Wanderlust & Wishes

Episode 77: Top Tips for Tackling EPCOT

• Julie & Krystle

Share episode

On this week's episode, Krystle and Julie talk through their top tips for tackling a day at Walt Disney World's EPCOT. With this park's immense size and four festivals each year, there is so much to do that it can be hard to decide on your priorities and how to spend your day. We talk about our tried and true strategies for having the best day ever at EPCOT! 

Connect with us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wanderlustandwishespodcast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wanderlustandwishespodcast

For interest in vacation planning email us at: wanderlustandwishespodcast@gmail.com
Or fill out this quote request form: https://forms.gle/ZmN8C2akheQabF7B7

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Wonderlust and Witches, the podcast where we explore the world one destination at a time.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm Julie and I'm Crystal. As travel agents with fantastical vacations, we are here to share our passion for travel and help you turn your wonderlust into reality.

SPEAKER_00:

From hidden gems to bucket list adventures, join us as we dive into the sights, sounds, and stories of our favorite destinations.

SPEAKER_01:

So grab your passport, pack your bags, and let's embark on this journey together. Hi everybody, welcome to episode 77 of Wonderlust and Wishes. Today we're going to talk about top tips for Epcot. I love these episodes. I love talking about strategy and all the fun things. This is what this is our bread and butter. We love talking about this kind of stuff. So I'm excited for this one.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, apparently everybody else likes these episodes because they're some of our top downloads. So yeah. We got big old, and you guys are helping us get there. Little downloads at a time. So thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, thank you very much. So we don't have really a lot of news this week, so we're just going to jump right in. Starting with a park planning and strategy. I suggest planning your park strategy around where you enter the park. Epcot has two entrances, one at the very front where the monorail is, and one at, I guess, the back that is typically called the back, I guess, or the international gateway. It used to be like the secret entrance, but it's not really anymore because it's because the Skyliners there. So anybody that's on the Skyliner resorts, you come in that way. But as you all know, I don't love REMI's. I it's not my favorite ride. I could go without ever riding it again. But it is very popular. And if you're trying to get Remmies for early park entry and you're not coming in from the international gateway side, you're at a major disadvantage. If you're staying off property, you basically have no hope of truly rope-dropping Rimmies. You're still going to wait because more than likely you're going to enter from the front of the park and you're going to be behind everybody else that's already come in for early entry and everybody that was already in line from coming in on the Skyliner or walking from the Epcot resorts. It makes more sense if you're coming from the front of the park, especially to buy a lightning lane for Rimmings or try to wait it out until maybe closer to park closing. And to if you want to use standby. I would recommend the lightning lane for it, but I know that doesn't always fit into everybody's budget. It really, if you're coming into the front, it makes more sense for you to rub drop guardians if that is okay with the rest of your party, depending on what type of rides you you like. So not everybody loves Guardians because of the way it moves around. I think Guardians is the best ride ever, but not everybody's cool with it. I have two people in my family that don't ever want to ride it again. Because it's it spins and it takes you all over the place.

SPEAKER_00:

Summer. You get motion sick though and you do fine.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh yeah. I love it. I'm like hysterically laughing the entire time.

SPEAKER_00:

Unpopular opinion, get the lightning lane multipass for Epcot, especially if you're there for rides. And then like Julie's, you just need to strategize. So wherever you're if you're coming in International Gateway and plan on rope dropping, try to get a lightning lane for test track or frozen. And whichever one you can't get as your tier one, that should be your next stop. Like you got to be strategic about it a little bit.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. I'm gonna throw in some tips. I asked Ella and Crystal asked John. So we're gonna throw in tips from them also as we're talking through. Uh, you can tell this is my child. Uh Ella's tip, her first tip that she said is that Remy's is terrible. And get there early while everybody else is in line for Remy's and go get other things done that are more fun, basically, is what she said.

