Walkabout The World - A Disney Podcast - "Diet" Epcot with Host Ivonne

Episode Date: June 22, 2025

Hello travelers! This week enjoy an extended walk and talk episode welcoming Ivonne to the crew as she and Producer Josh take us on a tour of a fairly busy “Diet Epcot”. Enjoy ambiance in the Living Seas, a walk around a festival-free world showcase with live music and stops in a few pavilions, some reminiscing of old Epcot, and cap it off with Spaceship Earth. As always, remember to use good listening devices as we record in 4 channel surround sound! We hope you enjoy the episode and thank you for following along!   If you like what we do, consider joining our crew on Patreon. These wonderful people help us keep the microphones crisp and the servers warm at night.   Visit us a walkabouttheworld.com - find links to all the things - attraction episodes, Insta accounts of all the hosts, and even how to buy your own Walkabout shirt!   Look us up at @WalkaboutWDW on Instagram and drop us a note to say hi.   You can now also drop us at line at [e-mail]. Say hi, tell us how you found us, and give us some suggestions on things you'd love to hear. Please consider giving us a rating and review wherever you listen - it really helps.   Walkabout The World is a weekly Disney podcast, always recorded on property at Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort with the simple goal of making you feel like you are in the middle of the magic.

Hello, travelers. Welcome back to Walk About the World. You why are we here? For that answer, I'm gonna turn over the mic. Because this is your first very official first episode. Yes, it is. So I would like to welcome to the crew, officially. This is Yvonne, also known as... Some people know me as SirRoseNaked from my illustrious Twitter career and now I'm mostly just on Instagram and Blue Sky. And somehow she ended up with us. And we're grateful. So here we are at Epcot. Why are we here? We are here because

this is my favorite time of the year at Epcot. It's not the holidays, it's not Halloween. It's Diet Epcot, Liminal Epcot, also known as Epcot when there is no festival. Which sounds like it's not fun, but it's actually surprisingly great here. Old school Epcot. Exactly. Epcot, before they figured out they could just run festivals most of the year and make all their money on alcohol and food.

So the good old days. Good old days indeed. So one of the first things you'll notice when you enter Diet Epcot. Yes. Is the lack of topiaries. Yes. The lack of anything really. It's just very naked. Which you know depending on how you feel about that would be nice. Like for me, sometimes like I like taking pictures. So it's nice to be able to take pictures during this time of year that normally you can't take because there's a bunch of people crowded or obstructed by a topiary or like displays. So like I said, depends how you feel about that. Well, being that this is your inaugural episode, I'm going to hand the mic over to

you and let you do all the talking. Okay, this is this is all inaugural episode, I'm gonna hand the mic over to you and let you do all the talking. This is all about why we're here for you and Diet EPCOT and how you see Diet EPCOT. So let's walk around EPCOT. Okay, let's go. Yeah I was here not long ago with a friend and we got here like around five-ish and we did the land, space of earth, impressions, soaring. That is Diodepta. Exactly, that's the best part of Diodepta. One rule we have, you have to take in the water features. Oh of course, yes.

They're going extinct. They're an endangered species here at Disney. Rushing water. And I do love a water feature. I was here the day that this debuted. And it's been fun watching the fountain turn from a lovely white color to this nice rusty color now, I have to say. Now my other favorite part about Spaceship Earth of course, but if anybody follows me on Twitter or Instagram you know I always take a picture here at the infamous Spaceship Earth mirror and if you are as hardcore about it as I am you actually bring wipes with you because you know little kids have sticky little hands and they like,

there's lots of it on the mirror right now and it's not great. I was doing opposite side and inside. I'm going to have to do that one time. My other favorite part about coming under here is occasionally at night, you will actually see people go out of these doors going in here where the secret elevator is where they say do doors going in here where the secret elevator is where they say do not stand in front of the door I stand by the door because I live dangerously at Epcot but yeah I always have a lot of fun doing that oh here we're taking a picture

and it's not me doing it this time it's very weird somebody else holding the camera Eww! See that's why you gotta clean the mirror. You gotta clean the mirror. It's funny too because I feel like I feel like when I came out of my friend the other side they really cleaned that mirror and I wonder if they were like this is our new thing. People are taking pictures here we got to make sure it looks nice. Actually this looks okay. Take two. Yeah let's try again. Take two. Yeah, let's try again.

