Five Secrets You Have to Know About Disney’s Epcot

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What You Need To Know About Planning a Disney Vacation

Planning a vacation to Disney World is almost a part-time job. To really pull it off, one of you needs to research and take on the complicated task of determining where to best spend your time. Rarely are you taking unlimited time at Disney, right?. It is probably planned as 2 or 3 days and you need to figure out how to make the best use of that limited time.

Depending on whether you’ve been to Disney before, and where you are in your planning, you may be lost where to start. I have several articles planned to help you plan a successful trip. I am going to attempt to cover everything with my series and hopefully answer all of your questions. As always, let me know in the comments if I didn’t cover something you’d like to know about. Stay tuned in for the whole series!

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Epcot was the reason Walt Disney wanted to go to Florida.  His final dream, the one he couldn't make come true was to build a prototypical city of the future.  It would have worked too, had he lived to see it through. He called it EPCOT. Although it would never be completed, Imagineering would create a tribute to the idea in the form of a park.  The new Epcot would be a permanent World's Fair. When the park opened in 1982 it was called EPCOT Center. Now Epcot remains a fan favorite for many Disney World travelers. Here are just some of the amazing secrets in Epcot.

 

Insider Secrets About Disney’s Epcot

International Gateway

This might be the most important secret.  Epcot has a side entrance that is accessible from the Boardwalk, and Yacht and Beach Club resorts.  There are even boats that travel from this gate to Disney's Hollywood Studios. It's a far less often used gate.  It's also very close to Les Halles Boulangerie in the France Pavilion, which is open for breakfast. If you are staying in these resorts, particularly, plan for a morning stroll into this part of Epcot, before the World Showcase opens at 11:00.

 

Another interesting fact is that Epcot originally was designed as two separate parks, which might be why it kind of feels... like two separate parks.

 

Pooh’s Corner

In the UK Pavilion of the World Showcase, there is a hidden locked room in the very back of the Toy Soldier, where the Kidcot station sits.  The door is marked Cast Members Only, but you can step up to the glass and take a peek around. You will see Christopher Robin's room. This was originally a photo location for Pooh and Friends, Maybe now with the warm reception of the film Christopher Robin, It may soon return.  For now, it's just nice to know it's there.

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American Adventure Building

The Show at the America Pavilion is more technologically impressive than most people realize.  The animatronic cast is so extensive that mechanisms beneath the audience have to move them around throughout the show to be ready for the stage.  Another secret to the main building is that it is actually bigger than it looks. Imagineers used forced perspective to lie about the height of the 5 story building, making it appear to be 3 stories.  

 

The reason for the enlargement is so that it can be seen across the World Showcase and not appear dinky.  Another interesting tidbit is that the first countries as you enter the world showcase are Mexico on the left and Canada on the right.  That's because they are the two bordering countries to the USA. The American Pavilion is dead center, on the other end of the lagoon.

Weenie Facts

The massive aquarium in the Seas Pavilion in Future World at Epcot is so big in diameter that Spaceship Earth can fit comfortably in side it.  Spaceship Earth is the 180' tall Geodesic Sphere that houses the dark ride of the same name and serves as the iconic "weenie" for visitors of Epcot.  A weenie is a structure designed to catch the eye and pull the audience toward it.

 

A Disney's Hollywood Studios weenie, The Tower of Terror, can also be seen from Epcot.  It's visible behind the Morocco Pavilion and was designed and painted to match the Moroccan architecture.

 

The Dreamfinder’s Flying Machine

The original Journey into Imagination that fans still mourn the loss of featured a mysterious man known as the Dreamfinder.  His name was later determined to be Blarion Mercurial in the Marvel Comics. He and his flying machine are gone from the attraction, but you don't have to go far to at least find the machine.  A version of it can be found overhead in Mouse Gears, near the center of Future World.