showcase.
21:36
Almost every country has like a speciality character that meets
21:42
out there, so they're going to be located in the area in which
21:46
their stories take place. So one of my all time favorite
21:49
meet and greets is the Pooh and Friends Meet and greet in the UK
21:52
pavilion where you can meet Winnie the Pooh inside
21:54
Christopher Robin's bedroom, which is just so much fun.
21:59
It's so magical. I love that meet and greet.
22:01
Over in France you'll find Belle, you'll find Aurora
22:05
Sleeping Beauty over there in China you'll find Mulan meeting.
22:10
In Germany you can find Snow White meeting.
22:13
So lots of different princesses and characters that you can find
22:16
out there as well. Also, of course, don't forget
22:19
about the festival offerings. The festival food is so much fun
22:23
to walk around and see all the additional booths that they add
22:26
because during the festivals there are not only 11 countries
22:30
that you can visit, but then there are all these little OU
22:32
food kiosks that are typically representatives of other
22:37
countries that you may find. You may find something like
22:40
Greece or you may find Hawaii even or just other different
22:45
palettes that you can taste and the they give you a smaller
22:48
portion size. So it's nice to kind of snack
22:51
your way through and try some different things that maybe you
22:54
wouldn't normally try if you had to order a full entree of it.
22:58
So that is super fun and they've also got tons of activities that
23:01
are typically associated with those Epcot festivals as well.
23:06
If you hop back several episodes on our Mom St. feed, you will
23:09
find that one of the first hub episodes we did with Duck and
23:13
Jess, we did a whole deep dive on festivals at Epcot.
23:16
So take a look at that if you want to know more information
23:19
about what those festivals are and like what they have to
23:22
offer. So, but that is definitely a
23:24
huge draw at Epcot and a great thing that you want to take
23:27
advantage of whenever you're visiting there.
23:30
So shows, characters, festivals, we talked about the attractions,
23:35
a couple other things that are just fun at Epcot that you can
23:37
fill your afternoon time with because your lightning lanes are
23:40
all achieved and accomplished. There's a really fun DuckTales
23:44
World Showcase adventure game that you can play.
23:47
And all you need to do is download the Play Disney app on
23:50
your phone and you can go through the different countries
23:53
and kind of get some storytelling little adventures
23:57
on your phone. And there are things that will
23:59
react in the different countries to the story that you're being
24:02
told. So that is a super fun way to
24:04
experience World Showcase. There are the aquariums at in
24:08
the seas and the play places inside of Nemo as well that you
24:12
can experience and and have fun with.
24:15
There's a always a playground outside of creation.
24:18
So we talked about creations earlier as you're exiting
24:21
through the side door, there's always a play area right there
24:25
for kiddos. There's also the image Works
24:28
play area at the exit of Figment as well.
24:32
And then if you are out in the World Showcase, they do have
24:35
something called Kid Cot that you can have your kiddos take
24:39
participate in as you're going through the different countries.
24:42
They have little books or like little coloring that they can do
24:45
and they can talk to the cast members that are out in those
24:48
country pavilions because almost all of them that that work in
24:53
the pavilions are from the country of the pavilion that
24:56
you're visiting. So when you go to Morocco,
24:59
you're going to have people that come from Morocco that are
25:02
working there. So they are always willing to
25:06
share information and cultural facts about their their area,
25:10
which is super fun, especially if you've got kiddos that are
25:13
like really into that, like mine are mine have a really fun time
25:17
doing that over at Epcot. So that is again, another super
25:20
fun thing that you can do to kind of fill in some time in
25:23
your afternoon. Now you're not going to have
25:25
time to do all of that. You're going to have to kind of
25:26
pick and choose what sounds the most entertaining and it appeals
25:31
best to the group that you're travelling in.
25:33
But those are all really great options at Epcot that you can do
25:38
again with food that will take you kind of up to and probably
25:42
through dinner. But I do just want to mention
25:44
that typically, if you're following this for dinner,
25:48
you're going to end up being out in World Showcase.
25:50
So festival booths or any of the quick service options that they
25:54
have, They're also a ton of great table service.
