The Worst: Beyond the Magic
The Worst: Beyond the Magic is a travel podcast breaking down the best and worst of Disney, destinations, and vacations people actually book.
Hosted by travel professionals Pete Morrison and Jamie McMahon, the show goes beyond the highlight reels and hype to talk about real expectations, real costs, and real experiences. From Disney planning mistakes and dining myths to destination travel insights, each episode delivers honest conversations and practical advice you can actually use.
If you’re planning a Disney trip, researching travel destinations, or tired of advice that ignores reality, this podcast helps you make smarter decisions, avoid common mistakes, and get more out of your vacation.
New episodes weekly.
The Worst: Beyond the Magic
Epcot Works Because It Makes No Sense
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Epcot might be Disney’s most confusing park, and we think that’s the whole charm. One minute you’re talking sustainability and real greenhouse farming, the next you’re debating a space coaster, and then you’re staring down 11 countries around a lagoon like it’s the world’s cleanest bar crawl. We’re Pete Morrison and Jay McMahon, and we’re breaking Epcot into a simple, usable game plan so you stop wandering and start enjoying.
We walk through the park’s modern layout (World Celebration, World Discovery, and World Nature) and call out what each area is actually for: the classic “edutainment” icons, the thrill rides that can trigger motion sickness, and the calm attractions that save you in the brutal Florida heat. We also go deep on why Living With The Land has a cult following, from its real science and real crops to the unintentional comedy that turned it into viral Disney adult lore.
From there, we hit the World Showcase basics and explain why Epcot can feel like multiple parks connected by a marathon. We share practical touring tips like when Lightning Lane is worth it, how to avoid painful backtracking, and why arriving via the Skyliner into France can be a huge win for Remy’s and Frozen routing. We also drop our “worst of the best” rankings, tease the more food-and-drink heavy part two, and end with smaller classics like Club Cool and the infamous Beverly.
Subscribe for part two, share this with your favorite Epcot planner, and leave us a review so more people can find the show. What’s your personal best and worst pick at Epcot?
Why Epcot Makes No Sense
SPEAKER_02Epcot is the only Disney park where you can learn about sustainable farming and be drunk in China in the same afternoon.
SPEAKER_01And somehow that makes perfect sense. This is the worst beyond the magic. Welcome back to the worst. I am Pete Morrison. I'm Jay McMahon. We are a Disney enthusiast. We're a Travel Nations, two of Travel Nation's two worst travel agents.
SPEAKER_02Outstanding. Today we're going to talk about Epcot. Opened October 1st, 1982. We're going to give you the best and the worst that it has to offer. I think the most confusing Disney Park.
SPEAKER_01What do you think? I think so. I think this park has a bit of an identity crisis. I don't know. I think Walt had envisioned this place as uh some corporate innovation and a real city, and and uh somehow we it's involved into what it is today after the untimely passing of his uh his death, obviously a very long time ago. Um It feels like Epcot's just a bunch of stuff just mashed together. You know, that's your favorite word, like mashing buttons, right? But um it's just it just doesn't make it just doesn't make a lot of sense, but we love it anyway.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I agree. I mean I know experimental prototype community of tomorrow was the same Epcot. You know, it was originally designed to be a uh, like you said, a city, and now it's uh there's a Guardian roller coaster next to a uh greenhouse boat ride.
SPEAKER_01And that's what it is. And it it's somehow one of our favorite parks because of that.
SPEAKER_02Well, you know, it was originally um we just we thought when we when my daughter was younger, we were like, no, we're not gonna take her. It's not a kid's park. Um it's definitely evolved
The Park’s Three Modern Neighborhoods
SPEAKER_02since then.
SPEAKER_01All right, so basically the park is split into two different halves. We're gonna talk about each different little world, each different little area, and then of course her favorite area, the uh the world showcase, but we'll get there in just a second. All right, so first we're gonna start off with World Celebration, slash World Discovery, slash World Nature, or whatever the heck the name is right now. Uh formerly Future World, and that's how I know it is. I know Pete you do the same, right? Um this is the central hub of the park. It's the home to Spaceship Earth, which is a big large golf ball. In case you didn't know, that's what that is. Home to Communicor Hall, and the new Walt Dreamer statue. Pete, did you see Walt hanging out there, sitting down and welcoming people to the park?
SPEAKER_02I've seen him. I say hi every time I walk by.
SPEAKER_01You have to. You have to. This is like Disney trying to convince you that Epcot is still has some educational themes to it a little bit.
SPEAKER_02I think um I think, you know, like last week when we talked about Animal Kingdom having the conservation themes, Epcot does hold on to some of those, but I think it's more uh now as the booziest park out of the four. You know, it's lost a little of that.
