How to Fit 15 Attractions in at Epcot in One Day

Epcot is practically two parks in one. It is more than twice the size of Magic Kingdom. On one side of the park there is Future World, which is home to a number of areas, such as The Land and The Seas. The other side of the park features the World Showcase which houses 11 countries surrounding the World Showcase Lagoon. Epcot has so many amazing attractions to offer guests that it could take multiple trips to experience it all, but with some prep work, planning and enthusiasm you can easily fit 15 attractions into one day at Epcot.

My best advice is to plan ahead of time. If you can, book your dining reservations and make your FastPass+ selections as early as you can. Before your day at Epcot, grab a park map from your resort, hop online, or open the My Disney Experience App and do some research. Make a list of all the attractions you’d like to ride, the snacks you want to try and the performances you want to see, then find them on the map to determine your plan of attack. As I mentioned earlier, Epcot is a big park and the last thing you want to do is spend a lot of time walking back and forth from one side of the park to the other. Take a look at where your dining reservation for lunch or dinner is and plan to hit the attractions close by around the time of your reservation. In other words, don’t get a FastPass+ for Soarin’ at 4:45pm if your dinner reservation is at Teppan Edo in Japan at 5:00pm.

Arrive at the park even a few minutes prior to opening. And don’t forget to grab a park map at the entrance. A key thing to remember is that Future World opens at rope drop but the World Showcase doesn’t open until 11:00am, so don’t waste your time heading towards the Mexico Pavilion right away, head straight over to Future World to strike as many attractions off your list as you can before 11:00am starting with Test Track. Other attractions to visit at Future World include Mission: SPACE, Soarin’ (FastPass+ is a good idea for Soarin’ to avoid the long lines), Living with the Land, Nemo & Friends and The Seas. Make sure you also ride on Spaceship Earth, since it’s the iconic attraction that represents Epcot.

Around lunchtime I like to head over to the World Showcase for a quick service meal and to wander through the pavilions and stroll along the promenade. Take a look at your map and see if your chosen restaurant is closer to Mexico or Canada, and that will tell you from which side to enter the World Showcase.

Don’t forget to wave at the guests dining at San Angel Inn Restaurante. I like to stop at the quick service counter in Germany, Karamell-Kuche, where they specialize in making caramel treats like caramel popcorn. The smell alone is reason enough to stop here. There are a number of other great places to stop for snacks, like the Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe in Norway for their famous School Bread, or for ice cream in France at L’Artisan de Glaces.

The Canada, France and China pavilions each have beautiful film attractions. The American Adventure isn’t a film, but it’s worth mentioning because all of these attractions have running times of approximately 15 minutes or longer so it may not be a good idea to try to see them all if you have other attractions on your list. It’s best to pick one or maybe two to see.

There are also a number of performances that happen throughout the World Showcase. There is the Canadian Lumberjack show, Matsuriza is the Taiko drum performance in Japan, and a juggling mime named Sergio is in Italy, just to name a few. There are also character meet and greets here. Some of the characters you’ll find are Donald in Mexico, Mulan in China, and Mary Poppins in the United Kingdom.

A helpful tool to make sure you get to experience all 15 attractions on your list is the My Disney Experience App. It keeps track of your dining reservations, your FastPass+ selections and also provides you with the menus for all the restaurants and quick service counters. It will also tell you the performance times, helping you plan where to be and when. It’s a great way to keep track of the wait times for the attractions, which can help you avoid backtracking through the park just to see how long the waits are.

The final item on your list of 15 attractions to do at Epcot in one day really should be Illuminations. It is a spectacular nighttime fireworks show over the World Showcase Lagoon. If you are concerned about finding a seat or a spot to watch from the promenade, I recommend finding a spot about 30-40 minutes in advance. Canada is a popular spot, but anywhere along the promenade will give you a wonderful view of the show. What better way to end your day at Epcot than with a firework show celebrating humanity and the earth?

Here is what my list of 15 attractions to do in one day at Epcot looks like.

1. Test Track
2. Mission: SPACE – (Fastpass+)
3. Living with the Land
4. Soarin’ – (Fastpass+)
5. Journey into Imagination with Figment
6. Nemo and Friends
7. The Seas – Bruce’s Shark World/Coral Reefs and the aquariums
8. Spaceship Earth – (Fastpass+)
9. (Lunch at a quick service restaurant) Meet Donald in Mexico
10. Gran Fiesta Tour
11. Reflections of China
12. Karamell-Kuche – for snacks in Germany
13. American Adventure
14. Dinner at World Showcase Restaurant
15. Illuminations