World ShowCase All in One Day

[pigletgirl]

The WS is a Disney creation, simple. If those who are so enthralled with the kitschy nature of how Disney delivers these countries to us as visitors, they are a tourist (money) trap, plain an simple. If you have been to these places, you would agree. It is a feeble attempt to capture the "culture" in a very limited area. Even much of the food is "Americanized" as they know if it were authentic, they would not sell !

WS should just have Carnies "hurry, hurry, hurry....visit Great Britain and have fish and chips....hurry, hurry, hurry"

No one is forcing you to visit the WS. If it isn't your cup of tea, then so be it. But, for many people this is their only chance to have an "immersive" experience in various countries. So what if the food is "Americanized"? Picky picky...

 

[Alesia]

Where do you get the passport? I totally missed this on our last trips but my DD9 would love to do this!

You can get them in all of the shops in Epcot

 

[AllthingsDisMom]

We love WS, my 12 DD has declared Epcot as her favorite park! I have always taken my three children alone and find the trek a little tiring for me personally with the little ones.

The one thing I've yet to do is an adult trip to WS! Not that I would attempt the Drink Around The Word Challenge ... sounds like death!

 

[22Tink]

You can get them in all of the shops in Epcot

Thanks! I didn’t even know this was a thing.

 

[kwdw]

when you Disney Fans go to Epcot Do you usually do World Showcase all one one Day and how long does it usually take you to walk from Canada all the way around World Showcase to Mexico and Where do you usually stop to take a break, do a mini movie/ride/get some lunch around world ShowCase before you let's say do The USA-Mexico? When is a usually good time for your families to take a break in World ShowCase at your favorite Country and What are not of your favorite countries to stop and take a break and eat lunch at

If you have never been to WS - and you stop and do everything - it can take a most of day (or at least 11 am to dinner). That means seeing the movie/show/museum in each country and taking the time to explore the shops and taking picture - maybe character meet and greet. If you have kids - have them do either the passport or Duffy - its a great souvenir (we do Duffy as adults sometimes!). If you want to try a variety of foods - snack around the world. Or plan where you are going to eat lunch in advance. The problem for us - we don't want to eat in America - so we have to time our travel or eating around that. I do strongly recommend catching one of the Voices of America shows (and sitting on the floor in the middle) - we also think the mime act in Italy is worth it. We also think the drum show in Japan is worth catching.

For us - while we try to listen to the singers in America - and the show in America is worth hitting, too - but otherwise - it's our least favorite country to sit for bit or eat. It's a tad boring - and not just because its my home country. It's uninspired in its look, shops, food, etc. Otherwise - there are little gems of places in all the countries. Some great picture spots. Our biggest complaint is the lack of places to sit. There is some seating - just not enough.

Now - depending on your group - be warned - some kids love Disney just for the rides - and can get bored in WS. We had this problem with my niece on one of our trips. But now - she knows about Duffy/passport - and its a game for her to get a stamp everywhere. She knows where to beg for ice cream. She knows where the rides are. And as she has gotten a bit older - she can manage a bit more time in the shops. We'll probably add Agent P into the mix time as she'll be a good age for that. In general - she gets more snacks than a typical day - but to her - that's part of WS now - and she likes it. But she still gets bored with the movies/museums and just looking around pieces of it. She also loves some of the rides in FW - so spending time in WS is not spending time on rides - so we have to balance the day. We might put one side of FW in the morning - and let her know the other side of FW (and Spaceship Earth) happen when we are done with WS.

 

[dreiwhit]

It depends on how much time you want to spend in each country and what you want to see. For us, we do two days at Epcot. The morning is spent in Future World East or West, and the rest of the day in 1/2 of the World Showcase.

Last week, my daughter wanted to collect all the stamps for her Kidcot sheet, and my son wanted his passport stamped at each country. They had just gotten Mexico, so we walked from Norway to Canada and got all the stamps in around 30 minutes. But that was only stopping at the Kidcot booths in each country.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I just love to hang out in the World Showcase. My last couple trips, we stayed at the Swan and went there every single day.

