When planning an adults trip to Disney World, Epcot is probably already on the top of your list. But there’s still a few things you should learn about it before you just show up in your matching “Drinking Around The World” tshirts. Read on to learn all about visiting Epcot as an adult!
RELATED POSTS
We have a few posts that center on adults-only trips to Disney World. You’ll want to start with our Guide to Planning a Disney World Trip for Adults. We’ve also got park-specific posts:
Guide to Epcot for Adults (you are here)
Additionally, we have a post specifically to help adults choose their Disney World hotel.
Epcot = Beauty
General Epcot Planning
None of our content for adult trips stands on its own. As an adult, you still need basically the same preparation for a trip to Disney World as any family. In particular, you’ll want to read our Epcot Lightning Lane Strategy and our One-Day Epcot Itinerary. If there’s something in this post, you will find time for it in our itinerary post (e.g. if you have to drink around the world, our itinerary has plenty of “World Showcase” time).
Adults who are primarily coming to Epcot for dining and drinking will find it a perfect afternoon / evening park. You’ll still want to ride a few rides, but spending a morning at a different theme park in exchange for missing the bulk of the rides at Epcot won’t be a bad trade for most guests (assuming it’s necessary you miss anything at all).
Best Rides at Epcot for Adults
As always, I don’t think adults really need to discriminate again rides “for kids,” but I’m happy to give some quick thoughts. You can read more about the rides in our Epcot Rides and Entertainment Guide.
There are eleven rides at Epcot, and I’m happy to quickly rank them all. The best rides at Epcot for adults are:
Test Track (closed for extensive reimagining as of June 17, 2024)
Soarin’ Around the World
Mission: SPACE
Frozen Ever After
Spaceship Earth
Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros
Living with the Land
The Seas with Nemo and Friends
Journey into Imagination with Figment
To be clear, though, I think any adult could rightfully reorder these in most any order.
For some measure of thrill, adults will want to be sure to ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Test Track, Soarin’ Around The World, and Mission: SPACE. Test Track has a single rider line, which can be good for adults only trips. As of this update, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind still uses a virtual queue, which you’ll need to research and prepare for.
Note: As of June 17, 2024, Test Track is closed for a lengthy reimagining. No reopening date has been set. The last major reimagining of Test Track took 8 months.
Adults should also have a special appreciation for Spaceship Earth—a dark ride detailing the history of communication—and Living With the Land, a boat ride educating guests about agriculture. But I have to admit that some adults will no doubt find these rides “boring.”
The Seas With Nemo and Friends, Journey Into Imagination With Figment, Frozen Ever After, Gran Fiesta Tour, and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure are dark rides more aimed at children, but they definitely have good moments.
The Land Pavilion at Epcot houses two rides
Other Things to Do at Epcot for Adults
Besides rides, you probably already are planning to eat or drink “around the world.” We’ll discuss these in our “Adulting the World Showcase” section next.
Throughout the park—particularly the World Showcase—you’ll find other attractions and entertainment. In particular, there are a few indoor shows in the World Showcase, and live entertainment is typically scheduled at several pavilions every day. The nighttime fireworks show is also held in the World Showcase lagoon.
Nothing strikes me as being particularly “for kids.” The Pixar Short Film Festival, which you might mistakenly think is best for kids, is quite good for adults, too. The short films on the countries (e.g. Canada Far & Wide, Impressions de France) will definitely appeal to adults.
The World Showcase is a popular location for Meeting Princesses at Disney World, as you’ll find a few greeting at their countries of origin (or culturally similar countries). You can also meet Mickey at CommuniCore Hall in the front part of the park.
Bashful adults should know that adults are allowed to meet characters! The characters are more than familiar with meeting adults, and if you’re really nervous just feel free to maintain an awkward amount of respectful distance while chatting:
Adulting The World Showcase
Epcot is a hotspot for adults at Disney World because of the World Showcase. The World Showcase is a mile-long loop around the World Showcase Lagoon featuring eleven pavilions themed to eleven countries—Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, USA (The American Adventure), Japan, Morocco, France, United Kingdom, and Canada.
These pavilions are designed to resemble the countries they represent, and each of them has unique entertainment, dining, and shopping themed to the country. They’re also mostly staffed by people from the countries.
China Pavilion at Epcot
As our one-day Epcot plan (linked earlier) discusses, it can be hard to time all the entertainment in the World Showcase perfectly in a single loop. We highly recommend taking two loops, visiting half the countries each loop.
This also allows you to see all of what you’re in for and take a break in the middle of snacking or drinking around the world, which brings us to those fun activities…
Dining, Drinking, and Snacking
Epcot is inarguably the best of Disney World’s parks for dining and drinking. Each of the World Showcase pavilions has at least one or two restaurants, while a few have multiple table service options. Add in all the booths added for the festivals (discussed more below) much of the year, and you’ve got a huge variety of options.
You can read more about Advance Dining Reservations at Disney World and the Disney Dining Plans.