SPEAKER_01Just a tiny bit. Just a tiny bit. Um World Discovery, uh, there's the next side of it. Uh, this is more or less the thrill ride side of the park. Um, there's science and technology themes. It's home to my favorite roller coaster, which we talked about last last week, which is of course Guardians of the Galaxy, Cosmic Rewind, home to mission space and home to test track.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, this is where you go either have adrenaline or motion sickness.
SPEAKER_01And it's the later for of for the two of uh for me. Uh I suffer from motion sickness a lot, and it's not fun. Um, next up there is World of Nature or World Nature. This is the calm, relaxing side of Epcot, uh, sustainability and nature seems here. It's of course homing home to living with the land, the seas with Nemo and friends, soaring around the world now is soaring around America, thanks to the American 250 celebration going on now. So looking forward to that. Yeah, that's gonna be great. Uh I I love Patrick Warburton uh as our flight attendant. That's the best. And the fact that he reprised his role, and is I'm looking, I can't wait to see it. Um and of course, everyone's uh one that I love to hate is Journey of Water inspired by Milana. It is, yeah, it is. You want to talk about Living with the Land?
Living With The Land Cult Status
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, I definitely want to talk about Living with the Land. Like I just uh so for any people who really haven't been to Disney yet, um Living with the Land has a cult-like following. Um it is just one of those rides that is cutting, it's it's just crazy. It's no, there's it's not cutting edge. It's casual guests barely remember it. But if you have joined the cult and you're in the fan club, it this this ride represents classic Epcot. Old Epcot fans miss when the park was weird and educational and experimental. Living with the land still kind of gives you that original version. But the ride itself, super comforting. It's air conditioned. Uh that's a slow-moving boat. There's peaceful music, there's plants and water sounds. It's basically Disney meditation. And it feels authentic. The greenhouses are real, the science is real, the food production is real, the park increasingly built around IP, that authenticity stands out. It's just really great. And it's unintentionally hilarious. Uh Disney fans quote lines from the narration, like their movie dialogue. It's almost like Rocky Horror Picture Show in there, if you get the right crowd. Um giant pumpkins, the tilapia tanks, the Mickey shaped produce, all of it became meme material online. If you type in the uh Living with the Land, you're gonna get some great reels from people. Um it's replayable. The crops are always displaying because it's real crops, it's real sustainable. Um so you you can rewrite it different times of the year and you're gonna get a different experience. Um I think part of it is, you know, we talk about this a lot is the internet and the viral culture and what makes people um keep going back to things and why things become popular. Like the purple wall was really popular for a long time. Um and I think it's YouTube and TikToks and Reddit threads and everything like that. But it is, it's that same kind of energy that um people love the people mover or um Tomorrowland Transit. It's just great. I uh I I love Living with the Land, but I'm definitely not the same um kind of passion for it. I'm usually just waiting to get the drinks over in the World Showcase.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so speaking about the World Showcase, thanks for explaining the Living with the Land. For those that don't know it, it is in the uh the land pavilion. Um and all of the food that Pete's talking about, you actually have the opportunity to eat um while you're there in the park. So a lot of the stuff that's grown there, you actually are gonna have a chance to partake in. So it's kind of a neat, it's kind of a full circle moment there. Um yeah, this part of the park is more or less uh World of Nature is where Epcot politely asks you to care about the planet and then lets toddlers control water like they're dummy bats. Love the land and sea. Okay. Uh it just doesn't uh the yeah, that uh Trinity of Water is I mean, you will when you and I went through it back in January, it was cold for one. And then we just look two like creepy old men walking through with a bunch of like toddlers trying to control the water. But anyway, that's neither
World Showcase Basics And Missing Countries
SPEAKER_01here nor there. Let's get to our favorite part of the park. Um, of course, Pete just mentioned it's a world showcase. Uh this is a far a part of eleven countries, eleven pavilions surrounding the lagoon. Uh, cultural, food, entertainment, architecture. Um, this is what most adults think about when they think about Epcot. Um and the countries, I'm gonna name them off here, didn't I have all 11 here um written down just so I don't forget them? Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, uh, Italy, America, Japan, Morocco, France, United Kingdom, and Canada. Those are 11.
SPEAKER_02Did you know, Jamie, that Disney planned for countries originally, um to additional countries that never came off the ground when they were planning? I didn't know it. Do you know who they are? Yeah, they had Israel, Equatorial Africa, Spain, Venezuela, and the Soviet Union pavilion concepts during the Cold War. Huh. And still Russia is still not part of it. Still not part of it.