Is that one better? Can you see our faces? You can't see my nose, but other than that, we're good. So I will say, you know, this is Diet Epcot on a Friday, so it's a little bit more, you know, it's busier than when I was here. Because when I was here with my friend it was Wednesday. So very dead. But you know, diet up fat on a Friday is still slow, but you know, you have the locals that come out after work and such. Even on a day like this where it is very cloudy and we were worried that we were not even going to be able to do this because it was rainy.

But the advantage is it's also very cool outside right now. It is nice actually. Yeah, I wouldn't usually come to any of the parks during the middle of the day when it's hotter than the surface of the sun. But it cooled off. It did, yeah. And the rain has held off so far. Yes, we're crossing our fingers.

I have an umbrella with me. So hopefully, you know, like rules dictate of the world since I have an umbrella it will not rain because we actually have it and could use it so we'll see first the... can you hear the music clumping already from here. Huh. My least favorite part of the Epcot reading, honestly, I'm just like, no. New Epcot is a party Epcot. Yeah, I guess so. I kind of missed when it was just like people drinking in a corner Epcot, but let's go this way.

You want to go this way? I want to go this way. Because I have to take a picture with a shark. You know, it's funny, I was actually thinking about that. I was like, we should go to the living seeds because if y'all don't realize the date that we're recording this, this is the 50th anniversary of Jaws when it was released. The best movie they ever made about a shark, honestly. Second best.

Nemo, I guess. Deep Lucy? I was trying to bring it back to Disney. Oh. You know, because... Okay so third. Second Nemo, third Deep Lucy. If Nemo ever has a scene where Samuel Jackson does his monologue and gets eaten by a shark,

then it'll probably be come first. Come on Pixar. Moana journey of water to our left. Great day to do it. Some of these tourists might be wet anyways from the showers already went through, so probably like, why not? I also wanted to go in here because I saw someone was saying that they've actually have water in the diving chamber, the one in the middle, so streets are saying that it might actually be in use again.

So there may be a diver. And you know granted once you get older and realize that like the divers just get in and then they walk over it's kind of quite magical, but still fun. I see the seagulls from Nemo, but they're very quiet right now uncharacteristically. Does the tide pool not do the waves anymore? I guess not like the other day when I was here too I was waiting for it to do the you know the classic splash right? I don't think it did anything. Being accosted by bubbles. Oh look, do the thing. Say the phrase.

There we go. Alright, there we go. The The I'm gonna try it. I'm gonna try it. I'm gonna try it. I'm gonna try it. I'm gonna try it. I'm gonna try it. I'm gonna try it. I'm gonna try it. I'm gonna try it.

I'm gonna try it. I'm gonna try it. I'm gonna try it. I'm gonna try it. I'm gonna try it. It's a little Thomas movie for you. Okay, okay. It's an AC. Oh gosh, I already feel it. That's the thing about Florida, like yes the sun is not out but it's still so humid. It's so stifling and you're just like, ugh. Wait, didn't to get to the AC

enter through the gift shop let's see. I wonder if the manatees are awake. Oh wait, no, they sent the manatees away, didn't they? Or are they still here? I thought they brought them back because they brought them back and its name was mermaid or something. Oh, okay. It had a chop cut out of its tail. Oh yeah, yeah. Oh, there is a little water in there. In the diver lockout chamber, so. I'm like, I'm not sure.

I don't know. I'm not sure. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don its tail. Oh yeah, yeah. Oh, there is a little water in there, in the diver lockout chamber, so. I'm like holding out hope they start doing that again, because I always love seeing it.

Yeah, they used to do it as like a little show, like a presentation. Yeah, like they would, you know, the diver would go in and then the girl would explain like, oh, they're going to the diver lockout chamber, and it like seemed like this very high-tech thing, but like I said, then you learn they just get up there and then they just walk explain like, oh they're going to the chamber, lockout chamber, and it seemed like this very high-tech thing. Like I said, then you learn they just get up there

and then you just walk over into the actual tank, and it's so funny. It's like when you're an adult, you're like, oh, hi. It's still fun. Still fun to look at. These kids don't know the thrill of riding in a hydro-laner.

