Is EPCOT worth the price of admission?

[Walt Disney1955]

You tend to get your bang for your buck at a Disney park based on experience but in reality it is far too expensive for a single day park. But as for your question about Epcot, yes it is worth checking out. We went in 2018 and went on every single attraction and still saw the fireworks at night. Totally worth it, there is not another park in the world that I know of that is unique like Epcot.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Hollywood Studios is the Disney park least worth the price of a single day ticket, not EPCOT or Animal Kingdom. It has two great rides, a few other solid ones, and a pretty good themed land, plus the remnants of what used to be great theming elsewhere. That's it.

This is combined with the crowd levels that make seeing those few things time consuming or extra expensive with the added cost of Genie+ to try and avoid the longest lines.

 

[UNCgolf]

This is combined with the crowd levels that make seeing those few things time consuming or extra expensive with the added cost of Genie+ to try and avoid the longest lines.

Yeah, if you're there on a relatively busy day, want to ride everything (I personally think most of the rides at DHS aren't worth waiting for), and do it all standby you would probably have no trouble spending the full day there, but it wouldn't be a very pleasant full day. You'd spend the vast majority of your time standing in line.

 

[Andrew25]

I love Epcot, not trying to sound like I hate the place. But for me personally, part of my Epcot experience is the food, and I easily can drop $50 a visit... but if you're asking me to spend $150+ for 1-day ticket... $200 for tickets & dining... is a bit too much for me lol

 

[MaryJaneP]

No!

 

[osian]

I love Epcot, not trying to sound like I hate the place. But for me personally, part of my Epcot experience is the food, and I easily can drop $50 a visit... but if you're asking me to spend $150+ for 1-day ticket... $200 for tickets & dining... is a bit too much for me lol

How much would you spend on food if you went to one of the other parks instead? And how much do you think the EPCOT ticket price should be dropped for you so that you can spend more on food while you're there?

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

This is like saying I only go to Magic Kingdom for Skipper Canteen, therefore I feel I should get the food there free because the price of entry to Magic Kingdom is too high for just buying food.

Not quite.
It is more like going to a local "Taste of Springfield" event, paying $20 to park, $100 for admission, then paying $10 a pop for tapas size samples of assorted foods, and individual cookies. (fill in name of any city that has such an event),

Then realizing four hours later, you spent over $300 and are still hungry.


Mind, if I personally spend a full day in Epcot, I nearly always go on rides. Now, I would at least try go on GoG. Plus almost always one of the no-wait rides.

I don't hate the festivals, but it is best to just sample a few things

 

[jloucks]

EPCOT to me was always worth it. There is plenty to see and do and visiting all the countries plus picking out where are we eating Lunch and dinner. Plus, a show here and there. Visiting each pavilion does take time as well. Example was going into the land, yes there is a ride and soaring and for me we loved to do the behind the seeds tour, then when we could get reservation eating in the land. Same can be said for living Sea pavilion as well. This is a to each his own and things they like to do. I go on vacation, so we are there 7 to 10 days.

Honestly when you think about it. I would rather pay for a day at EPCOT than spend a day at a Six Flags theme park. Only Park worth it to me other than Disney Theme Parks is Dolly Wood.

Dollywood is on my list of parks to visit. Maybe this December if everything goes perfectly.

...big if.

It doesn't help that all the major airports are too far to use Lyft/Uber/Taxi.

 

[Chef Mickey]

You tend to get your bang for your buck at a Disney park based on experience but in reality it is far too expensive for a single day park. But as for your question about Epcot, yes it is worth checking out. We went in 2018 and went on every single attraction and still saw the fireworks at night. Totally worth it, there is not another park in the world that I know of that is unique like Epcot.

It is unique in the way it’s been neglected and ruined.

 

[Rabflmom]

I see your Dollywood and raise you Silver Dollar City.

Dollywood was a Silver Dollar City before Dolly bought the park. It is so much more now. Love that park as much as Disney.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Dollywood was a Silver Dollar City before Dolly bought the park. It is so much more now. Love that park as much as Disney.

I think Dollywood is OK, but compared to anything in WDW it is not even close. It does, however, have a lot of coasters for those that like that. Also you do have to be half mountain goat or at the very least young to climb the hills.

To answer the original question being is Epcot worth the admission. Let's get real, at this point, nothing in WDW is worth the admission when the extras are factored it. The extras being everything that was once provided by the entrance fee that is now an upcharge and a planning nightmare.

 

[Goofyernmost]

It is unique in the way it’s been neglected and ruined.

Neglected and ruined really is quite the exaggeration. It is indeed different, by necessity, then it was in 1982. I miss a lot of the original, but totally understand why it needed to change and it is currently in the transition phase. Everything in the world changes and if we cannot adapt, we are left behind. Judging by the number of construction wall, I'd have to say it is anything but neglected. It can be criticized for the years it was left to just die on the vine as, like the rest of us, they really didn't know what to do with just a huge a beautiful park. I predict that over the next twenty years, it will become it's own unique park again.

