Epcot

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Overview
Epcot (originally called EPCOT Center) was the second park at WDW to open. At its birth in 1982, it represented a conglomeration of two ideas shoved together into one park: a permanent world's fair, with exhibits on many major countries, and a showcase of futurism. To this day, Future World and World Showcase divide the park. Recent updates to the Future World pavilions inject new life into static displays, as Epcot undertakes a controversial move away from an educational, built-for-adults vibe and toward the thrill crowd.

How to Visit
Epcot sits just east of World Drive, almost in the exact center of the Disney World property. If you are staying at a Disney hotel or nearby in the surrounding community, a shuttle bus can drop you off at the park itself. If you are staying at a Disney Resort alongside the Seven Seas Lagoon, you have an additional option: walk or take the local monorail over to the Ticket and Transportation Center, and you can zoom over to Epcot on a special monorail. If you have a rental car, you can follow the purple signs to Epcot's own parking lot.

Planning Your Day (aka, “Touring” the Park)
There is no shortage of advice out there about how you should visit Epcot, and in what order you should do each ride. There are a few Golden Rules, however, that everyone agrees upon:

1. Use FASTPASS. This is a free electronic ride-reservation system. Stick your admission ticket into the machine, and it spits back a time for you to return, at which point you’ll only have a minimal wait before loading. In essence, a virtual version of you is waiting in line while you go do other things, such as eat, shop, relax, or even ride different rides. FASTPASS is on many of the major rides at WDW, though not all. However, you can’t over-use it. You can only hold one reservation at a time (or, if the “return time” is very far away, it allows you to make a different reservation after two hours). Decide which rides having FASTPASS are crucial for you to visit, and plan your day “on the fly” around the FASTPASS return times.

2. Do crowded rides early. At Epcot, the clear winner for attracting crowds is Soarin'. Ride this one early (or lock up a FASTPASS to do so) to be sure you get aboard at least once. The next best use of FASTPASS is probably Test Track. Wait times for Spaceship Earth and Mission Space are long at the start of the day, but nonexistant later on.

3. Be aware that Future World often closes before World Showcase. If the staggered closing time is true on the day you visit, plan to do rides in World Showcase that evening, and spend your daylight hours in Future World to make sure you get a chance to see everything.

4. Or, don’t plan at all. First-time visitors are well-advised to avoid the panic and stress of trying to plot out a visit as if it were a major military campaign. Disney parks are built to encourage discovery, wandering, and whimsy. This is especially true if you are visiting with small children. Let THEM determine the agenda and you’ll stumble across the “magic of Disney” a lot faster than if you try to force a hurried schedule onto cranky kids.

Where to Eat
If an extraordinary dining experience isn’t your goal, by all means, make use of the frequent fast-food options in the park, including carts along the street. However, if you’re looking for some variation, here are some ideas:

1. Upscale: Epcot was built with dining in mind; there are more than a dozen excellent table-service restaurants in this theme park. Most of the country paviliions in World Showcase have sit-down service, and all are so good, it is difficult to isolate just one or two top choices. Full-service dining at the Land Pavilion and the Living Seas Pavilion are also top-notch. Reservations are a must (earlier than same-day, if you can): 407-WDW-DINE.

2. Character meals: There are a few character meals (Garden Grill in the Land pavilion and Restaurant Ankershus in the Norway pavilion), but by and large the tone of the park steers clear of Disney characters.

3. Moderate-but-different: The proliferation of table-service dining has led to a reduction in other types of unique foods at Epcot, apart from the usual fast food fare. Still, you can find some interesting options, especially among the take-out locations in the country pavilions, especially in China, Japan, England, and Mexico.

4. Treats: Fresh crepes are made before your eyes in the France pavilion, then topped with chocolate or fruit. And just further: a daquiri stand. This is one Disney park which serves alcohol!

Our Bottom-Line Recommendations
Epcot stands alongside the Magic Kingdom as a "must-see" attraction. Many folks return from Orlando listing Epcot as their favorite park. It feels different from the usual Disney experience (more adult, more worldly, more educational), yet offers enough of the famous Disney details that visitors don't feel alienated. There's easily enough here to fill an entire day, possibly two full days.