SPEAKER_00:

And this depends on the day, but so Ebcot typically opens at 9 a.m. The entire park doesn't open at that time. Like World Showcase might not open till like 10 or 11. And depending on who's working the ropes, you can't just look at the Remy and see the line and keep walking through World Showcase. They might push you around the front. So, from personal experience, don't think you can run through. I've done it though. So I think it just depends on the day. You can't bypass the front of the park to get to Frozen. Right. Be prepared. It doesn't always open. You might not have things available.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, they actually stop you at like right there. I at least if you go left at International Gateway, they stop you right there at the UK-Canada area, right after the Joffreys location. They basically stop you right there.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it's just annoying because it's like the other way, sometimes there's a rope across it right there in France, but then sometimes there's not.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. You kind of don't know. That's the hard part. Okay. The other thing is just really like with all of the parks, utilize early park entry. I think it's probably the biggest perk of staying on property. Yes, it is early. You have to get your you or yourself and the rest of your party up and out the door, but that extra 30 minutes is really more than an extra 30 minutes. It makes a difference and an impact the rest of the morning that you're there because you can get so much more done in that first 30 minutes, and then you're already ahead all morning.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, for sure. And this goes hand in hand with some of my other tips. This park is massive. It is so rough to crisscross. You need some sort of plan, especially with your ride lineup, or you will kill yourself running back and forth. Don't ask me how I know. I think we've all made that mistake before. Well, like with the old lightning lane system, you kind of didn't have a choice. So it was just whatever was available.

SPEAKER_01:

As a reminder, you know, Epcot has four worlds. It has world celebration, world discovery, world nature, and world showcase. But world celebration, world discovery, and world nature are all kind of the front half of the park. And then world showcase is the kind of the back half of the park. It's massive. And so, like Crystal said, if you're if you're jumping back and forth, you could probably, if you, as long as you stay in that front section or as long as you stay in World Showcase, but if you're trying to go back and forth, you're gonna be exhausted soon. Epcot's also a huge local park, especially on the weekends. And if there's a festival, they love to go to the shows and the food booths during the different festivals. If you cannot avoid going to Epcot on Saturday or Sunday, just be prepared for their larger crowds. And if you can go on a weekday, you'll probably get a little bit less traffic than you would on the weekends. I mean, I know we've made the mistake, you know, and it wasn't, I don't want to say it was a mistake yet. We couldn't avoid it, but going on like a Saturday and being there at night on a Saturday, it's so crowded.

SPEAKER_00:

Those evenings are especially rough.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

If you were coming from the front of Epcot and there's any sort of line at Spaceship Earth, skip it. Come back later. If there's a line, either people are dumb and don't realize, or it's a busy day. So just try back again later. You shouldn't wait longer than 15 minutes tops. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Or it could just be too like it could be that there's a lot of newbies and it's the first thing you see when you come into the park, and people associate Epcot with that big, you know, golf ball, basically. And so I think that could also be part of it. That it's right there when you first walk in.

SPEAKER_00:

And then be like Crystal when she goes on the ride for the first time and says WTF. What is the hype? It's the best. You have no nostalgia. You'll be on my side, I promise. Speaking of rides, let's let's move on to rides, attractions, and experiences. Ratatouille has a sneaky single rider line. If you have older kids, or if you've done it before, or if it's just like you and a friend, definitely take advantage of the single rider. It's hard to do if you have little kids, though. So just depends on your party.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, we're just I think single rider is amazing. I just we just don't ever use it because I'm that person that I don't I want to ride with whoever I'm with, and I just would rather wait. But not everybody is that way, and it can make a huge difference in how in your wait time. Do not skip out on Grand Fiesta Tour. I don't think it's as much of a secret as it used to be. It used to be this little like hidden secret ride. I think more people know about it now, but it is inside the pyramid that's in the Mexico pavilion. There's actually a ton of stuff inside that pyramid that you wouldn't expect. You walk in and there's basically like this little marketplace with these little shops, little booths with shopping. And then it also has the San Angel in restaurant that's in there as well. So they got a lot going on. And you walk past basically went past all of that, and the ride entrance is kind of to the back left.

SPEAKER_00:

This is one of John's tips, too. He said the tree's caballero is almost always a walk-on. It's a great sit and chill out of the sun kind of place.