Michelada from the Mexico Pavilion at Epcot
We have a post on the best quick service restaurants at Epcot, and our favorite table service restaurant is Biergarten, a buffet in the Germany pavilion with live entertainment. Picking your food around the World Showcase is mostly going to be about picking your cuisine, though (do you want Chinese? Italian? Japanese? etc.).
Every Disney World park has a Starbucks, Epcot’s is in the front part of the park, near Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, and called “Connections Cafe.”
As for drinking…I’d be shocked if you are planning an adults trip to Disney World and haven’t already thought about drinking at Epcot, particularly Drinking Around the World. So let’s talk more about that.
Drinking Around the World
“Drinking Around The World” refers to the activity of visiting Epcot’s World Showcase and consuming an alcoholic beverage at each of the eleven countries. There are no “official” rules and the activity is in no way endorsed by Disney, but you’ll see at least one group (but probably dozens of groups) in those matching t-shirts doing it while you’re at Epcot.
Liter beers not recommended for Drinking Around the World
As it’s a popular activity for adults visiting Disney World either on vacation or for a special event like a bachelor(ette) party, we have to talk about this a bit more. I hope to eventually have a full post up about Drinking Around the World, but for now I’ll just give a few quick suggestions…
Try new things. If you just get a beer in every country…well I don’t have anything nice to say so I won’t say anything at all. Try sake in Japan, icewine in Canada, and tequila in Mexico.
Enjoy the pavilions, this isn’t a bar crawl. While there are a few bars—La Cava Del Tequila (Mexico Pavilion), Rose & Crown (UK Pavilion)—for the most part you’ll be grabbing drinks from walkup spots…so walk around and enjoy the pavilions while you drink! (You can openly carry alcohol throughout the park.)
Pace yourself. The World Showcase typically opens at 11AM, with alcohol stands beginning service at 11AM or 11:30AM. The park typically closes at (“last call is at”) 9PM or 9:30PM. This allows you ten hours for ten drinks and then a final before you leave the park.
Share drinks if you have to. I get the mental bias to do “one full drink” in each country, but that’s a meaningless metric. During festivals, booths serve smaller portions of alcohol, for example. And if half of your drinks are going to be $12 beers you can get at home anyways, maybe just save some money and split those.
Know your limits. This should go without saying, but I’ll say it. This isn’t a bar crawl on Bourbon Street. You’ve chosen to do this activity at the most popular family travel destination in the world.
Respect that people have brought their kids to Epcot reasonably expecting that they won’t see you screaming at your friends or making a mess in a planter (unfortunately these things do happen). You being that adult at Disney World really ruins it for the rest of us.
Snacking Around the World
Snacking Around The World is a good alternative to Drinking Around the World. Besides the obvious, it can also be cheaper, and you probably were going to eat two meals anyways, so your additional spending isn’t that high.
The only advice I can offer for snacking around the world is to probably do more research ahead of time, particularly with current menus and current festival menus. Not every pavilion has stunning snacks, and some will be best for sweets while others are best for savory snacks. If you take two laps around the World showcase, you might do savory snacks first and sweet snacks second, for example.
Snacking Around The World is a delicious alternative to Drinking Around the World
Boardwalk and the Skyliner
I’m adding this idea because it’s personally one of my favorite activities “at” Epcot. The Boardwalk resort area is adjacent to Epcot and is a good place to find food and drink or just to take a leisurely stroll. Just exit the park between France and the United Kingdom, and you’ll have about a mile loop past three hotels and a few bars and restaurants. This is one of the best places at Disney World to put together a bar crawl.
It’s a great walk even if you’re not planning to stop anywhere, but if it doesn’t fit into your day it’s also a great spot to continue your night once the park closes. Just keep in mind you need a plan to get back to your hotel (and you can’t get back to the Epcot parking lot if the park is closed).
Additionally, the Epcot Skyliner station is at this exit. The Disney Skyliner connects you to a few other resorts, most notably (if it’s dining and drinking you’re interested in) the new Riviera Resort. It’s also just fun for a quick ride.
The Boardwalk is just outside Epcot
Epcot Festivals
Throughout the year, Epcot hosts four festivals (approx. dates given):
Epcot International Festival of the Arts (mid-Jan to mid-Feb)
Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival (March-June)
Epcot International Food & Wine Festival (Aug-Nov)
Epcot International Festival of the Holidays (late Nov-Dec)
If you’re completely new to the idea of Epcot festivals, we have an Epcot Festival Calendar and Tips post that is a good place to start, but we’ll also summarize the concept here.
The festivals basically transform the entire park—mostly the World Showcase—with additional activities, decorations, shows, and food/drink booths.
Food & Wine, with its 30+ food and drink booths is very popular with adults who were already interested in Drinking Around the World, but all of the festivals are worth consideration.
All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered
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Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.
When it comes time to book we’ll help you find discount Disney World tickets. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! And don't forget to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!
Don't forget to master your Disney World Lightning Lane Guide and Strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Strategy, Epcot Lightning Lane Strategy, Animal Kingdom Lightning Lane Strategy, and Hollywood Studios Lightning Lane Strategy.
Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.
Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.