I just love EPCOT. I am a big fan. When I saw that there was an After Hours Event the week we were going to be there, I knew we had to get tickets. So we did.
I wanted to do it all. And we did. Boy, did we. It was an epic day.
I prepared a shirt specifically for the day:
We were up bright and early. Shoes on. Breakfast of Disney champions: string cheese and applesauce had, and we were out the door to catch the first possible bus to EPCOT.
Before long, we were in line for rope drop.
Because we had after-hours, we had a different strategy for rope drop than most. So we went straight to Soarin'. We were the first ride of the day, then headed right to Living With the Land.
After that we hit Journey into Imagination with Figment, Finding Nemo, and Journey of Water.
Then, it was time to thank the Phoenicians properly.
After that, we went to Frozen and Gran Fiesta Tour and did some shopping.
A little backstory: In 2000, when my family came to EPCOT for the first time, my mom fell in love with the perfume in the Norway Pavilion. And she didn't buy it. And regretted it. So bought it later. (Cardinal Disney rule: if you see something and you know you want it, just buy it because you might never see it again.) Every single time I have been to Epcot since then, she has asked me if I went to Norway and if I spritzed myself with the perfume.
Every. Single. Time.
So imagine my shock when I saw this sign!
Geir Ness was AT EPCOT at the same time as me. So I had to stop in, spritz myself with the perfume, and talk to him.
I told him how much my mother loved his perfume Laila. Then I sent her the pictures with no context.
She called me immediately and was very excited because she "just watched a video about him last week and did I get free samples (no) did I spritz myself (yes), and did he have a nice accent?" (yes).
Turns out she was wearing the perfume that day in honor of our EPCOT day.
Anyway, after that very minor celebrity spotting (Or big celebrity if you're my mother), we headed to Geo 82, the new Spaceship Earth lounge.
Oh guys. It was so cool for this Spaceship Earth fan.
Every detail was dreamy.
Here's the quick review: you go for the ambience. It was really expensive. And it's okay because the space is cool. I wish the food had a few more choices, but it's clearly a cold kitchen, again, fine. The hummus plate was tasty, and the drinks were good. Would I get this banana drink again? No.
But I wouldn't hesitate to go back and try something else if I could get a reservation. It's a brand new space, it opened on June 4. Our server was Justin and he was lovely!
I also need to tell you that they're by far and above the best bathroom I have ever used on Disney Property outside of a hotel room. (And it was even nicer than some of the hotel rooms.)
Okay, after that little detour, we still needed like real lunch because splitting a hummus plate wasn't going to cut it. Kathryn doesn't do Fish and Chips, as I do, so we both headed off and decided to meet in France. The fish and chips stand in EPCOT is delicious and one thing I must do when I visit.
We ate our respective food items and took in the Ambience of the International Gateway.
Then we rode Remy. We went single rider line for that to save some time. It was a 40-minute wait, which isn't bad, but the single rider took us about 28 minutes, so we saved some time for sure.
Then we went to watch Canada Far and Wide, which Kathryn had never done. It's another one of my EPCOT must dos! After we hit Nemo again, Turtle Talk, Spaceship Earth, and then I went to Mission Space by myself while Kathtyn shopped. I was aiming for a perfect day, accomplishing all the things. I am not a big Mission Space gal, and I ONLY do the Green Mission.
Then we had a Via Nappoli reservation. I had never been there before. I will never go there again.
It was loud. And not in a fun way. Just straight up noisy.
The host told me I would dream about their pizza. I will not. It was fine. It was not worth $25. And I know Disney prices but... I promise I have had better pizza in my life.
And even though they warned us that they have a pizza kitchen and a pasta kitchen, my pizza came out 15 minutes before Kathryn's tortellini, and I just think that's insane. 3 or 4 minutes, I could see. 15 is like they didn't even try to time it well.
What if we had ordered an appetizer? They would have held the food order back? They absolutely could have done the same. Sit Down meals take a ton of time and it has to be excellent to me to be worth it. I would not call this one worth it. Also, their bathroom was terrible. And especially after the nicest ones at Geo 82... they need a revamp presto!
Then we went to see the Impressions of France movie. And got our wristbands for After Hours at the International Gateway. We rode Frozen again. Our longest wait of the day at 45 minutes. Then went over to Test Track where the single rider took the 70-minute wait down to 17!!
Then we went to Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, which would cap off my "ride every ride in Epcot" day. If you don't know, the ride features 6 different songs, and you have no idea what you're going to get. The only other time I had ridden we got "I Ran (So Far Away)" and I told Kathryn that we had to ride until we got something else.
She was thrilled that we got "One Way or Another" so was I to be honest. The ride is so good. And that song was awesome!!
Then we went back to Spaceship Earth and they let us stay on so we rode it 3 times in a row! Bringing my grand total to 5 times in one day.
At After Hours you can get unlimited Ice Cream treats, popcorn and pop or water. So we went to get some ice cream.
And Kathryn had fully turned into a pumpkin. So I sent her back to the resort. And I stayed and rocked out for the next two hours.
They had a DJ pumping music all over the place so you'd come out of a building and join the dance party.
EPCOT felt basically empty but not lonely at all. I had so much fun I can't even fully explain in words.
I went a did Soarin, Living with the Land (which was super cool in the dark!) hit Figment, and then grabbed another Mickey Ice Cream Bar to eat on my way to Norway and Frozen. (I ate only the chocolate and tossed the rest. I still feel bad about it.)
Frozen was awesome. I had my own boat.
In my own boat I could sing as loud as I want. I could talk to all the animatronics. I enjoyed every single second of that ride to the absolute fullest. If you're wondering what Joy looks like on me... that's it right there!
And I got off the ride and entered the DJ Dance party to Abba's Dancing Queen and me and the cast member at the front of the queue had a fun time dancing together!
The wait times all night were so low. It was amazing.
On the way to Mexico there was an amazing Mariachi Band so I stopped and listened for a bit.
Then got my own boat on Gran Fiesta Tour.
And then I furiously started texting Husband. Should I go try to ride Guardians one more time, knowing it would be my last ride? Or hit Spaceship Earth and something smaller again?
He told me without a doubt, go do Guardians.
So I did. And I got "September" for my song that time! And That was amazing too!
Walking out... was amazing. I went in a clapping square. I took a picture of my excitement. I soaked in all that is my favorite park.
The bus ride back was quiet. Just me and 5 other people. I went to the lobby to ask the desk assistant to help cut my wristband off since I hadn't packed scissors. He asked me how it was.
And I just said it was the most excellent, magical time I think I've ever had on Disney property.
I made it back to my room at 1:43 am. I was genuinely pretty impressed with how fast I got back! Then I showered and let my adrenaline wear off, and went to bed.
I was in EPCOT from 7:57 am until 1:20 am. That's a pretty full and epic EPCOT day if I do say so myself. 17+ hours of fun. Totally and completely worth it. It was so wonderful.
I can't believe it was already a week ago I was there. I genuinely think EPCOT is my happy place.