That's true. Down to sea base Alpha. That's true. We just walked through the gift shop. I know. That's all they have to do now. It's so sad. In my day we had to ride a fake elevator that was had like bubbles going up making you think you were going down. That was the funny thing when I heard it was one of the engineers explaining like how they figured out like yeah we just put on like some treads like the rocks and we rolled it and then

like the amount of people that actually thought they were And I mean when I was a kid I thought that too and then when I finally figured out like so simple but so believable it was very effective Yeah, you know you have the rock wall going the bubbles and the bot like I remember the floor rumble too And it was young like when you're a kid in the light Yeah, when you're a kid you 100% thought that like So is there When you were a kid you 100% bought that. So is there an humanity here?

Actually in there? There's obviously been one because there's lots of lettuce on the water surface. I had a nice salad but I do not see one unfortunately. And I love the manatee so much. Alright, let's go find a shark. So one thing coming to the Living Cities years and years is watching gradually the amount of fish go down. And I'm not saying the shark ate them, but I'm also not saying that the shark had eaten them. So, oh see look, the manatee is resting

see they need their beauty sleep I understand I need at least you know 15 20 hours a day like a cat so I totally get it Have you ever seen Scuba Mickey in here? and it's really sweet. Have you ever seen Scuba Mickey in here? No. I have once. Really? Yeah. I've only ever seen Scuba Mickey in pictures. I saw Scuba Mickey once and it was literally during It was either 2020 or 2021. It was during the pandemic. What? Because they started bringing him out I guess just as more like entertainment for people and that was the only time I've ever seen him. And it was so cool.

Like the neon yellows wetsuit? Yeah, it's the one that you're thinking of, the one that you've seen on all the pictures and you're like, oh, I would love to see that in person. And yeah, and like imagine, that was the first time I ever saw it. And that was when I was at least 38, 39, like in all the years I've been coming to Disney, that was the first time I ever saw him and that was when I was at least 38, 39. Like in all the years I've been coming to busy that was the first time I ever saw him.

This kid loves running around the circular part of the aquarium. I can't really blame them. Technically that's a shark, right? I think so. Or is it more of a ray? Yeah, I mean it's got the fins. I mean I'm not a marine biologist. It's like a flappy ship. Yeah.

He's very sleepy he looks like. Like he kind of looks just like my cat laying on a box. It's kind a flappy ship. Yeah. He's very sleepy, he looks like. He kind of looks just like my cat laying on a box. It's kind of funny. Oh there's a shark, there we go, there we go. You spotted Bruce. He's just a baby, Bruce.

Oh yeah, he's a baby, Bruce. He's really cute though. He's gliding through the water. But they're so cute. Look at them go Yeah, this one's easy to find. Very easy. My other favorite thing about the Living Seas is that it was a filming location for two amazing programs.

Full House and Thunder Impair. Thunder Impair. Thank you man. Thank you. You know. You know. If you've never seen Thunder Impair, I recommend seeking it out, finding it whichever way you can.

To our right, fish. And then to the left. Also fish. Also fish, yes. It's the living seas and that's what was advertised. That's what we got. It's full of fish. And screaming children.

Yep. Yep. In Screaming Children. Yup. So we're out of Living Seas. Don't know how much we could hear in there. The kids were at a 10. They all just had 5. They're also enjoying diet Epcot. They are too. Because they're not in school.

5 pounds of sugar apparently because they were uh, yeah. That was something. Say hello to the duckies for Michelle. Hi duckies. Oh, to be a Disney duck. That's when I'm coming back in my next life as a Disney duck. You get to swim around, people give you food, people take lots of Instagram photos of you. I mean, rightfully so. It's Monorail I'm going to go to the fish.

Eh, eh. Sometimes on Walkabout the Wedge you just get lucky. Mhm. You get the sounds you want. Right. What's next on Diet Epcot? Um, I think that when you do Diet Epcot hmm I think I need a drink. I will say the thing about diet Epcot is if you come there is no booths which is nice but also then everything else has a longer line because there is no booths

so that's like the one sort of trade-off but again crowds are pretty low like even today like you can tell like when you come in in the parking lot is not even like halfway full on each side you're like it's gonna be a good day. What is your diet Epcot drink of choice? Actually I love the Prosecco in Italy because A. I love the way it tastes and B. the cart hardly ever has a line. I'm very Q line sort of motivated. Like I actually like it. As you should be as a local. That's our thing.