25:56
So if you think that you're going to have time to do a table
26:00
service restaurant, then by all means, go ahead and book that
26:03
with Lightning Lanes. I do think that that is totally
26:06
possible. Like I said, that you could have
26:07
the majority of your attractions done before about 4:00 PM.
26:13
So that could be something that you do to kind of enjoy the
26:18
evening after running around like crazy doing Epcot all
26:21
throughout the day. And then anything after dinner
26:23
that you weren't able to do or things that you did by standby
26:28
that you want to do Lightning Lane or things that you did
26:31
Lightning Lane that you want to do standby to do it again
26:33
because the weights have dropped.
26:35
That's your time to do that. That's that clean up time that
26:37
we have talked about in all of these episodes.
26:39
That's kind of universal. The best thing to do after
26:43
dinner is that kind of last hurrah.
26:46
Look at our list and make sure that we've done everything that
26:48
we're able to do. And then do keep in mind that at
26:52
Epcot, the nighttime fireworks show that happens over there
26:57
always happens at part. Almost always.
27:00
I shouldn't say always because there are a few times that it
27:02
doesn't, but almost always happens at Park close.
27:06
So Park close is for the majority of the year is 9:00 PM
27:10
and that is when that fireworks show will go off.
27:12
So you may have to decide if you want to be in a line at 8:58 PM
27:20
to try to get on one last attraction and miss the
27:22
fireworks show or if you're OK with not doing a last attraction
27:27
and and finding a spot around the World Showcase lagoon.
27:30
For right now, the show is called Luminous.
27:34
So depending on your preference and what your group wants to do,
27:39
you can kind of plan your evening accordingly.
27:44
Do also keep in mind that in the Evening Times, especially when
27:47
they're I think only when there are festivals running right now,
27:49
but I could be wrong. But especially when there are
27:50
festivals running, there is also a really cute little LED light
27:55
show with a song that happens on Spaceship Earth, and it's
27:58
typically themed to whatever the current festival is that they're
28:03
doing. They've done a couple different
28:05
shows on there. So if that's something that you
28:06
really like, I really like those shows.
28:08
I think they're super fun, but they're a little tricky to get
28:11
to if you're all the way out in the World Showcase because it is
28:13
such a long haul to get to the very front of the park.
28:15
So keep that in mind as well. But if you're already going to
28:18
be in the front of the park 'cause you're not planning to
28:20
watch the fireworks, then definitely catch that little
28:23
show on Spaceship Earth 'cause I think it's a super fun, fun
28:27
little thing that they brought these LED lights on Spaceship
28:32
Earth for the 50th anniversary that they did.
28:36
And they've just stuck around. And I, I love that we still have
28:39
those on Spaceship Earth. So that is something that I
28:42
always like to try to do when I'm at Epcot for sure.
28:45
OK, so all of that being said, I think that takes place of your
28:48
day with Lightning Lanes. But now let's talk about what
28:52
should we do if we are not using Lightning Lanes.
28:57
So if you are headed to Epcot without lightning lanes, a
29:01
couple things to consider. First of all, I mentioned this a
29:05
little bit at Animal Kingdom as well.
29:07
But if you are able to scrape just a little bit of money per
29:12
person, maybe you don't have enough to do multi pass for
29:16
everybody, but maybe you have enough just to do a single pass
29:19
and to grab a Guardians of the Galaxy single pass.
29:23
That would be greatly beneficial if you're someone that has a
29:27
long list of rides that you want to accomplish at Epcot, just
29:30
because there are so many top tier attractions that people
29:35
want to go on that do get lengthy weights, being able to
29:38
cut at least one of them will be a big benefit of your day.
29:42
Now if not, totally understand not everybody's budgets allow
29:47
them to be able to do that. Totally understandable.
29:50
Disney is not cheap, but just keep that in mind that you're
29:54
going to hear me kind of talk about, OK, you could do this or
29:58
you could do this or you could do this because it really just
30:00
depends on that. So again, you're going to want
30:02
to arrive 45 minutes before park open for rope drop.
30:07
Remember, there are two different entrances.
