Read about our amazing day at EPCOT including Ratatouille. We were able to snag a passholder preview of Disney World’s latest ride and made a day of it! If you want to read about our full day (and planning) at EPCOT continue reading. If you want to go straight to our experience at Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, then click here.
Background
We have been Disney World annual passholders for a few years now, and this is the first time we got to experience a passholder preview. Basically Disney sent out an email inviting us to sign up for a preview of their newest ride, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. We got the email months before it officially opened to the public ahead of their 50th celebration. Not only were we able to get a preview spot reserved, we were able to get it on a Saturday! We weren’t planning on going to Disney in September, but we couldn’t pass up this opportunity, so we decided to make a full day of it.
Plan, Plan, Plan
Before you go to Disney, you have to plan! We cannot say this enough. The first thing we did was look at the EPCOT hours for that day, which are 11AM-10PM. The other thing we noticed was the fireworks are back. And it’s going to be the EPCOT Forever fireworks show’s last weekend, before being replaced by their new show, Harmonious. In the past, we tried to leave before the fireworks to beat the crowds. But since this was the last show, we decide we want to stay until closing. So, we need a hotel room for the night. We use some rewards points to book at the Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista in the Disney Springs area. This hotel is across the street from Disney Springs and close to the parks. And we are able to check-in early on the way to the park.
The other thing we always try to plan is where to eat when at the parks. And we almost always try to reserve at least 1 sit-down restaurant. We have found this helps in many ways. We swear by it… However, this time we don’t make dining plans at all, but we have good reasons. The first is EPCOT’s International Food & Wine Festival is going on. If you’ve never been, simply there are dozens of small plate food options throughout the park. You can literally eat (and drink) around the world. Since our passholder preview isn’t until 7-8PM, we decide this is the best option during the day. Secondly, we know there is a new creperie restaurant in the new “Ratatouille area” that we are hoping to get to try at night. We also have a secret spot to get some snacks that we’ll discuss a little later.
EPCOT Parking
After leaving the hotel, we drive straight to EPCOT in less than 15 minutes. One major perk of being an annual passholder is getting free standard parking. This is big because it is normally $25/day. However, we know we are going to be at the park all day and doing a lot of walking. So we opt to pay for the preferred parking. As an annual passholder, preferred parking is only $25 instead of the normal $50, and it puts you closest to the gates. After a long day of walking, it is worth it. After some sunscreen (always recommended), we take the short walk into the park.
Inside EPCOT
First through the gates is the EPCOT “globe” which houses the Spaceship Earth ride. It’s one of our daughter’s favorites, so we decide to jump in line. Despite a posted 20 minute wait, the line goes fast and we are on the ride in 6 minutes. Most people tend to hit the rides in the front of EPCOT before going to the World Showcase, so this is not usually the best strategy. However, shorter wait times have been reported for various reasons, so we capitalize on it before heading to the World Showcase.
Next, we head to “Soarin”, one of Becky’s favorites. On the way, we see a Disney photographer with no line, and decide to stop for a photo op. Another great perk of being an annual passholder is getting free professional photos all around the parks. The annual pass option to add the PhotoPass is well worth it in our opinion. We get our obligatory photo in front of the EPCOT globe. Only drawback is they can’t always make your daughter smile… She’s a work in progress.
Next stop was Soarin’ inside the Land pavilion. One note is we still take our daughter in a stroller. Even though she’s getting bigger, she cannot walk the whole time, and it’s a great place to put our stuff! And bringing your own stroller is free, but they do have rentals if needed. With that said, you can’t take a stroller into the Land pavilion, so we park it outside. The wait time for the ride is about 25 minutes, but actually is a little less than that. Not bad considering Soarin’ can easily be over an hour on a weekend.
Winnie the Pooh and Figment Too
After Soarin’ we head toward the “Figment” ride, and to our surprise, we see Winnie the Pooh! Winnie is waving at everyone from a socially acceptable distance and we are happy to see him. It’s the first time we can remember seeing Pooh at EPCOT. We then head to the popcorn stand near the “Figment” ride. Note, if you buy a popcorn bucket, popcorn refills are $2. After a little investment, this is the cheapest snack in all of Disney World and lasts most of the day. Our daughter loves the popcorn, and sometimes you can find flavored versions. Unfortunately this stand only has the regular popcorn today. We hook the popcorn bucket to our stroller and park it outside to go in to the ride.