SPEAKER_00And I don't think they're gonna be. I don't know if something tells me they're not gonna be.
SPEAKER_02There, yeah, as you can imagine, there were some political issues that stopped um those countries from being there and then funding. Gotcha.
SPEAKER_01Um I think uh you know, World Showcase certainly transforms at nighttime. It it becomes um it's a cultural experience during the day, then turns into like the world's cleanest bar crawl in the evening. Like it's uh it's yeah. But um just be so we understand, um Pete and I are gonna get a lot more into this in part two of this episode. Uh, we decided to break it up in part one and part two because Upcot is so huge and there's so many things to talk about. I know you all want to talk about drinking around the world, you all want to listen to that and talk what listen to what our Pete and I, our favorites are, but we're gonna get into that in episode two or part two of this discussion.
SPEAKER_02So this is gonna be our PG-13 version, and then next week will be our PG-21 version.
SPEAKER_01Okay, there you yeah, there
Why Newbies Get Lost Here
SPEAKER_01you go. Um I know we talked about this a little bit earlier. People kind of struggle with this park. Like newbies struggle with this park because they really don't know, other than the world showcase, like we and I talked about, they really don't know where to go, what to do, what it's about. Um they break it down. I mean, other parks break it down. Magic Kingdom is fantasy, Hollywood Studios is is movies, Animal Kingdom is of course adventure, which we talked about last week. And Epcot is like science rides, world travel festivals, roller coasters, uh food booths, um, yeah, all those things all together, kind of mash together.
SPEAKER_02It does feel like there's three separate parks connected by 30,000 steps in no shade.
SPEAKER_01Oh, there's plenty of shame, especially in the world showcase. There's plenty of shame. Um the ranking criteria for this one is more or less there's rewritability with all the different rides there, of course. And the fun part is they keep changing them, right? So for a long time, Guardians of the Galaxy didn't exist. All right. Uh and then uh Test Track was there, but it was a different version of Test Track. Um, there's so much immersion
Lightning Lane Value And Long Walks
SPEAKER_01in that. Uh there's there's certainly some family appeal. Um, I I think uh I think this one is worth a lightning lane purchase. What do you think when you're when you're purchasing multi-pass lightning lanes? Would you recommend most people purchase that for Epcot?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, because there's so few rides that all of those rides that are there are tend to be very um long lines. So if you're gonna pick one, and they the lightning lanes usually tend to be the cheaper in Epcot too. Um so when we go, you can wait in lines, and if you plan it right, you know, Jamie always has some great uh strategy for getting into those rides, but if you plan it right, you don't need to pay anything. But if you want to pay something, then you get those lightning lanes. I think it's a good choice to get them for this park because you're not you're gonna have time to get them all if you do the lightning lanes. For me, this upcoming trip, um, because there's only two of us that are gonna go to Epcot, we're gonna think about doing the premiere pass, so we can just go to any of them we want. Because the problem I see with Epcot is everything is so far away from each other. So you want to do Guardians, and then so far away from Ratatouille, and then you're backtracking to get to Mission Space if you want to do that one. Don't recommend it. And then you know, you want to go drink of the world, and you know, you've you've covered a quarter mile, but you've walked four. So yeah.
Best Entrances And Skyliner Tricks
SPEAKER_01So what is your favorite way to get into this park? Like what's your preferred way to get in?
SPEAKER_02Uh, you know, I mean that for me, I the world showcase is is Apcot for me. I love it.
SPEAKER_01I mean that's that's I mean that's that's the obvious answer, right?
SPEAKER_02I'm a Skyliner guy coming into France, but based on experiences and whatnot, and we'll talk about this next week, Mexico versus Canada, um coming through the front and then hitting the showcase from the Mexico-Canada area is is historically what I've always done. But the Skyliner into France is mint. And if you here's another little tip. If you uh take the Skyliner to um Epcot and you want to go check out the boardwalk after and get some cake um at the bakery, the cakery, um, it's only a short walk right from that back entrance to France there.
SPEAKER_01I think people that really that stay at those resorts there, the the boardwalk, uh beach club, a yacht club, I mean, they go back time and time and time again. It's it's probably one of the most popular resorts for the Epcot slash Hollywood Studios area. Um I when I first got married, uh we I went we went to Disney and it wasn't for a honeymoon or anything. We just had some time, and we went, I'm like, I know Disney really well, I'll take I'll take you there. I ended up ruining it for her because uh we we we did the forced March of Happiness, four parks in three days, and she didn't get to do anything she wanted to do. Anyway, uh we went we stayed at Beach Club, and because of that, we got to hit all those different places there. Um uh yeah, I mean I'm gonna totally agree with you. Uh you could take the bus or you can take the sky liner, right? That's that's the best way to get into Epcot right to the world showcase in the back. And if you're making uh beat feet for Remies, that's the best way to do it. And then backtrack and head to uh Frozen over in Norway. Anyway, um all right, here's what everybody wants to hear.