SPEAKER_01:

It is. It's so it's so awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

So John and his love for boat rides because it's basically a nab.

SPEAKER_01:

It can be. They are relaxing and it's dark. It's a dark boat ride.

SPEAKER_00:

And if you haven't been on this ride in a minute, they have updated the graphics. And they are amazing. So definitely give it another chance.

SPEAKER_01:

So for Ella, this these are her do's and don'ts for rides. She says, don't ride Remy's, do ride Soren, so don't skip Soren, don't ride Mission Space Mars. So there's a Mars and there's an Earth. So the Mars is the more extreme version. Even if you have a pretty tough stomach, I think this one's can be rough because Ella doesn't really have those issues that I know of, or she hasn't, she hasn't in the past, and if this took her out, don't skip test track and don't skip out on Moana's, which is Moana's journey of water. She just calls it Moana's. It doesn't, she doesn't want to use all the extra words when she talks about it.

SPEAKER_00:

She's a true Disney person if she doesn't. Let's see. Ask to sit in B1 and Soren. So like on course B row one. Take it to middle tops so you don't see like feet dangling above you. You don't see Eiffel Tower bending, although I heard it doesn't anymore. But this is the this is the spot. There's not really a bad spot to watch Luminous around the World Showcase. I quite enjoy this show. There's a good Coco Toy Story mashup in there that gets me every single time. So this is a good one. Yeah, what's waterworks when I watched it. Speaking of crisscrossing the park, did you know you can actually take a boat across the World Showcase if your feet are done? It's not the quickest way to get around, but it might take you half hour, but go for it.

SPEAKER_01:

And you might die of gasoline fumes, but you know.

SPEAKER_00:

A lot of people don't realize that you don't have to ride the Nemo ride to visit the aquarium. That line can get super long sometimes. So just to walk around and go through the gift shop, and there's so much to do to there. Bruce has like an educational scavenger hunt. You can see the manatees. There's turtle talk. See if you can spot the divers. Speaking of Turtle Talk, John says if you have little kids, you should not be missing Turtle Talk Crush. Again, dark, AC place to sit down. Also, adult humor. Very interactive. My kids always get picked for some reason. They always have the funniest things to say.

SPEAKER_01:

Also, something that's kind of fun. Right outside of the Germany pavilion, there's a little German train town. It's fun to watch it. Rob showed me an article. It was it was being funny. I think it might, it was either a reel or a meme or something like that, that said it was like breaking news. The train fell off the track at Disney World, and it was a little Germany train.

SPEAKER_00:

John had best parked for rides. This is his favorite park.

SPEAKER_01:

That's interesting. I don't think people associate Epcot with rides as much.

SPEAKER_00:

So but he he said Cardians, he said test track, he said Brozen, he said Soren. Yeah. He said Tracy Caballeros. He could, he's fine with Rimmys. He's never been on Spaceship Earth and he's never been on Living with the Land. So he didn't even add those to his list.

SPEAKER_01:

I can't believe he hasn't. He needs to add Living with the Land to his sleeping I know his tour of sleeping with the Land.

SPEAKER_00:

I always go with like a shoulder swap while they're like doing guardians, I'll run over or like soaring. I'll go do that. And he's finding food while I'm writing. So it's not always his priority, I guess.

SPEAKER_01:

So moving on to food, dining, and drinks. Epcot is for sure very famous for its four festivals. For the most part, there's a festival going on pretty much all the time. There are little breaks in between them, but make sure when you're going to check out if there's a festival happening, because you need to have a plan of action because there's always extra shows and experiences. They have food booths there. The food booths are a whole vibe. There are like people go just to go to these food booths. There's always a foodie guide that you can use, and they have festival booth guides available once you enter the park. So you know where to go or you can see what the different booths have. If you're going during a festival, you really should plan to stop at multiple booths just to try a couple of different options. A lot of times people go and they just graze on different meals or different snacks from the food booths instead of having like a meal meal.

SPEAKER_00:

That would be me.

