This is the question we get asked most often by our friends who are visiting for the first time. The answer depends completely on how much you want to do and how long you want your days to be. If you want to do all the rides and shows, meet all the characters etc, our general rule of thumb is you can do everything in around 2-3 days. Due to the sheer size of the park, anything less than 2 days means you’ll likely have to skip some things. If you want to spend longer in the countries around World Showcase then allow more time.

This is where EPCOT really comes into it’s own. No matter when you visit there’s usually something happening. Whether that’s Christmas and the Festival of the Holidays, the Flower & Garden Festival each Spring, the Food & Wine Festival over summer, or the Festival of the Arts in the New Year, there will be something going on. As well as this of course you’ve got the After Hours events, DVC Moonlight Magic events, or VIP tours like Behind the Seeds and Divequest which look incredible.

With a growing number of headline attractions Lightning Lanes are becoming more and more valuable at EPCOT. Previously the main focus would always be Test Track and Soarin’ - two classics. However with the addition of Frozen Ever After, and then later Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Guardian’s of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, you’ve really got at least 5 massive attractions to focus your efforts on.

Starting at the main entrance and the ‘bottom’ half of the park, this is where the majority of the rides and attractions are located. This half of the park is still being reimagined but is divided into three sections, World Celebration in the middle, World Discovery off to the left and World Nature off to the right.

You’ll enter the park underneath the iconic ‘golf ball’ which is lit up beautifully each evening, and head on up to the central plaza in World Celebration. This central area is primarily focused on dining and shopping but does have a couple of attractions. The first being right inside the giant golf ball - Spaceship Earth, soon to be reimagined itself, but still a great little dark ride taking you through the history of mankind with Judy Dench. Our kids particularly love the interactive exhibits in the hall as you exit. The second attraction is the park’s newest - Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana. This is primarily a walk through attraction but is a lovely addition to the park and Moana herself meets outside.

If you hang left of Spaceship Earth as you enter the park you’ll pass a gift shop, stroller rental and you’ll enter the plaza besides Connections Café and Connections Eatery - two relatively new dining options. Further round is Club Cool - a Coca Cola themed shop/exhibit where you can try exotic flavours from around the World for free. You’ve also got the Creations mega shop here which also has a brilliant little play area out the back.

If instead you hang right on entry, you’ll likely pass Pluto doing his meet-and-greet, some more shops, and the Moana attraction. Further round the plaza is the Communicore Hall where you can meet Mickey and Friends, and they have various seasonal exhibits on too.

Moving to the left of the park, World Discovery focuses on the future and space exploration. This has two of the park’s headline attractions so is a popular route first thing on a morning.

Test Track, the original draw here is a fantastic thrilling family ride where you design your own car in the queue and then ‘test it out’ yourself in the ride, culminating in a speed around the test track. Test Track is currently undergoing a big refurbishment and is scheduled to reopen this summer.

The second ride, and one of the best at Walt Disney World is the (fairly) new Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Themed around the hit Marvel film franchise, and the only Marvel attraction in Walt Disney World, this takes you on a thrilling ride through space with an amazing soundtrack that changes each time you ride. Probably not for little ones, or for those prone to motion sickness, but SO MUCH FUN!

The third attraction here, Mission Space, simulates a ride through space with you helping ‘pilot’ the ship. The ride has two experiences: Journey to Mars is the more intense (orange) mission, or you can orbit the Earth on a less intense (green) mission. Be warned the orange mission is intense and comes with all sorts of health warnings.

Other than the rides, there is one meet-and-greet here: Star Lord can be found outside Cosmic Rewind, and there’s one dining option: Space 220. This is a brilliant space themed restaurant which simulates you heading up to eat at a space station above Earth with huge windows looking out across the galaxy.

The right hand side of the park is World Nature, focussing on the natural world. The main headline attraction here is Soarin’ - a simulated gentle glide over the planet. Although it’s relatively tame it just gives you amazing vibes and is one of our favourite rides.

Soarin’ can be found inside the Land pavilion, one of three pavillions making up World Nature. The Land pavilion is a huge building housing 3 attractions and 2 restaurants. As well as Soarin’ there is Living With The Land, a gentle boat ride through a set of greenhouses, talking about how to live off the land - more interesting than it sounds! Finally there is Awesome Planet - a movie about the planet hosted by none other than Mr Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell). The two dining options are the quick service marketplace Sunshine Seasons, and the sit down Garden Grill restaurant. This is one of our favourites with it being a character meal (Chip, Dale, Mickey, Pluto), a revolving restaurant that lets you see into the Living With the Land attraction, and has amazing family style food.

The second of the three pavilions is ocean themed (or basically Nemo themed) and has the attraction The Seas with Nemo and Friends - another fun family dark ride featuring Nemo, and Turtle Talk with Crush, an interactive chat with Crush on screen. The rest of the pavilion is a giant aquarium complete with dolphins, manatees and exotic fish. This is a lovely spot and a great place to let the kids blow off steam in air conditioning. There are no character meets in here, but there is one restaurant: Coral Reef - a brilliant restaurant with huge glass windows looking into the aquarium.