Worst Picks Mission Space And Figment
SPEAKER_01This is our token theme, the worst of the best. All right, what are we doing here? Okay. Here's our attractions. Number one on the on the worst, Pete, what is it?
SPEAKER_02Oh, see, I think we're gonna have some some arguments here. On the attractions. Are we gonna get some hate mail?
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah. I would like any type of mail, by the way, for you people out there listening. If you could just email the worst beyond the magic at gmail.com, let us know that you're listening. Let us know what you want to hear. If you don't like what we're saying, let us know. It's okay. We don't have to agree with you. It's all right. Just some side of email is good to go.
SPEAKER_02I know we had some conversation about this. I'm gonna go with the first one that is the the the clear loser in my book, the absolute worst is for me, it's mission space. I've never been on mission space ever. And and you're not missing anything, and I'm gonna tell you because you get motion sickness, you are 100% gonna spend the next two hours after that trying to recoup and get yourself back to zero. Because it is, it feels like a panic attack and a washing machine. It is, you know, like I mean, I I used to want to be an astronaut. I watched space camp and now I'm like, shoot, man, I'm not cut out for that.
SPEAKER_01Can't do it. Yeah, I know. No, I that's exactly the reason why I don't do it because I do have motion sickness. And I don't want to throw up with like four other strangers in a little tatty egg-shaped thing, you know. Like, I don't want to do that. I don't want to to live that uh first thing in the morning and then uh smell like vomit the rest of the day and then try and recover and get on Guardians later on. But um, so yeah, number one for you, Mission Space, right? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Number two, number two, I'm gonna I'm gonna throw this out there. And and I'm sad about it. I really, really am. But it's it's old Epcot energy, it is um nostalgia that just is hanging on too tight. It's like uh, you know, a third-class clinger. I I just can't but Figment, journey into imagination with Figment for me. Like just I loved it when I was a kid. It brought me so much joy, that little dragon, but now it's like I'm sorry, bro.
SPEAKER_01It's time to go, dude. I'm sorry. Um it's 2026, it was cool back in the 90s. I I never understood why he even existed, to be honest. Like I I under I know now, right, as an adult. I've looked it up about dumb research. I understand why Figment exists. He's never been in his own movie, by the way, he's never been part of Disney Animation whatsoever. Um, but I I know why he exists for Epcot. I think that could be turned into something a lot better, but still keep the the the Figment um character experience right there. I think that's fine. Um, but I I just don't think you need to take up that whole space part of the park and a big opportunity for Disney to sh to to showcase imagination.
SPEAKER_02I mean they have imagineers, that's what they do. They imagine up all these great things, but I think they need to retire Figment for something different.
SPEAKER_01And for some reason, Disney adults defend Figment like he fought in the Vietnam War, like he's forced out with something. They're like Swifty. Yeah. I don't get it, man. I don't know. I don't get it. Maybe let's hear from the people out there. Maybe they can email us and let us know what they think. Yeah.
The Mid Tier Comfort Ride Debate
SPEAKER_01All right, the next, the mid. What do you think are mid? Uh these should work, but they do. Uh so going from uh worst to best, or we named our first two, um, is and I'm gonna again, these are all the hot takes, people are gonna hate us. Spaceship Earth is on that list, Living with the Land is on that list, the seas with Nemo and Friends, Grand Fiesta Tour, three caballeros.
SPEAKER_02That's a veto for me. Grand Fiesta is one of the best ones in the park.
SPEAKER_01It's it's yeah, yeah, especially when you got meat. I mean, what's especially if you want if you go to La Cava del Tequila first, and then you go there first, and then you want to go see a bunch of ducks with no pants on.
SPEAKER_02I'm saying riding that boat, looking at all the bougie people eating tacos, like I love it.
SPEAKER_01And then of course, everyone loves the hate we mentioned earlier, journey into the water, uh Journey of Water by inspired by Moana. These are go ahead. You know what's cool about spaceship Earth?
SPEAKER_02So, I mean, not much.
SPEAKER_00I mean, you know, people love it too, but you set that one up, you're like, and then it sucks. Never mind.