SPEAKER_01:

That would be crystal, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

We each get a small plate and share, and then you can eat a lot more.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, like a lot of people like go and they'll split whatever's available and then they just go from booth to booth to booth. Just as an FYI, the upcoming festivals for the next year. The festival of the holidays for this year starts on November 28th and goes through December 30th. I'm not sure if food and wine probably goes through most of the month this month. And then there's like a maybe a week break um over Thanksgiving. Festival of the Arts is January 16th through February 23rd, 2026. There's a little bit of a break, and Flower Garden Festival starts on March 4th and goes through June 1st of 2026, and then Food and Wine. There's a little bit of a bigger break over the summer, basically, and then food and wine festival starts August 27th and goes through November 21st of 2026.

SPEAKER_00:

You all know me and my coke machines. The best to embark are at Regal Eagle. They have the good ice and fountain machine and the connections eatery if you're on the front side.

SPEAKER_01:

Ella says she really liked Space 220. She liked the food. There's been criticism that it's not worth the money, but she really enjoyed it. She loved the theming. She loved like riding the elevator up to space. She thought that was so fun. And then she also had the pop rock drink, and she recommends it.

SPEAKER_00:

If you listen to Ella and try for Space 220, miss out on the reservation, you can check with the host about getting a walk-up bar availability day up. They don't have like a wait list on the app or anything. You have to actually talk to the host. And this is specifically for the bar, not for the lounge, not for the restaurant, but you can at least experience space 220 and what it has to offer.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it is fun. It is a fun atmosphere for sure.

SPEAKER_00:

Dawn's favorite quick service, if you are not doing a festival booth, is the uh in Mexico, the San Angel, and the one on the side of the water. Yeah. Great food, but it's hard to always find a table. It's very hard to find a table. But sometimes if you keep going through the little pavilion around the water side, the restaurant, they'll open some of that seating in the back. Mm-hmm. In the water, it's hit and miss because it depends on time of day. But that's our favorite quick service.

SPEAKER_01:

Earlier, I mentioned using the food booths as kind of your meal, like going around to each one and getting a little bite here and there. But on the flip side, Epcot is the best park for great sit-down restaurant options. Compared to the other three parks, it has by far the most restaurants. It has more than double what Magic Kingdom has, and it has four and five times what Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom has, which is crazy when I was looking at the numbers. It's mind-blowing to think that. Yeah. I mean, I look when I was looking at it, you know, Epcot has, I think, like 19 or 20 options, and Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom have like four or five each. It's really no matter what food or vibe you're looking for, they they're gonna have it. So they have you know very fancy options that are more expensive, but then they also have kind of a more relaxed feel as well. Ella has um a couple of additional tips for food. She says to go to Karamakuche and get lots of Worthers.

SPEAKER_00:

This is on John's list too because it is amazing. He's made me like bring him through the airport the caramel cookie sandwich.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yes. I always have to bring back the dark chocolate caramel squares for Rob. I always get the gigantic turtle, it's so good. It's my favorite from there. And Ella also says to go get a funnel cake from the American Pavilion.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, very nice. John's other is getting the croque glacé. It's ice cream, it's like an ice cream sandwich in a brioche bun in France. It's not everybody's cup of tea. I think we've talked about it before. We love it because it's like the warm outside, the cool, cold inside. Just go simple with it. Don't overthink it. That's a favorite. And then his other one that he mentioned was Club Cool to try all the different sodas. And everybody should try the Beverly.

SPEAKER_01:

