Lightning Lane Multi-Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass can make your day at Walt Disney World a lot easier, but what if you don’t want to purchase them? Don’t worry, there’s still a lot that can be done without it! Here’s a full day in EPCOT without LLMP and LLSP.
On Sept. 7, 2024, I spent 11 hours straight in EPCOT from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. without purchasing LLMP or LLSP.
I started the day with a Joffrey’s coffee from the stand outside of the park entrance. I always get a mocha latte with oat milk and strawberry syrup if they have it (it tastes like a chocolate-covered strawberry!)
When I got into the park, I got straight in line for Spaceship Earth and walked onto the ride at 9:15 a.m. After that, I walked onto The Seas with Nemo & Friends at 9:30 a.m. When you get off that ride, it brings you into a large aquarium, so I spent some time there and said hi to all of my sea friends! Also in that building is Turtle Talk with Crush, an interactive show that features the character Crush from “Finding Nemo,” so I decided to stick around for the 10:00 a.m. show.
Close to all of these attractions is The Land Pavilion, home to Living with the Land, Awesome Planet, Soarin’ and several dining locations. I hopped in line at 10:20 a.m. and waited 20 minutes, but it was worth it because I got to see all of the fresh food growing.
I made my way to the World Showcase at this point and was met by a short line to meet the character Asha from “Wish,” so I hopped in line and had a lovely conversation with her about music and dancing.
I started to get a little hungry at this point, so I went to The Odyssey to order some festival food. The great thing about EPCOT is they almost always have a festival happening, and at this point, the International Food & Wine Festival was going on. If you want to see a full review of everything I ate at this year’s festival, it’s up on the website now!
After eating, I decided to go next door to the Mexico Pavilion to ride the Gran Fiesta Tour: Starring the Three Caballeros where I waited 10 minutes. After seeing Donald Duck on the ride, I went to meet him in person!
Staying in the Mexico Pavilion, I decided to try some Food & Wine items from their booth. The tostada was one of my favorite things of the festival, but the cornbread dessert, not so much.
I took a short break around noon, so that I wouldn’t tire myself out for the next eight hours in the park and found a seat in The Odyssey and took in the air conditioning.
I met up with a friend to do some attractions and character meets together! First, we went on Soarin’ Around the World and waited 30 minutes. Then, we “watched” Awesome Planet and took a quick power nap (it’s dark and the seats are comfortable – don’t judge).
If you didn’t know, there is a special character meet for Disney Visa cardholders right near the Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival behind Journey into Imagination with Figment. Characters rotate in there, but we got to meet Minnie Mouse and Pluto! We also met Figment right outside his attraction.
Communicore Hall recently opened in EPCOT and two new food booths came with it, so I grabbed some cheesesteak mac and cheese and a frozen s’mores drink – both were delicious! Right in Communicore Hall is another character meet-and-greet with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Goofy, so I met them around 3:45 p.m.
At 4:00 p.m. I went over to ride Mission: Space and I elected for the green course. If you didn’t know, there are two missions guests can elect for this ride – green and orange. Green is a less intense ride where guests fly around the world, whereas orange is a more intense journey taken to Mars.
What’s the joy of the International Food & Wine Festival if you’re not getting more food even though you’re full because you want to try everything? Because that’s what I did and after Mission: Space, I ate a lemon poppy seed cake and a refreshing drink!
I didn’t get LLMP or LLSP, but I did try for the virtual queue for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and I got it. My group received a call around 5:00 p.m., so I got in line and rode it then. Remember, at the time this article was being written, the only way to get on this ride was through a virtual queue or LLSP – there is no standby line.
After riding the best ride ever made, I made my way back to Journey into Imagination with Figment and rode that, and also went to the Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival. This attraction shows three six-minute Disney shorts and is a great way to cool down and relax.
After this, I went back to the World Showcase and to the Norway Pavilion to meet Anna and Elsa. I didn’t get to go on Frozen Ever After because the line was too long, but you kind of have to pick and choose what you want to do since you don’t have LLMP. I’m sure if I tried to ride it earlier in the day, I definitely could have fit it in, but I decided to skip it.
The last attraction of the day was Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. Now, I didn’t tell you this before, but I actually tried to ride this earlier in the day, but sometimes guests have to get evacuated due to technical issues and they are issued a Lightning Lane to come back later in the day, which is what I did. I ended up getting to ride at 7:15 p.m.
And I needed to eat one more thbefore I left EPCOT for the night. Unfortunately, I couldn’t eat everything Food & Wine offered because I was only there for one day, but I ended it all with the berry waffle from the Belgium booth.
So in the end, I experienced 13 attractions, met nine characters and ate 11 items at the Food & Wine Festival. Do you think I made the most of my day or want me to do this again in a different park? Message me on @HappilyyEverAshley on Instagram and let me know!