30:11
All of that that we talked about a little bit ago is going to
30:14
still apply whether you're using lightning lanes or not, right?
30:17
So a couple options, if you are entering at International
30:23
Gateway, which is the sky liner, Yacht and beach and Boardwalk
30:27
Swan and Dolphin, those resorts over that direction, you are
30:31
going to want to rope drop Remy along with everyone else
30:34
unfortunately, but that is going to be your best bet for getting
30:37
on that ride. Now Remy does have a single
30:40
rider line and most of the time it's a pretty decent single
30:44
rider line. So if your group is someone that
30:46
is able to utilize single rider, definitely keep that in mind and
30:51
do not rope drop Remy because you do not need to wait in that
30:55
line and they may not have single rider open that early in
30:58
the day. Do that later.
31:00
Hit it on your way back around World Showcase.
31:03
So if you're going to do single rider, don't worry about going
31:06
to Remy first. So if that's you, then I would
31:09
maybe do something like Frozen or test track instead if if you
31:13
are planning to single ride or Remy.
31:15
If you're entering at the front of the park by Spaceship Earth,
31:20
you really have to decide what is your top option.
31:24
Three choices that you have that are all equally great choices
31:28
and will all depend on what your group wants the most.
31:32
But front of the park rope drop options would be either
31:36
Guardians of the Galaxy, Cosmic Rewind, Frozen, or Test Track.
31:41
So any of those 3, whichever 1 is the top choice for your
31:45
group, that's what you're going to want a rope drop first.
31:48
Again, getting there early. So you position yourself in the
31:52
front of the mass crowd that's going to be there at Ropedrop,
31:56
going to those same attractions. You want to make sure that you
31:59
have to kind of position yourself accordingly for that,
32:03
which is why that 45 minutes at least is super important so that
32:08
you can position yourself because they will kind of let
32:12
you in in stages. So at Epcot, at both entrances,
32:16
they do have a spot where people are checking for early entry.
32:20
So if you've got early entry, you can tap in earlier than the
32:24
park officially opens for early entry and go to those
32:27
attractions. So I didn't mention this
32:28
earlier, but I definitely want to mention it now.
32:30
So for example, the last trip that I was on, we stayed at Art
32:34
of Animation. We entered through the sky
32:35
liner. We got there early.
32:38
We tapped in a little bit inside of the gate after we like
32:43
scanned in and then once we were cleared that we had early entry,
32:49
we went and queued up for Frozen before the queue even opened.
32:52
Once the queue opened we literally walked right through
32:55
it and got on the ride. So they will let you queue up
32:58
outside of those different attractions, which is why it's
33:01
so important to get there early and set yourself up for success
33:05
being in the right positioning. So you're going to have to
33:08
choose between again, Cosmic Rewind, Frozen or Test Track.
33:12
Now Test Track also has a single rider line and it's a pretty
33:15
good single rider line as well. So again, same with Remy.
33:19
If you're planning to single rider it, save it until a little
33:22
bit later in the probably late morning, depending on where
33:26
you're going to be on and when you're going to be on that side
33:29
of the park. So you really just have to make
33:32
your decision after that. The earlier you arrive and the
33:35
quicker you can get your first ride done at rope drop, the
33:38
better chance you have at making it to a second ride without as
33:42
long of a line. All of those attractions, Remy,
33:46
Cosmic Rewind, Frozen, Test Tracker, all going to have an
33:49
hour wait by 11 O clock 11:30. So you really want to try to get
33:56
in and get those done as quickly as you possibly can and know the
34:00
order that you want to do them. So again, Remy is kind of on an
34:05
island back at in France. So that is something you really
34:08
have to plan accordingly for. But if you look at Test track
34:13
and Guardians of the Galaxy, they're fairly close to each
34:17
other. So those those are pretty easy
34:18
to to pair together. And then from test track, if you
34:23
cut by the Odyssey pavilion to get to Norway, it's not
34:28
terrible. It's not great, but it's not
34:30
terrible. So test track and Frozen would
34:32
be two ones that I would group together as my top 2 rides in
34:37
for early entry time. But again, the earlier you get
34:41
there, the quicker you get through the queue for your first
34:44
ride, the better chance you have at getting in a second line
34:47
before those hour waits pop up. So I'm going to give you kind of
34:53
a generic ride order for what I think will you'll probably be
34:58
able to do without using lightning lanes.
