Epcot Day 1: First Saturday FastPass+ Seven Night Basic December Itinerary, Saturday Arrival

EPCOT DAY 1: FIRST SATURDAY AGENDA

Check in, get settled if your room is ready, and be at Epcot as soon as you can.

FIRST THINGS

(Note: this is from the FastPass+ Basic December Seven Night Itinerary, Saturday Arrival. The itinerary works only for the three weeks after Thanksgiving. For itineraries for other dates, see this.)

• Arrive at your hotel, following the instructions in your Disney’s Magical Express packet if you are using it to get from Orlando International to your Disney Resort. Check in
• Unless you are arriving late, your room will likely not be ready, but you can leave your bags. First change into clothes more appropriate for the weather–which your To-Do List reminded you to pack in your carry-ons. You can ask to be called or texted later to find out your exact room
• If your room is ready, and if you have time–you want to be at Epcot as soon as you can–get food and supplies (bowls, napkins, scotch) for your breakfast in the morning, which you will be eating out of your room. Also get (from the counter service restaurant)  “Refillable Mugs,” which you will be able to re-use at your resort for free drinks over your entire stay
• Head to Epcot as soon as you can

AT THE PARK

• Your plan today is to see as many of Epcot’s attractions as you can to free time on your second visit, see the parts of World Showcase that are most fun in the evening, and see the lovely Christmas decorations at the nearby Epcot resorts–while exiting the park before the end of Illuminations, the park-closing show that you will see on Thursday night. You should also have FastPass+ for Soarin’, Spaceship Earth and a third ride. Those arriving late may have to thin the below to just Soarin’, World Showcase, and the Epcot resorts
• Go through the turnstiles and pick up a park map and “Times Guide”–a schedule. Use your Spaceship Earth FastPass+ and then see Turtle Talk with Crush, Living with the Land and Soarin (FP+)
• Then sample Innoventions to get a sense of how much time you might want to devote to it Thursday.
• Head to World Showcase, and see the pavilions starting with Mexico and going clockwise.
  • Each pavilion will have some or all of Christmas displays and storytellers as part of Epcot’s Holidays Around the World celebration, shopping, special exhibits, a ride, a movie, and other special events—such as acrobats in China.
  • Check your map, times guide, and the pavilion itself, to see what each pavilion has.
  • For scheduled events like the acrobats, etc., sequence what you do when among items that are not scheduled (shops, exhibits, and rides), and bounce back and forth between nearby pavilions, so that you don’t have to wait long for the scheduled item
• Have dinner
• Continue touring World Showcase clockwise until about 8:30p
• Leave Epcot via the International Gateway exit between France and the UK and walk around Crescent Lake, visiting the lobbies and Christmas decorations at the Beach Club, Yacht Club, and BoardWalk Inn
• Be back in Epcot by 9.30p, and instead of staying for Illuminations–which will have started about now, and which you will see on Thursday–return to the exit by Spaceship Earth and head back to your hotel–thus beating the post-Illuminations crowds.

BACK AT THE HOTEL

Buy food, supplies (bowls, spoons, etc.) and refillable mugs for breakfast in your room at your hotel counter service or gift shop, if you did not have time, or a room assignment, earlier.

PREVIEW OF TOMORROW

You will visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

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