Between the food and drink, the shows, attractions, and overall atmosphere, it’s my favorite part of going to WDW. I could spend a week at a WDW and be happy going to MK for one day, AK for half a day and the rest of the time at Epcot, mostly in the WS.

 

[Dr.Mickey]

It takes a little longer when we stay to watch Voices of Liberty for three straight performances

Not exactly a consensus on this thread, is it?

 

[HoneyStarr]

We went to WDW for the first time last year, so I am no expert, but here’s my opinion.

We went to Epcot twice for the World Showcase and STILL did not fully see it all. It rained every afternoon for long periods while we had our trip and Epcot’s not a bad place to be, because in World Showcase, there is so much to see, kinda close together, so you can dart between areas.

We haphazardly walked about it and stopping by the norwegian bakery is a must. We ate school-bread and rested on the area outside.

I’m not sure on how long it takes to get from one space to the next, cause we were in and out of rides and buildings. I know we started clockwise both days. However, I feel we spent less time in France and Morocco. Not because we didn’t want to, but because of time. We also ate Fish and chips in England both days cause it was so good.

 

[blemon]

The first time we went to WDW, we spent the morning at FW then headed over to WS around 1 for Frozen ride FP. Then we walked around the world until we were dead tired around dinner time. We got takeout from the Mexican QS on the water then headed back to the Fort to eat and rest.

I felt like we didn't get enough time to really explore every nook and cranny.

So the next time we went during Flower and Garden and we did the same thing -- morning at FW then we did half the countries, took a break then came back for dinner in the fireworks.
Day two, FW in the morning then the rest of the countries until we got exhausted around 4 then we headed home (14 hour drive broken up by 1 night in a hotel).

I feel like we really got to see everything in those two days. Now we know what we like and what we don't need to bother with and will only spend 1 day per trip in Epcot from now on. I can't imagine every spending more than 4 days at WDW. It's just too expensive so we try to cram as much in as possible. This trip we are going to do our favorites at FW in the morning then head over the WS around 1 and take our time. We'll leave when we've seen everything we want. I think it will be around 7. We take WS slow and rest and snack a lot.

If we can get a FP for Test Track, we'll do it on our way out. Otherwise, we'll skip it. It was fun but it's not like I need to ride it again.
And I don't think I ever need to see those fireworks again either. One and one for me.

Epcot is my favorite. I've been to most of the countries in real life and I still love going back.

 

[Fern]

Thanks! I didn’t even know this was a thing.

FYI, the passports are usually at the counter check out where they sell the pressed penny and autograph books. I feel like they used to be $10, but they are now $12. Still, it's probably the cheapest souvenir in the place

 

[22Tink]

FYI, the passports are usually at the counter check out where they sell the pressed penny and autograph books. I feel like they used to be $10, but they are now $12. Still, it's probably the cheapest souvenir in the place

Thank you! My daughter is really excited to get her passport.

 

[tink9702]

The first time we took the kids to Epcot they were 5 & almost 4 years old. We spent one afternoon in the World Showcase. The kids were bored and we were annoyed! We did do the Duffy Bear coloring & ate some food.

The second time the kids were 7 & almost 6 years old. We had a GREAT time! We ate a ton of snacks - Kaki gori in Japan, ice cream in France, lunch in Mexico PLUS a bunch of the Food & Wine booths! We also ate dinner at Via Napoli. LOL My daughter LOVED getting pictures taken with Aurora, Belle, Elsa & Anna. We rode the Frozen Ride and the 3 Callabreros. We did 2 countries for Agent P which my son loved. We explored the gift shop in Japan very thoroughly. We enjoyed the Japanese Drummers & the Chinese Acrobat Show as well. We skipped all the movies/videos as they didn't want to sit that long. We also skipped most of the other shops. We did do the Passports and the kids liked that much better than the Duffy Bear. We spent two different afternoons in the World Showcase.

IMHO it's all about what you are interested in. Since the first experience was so poor - I did some research prior to our trip & figured out what my kids might be most interested in. If they are happy, DH & I can relax and be happy too!