SPEAKER_02But um rainwater is funneled through those tiles and through the golf ball away from the park and into a lagoon elsewhere, so like the rain's not coming off the ball and onto people walking by. You know, ever notice it's raining, you're going by, it's not flooding you as you're going by, like coming off your roof.
SPEAKER_01I've never noticed that, and you're a super giant nerd for knowing that. I've I've never paid attention. Never paid attention. Usually I'm going right past the golf ball and I'm gonna go at my first beer or my first like.
SPEAKER_02I'd be a nerd if I knew all those names of people that go say hi to the Phoenicians or something. I don't even know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, yeah, I mean you have to say hi to them, right? I mean, thank thankful for them today, right? So the whole point behind Spaceship Earth is they're explaining to you the different cultures and the different uh time periods in in in the world that have led to our innovations of today. That's the whole point. There's some edgertainment there in Spaceship Earth, is basically what they're trying to do there. I get it. Again, needs an upgrade for sure. Yeah, and uh um Figment, we're just gonna X that one off the list and start over, give you something new. Um these rides, I think, are experiences that sound boring on paper, but somehow they define Epcot because they've been there forever. You can't find Epcot without thinking about, of course, um Spaceship Earth or Living with the Land or the C's. The C's is okay. I mean, uh it's a walk on. Don't waste your lightning lane on that one. Uh don't ever waste your Lightning Lane on that one. Worry about test track, worry about Frozen. Um just walk right on to the seas. I promise you it is going to be a walk-on less than 10-minute wait. I mean, not even 10-minute wait. It is a huge aquarium, though. Oh, it's beautiful. Like if you have time to spare, yeah, go in there and look at all the fish, look at all the different all and look, watch the divers feed the fish and interact with all the different species that are in there. That's really cool. Um the ride itself, uh the Nemo ride is what I'm talking about. And it's not yeah, that's not it's not worth a Langley at all.
SPEAKER_02Um if you're if you're if you're needing a relaxing boat ride, go on the TED Talk that is Living with the Land.
SPEAKER_01Learn how to grow hydroponic uh lettuce. Nope. Nope. PG 13. We're not growing any hydroponic anything. Oh my god, Pete. I wasn't even thinking about that. Oh, okay. Um I mean these are all all those ones I just mentioned. It's they're great. If you're going in the surface of the sun time, like right now in June, July, May, like if August, God help you. Um all those different ones that we just mentioned have great AC. Um, they're like Disney adult comfort rides because they've been there forever, right? They we remember them from our childhood. There's hidden details, there's a nostalgia factor there. Um Epcot needs these rides just to keep the the 40-something-year-olds keeping on coming back, if not for the world showcase.
SPEAKER_02You know what's funny is what I think changed while we get in well, I'll save well, we'll we'll segue into the best with this, but what I think got Epcot into this best section and what got Epcot away from the old edu
Festivals That Changed Everything
SPEAKER_02what's your phrase? Uh EduMication? What do you think? Oh, edu edutainment. What it got away from edutainment was the festivals. Uh, I think the food and wine festival really changed the the landscape for Epcot.
SPEAKER_01No, I think it and I I I don't know what it all is offhand, but it there's there's a very small window of throughout the whole year where there isn't a festival. But the festivals that they do offer are uh Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, uh the Flower and Garden Festival, the Festival of the Arts, uh, Festival of the Holidays with Candlelight Processional, which is, I mean, Chef's Kiss, like the uh, or to quote my sister, hand over the crown. Like that's something you gotta see uh in wintertime in the holiday season for sure. Um you know, uh we go in January, and what uh together we go in January for travel missions retreat. What is what festival is going on then, Pete? Well, it is the Festival of the Arts. Or as we like to call them as mature adults, farts.
SPEAKER_02We literally literally schedule our annual trip around something called farts.
SPEAKER_01This is why we're the worst, Jamie. I know it's people come and listen to us. I'm not sure why. We're up to 40 listeners, by the way, so thank you for oh, 43, I'm sorry. 43 listeners. So thank you all for tuning in each week. Um and of course, uh Candle Life Proceptional, nothing says Christmas, like celebrity narrators reading scripture 20 feet away from a margarita stand at Thanksgiving. It's like that's that's like you know, that's
Best Rides Guardians Row Nine Tips
SPEAKER_01what it is. That's what it is. All right, so here we are finally uh to the uh the best thing at Epcot. The best here's our best, our best rankings. You want to take it away, Pete?
SPEAKER_02No, I'm gonna want you to take the first one because it's oh well here, I'll take Test Track. Test Rack, I like. Um they've had some improvements. Um it's definitely worth it. It's you get the blood flowing, it's exciting.