The final pavilion is the Imagination pavilion. This has the Journey into Imagination With Figment attraction - another dark family ride, and you can now even meet Figment, the park mascot, as you exit. There is a small movie theatre here where you can sometimes meet Mickey, but otherwise it shows Disney and Pixar shorts. The other location of note here is the DVC lounge, only accessible to DVC members but a great spot to cool off and get some free snacks.

Now we move into the second half of the park, World Showcase. This area is dominated by a massive lake, in which the nightly show Luminous takes place. Around the lake are 11 pavilions dedicated to different countries from around the World. Each is themed brilliantly, with restaurants featuring national cuisines, shops selling themed merchandise, and often an attraction.

You can reach World Showcase from each of the 3 lands. If you come from World Celebration you’ll be at the base of the lake by a couple of souvenir shops. This is where you can also catch the boat across to the other side of the lake to save your legs. If you arrive from World Nature you’ll pass some gardens and Refreshment Port (a quick service kiosk) and begin your walk at Canada. If you arrive from World Discovery you’ll pass the Odyssey, which periodically houses various different seasonal festival things but is currently home to a little cafe. You’ll then begin with the Mexico pavilion, and this is where we’ll begin, moving around clockwise.

Before that though a quick note on the some of the games you can play as you navigate World Showcase. EPCOT provides some fantastic interactive experiences for children. There’s the Ducktales World Showcase Adventure but our favourite was the Kidcot Fun Stops where you can get your passport (purchase from any giftshop) stamped and learn something in each pavilion. Our kids loved this and have completed the set many times.

The Mexico pavilion focusses on a giant pyramid, within which is the Gran Fiesta Tour, a family dark boat ride with Donald Duck and the three Caballeros. As with all pavillions there are several dining options - San Angel Inn Restaurante, overlooking the ride itself, or if you go outside the La Cantina de San Angel - a great spot to watch the fireworks if you time your booking just right. Each pavilion usually has a character meet or two - in Mexico it’s Donald in his fiesta outfit.

Moving around the next pavilion is Norway - a very popular area due to the Frozen Ever After ride here. This is a family boat ride through the famous story, with a mini log flume as well. You can also meet Anna and Elsa next door, or enjoy a princess character meal at Akershus.

Next up is China, which has wonderful theming and some beautiful gardens. The attraction here is the Reflections of China movie and you can sometimes meet Mulan in the gardens here. Of course you can also get some great Chinese food too.

As we move on up to Germany, a quick mention for the Outpost here - not assigned to a particular country but generally African themed, and some shopping and dining options as you pass.

Germany, is one of several pavilions without an attraction at all, but makes up for it with some brilliant dining and shopping including chocolate and the Biergarten restaurant that is incredibly popular. Snow White is the resident character meet here.

Next up is Italy, again without an attraction, and again excelling in the food and drink categories. Several resturants can be found here: Via Napoli, Tutto Italia and Gelateria Toscana. However there are no character meets.

At the very top of the lake is the American Adventure. This is a very popular spot on the lake. First up there is the America Gardens Theatre which usually has some sort of show running, be it live music or the Candlelight Processional shows at Christmas. In the main building you can enjoy the Voices of Liberty show, do some shopping, or grab some food at the Muppet themed Regal Eagle Smokehouse - a brilliant barbeque quick service restaurant.

Next up is Japan, in our opinion a particularly beautiful area, with a brilliant gift shop that our kids love selling all your typical Pokemon and Nintendo merch. Again there is no attraction here but some good dining options and often live entertainment.

Entering the home stretch around World Showcase, we’ve got Morocco first of all, again focusing primarily on dining options than attractions, although you can meet Princes Jasmine here.

Then you have a monster of a pavilion - France. This is home to one of the most popular attractions in the park: Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. This is a fun whizz around the kitchen on a trackless vehicle, shrunk down to the size of a rat. It is a lot of fun but is a carbon copy of the version in Disneyland Paris, even down to the French voiceovers. Besides this France excels in every other area - you can meet Belle and Princess Aurora here, and enjoy loads of brilliant food. Our favourite is the Créperie.

Moving around to the last few pavilions and past the rear entrance to the park, you’ve then got the United Kingdom. We always find this quite funny with all the stereotypical bits and pieces and outrageously priced souvenirs. However it’s a lovely pavilion with gardens, shops, a Winnie the Pooh meet-and-greet and a brilliant ‘pub’ the Rose & Crown which offers fireworks packages and is a brilliant experience.

The last pavilion of the loop is Canada, offering a Canada Far and Wide movie and Le Cellier Steakhouse as well as regular live entertainment.

The walk around the lake is not to be underestimated and many a time we’ve skipped a couple of pavilions with tired minds and legs. Make sure to set aside plenty of time to take it slow and enjoy the walk, particularly if one of the festivals is on with the extra food trucks or stalls on display.