If you're here then I know you are looking for the perfect way to manage Epcot in just 1 day. This itinerary will help you with dealing with crowds and get the most out of your Disney holiday.

We will cover rope drop tips and ideas on how to plan your day at Epcot to maximise efficiency and lower your time spent standing in queues.

Now for a perfect day at Epcot, utilise these practical tips, but make sure you take the time to enjoy the Disney Magic that makes Epcot what it is.

The Area of World Celebration (formerly Future World) behind Spaceship Earth has recently been transformed into Dreamers Point. It is home to a wishing tree in an enchanted forest, gardens and even interactive features too. It truly is beautiful. You even have the opportunity to sit next to Walt himself and take a photo, although a statue, it is a great memory to have.

Epcot in 1 day Plan: Things to Consider

Now you can just wing it when it comes to planning your Disney holiday, however you will probably end up stressed out and feeling deflated, especially if it is your first trip. It is so overwhelming, But I am here to alleviate as much of that stress as possible.

My 1 Day Epcot Itinerary makes everything easy for you to get the most out of your experience by outlining the order in which you should visit the rides and attractions.

This is the perfect strategy for making the 1 day Epcot visit possible.

If you are visiting for a longer period, you can still take advantage of this plan, and just spread the plan over the amount of days that suit you.

Now, once again Disney have changed things regarding Fastpass, Genie+, individual Lightening Lanes etc. If you need help with the new system click here.

Genie+ is now known as Lightening Lane Multi pass, and the Individual Lightening Lanes are now known as Lightening Lane Single Pass.

When you only have the 1 day at Epcot, I definitely recommend getting both the Lightening Lane and the Lightening Lane Single Pass for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (if it is within your budget). Yes there is an option for the Virtual Queue, but it isn't guaranteed that you will grab a spot. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. The virtual queue opens at 7 am on the dot and then again at 1 pm, as long as you are already in the park. But make sure you are on the app beforehand and keep refreshing the app, as the spots go super quick.

I would also recommend getting the passes if you are visiting during peak seasons, such as Easter/Spring break, Christmas, and the US 3 day weekends, such as Presidents Day, Memorial Day - that is unless you want to stand in line for around 2 hours!

For those of you who want to ride as many of the rides as possible, then the Lightening Lane passes tend to be well worth the additional costs.

Now with all that said, let's have a look at the first lot of steps that are important to make your 1 day Epcot visit successful!

Initial Steps

• This one is obvious, buy your tickets. Whether that be the UK 14 day Disney Magic Tickets, or the 1 to 10 day option tickets that are offered to the US residents. Both options are available with me.
• Consult an Epcot Crowd calendar. (I am in the process of putting one together to help keep everything easily accessible for you)
• Review the Epcot Map. This might seem a bit silly, but it is great to know exactly which route you will take.

• Make a list of "Must Do" rides, attractions and experiences in the World Showcase. Obviously we all have certain things we want to do in each park, so by planning it out you can make sure those "must-do's" aren't missed.
• Check Epcot Opening Hours, this allows us to plan your visit accordingly. The Opening hours listed on the App will show you if there is early entry, regular park hours, as well as the times for the fireworks, night time entertainment and any other events. You also want to check here to see of any temporary ride closures.

Additional tip: Early entry is a benefit for guests staying on-site at the Disney resorts and any other select hotels.

What this means is you have approx 30 mins extra time to ride certain rides before the parks official opening time.

As I mentioned above, it is wise to heck the crowd calendars. It is safe to assume Epcot will be busy whenever you visit, but there are certain times when it is busier than others, So it is always wise to be prepared. Christmas, Easter/Spring Break, July to Mid August and a lot of the UK school holidays can make the crowds seem over whelming, but with this plan we hope to make this seem less overwhelming.

Bigger crowds tends to means longer queues for everything, resulting in being unable to experience everything. But with this plan we can help make that a non-issue.

So this plan was created for moderate to high crowd levels, so basically when the queue times are at their highest.

Additional advice: If you are visiting all the other Disney Parks during your trip, I highly recommend making sure you add non-park days to you itinerary.

By adding non-park days, it makes the large crowds more bearable, and helps you keep your energy levels up.

I mentioned reviewing the Epcot map, that is because Epcot is HUGE!! In fact it is over 305 acres, that is over 3 times the size of Magic Kingdom. The only park that is larger is Animal Kingdom.

Because of the park being so enormous, I would always recommend having a general layout of the park before visiting.

Epcot is made up of 4 sections

• World Showcase
• World Celebration
• World Nature
• World Discovery

Each area is home to a variety of themed rides, attractions, restaurants and Characters relating to each area.

I know I have already said it, but when planning your visit, you really need to be sure you know your 'must-do's'. Be sure you know which area your must -do's are located. Remember the goal here is to do as many rides and attractions as possible in each area, and then move on to the next area.

The last thing you want to be doing is running all over the park, and feeling like a yo-yo. Not only does it save your energy, it saves you time, and cur down your walking. We do enough steps as it is when visiting Disney.

Epcot is a mixture of rides, character meet and greets, dining, (including character dining), shows, and of course the World Showcase.