SPEAKER_01Uh we were in line back in January to do that, and then what happened? Oh, I don't remember. What happened? It broke down, and they're like Like it's you it could you could uh stay in line or you could go and get and get uh lightning lane, we'll give you lightning lane and come back. We never made it back. Because why? Where did we go?
SPEAKER_02We probably went to go drink.
SPEAKER_01We went to the world showcase and we never made it back to that part of the party. Exactly. It's like you in Mexico. Yeah, I know. Well, I'm saying listen, don't do it, folks. Don't do it, don't start there. But that's that's next week's episode, so we're gonna get there. Don't worry.
SPEAKER_02Test track has some had some improvements. I haven't seen the new improvements yet, but it is definitely worth the visit.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Uh so best ride overall.
SPEAKER_02What do you got? What do you think? You think uh so my best is different than your best. I'm gonna go with my best. My best at Epcot is Soren.
SPEAKER_01Soren. Okay, so Soren across America, Soren across America.
SPEAKER_02Well, we're Soren across the world or around the world. But I am uh, like we mentioned earlier, um, I'm very excited to see uh the America 250 celebration, and so we'll see where it takes us. I'm hoping that uh we get that same bison manure smell that we get uh from uh yeah so I'm really looking forward to how Disney displays America in this one, and it is really one of my favorites. And when Cuddy um from Seinfeld gives us the uh you know the safety brief, I'm just you know, all kinds of nostalgic.
SPEAKER_01Cuddy is sign that's see your show and your age. He's he's the he's the tick to me. I remember him as the tick.
SPEAKER_02Oh, the tick of that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. I know I think I think he's great. I'm so happy he reprised his role for that one. I'm looking forward to seeing what they did for that as well. Uh it's I mean, it's no secret, folks. The best ride at Epcot, and we're just really close to at Walt Disney World in is Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Break. I'm sorry, Guardians of the Galaxy, uh Cosmic Rewind. Um the five different songs that they play, God help me if I can remember them all, but my favorite is September, uh, quickly followed by um Gloria Estefan Conga. Like those are my my two favorites. Like it's and uh which row, do you remember which row are we always standing in to go on that row? Row nine. Row nine. Row nine. Ask folks, ask for row nine. Why do we ask for row nine, Pete? What happens?
SPEAKER_02Because you can hear Duran Duran the best from that one. No, it's not.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Well, God, you're so behind. You're so behind. Uh no, because you actually, well, you you start off going forward and you do a full 360 spin in car nine when you go backwards. Um it's it's trust me, it's the best. And actually, there is a little tiny when you get up to the queue, you didn't get up to the almost right where they seat you, ask for row nine, and they will put you off to the side and get wait for the next set of cars to come through if you're not already in row nine. So remember, just folk, just ask just ask for row nine. I promise.
SPEAKER_02My favorite travel agent, Mr. Jamie himself, he's the one that introduced me into that one, and it was definitely worth it. It was right.
SPEAKER_01That's where you can hear Duran Duran the best. Get out of here. Get out, you get you get out of here. Lock it up. You better lock it up.
SPEAKER_02All right. So, I mean, while I disagree that it's the best roller coaster and the best at Epcot, like I appreciate your opinion and I appreciate that it's wrong. Uh let's talk about the last two of the best. Um, right there in the middle of the pack of the best. Um I'm gonna take Remy's. Um Remy's when we first started it, fantastic. Like, I loved it. It was 3D and uh I loved it. But I I did, I got some of that old man motion sickness, but it wasn't too bad. I just a little bit of it. Um but since I've gotten rid of the 3D, I don't get the motion sickness anymore. Um I think it loses a little bit. I really did enjoy the 3D, but it is kind of chaos and mayhem running underneath the um stoves and whatnot on that ride.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's the best part of the ride.
SPEAKER_02I mean the immersion of it and feeling like you're uh ratatouille under there, it's it's uh pretty pretty rad.
SPEAKER_01No, I like you. I'm I'm glad they got rid of the 3D 100% because that didn't make me feel good at all. Um I've I I I did really I do really like that where you walk or you drive under the stoves and the flame goes over top, and I'm like, ooh, fire, that's pretty. And it feels it feels good. That's the firefighter talking right there. Well, yeah, it's yeah, I like it. I'm sorry, call me crazy. Um yeah, it's uh it I think getting rid of the 3D and getting rid of the glasses altogether, you can see all those details that you were kind of that you was lacking before you, but you really didn't see. Not so much in where you went into the room and they had the 3D screenplay in front of you, but on your way to the rooms. So such as like the oven scene where we're talking about, but you um there's so much more to that ride that you can now witness and now see without those glasses on that you can pay attention to that you couldn't before. You want to take the next one? Go ahead.