 

[osian]

Neglected and ruined really is quite the exaggeration. It is indeed different, by necessity, then it was in 1982. I miss a lot of the original, but totally understand why it needed to change and it is currently in the transition phase. Everything in the world changes and if we cannot adapt, we are left behind. Judging by the number of construction wall, I'd have to say it is anything but neglected. It can be criticized for the years it was left to just die on the vine as, like the rest of us, they really didn't know what to do with just a huge a beautiful park. I predict that over the next twenty years, it will become it's own unique park again.

The problem with this is that it assumes that all change is for the better. We must change, we cannot be left behind, it's not a museum, it must evolve. What if change makes it worse, or turns it into something that was not good as it was before? Is that called progress and moving forward?

If stuff needed to be updated then why not do just that. Update and refurbish, rather than replace and convert. Why did it need to be converted? Spaceship Earth is the epitome of classic Epcot and everyone agrees it needs updating and refurbishing. But does that mean it absolutely needs to be converted to a story about a Disney princess, for example? Is IP really the saviour, or is it an excuse?

If EPCOT is to be Made Great Again (tm) then there are going to be many more years of construction and revamping in order to get rid of the princesses and movies etc because otherwise it's not unique.

 

[drizgirl]

I see your Dollywood and raise you Silver Dollar City.

Here at Silver Dollar City right now. The decor is much better than anything Disney does. And the variety of shows and coasters is amazing. And they have a Christmas light display that rivals Osborne. Plus a Rudolph themed parade.

 

[osian]

Here at Silver Dollar City right now. The decor is much better than anything Disney does. And the variety of shows and coasters is amazing. And they have a Christmas light display that rivals Osborne. Plus a Rudolph themed parade.

And the view from the top of Wildfire's lift hill is incredible.

 

[drizgirl]

And the view from the top of Wildfire's lift hill is incredible.

Just did it twice. Moved to the front row for the second trip. Gorgeous.

 

[Goofyernmost]

The problem with this is that it assumes that all change is for the better. We must change, we cannot be left behind, it's not a museum, it must evolve. What if change makes it worse, or turns it into something that was not good as it was before? Is that called progress and moving forward?

If stuff needed to be updated then why not do just that. Update and refurbish, rather than replace and convert. Why did it need to be converted? Spaceship Earth is the epitome of classic Epcot and everyone agrees it needs updating and refurbishing. But does that mean it absolutely needs to be converted to a story about a Disney princess, for example? Is IP really the saviour, or is it an excuse?

If EPCOT is to be Made Great Again (tm) then there are going to be many more years of construction and revamping in order to get rid of the princesses and movies etc because otherwise it's not unique.

In this case it was for the better. You are only judging it by the fact that you happened to like what was there originally, so did I, but to have it remain we would not have an Epcot at all, and that would not be better. The Edutainment goal of Epcot was a great idea but it didn't have a good shelf life. It depended on Disney staying ahead of progress and it was impossible at that time. They could not build faster than new technology was being created and what was there already had lost it's favor with people on vacation. They didn't need to spend money to go to a place that was not only already availably on our hand held devices making anything they had become old news, but because of that they were looking for entertainment now not school lessons.

Epcot had already become a drink around the world place that specialized in drinking and throwing up in the bushes (i.e. Food and Wine festivals and flower festivals) because no one was coming to just see how their imagination worked, or showing us what our future was going to be, but already was. Companies and nations were no longer interested in using Epcot to show off their new products because the internet was doing that for penny's instead of the millions that Disney needed to pay for those pavilions.

The writing was on the wall, it was change or die and I suspect that it was a lot closer to dying than we can even imagine. If you were willing to spend $1k for a day ticket to cover the cost of operating that park it might have stayed the way it was, but you might have been the only one present and it still would have been closed before lunch.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

Dollywood was a Silver Dollar City before Dolly bought the park. It is so much more now. Love that park as much as Disney.

Can't wait to check out Silver Dollar City, hopefully in 2024. But yes I love Dollywood too. I would say outside of Disney and Universal it is the best park I have been to. It just is drenched in charm. That sort of Southern hospitality-type of charm and service. Disney I feel is at its best when it does just that. I think it helps that Dolly Parton is still running the show.

I will say the only thing about Dollywood is that it doesn't have the paths where you can cut in and out like Disney. You sort of do an oval shape walking around it. It's fine, but I guess if there is a drawback it would be that. Other than that the theming, the "home" feeling, the rides, shows and even though I am not a shopper even I was drawn into these old fashioned types of shops to look around in. You could do a couple of days in there and take your time and it would be just fine. Dolly Parton's replica of the church she grew up in, it is just stuff like that that is so personal to see.