That's my personal favorite. My other favorite used to be they had this like grapefruit wine in the little France, like sort of French wine cave that they had back there by impressions and then they got rid of it. And I'm very sad. Hey, we're back to the noise. Upside down waterfall to our right. It's beautiful. Still one of the best things. That's my other favorite thing to do here.

Sometimes I will just walk in, get a coffee from the Starbucks, and then walk over here by the upside down waterfall, and I'll sit all the way in the back corner, and I will drink my coffee, and I'll just watch the monorails go by while I see one of looking at Spaceship Earth, so... One of my favorite things to do. I haven't done in a while, but last time I was over here is when I painted the imagination pavilion. Oh. That was a nice day. Yeah, that's my favorite.

Magical meltdown or just a... Oh yeah, no, he's angry. Oh, he's mad. Oh yeah. I do miss some of the displays like the beautiful flowers. There's no flowers. Oh yeah. But I mean if you love sod, sod caught.

You got lots of it. There you go. I can't, you know, it's green. I can't fault him for that. You would think the dizzy horticulturists would at least make it so you can't see all the cracks in the sod. I mean at least they did leave, I did like that they left the little play area that they actually built for Flower and Garden which was, what was it called? Play Along Bay.

Which I thought was really funny because it was sort of a play on words because I think it's still under refurb, the Plata- platter gotten beach and that's why they did that which was really funny and oh the goofy topiaries finally gone that was here for a little bit after it ended and I thought they were gonna leave it but nope he has no theories it still up I don't think so now I think I know I think now they're gone. Where are we now? We are currently coming up to what is it called? Swirled Showcase by The Bathrooms And I love a pun. Swirled Showcase. Swirled Showcase is

It's right up there with the Schmoozies. I think that's what it's called at DCA and award-winners. Award-winners at DCA. That's the best. I love a pun. Like I gotta give it to them. Next to the... Sounds of the toilets flushing. Next to the shuttered stand for one of the festivals. So Diet Up Cot. It'll be back. Yeah, Diet Up Cod does not last long. The festivals last longer than Diet Up Cod at this point. Okay, I'll tell you what I don't like about Swirl Show kids. They say seasonal flavor, but they don't tell you what flavor it is. Yeah. It's, yeah, I was like, it should just be, I feel like you lose a lot of business because people will look and they're like, oh I have to ask and they just keep walking

Nobody wants to ask I'm a millennial, I don't want to ask Yeah, we don't talk to strangers Is there a number I can text for the seasonal flavor or what? If not, I'm walking Traditional boutine at the refreshment porch Also pretty good stop if you just want a cup of water, because I have done numerous times. Now we're walking into Canada.

The correct way. Oh, are you a right-turn person? Absolutely. So yeah, I'm usually a left-turn person, but it's also because I have a one-track mind mind and I'm like, I want a margarita. That's usually what I'm supposed to have. The ducks are currently running around. They are begging people for food. He looks very sad because the guy's ignoring him and I feel bad.

Like if I had crackers right now, I would definitely give him some. I'm sorry bud. So for Diet Epcot, this little bottleneck between Canada and the UK still looks pretty crowded. Yeah, it's uh, like I said, it's definitely busier today. The day when I came with my friend, it was so empty. Like, probably almost just as empty as when I came right after Epcot reopened during 2020. Oh, are they gonna play? If they're gonna play, let's go to the next one. Hello world travelers, please welcome to the stage, Waze! Change! I wear my sunglasses and my door, I play the door again

Keep track of the vision in my eyes When she's sitting here, I've seen you Got some eyes that could be as She can't control me To the day This is the pain of a kind of shame Don't masquerade when the god in the shade is on the floor And I can't believe it when the pain of the god in the shade is on the floor You can't escape this, so run it over

God with the shades on on the floor Oh I wear my sunglasses at night I wear my sunglasses at night I wear my sunglasses at night Can you see me? I wear my sunglasses at night I wear my sunglasses at night I wear my sunglasses at night I wear my sunglasses at night One more time I wear my sunglasses at night

I wear my sunglasses at night I wear my sunglasses at night Yeah you do Air promotion! Woo! You take my breath away Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Can't stop the heat Oh, it ain't me too You can see what I've seen Sometimes at Epcot, Diet Epcot, it's just nice to watch the inebriated people enjoy their time dancing. They're like, it's Dying Epcot, what else are we supposed to do?

