Epcot is the park we wish we had been able to spend more time at. We had a full day and half planned for it during our honeymoon, but it felt like we weren’t able to really dig into the awesomeness of Epcot due to two factors: we were exhausted and it rained. When we go back, Epcot will definitely be top of the list to visit first. Hopefully, by then, they will have completed some of the awesome renovations they have announced!
On our fourth day at Disney World, we traveled from Magic Kingdom to Epcot via the Monorail. There are some negative feelings out there about the Monorail, due to some much-needed upgrades, but Adam and I enjoyed our trip over and were glad that we decided to Park Hop via that method. We arrived in the afternoon and had some fun with a fantastic Photopass photographer. There were a lot of Disney Magic in these photos! Pro tip: When you get your pictures taken, ask if there are any magic photo opportunities! You might find yourself sitting next to Mickey Mouse!
The next thing we did was actually quite sad… we found a bench and just sat there for about twenty minutes. Next time we go, we will definitely be factoring in more breaks into our days. Sheer enthusiasm wasn’t quite enough to get us through a whole honeymoon of theme parking. At one point, another Photopass photographer was meandering around and we thought… well, we should probably take advantage of this photo opportunity and dragged ourselves off the bench to take what are some of my absolute favorite photos of the entire trip. We were in a quiet spot and the sky was just stunning. We look tired and not the cutest, but to us, this moment had a different kind of Disney magic.
After we got off that bench for the photos, we spent the rest of the evening walking around the World Pavilions and eating. Our feet hurt and it took everything in us to get around the loop, but I am so glad we pushed ourselves to do it that night. We had planned to take a second loop the next day, but the rain and our exhaustion got the best of us and we never did get around the whole thing again. I know there was so much we didn’t get to explore, so many shows we didn’t see, so much food we didn’t eat… I can’t wait to get back and spend the time with each of those Pavilions that they deserve.
We ate a pretzel from Germany, Sushi and Tonkotsu Ramen from Japan, and Brie from France. All were super enjoyable and I know next time we go, we will love trying even more delicious tidbits from other regions of the Pavilions. After we walked the loop, we ended our night a little earlier than usual, knowing we would be back the next day.
Almost year-round, Epcot has festivals going – Food & Wine, Garden, etc. We were there during the Festival of the Arts. A lot of the booths we visited had “Fan Art” from incredibly talented artists. One in particular caught our eyes – Noah. We love, love, love his cute, imaginative sketches. We purchased 3 prints, got them signed, and now have them proudly displayed in our home.
We had one REALLY rainy day on our trip, which happened to be our second Epcot day. Plus, the exhaustion was starting to really get to us. Our day started out on a sad note, as one of the top things Adam wanted to do was ride Test Track, but the ride was closed due to the rain. So we trudged around the front-end of the park and worked our way through the indoor attractions. That day is kind of a blur – we were so wiped out and wet.
We actually left in the early afternoon to go back to our hotel room and take a nap. The most impressive thing we did all trip was get up from our warm hotel bed to go back out into the rain and watch Illuminations. This was going to be our last chance to see this spectacular display that Adam remembered so fondly from his childhood (and even owns the soundtrack to). There were barely any people in the park that evening, so we got a spectacular view. It was worth it.
