5. Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros – Mexico

Be you a lover of Mexico, gentle rides or of The Three Caballeros, you will have a beautiful time with this one of a kind look at the attractions of Mexico.  You are welcomed in the queue by posters advertising the Three Caballeros performance in a concert later in the evening before you board your boat to wind you through the rivers of Mexico.  You first drift around a stunning Mayan pyramid as the realistic night sky twinkles above your head. Soon after you are introduced to the Three Caballeros minus one; Donald is missing and you must help Panchito and Jose search for him all across Mexico. Young and old members of your group will have fun spotting donald in all the various locations around Mexico, from cliff diving, to dancing with a Mariachi band. The gorgeous finale will awe-inspire the young ones in your group while your boat floats through Mexico City with a shower of fireworks exploding overhead. This ride is a fun, lighthearted tour that will educate and entertain your family about all the beauty of Mexico.

4. Test Track

This ride will be more suited for the thrill seekers and older members of your party. This newly reopened and redesigned ride is presented by Chevrolet and is guaranteed to have you gripping your seat in anticipation! The new interactive queue offers you the chance to make your very own virtual test car that will be put through the paces of a test run against the vehicle you are about to board for a test run of your very own. You will experience suspension tests, anti-lock brake check, and environmental check (just to name a few) before the final barrier test. You will be grabbing your seat as your speed accelerates toward the solid wall ahead. There are FastPasses avaliable for this attraction, and they are highly recommended (though by using the FastPasses system, you will bypass a majority of the interactive queue line). Also keep in mind that no matter how brave your little ones are, you must be 40 inches or taller to ride this ride.

3. Mission: Space

It is the year 2035, you are a trainee at the International Space Training Center (ISTC), about to begin your first stage of flight training for the first manned mission to Mars aboard the X-2 Deep Space Shuttle. You are separated into groups of four and given a job: Navigator, Pilot, Commander or Engineer (don’t worry, they tell you exactly what you need to do). This motion simulator will put you in birds eye position for what it feels like to be aboard a spacecraft and you can have it as intense as you wish it to be. The Orange Team and the Green Team both offer the same training exercise, but with one key difference. The cadets opting for the Orange Team training will experience sustained g-forces, just as the astronauts would feel themselves. The Green Team will have just as thrilling of an experience without the intensity of g-forces. It is recommended that those in bad health or prone to motion sickness use the Green Team training option. Once you have completed your training, head to the Mission: Space Advanced Training Lab where you have a multitude of interactive games for you to continue your space exploration.

2. Soarin’

Who would have thought you could get a taste of California all the way from Florida? Well, when you ride Soarin’ you have just that opportunity with this flight simulator. A larger than life screen and “magical” lift system will have you hang gliding over the most beautiful scenery that the Sunshine State has to offer, including a special glimpse of Disneyland during the fireworks. Scents piped into the room offers a refreshingly new way to experience a simulator. You will be amazed by the beauty and thrill this ride offers members of all ages! There are FastPasses avaliable for this attraction, and it is recommended that you get them! The wait times for this ride can be very daunting if you do not have FastPasses.

1. Spaceship Earth

Located within the 18-story geodesic sphere that is the iconic image of Epcot, this 15 minute dark ride will take you on a journey through time with communication. From a glimpse at the first cave drawing, all the way to an interactive view of your possible future, you will see the advances of civilization as it relates to the advance of communication, all narrated by the beautiful Dame Judi Dench. This ride is omnimover style, offering a smooth loading and unloading process. Don’t forget to smile for the camera at the beginning of your journey through time, it will be needed to the finale of the ride.

By hitting these five, you will get a little bit of everything Epcot has to offer in rides and hit the most popular attractions as well, that everyone has to try at least once! But there is still one more ride that I have to include in my overview of Epcot. This is not a “must do”, but (being one of my favorite rides) is still one I recommend highly, especially due to the incredibly short queue times. The Journey into Imagination with Figment is an open house tour of the Imagination Institute with Dr. Nigel Channing (Eric Idle) and his “figment of imagination”, a purple dragon with a knack for creativity. You journey through three of the five senses, learning how “your mind sees more than what your eyes see” with imagination. Afterward in the ImageWorks lab, you have a multitude of interactive, musical games featuring Figment, himself! This ride is overlooked by most, but is one of my favorite rides in all of Walt Disney World, simply due to the beauty of the idea and its presentation.

Epcot has many other rides to both excite and educate you and your entire family! These are my suggestions, but you can’t go wrong with any Disney ride, really!