Your Guide to Rides at Epcot

The World Showcase features 11 countries and their culture while still offering exciting rides, beloved Disney characters and entertainment, and world-class dining experiences. Are you wondering what to do at Epcot? Our Guide today focuses on the best attractions and rides at EPCOT.

The countries you'll visit in the World Showcase are Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Morocco, Japan, the United States, Italy, Germany, China, Norway, and Mexico. Sip a beer at a proper pub or savor sake in Japan. It's all there. 

Heck yes! EPCOT offers nine actual rides with moving vehicles. While EPCOT is not known as the best Disney park for thrilling rides, they have several of Disney World's most thrilling rides and offer unique attractions for all ages. In total, there are currently 40 attractions and rides with new exciting new experiences, Guardian of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Walt Disney Imagineering Presents the Epcot Experience coming soon. 

Our favorite top rides and attractions (all for different reasons) are listed below. Note: Many have height restrictions, so be sure to check ahead of time. 

Soarin' Around the World - How appropriate. Head over to Future World and take flight on an airborne hang glider above the wonders of the world. You'll start in the Swiss Alps, visit polar bears in Greenland, see boats on the harbor in Australia, glide above the Great Wall of China, the pyramids, and much more. This is an excellent introduction to EPCOT and a must-do. It uses a 180-degree 80-foot IMAX digital projection dome and artificial wind and aromas to create an authentic experience. This is a slow ride with small drops and is great for kids, teens, and adults.  

Test Track - This exhilarating ride is the fastest attraction in Disney World. Test Track is a giant slot car experience where you'll go through all the steps of designing a virtual concept car, then driving it through a winding circuit with straightaways for speed and switchbacks, inclement weather, and banked curves, all designed to test you and your car design. After the test, you'll make a commercial for your design and race again on a mini virtual test track and pose with your car against a cool backdrop. 

Spaceship Earth - This is the flagship attraction of Epcot, and is the geodesic sphere that serves as the symbol for the park. This dark ride takes guests back in time to the Stone Age and through time up to modern days. It highlights significant moments in communication like the Gutenberg printing press and televised broadcasts through Audio-Animatronics. You can design your own future using touch-screen features in your vehicle. This is an exciting and educating attraction. 

Mission: Space - Have you ever dreamed of being an astronaut? Train for your mission on the X-2 Deep Space Shuttle at the International Space Training Center. You'll be chosen as navigator, pilot, commander, or engineer and will perform a mission-critical sequence. After training, you'll liftoff through space, avoiding meteorites that are headed your way. You'll choose from one of two missions. The Orange Mission is more intense, and the Green Mission is more family-friendly and orbits the earth. 

Frozen Ever After - Take a musical journey on an ancient Nordic vessel to the wintery world of Frozen. This is a slow-moving boat ride where you'll meet the Kristoff family from Troll Valley and travel the icy blue lands of North Moutain, and visit Queen Elsa's Palace. You'll meet many of your Frozen friends like Anna and Olaf while being serenaded with your favorite Frozen songs. Warning: The boat does move down mini-waterfalls, and you may get a little wet. This ride is appropriate for children. 

Living With the Land - This is a slow-moving boat ride within The Land pavilion, part greenhouse tour, and part ride. Learn how Disney horticulturalists use innovative techniques like hydroponics and aquaponics to make gardening efficient. You'll see the results of cross-breeding in huge lemons, Mickey-shaped pumpkins, and crops grown with the help of fish and sea creatures. Sample some of the goods at Sunshine Seasons or Garden Grill Restaurant, where the fresh produce and seafood grown here are served. 

Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros - Enjoy this Gran Fiesta boat ride down the Rio Grande on a dark boat ride past famous sites and cities in Mexico. This concert has gone awry, and you'll have fun with Panchito, the Mexican charro rooster, and Jose Carioca, the Brazilian parrot, as you search south of the border for missing Donald Duck. A fun but short ride with typically a short wait. 

Journey Into Imagination with Figment - For those fans of Figment, the famous purple dragon, this ride is for you. And besides, everyone loves dragons, right? This ride travels through a series of sensory labs that examine the five senses as Figment wreaks havoc and turns the lab upside down. The fan favorite song "One Little Spark" will stick in your mind all day! 

The Seas with Nemo and Friends - This gentle ride will take you under the sea without getting wet. It is based on Disney and Pixar's Finding Nemo and again finds Nemo lost. You'll journey on a "clamobile" below the waves to the home of Nemo's friends amongst colorful coral reefs and swaying sea anemones. Take a boat ride on the East Australian Current with Crush, the sea turtle, and his little one, Squirt. After your adventure, visit the aquarium and get close up to clownfish, sharks, and more in the 5.7 million-gallon saltwater aquarium. Join in on the complimentary scavenger hunt with Dory and win stickers while you learn. Check out these other Best Disney Rides for Toddlers

Other EPCOT entertainment, attractions, and events

You’ll never have to worry about what to do at Epcot. EPCOT is full of entertainment, interactive displays, and great dining to keep you entertained. Maybe the rides at Epcot are not thrilling enough for your gang. Suppose your crowd is the heart-pumping, adrenaline-driving roller-coaster types. In that case, a strategy is to visit Disney's Hollywood Studios in the morning and take in EPCOT's World Showcase in the afternoon. 

Book dinner ahead of time at one of the many international dining venues and stick around for Illuminations, the exhilarating music, water show, and fireworks later in the evening. 

Check out Disney's Scariest Rides for more thrills. 

EPCOT is home to many international events. Be sure to check the EPCOT annual schedule before you book. Some signature events are the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival that runs from July 15- November 20, 2021, features JAMMin' Chefs, a funky drumming crew, Mariachi Cobre traditional folk music, and Voices of Liberty which celebrates America's great spirit and beauty. 

Taste of Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival, running from March 3 - July 5, 2021, is another key EPCOT event. They feature lots of amazing and unique music from vintage vinyl, Motown, Piano, and much more. 

Keep an eye out for those beloved Disney characters when in Epcot because Mickey is known to stop by and watch for the Princess Promenade for a chance to say hello to some of your favorite Disney Princesses as they travel the World Showcase in their horse-drawn carriage. When it's time for a bite to eat, choose from a Biergarten, proper British Pub, fine French cuisine, Mexican, a Moroccan festival, or anything else you can imagine. Reservations are often required.