In all honesty to do absolutely everything would basically be impossible in just one day. Hence why I mentioned making note of your must-do's.

My advice is sit and have a chat with your family, or whomever you will be visiting with, and figure out what each of your must do's are. Choose 3 each, and then make sure you have a list of back ups. So if you get to do all of your absolute must do's you can start to add one and then another. But just make sure they are in the area you are in, and then move on again.

The most popular rides are Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, Frozen Ever After, Test Track and Soarin'. So make sure you plan accordingly.

Eating and drinking around the World Showcase and the fantastic firework displays are other attractions you really don't want to miss.

Epcot Itinerary

Before you arrive, make sure you have downloaded "My Disney Experience" App. Available to download from the "App Store" and the "Google Play Store".

The App is essential now for your Disney Holiday, as so much is done via it now.

You will use it for the Park maps, order Quick Service meals, make dining reservations, check wait times, access the Lightening Lane pass options, booking virtual queues, checking return schedule on those virtual queues. Remember you need to be on that virtual queue before they are released at 7 am, as they go so fast.

For the 1 pm virtual queue you need to have checked in at Epcot before you try to join the queue.

If you are successful in joining the virtual queue you and your party will be assigned a boarding group. You have up to 1 hour after your group is called to ride.

Now unfortunately when assigned a boarding group, you are not given a time. This means you will have to check throughout the day to see if you have been called.

Arriving at Epcot

If you are staying on-site at one of the many Disney Resorts you will arrive right at the entrance of the Park, if using the Disney Transportation buses. The buses run all day, but do expect some delay during peak times, so make sure you plan for that.

For those of you staying at the stunning resorts such as , the Yacht Club, the Beach Club, the Swan, Dolphin, or the Boardwalk Resorts, you have the option of arriving by boat to Epcot.

If you are staying at Disney's Art of Animation, Disney Caribbean Resort, Disney's Riviera Resort or Disney's Pop Century Resort, then you will have access to the latest Disney Transportation. The Disney Skyline. The Skyline allows you to access Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

And don't forget if you are staying at Disney's Contemporary, Disney's Polynesian, and the absolutely stunning Disney's Grand Floridian, you have access to the Disney's monorail, taking you to Epcot or Magic Kingdom.

If you are travelling by car you will have to park in the designated area and usually jump the car park tram, and that will take you to the entrance.

Please remember if you are staying off-site and visiting by car, there is a charge of $30 currently (always seems to be increasing) per day. So you can leave at any point during the day if you really wanted to, and return later, without having to worry about another fee (just make sure you keep the ticket given to you when you pay, somewhere safe). However if you only have 1 day to visit Epcot then, I wouldn't recommend you leaving the park to return later).

If you are staying at a Disney Resort but choosing to use a vehicle, then parking is free.

Entering the Park

I would always recommend getting to Epcot approx 45 mins to 1 hour before the regular opening time. Especially on those busy days (check calendar to predict crowd levels). This is what you will hear referred to as "Rope Drop".

Essential means you are in the park before everything actually opens. So a lot of the time it means you can run to your first ride, and have no wait time or a low wait time. It also gives you 1 hour to ride those rides with the shortest wait times for the whole day.

These following tips are to help you make the best out of Rope Dropping at Epcot:

• Epcot as a general rule allows guest to access the park approx 30 mins earlier than regular opening time.
• Once inside the park, you will be held at spaceship earth (the big golf ball looking thing), if you are entering by Disney's Skyliner, you will actually be entering Epcot from the rear. So you will be held in the World Showcase.
• At both locations you will see cast members manning the "rope" preventing all guests from entering any further into Epcot.
• Immediately at park opening, those cast members remove the ropes, (this is why it is called "Rope Drop". Once this is done you can walk with a brisk pace, (but don't run) to whichever is your first must-do.
• If you are really wanting to have NO wait time on your first ride, you need to be as close to the front of crowd at rope drop. Remember, after rope drop popular rides and attraction wait times can be instantly up to 1 hour.

This Itinerary assumes the park opens at 9 am, and not with the benefit of early entry for on-site visitors. So if you are staying on-site you will automatically gain time.

So remember to adjust times if required.

And, also keep in mind that you can only ride Guardians of the Galaxy by having been successful in grabbing a group from the virtual queue. Or if you have purchased a lightening lane single pass - there is no stand-by queue available.

Due to this some of the details of you 1 day itinerary will have to be flexible to accommodate your ride time for your group boarding for Guardians of the Galaxy.

Likewise, we haven't factored in the Lightening Lane Multi Pass reservations. This is because not everyone chooses to use the lightening Lane passes, and plus every single ride is different. So we kept it as simple as possible.