You definitely should ask unsuspecting people to try that Beverly for sure.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah, we definitely did that for my father-in-law the last time we took him. All right, family and kid activities. One of my favorite things about Epcot is just how much my kids love it. Do not underestimate it and think it's just an adult part. It is for kids too. They're always something to do for the kids. I think Julie's gonna talk more about there's kid cot stops, there is the Play Disney app, and you can play the Dovetails Adventure. There are festival scavenger hunts. There are so many things for them.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I have a couple of things. If you have a kiddo that loves animals and science in general, you could spend hours, truly hours, at the aquarium. Because believe me, I have with my child, she wants to look at everything. And the aquarium is pretty big, it's a pretty big space, and there's lots to look at. There's a Dory scavenger hunt that comes with a free little booklet with stickers, and as you get to each experience, you you know add your sticker to the book. It's a super fun thing. And like Crystal mentioned, you also have Kid Cot. There are Kid Cot fun stops at each of the 11 international pavilions. There is some type of craft or experience that teaches the children and adults really about the different cultures around the world. In the Mexico pavilion, it is near Mexico Folk Art Gallery. In the Norway pavilion, it's at the Puffins Roost China Pavilion, it's near the exit of Reflections of China in Germany. It is at Bonkus. I'm probably saying that wrong. Italy pavilion, it's outside of La Bottega Italiana in the American Adventure Pavilion. It's outside Art of Disney, Japan Pavilion, it is in the jutsu con gallery, Morocco. It's at the marketplace in the Medina for the France Pavilion. It is at the Souvenirs de France, and then United Kingdom at the Toy Soldier, and then last but not least at the Canadian Pavilion. It's at the exit of Canada far and wide. And they are very easy to spot. There is a big sign that says Kidcot fun stop. And I think the signs are yellow, so they stand out and you can see them.

SPEAKER_00:

To go hand in hand with the Kid Cot thing, this is the most educational park. If you need a school excuse, Ebcot is your place. You are learning about different cultures, you're looking learning about like different cycles of the earth, you're learning about space, the water cycle. Every corner of this park is secretly educational, and I will that. Yeah, it's great. I dare say that this is also the best park for characters, especially if you have princess lovers, you have storybook dining at Akrishish, the Royal Banquet Hall, and you get four or five, six princesses, depending on the day. You also see Anna and Elsa in Norway, Jasmine in Morocco, Milan in China, Snow White in Germany, Aurora and Belle in France, Moana Near and Journey Water, and then Mary Poppins and Alice aren't official princesses, but you'll see them in England as well.

SPEAKER_01:

Moving on to some options for relaxation or just like downtime, kind of chilling out. This is a great park to literally stop and smell the roses. One of the things that they would have been working on, anybody that's been to Disney in the last like four to five years knows that there were walls up at Epcot for a majority of that time because they've been working on reimagining everything and the walls are finally down. And they came down, I believe, last summer. Like for the most part, they all came down. And when I say last summer, I mean like 2024 last summer. They created this beautiful area in world celebration, this garden area. And they have flowers and plants with benches where you can just sit and chill out. They generally rotate through the different flowers and plants depending on the festival theme at that point. So I love being in this area, especially early morning when there's not a lot of people in the park yet. It's also right next to the Starbucks. So that's a nice perk as well.

SPEAKER_00:

We know why you go there. I also had on my list that this there are lots of places for downtime or just slow going. Moana's Journey of Water through the countries, the English gardens, the Canadian waterfalls, the water feature in Morocco, Street and Sphere in Italy in Morocco, the band in Canada. Do not underestimate going back into the countries. There's more than just like the front facade. Like there's more. Absolutely. If you see a door closed, try it. If it opens, go for it. Like there's so much many hidden little things.

SPEAKER_01:

Ella says, again, you can tell this is my child. Go to the Starbucks and then sit in the gardens and relax for a little bit. She did say it doesn't have to be Starbucks. She said you can get it any any kind of treat, but to go sit in that little space because it's it's a nice quiet spot.

SPEAKER_00:

That's funny. John also mentioned the gardens in Canada is a good place to escape the crowds. I think you've seen more the waterfall. There's just like the whole like little place back there.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. If this is an adults-only trip, I would focus on rides first thing in the morning. So like get there, hit the rides, get as much done as you can, and then around lunchtime, kind of walk over to World Showcase and just mosey around the entire World Showcase. Like Crystal was saying, like go and explore in the different areas, get yourself some adult beverages, get some food from the booths, and just don't have any kind of major plan. Just walk around. And then if you do want to do a sit-down meal, do sit-down meal later in the evening and try to time it so that you can see luminous potentially. There's a couple different places you could sit. If you want to time it right, you can sit at the Rose and Crown. Um, they have outdoor seating, La Hacienda de San Angel. There's the water seating that Crystal was just talking about, and then also Spice Road table. They all have outdoor seating that's right there around the lagoon, and it's a great spot for fireworks if you can sit down at the right time.