SPEAKER_02Alright, the last one. And um we've done this one quite a few times. Um I don't know. It just barely made it into the best for me. And I love Frozen, my daughter loves Frozen, the animation and the animatronics are really great, but Frozen Ever After, um, I missed Maelstrom. I missed the Norway ride.
SPEAKER_01The whole point, right? No, no, no. Disney ruined that with Norway, uh or with uh with Frozen. Um I remember Maelstrom ride as well, it was good. And again, it it had that that whole purpose of of Epcot, where it gave you that entertainment, um, that little educational uh experience as long as some entertainment as well. So the whole the whole uh history of Norway itself in a ride. But I'm think I have little girls and I'm thankful for um Frozen as well. I'm glad that they changed it. I'm glad that they um updated the animatronics, excuse me, to uh don't have like weird like screen-on faces anymore. They actually have real animatronics now, and so they all move appropriately versus before their their face was just kind of a like like a projection screen on their face. It was weird. Um but yeah, I I think it's it's most definitely worth a lightning lane. And the strategy behind this one again, um I think it's gonna be going straight to Remy's right away if you're gonna rope drop it, and then be having your first Lightning Lane being frozen. I think that's that's where they're or vice versa. If you want to do Lightning Lane, it should be frozen first. I'm sorry, it should be Remy's first and work your way backwards to Norway and go that way.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I would agree. I mean, especially if you're trying not to walk four miles in a quarter mile span. If you're taking the Skyliner into France, Rat Tattoo is right there. It's a short walk to Norway, you can hit that, and then you can head over to Living with the Land or any of those um other ones depending on your kids. If you wanted to check out uh Journey of Water by Moana, um there you got it. Again, I want to remind everyone we're gonna talk about the um countries and the drinking and the food and the festivals more next week. Um make sure you're tuning in for that because we got some definitely got some good highlights for you on those
Favorite Pavilions And Nighttime Must Dos
SPEAKER_02funds.
SPEAKER_01All right, so what's your best festival? What do you think?
SPEAKER_02Uh food and wine for me, uh, without a doubt. I love the arts. I'm a huge fan of art. I love walking around and seeing the arts, but um, you know, the the nostalgia for um food and wine, and then that you know, I'm a fat kid at heart, so um, give me all the foot grubs. And not to not to sleep on the food at food at the arts festival, it's really good. Um flowers are really good too, the flower festival. I I I like it. It's spring, um, so you're starting to get warm, but for me it's food and wine. How about you?
SPEAKER_01I mean, I set that up for you and you totally blew it. I I mean I wanted you to say the word farts again, and you didn't you didn't say the word farts. No, I'm gonna say it. Farts.
SPEAKER_02I want to I saved it for you, man.
SPEAKER_01You came up with it. I'm saving it for you. Farts is the best one. It's the best one. It's when we go together. It's it's the best way. Old farts at farts. Yes.
SPEAKER_02We're getting the t-shirt, friends.
SPEAKER_01Definitely. I like I like that uh that festival. That it's my favorite. It's because again, it's when you and I go together, and it's when Travel Missions Retreat is, and it I just I love it. I love it to see. And the what's really cool about that festival is I mean, the food is fantastic for one. Um looking at all the sidewalk art. Like the the art, and hopefully it doesn't rain at all during that time, because then all that airwork is washed away in seconds after it takes days to do. But what take your time, stroll along, enjoy the beer that you're drinking, and uh enjoy the artwork that's around, and especially the sidewalk art. The the artists that sit there in in the sun all day and uh draw those, it's they're unbelievably beautiful. And uh and there's they're from every type of Disney movie you can think of, is it's out there. So it's it's something to see for sure. Do you like um do you have a favorite pavilion? Not to get into next week a little bit, but do you have a favorite pavilion?
SPEAKER_02I will. Um I do. Um I love I'm a traveler, and we're travel agents, by the way. You know, reach out to us at Beyond the Magic if you want to uh uh book some travel or hear about travel with us. But I mean, because of that, I love all of the pavilions. But um recently having been to Morocco and knowing that Morocco paid for um and helped design the Morocco Pavilion adds to the authenticity, and then also Morocco for me is a nice uh waypoint along the route to kind of uh recollect my senses, and uh it was a good spot that we've talked about before where you can kind of relax and get some shade. Um and so for me, Morocco is it. How about you?