But that's what I love about it. The thing is, yes, this is busy, but if the festival was on right now, oh my gosh, this would be packed. People arm to arm, arm like no not the vibe I'll send up the rose and crown good place to get a drink but not my pick for today. Chippy on the left.

You enjoy a good fish and chip? Yep. Pretty garden on the right. Everybody likes to take their photos. Of course, because it is very pretty I will say. Back into some breathing room. Yeah, it's like that area is just UK and Canada between the band and then like Rosenkrantz because everybody loves to go to Rosenkrantz and I get it. It's a cool looking bar. It does remind me a bit of Cheers so I get it. Now we're on the Bridge to France. See that's something that like, they put that in for the flowering garden, like the little Mickey head topiary here.

And they leave that. And it's very pretty, I'm glad that they left it. So I'm going to give the Skyliner people something to look at. Oh, that's true. Mm-hmm Other than the backstage of The Remy ride the rat ride Can you imagine if we had gotten a Remy style like the ride that Remy had but it was Rizzo instead? That would have been fun. It would have been.

Like imagine it's like Rizzo running around, you know, like the floor of some restaurant and like all the Muppets show up. Unfortunately, Disney just doesn't know what to do with the Muppets. No, they don't. Yeah. Cause we've come up with probably about like 20 ideas between the two of us. Splash Mountain parody would have been fantastic. Yeah.

With Stadler and Waldorf as the vultures before the drop. Yeah. Come on. That would have been great. Fozzie Bear stuck in the tree. Just one big parody of Splash Mountain. And now, we're in France. Maybe someday I'll get to the real one. Inhaling bubbles. Other nice part about coming to Diet Epcot in the evening is you get to see Impressions

de France and Little Tip, but you can take drinks in there. And let me tell you, there's nothing better than watching Impressions de France in a mostly probably empty theater with a nice glass of wine, maybe a croissant. I've done that multiple times. It's a good way to sort of end your day. Baguette.

Mm-hmm, oh wow. The baguette thing has gotten so popular. Every time I go in there, now the ladies were sold out. I'm just going to end up having to bring my own baguette from Potex or something. Another shuttered food and wine stand. So several years ago they kind of made a lot of them permanent so they are they're there but right like abandoned yeah I'd up cut yeah I was like the one in Mexico's permanent I think the one that usually is India

Spain so yeah I mean you'll see them around they're shuttered and they are very nicely landscaped and there's like little scenaries. They're nice. And I know some people, like I said, like to come to the festivals, but it's fine because the best part about Epcot is that there is plenty of really good stuff to eat and drink even when there's not a festival. When you're in Epcot, so. I have to go to the AP lounge back there one day. Is it there now? It might be actually.

Let's go. We're headed into Morocco. I know it's open. Last year when they did it, it was actually open the entire day, which was nice. I was like, wow. Sometimes when they do it, like it's only open till 6 and I'm like okay. Lamps of wonder. And what used to be Marrakesh is now usually one of the... Ah, it's closed. Whomp, whomp. Yeah, when the time was up till? Ooh, I love this sign.

Oh, we just missed it. It's till seven. See, last year it was till eight. Oh yeah, I love that sign. I've taken multiple pictures of that sign. It has a very, a very Joe Grogu feel to it. Yeah, it does. The details.

I know he worked on the Mexico Pavilion before he was THE Joe Grogu. Right. He was just Joe Grogu. I would love to know just, because like you know there's certain things like we know he worked on, you know, Captain Neo and things like that, but I want to know about everything that he worked on that people don't Pats and Meal and things like that. But I want to know about everything that he worked on that people don't really know about besides animal meat. Let's go in Fez House real quick.

Oh, sorry. I love Fez House, it's so pretty in here. This is one of my favorite places in Epcot. If you ever come to Epcot, come to Morocco because I also think Morocco is one of those pavilions that's overlooked. But it does go pretty far back and there's a lot of pretty details and things like that. And yes, if you come in here you will hear it sounds like there are people having discussions on this sort of little second floor balcony that overlooks the middle of the Fez house. And yeah, it's just very pretty.

Like the tile work is a beautiful little fountain. Also on a hot day you can come in here and get out of the sun for a bit. And there's benches in here. So yeah. An overlooked water feature. Yes, that's very true. Very overlooked. Yeah, I love coming in here so an overlooked water feature yes that's very true very overlooked yeah I love coming in here It's good cute here. And now we leave Morocco to my personal favorite pavilion, Japan.