35:01
Keep in mind that you're just going to have to plan
35:04
accordingly for when your lunch and dinner breaks are going to
35:08
be kind of like we mentioned earlier.
35:09
So you're not going to hear me say, well after this you should
35:12
break for lunch because it's really just going to depend on
35:15
what time it is and how quickly you get through these different
35:18
attractions. So first, like we said, you're
35:21
going to choose between Cosmic Rewind, Frozen Test Track, Remy
35:26
and kind of figure out the best course of action and attack for
35:30
those four attractions because again, those are your top tier
35:36
top E ticket attractions at Epcot.
35:39
Now if you don't get through all of those in the morning, a
35:43
couple of different things that you can do.
35:45
They will about 4:00 to 6:00 typically for that dinner time,
35:52
even all the way maybe till 7. Some of those rides do dip down
35:56
closer to like a 3035 minute wait.
35:59
If you see one of those four rides that I've been talking
36:02
about under a 40 minute wait, go ride it because it may not be
36:07
under that again for the rest of the night and you don't have
36:10
lightning lanes to help you with that.
36:12
So if you see it under 40 minutes, that is your queue to
36:15
go ride it. If you can't wait for 40 minutes
36:18
or your kiddos can't, you're going to have to make some tough
36:22
decisions and tough choices with that for sure.
36:25
So again, those four are kind of your first ones to tackle.
36:29
If you don't have them done in the morning, that's OK.
36:33
Wait until closer to dinner time or end of the night to circle
36:37
back to do any of those top 4 ones that you didn't get to in
36:41
the morning. After your morning little swoop,
36:46
I would head to Sauron. Now the thing with Sauron is
36:51
again depending on the day, it can sometimes pop up to like a
36:55
45 minute wait. By 11:00, just like those other
36:58
ones, it will come back down. So be patient with it.
37:01
If Sauron is showing like a 4045, just wait until that four
37:06
5:00 in the afternoon and come back to that.
37:08
So skip it and move on. And then I would after that hit
37:12
mission space followed by Spaceship Earth again.
37:15
Keep an eye on this wait time because it is the front of the
37:17
park. People like to go there right
37:19
away. If it's longer than 20, come
37:22
back and circle back again. So I know that sounds like a lot
37:26
of circling back that I'm telling you guys to do, but
37:29
that's just where your app is going to be your best friend.
37:31
Unfortunately, it is what it is. I know a lot of people don't
37:33
enjoy the fact that we all have to live on our phones when we're
37:36
at Disney, but even if you're not using Lightning Lanes,
37:39
you're still having to check those wait times on your phone.
37:42
So Soren, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth.
37:45
After that, the rest of your list that's left, Really easy to
37:49
get into because that's the seas with Nemo and friends and Turtle
37:53
Talk, Figment living with the Land 3 Caballeros.
37:58
And then you've got your meet and greets and shows that we
38:00
talked about before as well. So Epcot is really tricky for
38:07
half of the park and really easy for the other half of the park,
38:11
which is a little frustrating when it comes to the way that
38:14
they do their lightning lanes and things like that that we
38:18
talked about earlier. But really, if you can have a
38:21
good course of attack for those top four rides that we talked
38:25
about, the rest of it will all fall into place because you'll
38:28
be able to get on almost everything else within 2025 most
38:32
days. Now, if you're someone that's
38:35
visiting peak season holidays, you know, busy weekends, run
38:40
Disney events. You know, I said holidays, but
38:44
like long weekend holidays, right?
38:47
You're going to need to to do something with Lightning Lanes
38:50
at that point in time again, especially now with Test Track
38:55
being reopen again after the refurb.
38:58
When it was down, Epcot was way easier to navigate without
39:02
Lightning Lanes because it was really just rummy and frozen.
