This October marks the 35th anniversary of this Disney World theme park. To celebrate here are 35 things you might not know about Epcot!
- The name Epcot is actually an acronym, it stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.
- Epcot officially opened it’s gates on October 1st 1982.
- I was originally know as Epcot center before being renamed in 1994.
- The park is split into 2 parts; Future world and World Showcase.
- The park is over 300 acres wide and the parking lot another 141 acres.
- The main icon for this park is the giant geodesic sphere. This also houses the ride Spaceship Earth.
- The ride Spaceship Earth is currently narrated by Dame Judy Dench.
- Epcot is one of the 2 theme parks that you can access by monorail.
- The famous purple dragon Figment from the attraction journey into the imagination with Figment was first introduced in 1983.
- Test Track is the fastest of all the thrill rides at Disney World with speeds up to 65mph.
- The seas with Nemo and friends has an aquarium that is big enough to fit the Spaceship Earth sphere with room to spare!
- The food shown growing on the Living with the land ride is used in several Epcot restaurants including the Garden Grill.
- The Garden Grill inside the Land pavilion is a slowly rotating restaurant that has views over the living with the land ride.
- In the evening some of the walkways in future world light up with different patterns and colors.
- Inside the Mission Space pavilion there is a hidden playground for kids 2-12, great for kids who don’t meet the height requirement to play while other ride Mission Space. Plus it’s air conditioned!
- In Future World you can stop by Club Cool and try free samples Coca-cola products from around the globe.
- The pre-show video for Soarin’ has the flight number 5505 as a reference to when the ride opened on May 5th 2005.
- In the World Showcase you will find a pavilion for Canada, United Kingdom, France, Morocco, Japan, Italy, Germany, China, Norway, Mexico and the United States.
- During the opening ceremonies water from 23 countries were poured into the fountain of nations, hence the name.
- Two of the current pavilions were not present during the parks opening; Mexico opened in 1984 and Norway in 1988.
- The World showcase has 11 different pavilions each with a different country but there is room for a total of 19.
- Every spring Epcot hosts an International flower and garden festival which features unique topiaries of Disney characters.
- During the Christmas season you can watch the Candlelight processional where the story of Christmas is told by a celebrity and a live choir.
- Between the France and United Kingdom pavilion you will find the international gateway. This is a back entrance to Epcot that is steps away from the Beach Club resort and the Boardwalk resort.
- Each of the stores and restaurants throughout the World showcase are staffed by cast members from each respective country. Their hometown is usually printed below their name on the name tags.
- In the fall World showcase is home to the International food and Wine festival. This features 35 booths with food and drinks from all over the world.
- Most nights you can watch Illuminations:Reflections of Earth a firework show that takes place in the World Showcase lagoon.
- You can play an interactive Phineas and Ferb themed game around the Showcase. You become secret agents like Perry the platypus and help stop Dr. Doofenshmirtz.
- In the Japan pavilion guests can chose an oyster which a cast member will open in front of you and you keep the pearl inside.
- The walk around the showcase is 1.2 miles long!
- Only the Norway and Mexico pavilions have rides. The France pavilion has begun construction to add a Ratatouille themed ride in the next few years.
- Speaking of the France pavilion the Eiffel tower is 1/10 the size of the original.
- Off in the distance behind the Moroccan pavilion you can see Hollywood Studios Tower of Terror.
- The American pavilion is built a bit taller than the others and is in the center of the world showcase.
- While the monorail transports guest between Epcot and the Magic Kingdom there is a friendship boat that connects Hollywood Studios and Epcot. The boat departs just outside the International gateway at Epcot’s back entrance.
There are so many more interesting facts about Epcot but hope you learned something new!