• 6:50 am, make sure you are logged on to the My Disney Experience app, pop over to the virtual queue section.
• Click "Join boarding Group", choose "Epcot", then select "Guardians of the Galaxy" and then click "Confirm Your Party".
• Be ready to click "Join" at exactly 7 am, as I mentioned you have to act fast with this virtual queue. After clicking join at bang on 7 am you will have to wait for a confirmation of a boarding group number. it will also give you an estimated time of when you would likely be called. Please note these can be unreliable so you will need to keep checking. I would advise if there is a few of you with mobile phones and all attached through My Disney Experience, to all log on separately and try for a boarding group. It just increases your chances at being successful. As those spaces can all be gone within 4 seconds.
• If you were unsuccessful at grabbing a space in the virtual queue, consider purchasing a Lightening Lane single pass. These too become available at 7 am.
• 8.15 am, this is the time I would highly recommend at being at the gates entrance.
• 9 am, Official Opening time. I would recommend going left and head straight to Remi's Ratatouille Adventure, (or Test Track if Remy isn't on your must do's), if both are on your must do list then definitely head to Remi, as that is definitely one of the most popular rides at Epcot and wait times can be insane.

Rides and Attractions to do in the Morning

So the plan is upon your arrival to ride as many of the headliners as possible, but you also don't want to be running all over the park.

For that reason, I recommend is to head straight to the World Showcase for Remy's Ratatouille and Frozen Ever After, or if you have older children or even us adults and we don't mind waiting and riding them later or even skipping altogether, then make a bee line for Test Track instead.

• Remy's Ratatouille Adventure
• Frozen Ever After
• Test Track
• Mission Space

• Afterwards, cross over to World Nature and ride Soarin' and Living with the land.

Save the rest of World Nature for later in the evening when the wait times will be a lot shorter.

Next, cross back to World Celebration for the next rides.

• Spaceship Earth (take a look which option will suit you best)
• Journey into Imagination with Figment.

Next, you will start your journey around the World Showcase, in a clockwise direction.

Now remember Epcot is the second biggest of the Parks. So the distance around the World Showcase is approx 1.25 miles, so make sure you plan accordingly and take a rest when you need to.

Afternoon Plans

I recommend spending the afternoon wandering Epcot's World Showcase.

The World Showcase is a real Disney Magical area to explore at your own pace while taking in all the sights and sounds and even the flavours of all the different countries.

Now a lot of people choose to "drink" or "eat" their way around the world. What this entails is stopping at all the different countries to enjoy the various culinary delights.

We have enjoyed many caramels at Karamell-Kuche whilst in Germany, Full meals of pasta and pizza in Via Napoli. The limoncello float is so tasty and refreshing (over 21).

Also use the afternoon make use of your Memory Maker and stop for multiple photos, and watch the random pop up offerings of entertainments. The World Showcase is truly a unique experience, so make sure you savour every opportunity you come across.

If you are are visiting with a tight budget,try snacking around the world instead of stopping for full meals.

Afternoon Rides

Let me share an example of an afternoon itinerary.

Now as previously mentioned, the majority of your afternoon will be located in the World Showcase, and finish your evening off in the front of the park.

So the lay out to the World Showcase consists of

• Canada
• United Kingdom, yes we travel all that way only to end up back in the UK, lol x
• France, home of Remy's Ratatouille Adventure and Palace du Cinema that features an 18 min Impressions de France Film and Beauty and the Beast sing-a-long.
• Morocco
• Japan
• The American Adventure, this is about 30 mins audio animatronics show, showing key moments from American history, best of all its a large AIR-CONDITIONED theatre.
• Italy
• Germany
• China
• Norway, this is where you will find one of the most popular Epcot rides, Frozen Ever After.
• Mexico, take a boat ride on the Grand Fiesta Tour boat ride.

Finish the evening off with

• Returning to any of the main rides that you might have missed earlier in the day, because of long lines. Such as Remy, Frozen Ever After, Soarin' and Test Track.
• Turtle Talk with Crush, this is actually really good as its an interactive animated show. Yes it is great for kids but even us big kids at heart enjoy this.
• The Sea's with Nemo and Friends.
• Watch Luminous, The Symphony of Us.

Epcot's Luminous, The Symphony of Us

Luminous debuted December 2023, it replaced the previous firework spectacular, Harmonious.

Disney describe Luminous as, A Sparkling Spectacle

Delight in a dramatic show designed to bring us all together. Marvel at a dazzling pageant of fireworks, fountains, music and lights set to an original composition. New music, along with evocative selections from the Disney songbook, come together to remind us that we are more alike than we are different.

The Firework spectacular is located in the World Showcase lagoon. This allows you to see the show all over the World Showcase.

These firework spectacular's are amazing. They are not just fireworks. They really are a true show. They tell stories and pull you in, using music, fountains, lights and obviously fireworks.

The songs that are used during the performance are

• You'll be in my heart,
• Proud Corazon,

• You've got a friend in me,
• Friend like me,
• So close (from Enchanted),
• When she loved me,
• Remember me,
• Into the unknown
• I see the light.

You will not want to miss Luminous, its amazing.

Conclusion of your 1 day Epcot itinerary

So in conclusion, we have shown you just how to make a 1 day Epcot trip a reality, but still keep a perfect combination of rides, attractions, shows and food.

Although I know there are a few things missed, you will still leave feeling as though you actually did do it all.

And best of all feel as though you weren't running around like a yo-yo all over the park, standing in lines for hour on end.

All us parents know our children's limits, as well as our own. So we know what type of itinerary will work best for the family, I just hope this has helped make things that little bit more easier.