39:08
And at that point in time, Cosmic Rewind was on a virtual
39:11
queue. So it's a little frustrating,
39:14
but I really do suggest using lightning lanes if you're able
39:18
to, because that list that I just gave you for the non
39:21
lightning lanes, you're probably going to have to skip some
39:24
things and and make some choices based on your group and what the
39:28
wants and needs are for the group that you're traveling
39:31
with. So again, like I said, lunch and
39:34
dinner, you're just going to have to find kind of times
39:37
within that segment to figure out what makes the most sense
39:42
and where you are in the park to grab something to eat.
39:45
So after dinner, you may or may not have a ton of time depending
39:49
on what you've done throughout the day and when you've eaten.
39:53
Again, we we always suggest trying to eat a little before, a
39:56
little after those peak times. But if there's anything that you
40:00
haven't done, or if you're still missing one of those BIG4 from
40:03
earlier in the day. Your best bet at that point in
40:07
time, If it's after dinner and you still have a top attraction
40:10
that you want to try to do, chances are you're not going to
40:13
be able to do the fireworks show unless you're willing to wait at
40:18
whatever time is posted for that top tier attraction after
40:23
dinner. So you really just have to
40:25
decide after that point in time. Again, the park closes at the
40:28
same time as the nighttime fireworks show happens.
40:31
So 9:00 PM closure would be 9:00 PM fireworks, which means at
40:37
8:59 you are still eligible to get in line, but once it turns
40:40
to 9 O clock, those lines are closed for all of the
40:43
attractions. So keep that in mind.
40:46
Hopefully that at least gave you some framework.
40:49
You know, these these itineraries are really tricky
40:53
because it really does depend on your particular group and what
40:57
your top options are that you're wanting to do.
41:00
All of that being said, if you have an upcoming trip and you
41:03
need help and you're like this is overwhelming, I don't know
41:06
what to do, please reach out to us.
41:08
Please send us an e-mail. We would love to hear from you.
41:10
Even if you don't need help and you just want to say hi, we
41:13
would love to hear from all of our extended Mom St. community.
41:17
We are so thankful for you guys. So we would love to hear from
41:20
you. But if you truly do need help,
41:22
send me an e-mail Mom St. usa@gmail.com because I love
41:26
helping people with itineraries for their trips.
41:28
So I would be more than happy to take a look at your group,
41:33
figure out what your course of action is, whether it's
41:36
lightning lanes or no lightning lanes, I would love to be able
41:38
to help you do that. So please reach out if you need
41:41
assistance with any of those types of things.
41:45
So that pretty much wraps up our one day at Epcot.
41:48
Again, this is in the middle of our one day park series that we
41:52
are working on. We are just a few parks away
41:56
from kind of wrapping this up for this year and then come
42:01
2026, we are going to have something else.
42:05
Who knows? We'll have to wait and see.
42:07
But do keep in mind you can always find us on our platforms
42:10
wherever you listen to podcasts and on our YouTube as well.
42:14
We are Mom St. USA on all of the places that
42:16
you would want look to find us. So please be sure that you're
42:20
following us there so you don't ever miss anything.
42:23
There have been a few exclusive Youtubes that have been posted
42:26
that have not really been run anywhere else.
42:29
The whole conversation that we had about Epic Universe just a
42:32
few weeks ago whenever I got back from my trip there is on
42:36
our YouTube and exists only there.
42:38
So if you want to check that out, be sure to pop over to our
42:42
YouTube channel for that. And as always, be sure that you
42:45
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42:49
We never put anything behind a paywall, but your follows and
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42:56
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42:59
We do have a Patreon account as well.
43:01
We are Mom St. USA over there too, and we
43:03
typically will post a little bit of exclusive content over there.
43:07
Hoping to really start to utilize that a lot more even in
43:11
the new year of 2026 as we look forward to continuing on with
43:17
our journey of helping families make their trips to Disney even
43:22
easier is the the overall goal. So thank you guys all so much
43:25
for being here for this episode of Mom St.
43:27
Usai. Really appreciate you all tuning
43:30
in and I hope to hear from some of you soon.
43:33
And I will catch you on the next episode of Mom St.
43:36
USA. Bye everyone.