The “Figment” ride, or Journey Into Imagination With Figment, is a classic. Not only does it have Figment, the unofficial mascot of the park, but this ride never has a long wait. And unlike Soarin’, It has no minimum height requirement so anyone can ride it. Our daughter has been riding it since the first time we came to EPCOT. And we ride it at least once every time we come. We basically walk on the ride and she loves it.
Space and Food
Next we decide to head over to Mission Space for two reasons. First, there is a 10 minute wait and second the Space 220 restaurant next door just opened and is taking walk-ins only at this point. On the way we walk through the new Creations Shop store to get some AC and check it out as it just re-opened. Becky picks up some Food & Wine trays that come in helpful later. We then decide to see if there is any availability at Disney World’s newest restaurant, Space 220. But we aren’t hopeful based on previous reports of people waiting for more than 4 hours the day it opened. Unfortunately, it is full for the day, so we go over to the ride instead.
Mission Space has two options, the Green and Orange. The Orange mission is the one where you get to experience blasting off into space and is known for making people sick. We opt for the “easier” Green mission. It is our daughter’s first time, and she loves the ride.
More Food Options
By this time, we are starving, as we missed out on Space 220. So we fall back on the plan, the International Food and Wine pavilions around the park. Lucky for us there are three near the Mission Space pavilion, that are also adjacent to a playground. So, we get some lobster and beer from the new Lobster Landing marketplace. We also grab mac and cheese from the new Mac & Eats marketplace, then grab a seat at the playground. Our trays come in handy here as they hold our food and have a drink holder for our beer. Our daughter grabs a few bites as we find a seat at the playground and down our food. This playground looks brand new and our daughter loves it of course, until she has to leave…
By this time we’ve already been in the park a few hours and need to head toward the World Showcase. Since Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is in the France pavilion, we decide to start on the other end in Mexico. We head that way walking through the EPCOT Experience building. Another place with AC, and also restrooms, it also has a festival marketplace option. In addition, it has a place to see what’s coming to EPCOT. If you haven’t stopped to check it out, you will see there is a lot planned for EPCOT. It explains why there are so many temporary walls in the front of the park.
Starting Around the World at EPCOT
Mexico always seems crowded, but we want to go into the pyramid to the “Three Caballeros” ride. The wait time says 20 minutes, but so far, the listed times have been longer than the actual wait times. So, we get in line. Unfortunately the line to get into the pyramid is long, and it takes close to 20 minutes to get on this ride. But, it’s another fun ride. We don’t stop at any of the shops inside and leave to head to the next country, Norway.
By this time it is getting hot, and onto our secret spot…
Some of the restaurants have not re-opened yet, including the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Norway. However, it is currently being used by one of the festival sponsors, Florida Blue, as a lounge. We registered online for free to visit this lounge. And just show our email confirmation at the entrance to get in. Once in, we are greeted with glorious AC and water! Not only are we able to get cups of cold water for free, but we are able to fill up our water bottles, too.
This lounge is only about 25% full, so we come in with our stroller and spread out from others. But, that’s not the best part. After getting a table, a lady comes by with a cart of healthy snacks, and it’s all free! We are able to get fruit, cheese, yogurt or hummus, as much as we want. They also have some sparkling water options. And there are restrooms inside making this a great pit stop. Not as good as a sit-down restaurant, but after hitting some festival marketplaces and sitting in the lounge, we are ready for the next best thing, the “Frozen” ride.
Frozen Fever
The “Frozen” ride officially named Frozen Ever After, is a must for any young girl. With that said, there is always a longer wait for this attraction even on a good day. The wait time says 45 minutes, but the line starts just around the corner, so it doesn’t seem that bad. We have seen the line go all the way to China… So, we jump in the line and soon it goes inside into the AC for the remainder of the wait. Again, we are pleased it was less than 45 minutes. Even though it is our longest wait so far, it’s a must-stop ride per our daughter.