SPEAKER_00:

Our favorite bathrooms are the ones on the outside of the Odyssey building. They are good and centrally located, they are always empty, and there's the baby care center is right there too. You need that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, we were just talking about before we started recording that for some reason people don't go over there, and it's like one of the best spots.

SPEAKER_00:

Although I dare say I use that bridge between the Odyssey and like up to Guardians like four or five times on an Epcot day because I use that as a cutthroat. I don't use like the main track.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. And I don't think people use it, they just don't. They don't associate it with going back to Guardians. Another thing that if you are staying at an Epcot resort or a Skyliner resort, it's super easy to go back to your resort, to chill out for a little bit, maybe rest, get off your feet, and then come back right before Lumina starts to see the show. It is one of my favorite things about staying at an Epcot resort or this or a resort that's on the Skyliner. It's so easy to do. And then I have one last thing from Ella, which is a little odd, but she says to look at the dolls by the chocolate shop. And I think she means Caramel Kuche. I don't think they're always there. There's sometimes this little kind of little pop-up kiosk area that has they're like porcelain dolls. And for whatever reason, the girls always like to stop and look at them. They're not all themed to like Disney princesses, but they do have Disney princess versions of the dolls. And they are very pretty. But she thought that that was important to note.

SPEAKER_00:

Jumping into your most important list here.

SPEAKER_01:

Moving to the coffee spots, I definitely think this was a good ad for our top tips. So for Epcot, you have the Connections Cafe in World Celebration. That is the Starbucks location. And it is because it's new, they re- completely redid all of this in this area. So it's brand new. It's a larger space than the Starbucks and the other parks. So you don't feel like you're crammed in there because some of the other, some of the Starbucks, the other parks, like the line goes out the door because there's just not enough space to hold all the people. And this one definitely has accounted for that for Joffrey's locations. If you are coming in from the front entrance, so where the monorail is, there is a Joffrey's right next to where the monorail station is. It's like as you're walking in, it's on the left. If you're coming in from the international gateway side, you want to go left after you cross the bridge. And that well, I guess the initial bridge, the initial, like as you're walking up the hill, you want to go to the left. And there is one between, or it's like right on the edge of the UK and Canada. I think it's officially in Canada, but it's like right there on the line. If you are venturing between the two halves of the park, there's a location next to Disney Traders. That is just inside World Showcase side of the park, and it's kind of going in the direction of Mexico. So if you're coming from the front of the park, you're going to take kind of a slight left or go to the left to go towards Mexico, and it's right there. In the American pavilion, there is one on the Italy side, like it's almost actually in Italy, like right as you're walking from Italy into the American Pavilion, it's on, it's right there. And then World Discovery, it is close to Guardians. If you're actually coming out of the Connections eatery and you're heading towards Guardian, you'll you'll see it. It's right there. And as you can tell, I've been to all of them. I know exactly where they all are.

SPEAKER_00:

And then we're gonna hop into my most important list: the shopping. These are also you just unique experiences because Ebcot is full of them. Each country, I feel like, has something unique. But Japan, you can pick a pearl out of an oyster that you can get set in like a piece of jewelry. You can just take the pearl. Very cool experience. They do like drums and the whole thing. And it's like relatively like decent price. It's not astronomical. In Germany, you can watch glass blowing or you can create glass art at the uh glassnut kiosk. You can make like a nightlight, you can do like a picture frame, just a fun different souvenir. They probably have ornaments that you could do right now, I think. Yeah, probably. And they'll like send it to you. There's the behind the scenes tour with Olivia with the land at the Seas Pavilion. You can do Die Quest, you can actually die. You do need to be certified. In the Mijikoshi department store in Japan, you can find a replica samurai sword and buy it. Take it home with you. In the UK, you can get your personal family crest in the crown and crest shop. In Italy, you can get Venetian carnival masks. And also in Germany, you can find$2,000 cuckoo clocks. And one of my favorite stops in Germany is the Steif stuffed animals. You can get Mickey and Minnie and Pooh. And we have an adorable puppy in our house, and they're the cutest. You can find unique pre-packed snacks like potato chips from China in each of the pavilions. And then another one is I'm gonna butcher this. Le Vins de France is a completely different kind of experience. It's kind of hidden inside the gift shop. It's right across from La Artisan de Glass. And then here you can buy bottles of wine and champagne to take home, but you can also buy wine and champagne by the glass. And everybody raves about the champagne bar, but it's just like unique and they have different flights. And then John's tip was he loves the store in Japan. I mean Mitsuhi Department Store. It just keeps going. It like wraps, like you go in and goes around the left, and it just yeah. You can find Mario in there.

SPEAKER_01:

You can find it's crazy the amount of stuff that they have in there.

SPEAKER_00:

I was talking to John, we just daydream all the time about our travel plans for the year. And if I asked him if he could pick one park for a day, he would pick Epcot over and over again. We love Epcot so much, it's definitely our favorite. I know Magic Kingdom has that rep, but even my kids, they love Epcot. So don't underestimate this park.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Actually, when we were there, I guess about a month ago, we were trying to decide if we were gonna go to another park other than the other than the Magic Kingdom, and everybody, like hands down, was it was Epcot. Like if we were gonna go, that was gonna be our option. So it's definitely one of Rob's favorites. A lot of times, like even once we come back, no matter what park we were at earlier in the day, a lot of times the girls and I come back to the resort and we're just hanging out at the pool or you know, doing nothing, he'll take Skyliner over to Epcot and just walk around, just to give himself like time away just to himself. And he loves to walk around the park.

SPEAKER_00:

It hurts my heart when people are like, we want to do three days and we're gonna give Epcot. Like, there's so much there. Because if you've been and like experienced it, people just have no idea the sheer volume of things you can find to do.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Even I was when I was thinking about it, I don't necessarily think about it as a heavy ride park. I think of all the other things that you can do. But as you were talking about John listing out all the fun rides that are there, it has great options for the rides. And it just on top of it, it has all these other options that you can go do. It's a very versatile park. So if you have some people that want to do just rides, and you have people that don't want to do rides, like all of you can go and have something that you can enjoy at Epcot.

SPEAKER_00:

For sure. We need to get him on the podcast, it would be hilarious. He was trying to list out his top 10 rides over all of Walt Disney World. And I think five or six of them were Epcot, and then you had like one from one park, one from another park. High and above, the majority was Epcot, and then you had one or two sprinkled in from the other parks.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm thinking maybe if we can get John and Rob together once they like meet in person and then get them on the podcast, they would be hilarious.

SPEAKER_00:

I might we might just have to get them like talking, and I might just turn on a voice memo and just as a fun as episode because they both claim they're not Disney Adult, but they have very strong opinions about this place.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And the whole like, I don't want to be on mic. People are afraid of being on the microphone.

SPEAKER_00:

Not us. Thanks for hanging out and listening to all of us.

SPEAKER_01:

This is such a fun episode. I love really truly, I know I said the beginning, but I love these episodes. These are my favorite to go through. Love pulling out the things that we all love and that our families love to do, but also being able to turn them into tips for all of you to benefit from some of the experiences that we've had and we've kind of tried and true methods that we've used to go to the parks.

SPEAKER_00:

I think that's all we have today. So if you would do us a 30-second favor and go leave us a review, it would be the best holiday gift to us, please.

SPEAKER_01:

It is. It's that time of year. It's the most wonderful time of the year, and we would enjoy some additional reviews to help our little podcast grow. Thank you so much, everybody, for listening this week. We appreciate all of you. We hope you all have a wonderful week, and we'll talk to you next week. Bye. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Wonderlust and Wishes. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. And remember, the world is full of wonders waiting to be explored. Until next time, happy travels. Bye for now.