SPEAKER_01I like the Japan pavilion. Uh it's it's beautiful, it's just it's stunningly beautiful. Take your time and walk through that and go up there, and then people are just in a hurry to get to the next country and to go to the next par. But it's uh take your time and walk through that, enjoy it and see the beautiful trees, the water landscapes, uh the buildings that are there.
SPEAKER_02Uh you know when that's my favorite is the n is at night. It's beautiful at night. And if you stand underneath the there's probably a name for that Japanese arch, but if you stand there and you you see the you know the globe uh or the golf ball right in between it, it's uh it's great for photos. Um what's your best nighttime experience there? Oh uh that you can remember. Candlelight.
SPEAKER_01Listen, uh Mexico folks, don't do it. Um I think it's can't the candlelight processional. Um you have to go to it. You have to go to it. Uh I I'm not I mean I grew up pretty religious and uh and I'm not as much anymore as an adult, but uh that still sticks with me. And it's it's cool to see the different um narrators that come through. Um I don't I have a particular favorite narrator. I I know um uh I I can't think of his name right now. Uh Doogie Hauser. People are screaming at us on the outside of the radio right now. Yeah, I I think I think they come with the. How could I forget? Barney It's Doogie Hauser, man. That's who that is. You're showing your age. Yeah, I know, I know, I know. Um yeah, I I think I I think it's a a great experience itself. I mean I similar to the Phantasmic we talked about in our back in Hollywood Studios, Disney does offer a specialty dining package for this one. So uh you pick out the restaurant that qualifies under the dining package for this one, uh, or the the the sectional seating for this one. So you go to dinner in the beginning, and then because you chose that particular restaurant for that particular package, you're gonna be seated right up front next to Neil Patrick Harris or whatever other celebrity narrator they have for the day. So you get first dibs at your seats because you chose to do that that dining package, which I think is uh most uh it's definitely a must must do for sure. All right, Pete. So next week, uh we are completely uh completely abandon educational themes and attempt to drink around the world. Are you gonna you're ready with this? Yes. This is my moment. Anything else that we could talk about as far as Epcot goes? Did we miss anything at all? Did we hit it all?
SPEAKER_02No, I mean I uh classic Eps Epcot um it to today has taken
Club Cool Beverly And Final Plugs
SPEAKER_02a great, great leap. You know, I I did want to bring up um Cool Club real quick. Oh yeah. Uh Cool Club Cool. Cool Cool. You can get you can get your um Club Cool, you can get your free soda. Um and this is another one of those that has a viralness or viral trend to it. Do you know do you know why it's so popular?
SPEAKER_01It's probably the nasty stuff from Italy.
SPEAKER_02That's exactly right. The nasty soda. Bring your friends to drink nasty soda at Club Cool called uh Beverly. And it's supposed to be some kind of palate cleanser, and it is just bitter and awful, and I get my daughter to drink it every time, and it's great.
SPEAKER_01That's classic dad joke right there. Classic dad. No, it really has them. That's good. You should try this.
SPEAKER_02I want to throw in another plug. You know, we're not we're uh DVC members and whatnot. They do have a very great DVC lounge there too, and it's got air conditioning, you can also get. They have those really cool soda machines where you pick the soda that you want, and um and it's uh for free. Well, it's not for free because you're paying those big DVC membership prices. But if you're a DVC member, make sure you check out that lounge.
SPEAKER_01No, I think yeah, it's it's right there where you meet Joy, where you meet Figment. It's right across the little pavilion there for sure. Um that's another of my favorite part is meeting uh from of uh a world of motion or uh joy and figment or not Figment, Joy Um and Sadness. I know um they're all they're hanging out there as well. I I like to say hi to them. Um again, uh we can't wait to talk about next week. Uh so how can people get a hold of us, Pete? Talk to about talk to me about it. Well, I am Peter Max, if you want to find me on Instagram or any of the socials, P-E-T-R-I-E-M-A-X, and you are I am at five on the fly, at number five underscore on the underscore fly on Instagram, all the socials as well. And of course, reach out to us on our email address, uh the worst beyond the magic at gmail.com.
SPEAKER_02And I think that'll tell you, we we we we're definitely trying to make this one shorter than the last 50-minute episode. So if you've made it this far, thank you very much. And please, we would love to know if anybody's listening, so give us a send us an email at the one that Jamie just uh listed.
SPEAKER_01Hop on to Apple Podcasts, pretend we're the best super drivers you ever had, and lead us five stars. It lets Apple Podcasts know that we're doing well and exposes our podcast to other people out there when they're trying to discover new ones. So thanks very much. I'm Jamie McMahon, my co host. Pete Morrison. Pete, you're the worst. Jamie, you're the worst. This has been the worst beyond the magic.