We always enjoy this ride. For those that don’t get it, much of it is based on an 8 minute animated short called Frozen Fever. This short feature is in between the two Frozen movies and now available on Disney+. It can also be purchased for only $1.99 at Vudu – Frozen Fever [Short], Watch Movies & TV Online. Anyway, it gives some context to the ride.
Our seats are wet when we enter our boat, and our short pants are wet when we leave. Not happy, but they dry very quickly in the heat. The ride lets out in the Frozen themed store, which of course we have to stop and get some stuff. We get our daughter a new t-shirt replacing the one she is growing out of. We then settle for a huge $5 lollipop instead of a $25 coloring/drawing book. But, at least we have another passholder perk, merchandise discounts! We show them our card, and get at least 10% off at most of the shops at the parks and Disney Springs. These savings add up.
More countries
After leaving Norway, we skip past China and make a beer stop in Germany for a Schofferhofer. We then walk through Italy to “America”. Another benefit of being an annual passholder is not feeling like you have to hit everything in the parks in 1 day. We come enough that we plan for the attractions, restaurants and shops that we want to spend time at. And we don’t worry about what we miss. If we can’t do something this time, we, will do it next time.
We stop for another beer at Hops & Barley in America. This marketplace always has different craft beers during the festivals, so we decide to try one. We then skip Japan, but grab a bite in the Greece marketplace. The Greece marketplace is only open during this festival and they have griddled cheese! As it is getting closer to our preview time, we skip through Japan and Morocco before finally arriving in France. After a stop for one more last bite, it is time for our Remy’s Ratatouille adventure experience.
Our Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure Experience
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is the featured attraction in the new area built into the France Pavilion. To read more details about our experience, read our separate post: Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure now at EPCOT.
We have to show our preview confirmation email to gain access into this new area. More than just the ride, this new area is built behind the existing France pavilion. In addition to the ride, it has restrooms and the new creperie restaurant. This is also a good opportunity for a pit stop, before heading to the ride.
The “Ratatouille Ride”
Even though only passholders with reserved times can be here today, there is still a posted 25 minute wait. But, the line goes fairly fast. In addition, there are some rooms we go through that make us feel like we’re heading to Gusteau’s restaurant. At the end, we grab our 3-D glasses and get into a rat-shaped car and our adventure begins!
The “Ratatouille” ride is apparently very similar to the ride in Disneyland Paris. Also, similar in style to Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Like the latter, it has no height restriction so little ones can ride it. But the experience is much different. The rat-shaped car is for a reason, you are a rat in this adventure! Such a cute ride… Once ended, our daughter asks if we can ride it again. Luckily during the preview, we are able to just hop back on and ride again. This time in less than 10 minutes.
The “Creperie”
Once we leave the ride after the second time, we decide to check the wait at the creperie. The creperie has 2 options. You can wait in line for counter service, or you can sit in the restaurant. We pick sitting down. The wait time is about 10 minutes, and we think it’s best to try it out now. We don’t know when we will get a chance again after opening to everyone, so we put our name in.
We are glad to get a chance to sit down again, and crepes sound great. Our daughter enjoys some soup, we each try their entrée crepes, or galettes, and we split a dessert crepe. Surprisingly we are very full after this. The little bites along the way topped off with the crepes did the trick. Our plan worked!
Overall, our “Ratatouille” experience was definitely the highlight of the day, but it wasn’t quite over yet…
Farewell EPCOT Fireworks
After we leave the France pavilion, we search for a place to park for the upcoming fireworks show. This is no easy task, even when the park is not at full capacity. We finally find a spot in the Showcase plaza directly across the lake from the American pavilion. Our daughter is old enough to not be afraid of the fireworks, and is really excited to watch. She loves it! We enjoy the EPCOT Forever show for the last time, but look forward to the new show coming soon.
As we leave the park, we don’t have to walk far to our car. We then take the short drive back to our hotel for the night.
Summary of our Amazing Day at EPCOT
Every time we come to the parks we experience something different. The highlight was getting into the new “Ratatouille area” to ride the new attraction and eat at the new restaurant. But, it was also our daughter’s first time on Mission Space. We got to eat at some new International Food and Wine marketplaces and hangout in the secret lounge. We had an amazing day at EPCOT with Ratatouille and look forward to our next Disney adventure!