Next Trip we'll have less time - only 1 day for Epcot so we'll have to either make it a longer day or pick our favorites. I'm sure DD will want to meet characters again - maybe we'll meet Snow White & Jasmine this trip instead though! DS will want to see the Chinese Acrobats and eat kaki gori again as well! Maybe this time we'll see one of the movies since DS is definitely more interested in history and different countries now. I also want to eat fish & chips since I missed that last time!

 

[PSUGuy]

We're Food&Wine junkies and we hop to WS every afternoon/evening after touring some other park at RD. Our trips are 9 - 10 days long so we're in WS a lot and we're forever discovering new (to us) stuff. Before we focused on F&W we'd pretty much follow the same schedule in March since WS swallows crowds and rarely seem crowded. In general, no park can be 'done' in one day.

Bill From PA

 

[Dee McGee]

We always spend one full day at EPCOT starting with the attratctions in Future World then making our way to World Showcase for lunch and spend the afternoon walking around all the pavillions.

 

[Sarahlynn34]

World Showcase was a tough stretch when our kids were younger. It just wasn't as interesting to them. On our last trip, they did the Agent P WS Adventure and it was such fun. (They were 10 and 8 then). I think WS is beautiful and I enjoy it as a change of pace from the other parks. I love it during Flower & Garden! Others have replied that you can get through it as quickly or as slowly as you choose - I agree. Just wanted to put in a plug for Agent P - it's helps extend the attention span! We are headed back next week and the kids are 14 and 12 now. It will be interesting to see what sort of WS experience we have.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Varies.

Many times, we've walked from one end to the other in less than 30minutes, especially at park opening or when we've got an ADR.

Though we've never spend a FULL day just in the WS or ALL Future World, we always cross for a few rides or a WS snack, once upon a time we regularly gave Epcot two full days per trip.

That all changed with FP+. Now we cover Epcot in one day or less.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I've been in all the shops, watched the shows, etc. We also have visited and lived overseas. We mostly laugh at the prices of the items in the shops knowing what they actually cost in their respective counties.

While I generally agree, the Japan gift shop is a bit of an exception. At least if you compare some of the Epcot prices to American retail prices for similar products.

For snacks like Pocky, specialty markets tend to have lower prices- if you can find one that carries Pocky.

(Mmm Pocky!)

Sometimes though, the Mitsukoshi shop has had lower prices than even Amazon on other items they sell!

 

[NinaBella]

While I generally agree, the Japan gift shop is a bit of an exception. At least if you compare some of the Epcot prices to American retail prices for similar products.

For snacks like Pocky, specialty markets tend to have lower prices- if you can find one that carries Pocky.

(Mmm Pocky!)

Sometimes though, the Mitsukoshi shop has had lower prices than even Amazon on other items they sell!

My Walmart and Target sells Pocky. First time we bought it at Walmart, the lady charged us the per unit price for the entire case. I didn't realize it until we got home.

Walmart website list it for $1.48 online. $1.08 in store.

https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=pocky&cat_id=0

I lived in Korea for close to six years. One of the things I use to do in my spare time is sell Korean Hanboks on Ebay. I would take orders and go get the size and color they wanted from the Korean markets. I sold mostly to American families who adopted kids from Korea that wanted Hanboks. I love shopping in the Korean markets.

 

[palavra]

The WS is a Disney creation, simple. If those who are so enthralled with the kitschy nature of how Disney delivers these countries to us as visitors, they are a tourist (money) trap, plain an simple. If you have been to these places, you would agree. It is a feeble attempt to capture the "culture" in a very limited area. Even much of the food is "Americanized" as they know if it were authentic, they would not sell !

WS should just have Carnies "hurry, hurry, hurry....visit Great Britain and have fish and chips....hurry, hurry, hurry"

I've been to 7 of the 11 countries represented and lived in 2 of them for at least a year. Of course these are small representations of each country, but I think they are remarkably well done! In the Italy area, I am definitely reminded of St. Mark's square. Lots of people will never get to see the real Campanile or Doge's palace. The replicas of the clay soldiers in China are very well done! I think it is great that they can get a taste of other countries through Disney.