Katherine's Next Trip!

It’s been a while, but I know you are DYING for my tips for the rest of your park visits throughout the rest of Walt Disney World. So without further ado, here are my tips and things I love most about Epcot, Hollywood Studios (with this VERY UNSETTLING room in Rise of the Resistance), and Animal Kingdom.

Epcot

Festivals!

Epcot is an ever-evolving park because it plays host to 4 festivals throughout the year, with food and drinks to sample and entertainment popping up all around World Showcase everywhere you look!  

In January and February, it hosts the Festival of the Arts that celebrates visual, culinary, and performing arts from all around the world.  The weekends host Disney on Broadway stars singing some of your family’s favorite songs from Disney’s biggest hits.  Here, you can learn how to draw a classic Disney character at the Animation Academy daily at the America Gardens Theatre.  You are even able to join in the fun to help create art with the interactive murals, or just watch talented artists create beautiful pieces right before your eyes.  When your tummy starts rumbling, it’s time to stroll around the World Showcase while snacking on art inspired cuisine!  

The springtime brings the Flower and Garden Festival where beautiful topiaries bring your favorite Disney characters to life in every corner of the park.  As you pass the beautiful gardens, sample dishes that seem like they came fresh from the garden.  Then you can sit back and jam out to your favorite bands at the Garden Rocks! Concert Series.

Going into the fall, foodies unite around all that the world has to offer with the International Food and Wine Festival.  You can seek out your returning festival favorites like the cheddar cheese soup from the Canada booth, the pao de queijo from Brazil, or the one I can’t stop talking about, the stone baked bread with three dips from Morocco!  If you aren’t too full, you can find your new favorite dish as well, or at least have fun tasting the different dishes in your quest.  The Eat to the Beat Concert Series is a highlight of the year, especially now since my favorite decades of music are so old that the artists have begun to make yearly appearances, Boyz II Men, anyone?  

Everyone’s favorite season brings the International Festival of the Holidays to Epcot and maybe you too!  As you stroll around the world, make sure you stop by each country to hear the holiday storytellers as they share their local traditions they enjoy as they celebrate Christmas or other holidays that pop up near the end of the year.  Then let your nose lead you to the holiday kitchens where you can try the traditional dishes of the holidays in each country.  

The absolute HIGHLIGHT of the year is the Candlelight Processional performed nightly in the America Gardens Theatre as a celebrity narrator (Neil Patrick Harris is the most popular) is accompanied by Epcot’s own Voices of Liberty, vocally talented Disney Cast Members, a 50-piece orchestra and over 100 choir members as they tell the Christmas story of our Savior’s birth over 2000 years ago.  It’s like a local Christmas concert times 10! It is always on my must-do list whenever I visit in December.  

Garden Grill

If I’m at Epcot on one of those RARE days where there is not a festival happening, you will probably find me at my favorite place to meet Mickey Mouse, Garden Grill located in the Land Pavillion.  It is all you can eat, but in this rotating restaurant, they bring the family style feast to you!  Many of the ingredients that are in your food are even made in the greenhouses of the pavilion that you can visit on the Living with the Land ride which can be boarded on the floor below you.  Mickey and his friends are in their farming gear, and it is a more relaxed experience than many of the other character meals featuring the fab 5, and the food is DELICIOUS!  

Kringla Bakery Og Kafe

Norwegians know their baked goods!  After you have traveled the world and had a delicious meal (if you go towards Canada when you start World Showcase) or after your first Margarita (if you go towards Mexico when you start World Showcase), you might need a sweet treat.  After you witness the retelling of Anna and Elsa’s story in the Frozen Ever After ride, stop into Kringla Bakery Og Kafe for some delicious pastries.  Some people SWEAR by their School Bread, others can’t wait to get their hands on the Rice Cream, but my pick is the Norwegian Kringla, a pastry shaped like a pretzel with sweet, delicious toppings.  There are a few tables where you can enjoy your treats (and some bathrooms to wash the stickiness off your fingers) just steps away from the Anna and Elsa meet and greet where the tiny citizens of Arendelle in your group can get pictures with the royal duo!  

Popcorn

I’m not saying that this is only in Epcot, but the FLAVORED popcorn that you can get in your refillable popcorn bucket is!  (but only sometimes….I am afraid it is infrequent nowadays) All over the Walt Disney World Resort you can purchase refillable popcorn buckets where you can pay only a few dollars for a refill during your entire visit.  It’s a great deal, especially if you love popcorn like me!  Long ago (before covid boo), they used to have different varieties of flavored popcorn outside of the Imagination Pavilion and it worked with your refillable bucket, but alas it is just normal popcorn now.  BUT!  Never fear! You can get maple flavored popcorn with your refillable bucket!  It’s delicious!  I would suggest picking up one of the refillable buckets near the beginning of your trip and find a way to attach it to your bag and use it everywhere!  

Epcot Fireworks – Luminous The Symphony of Us

The atmosphere at Epcot at night is completely different from the daytime, with the music changing as the torches light up and the energy elevates.  Grabbing a fun drink or snack and just wandering the path around the water is a perfect way to end a day at Walt Disney World and with the fireworks easily seen from MANY places around the lagoon, there is no rush or stress to find the perfect spot.  I have a few, like in front of Norway or Germany, on the Mexico bridge, near Canada, or between the two Port of Entry stores opposite America pavilion.  If I have this many spots that I like, you are sure to find one you like as well.  With other parks having varying times for nighttime shows, like Fantasmic! only on particular days or times, or early closing hours at Magic Kingdom, you can always expect an Epcot nighttime fireworks show.  

And that is the end of my Epcot highlights….hopefully this has got you thinking about your next trip too, let me know if I can help!