My dream destination. And also I feel the best store in World Showcase. Definitely if you go into Mitsukoshi and find something you like, buy it. Because next time you come here it definitely will not not be there like the merchandise turns over so quickly Because while it is expensive, it's also probably the only place you're gonna find it here. So Do you know the story of the lantern here? Of the which one? I don't think so actually.

Just when you walk into the pavilion, just to the right you'll see a stone lantern. And that was a gift from Japan when the Magic Kingdom opened to Roy Walt. It was a gift and they put it at the Polynesian. It was there until Epcot opened and they brought it here. I did not know that. So it's a little piece of Roy. Amazing. You come here enough times you think there's not anything new to learn but look at that. You come here with me enough times and you're like shut up. Now see that's how I'm with my friends too, I'm like did you know? And they're like oh my gosh.

But luckily they've been heavily drinking so they don't mind. And also the funnel cake stand. It's a pretty day. Rain's still holding off. And Spatial Birth looks beautiful across the lagoon with the kind of stormy clouds behind it. I love it. This is like my favorite time of the night.

Kakigori line is quite long. As it usually is, it is. Because yeah, it is very good. Even though we can't find Muppets in France, we can find Muppets in America. There's still some representation. Are you Eagle Eagle? Yes. Sam the Eagle. I was about to say Yosemite Sam. Oh geez, that's embarrassing. Oh my brain, what's happened?

We can cut that. Some say we should update American Adventure and put in some Muppets to go with the Regal League. Just make it work. I agree. Make it instead of Ben Franklin and Mark Twain, make it Sam Eagle and I don't know. Witch Muppet. I guess it would have to be Kermit.

You know what would be kind of fun though? Sam Eagle and a penguin. And he's just talking and the penguin's going quack quack quack. And he's just having like a full long conversation and you're just talking and the penguins going quack quack quack and he's just having it like a full-on conversation and you're just be you're able to get the context of what he's saying based on what Sam Eagle's saying back to him so you would appreciate that I would appreciate that Muppet fans would appreciate that Disney fans would not appreciate that. You don't think they would appreciate the whimsy of only having a one-sided conversation?

No. No. You don't think they would appreciate the whimsy of only having a one-sided conversation? Don't. No. Well, I have faith. They go right over their heads. I have faith. Coming up on Italy and my favorite place to get a drink. Alright, let's take a refresher. Yes.

We'll see you in a minute. refresher yes The The The The That's how you know you're in Italy because as soon as you're leaving, solo mio, it's playing. And the birds are attacking you, and the birds are attacking you. She won't answer my call. Birds are crazy. Oh, and now we've heard the music change. It's un papa. We're in Germany. Welcome to Germany. heard the music change it's un papa it's the diet train display oh that's right yeah I forget you know y'all notice they actually do change the little banners on the lamppost in the middle of this little mini square that they made and right now no signs, but

Come food and wine they will be up again, and it's always my favorite thing to see It's just one of those little touches that I love about coming to Epcot But right now the people are enjoying diet train displays, so Although I don't see the trains actually going. Nor do I. Also, I don't know if you knew this, but that little shed back there? That's where they have the extra trains. Because one night I came, and one of the trains had fallen over,

and the guy who came out on fixie opened that little display or that little shed and there were other little engine stuff in there. Did you hear that Jeremy? We found the Germany choo-choo shed. You can arrange some sort of Ocean's Eleven type heist to get all the trains out of there if you want because I am down. Beer garden and then caramel. I know the way I pronounce it it's not the correct way. Ask Jay, he'll tell you. Jay's our resident German.

Oh, okay. His grandmother was German. Okay. His grandmother was German. Also something I love about going there is that, this is a little tip, if you ever come and there's a line, you can mobile order from there. Yes. I have mobile ordered many cookies and popcorn from there, so skip the line and mobile order. Is Gruben Alps not actually out?

Oh no, we missed it. We missed Groovin Alps. We saw Waze instead. Oh yeah. Waze seems like a good band. Like I can't really... I would assume their thing is 80s Canadian cover music? I guess so.

I was about to ask if... I can't remember his name, but the one I just saw last night. Yeah, yeah. Is he Canadian? Like do they just do like all Canadian rock? Research. The birds have followed us. Yes.

We're now at what would have been Africa. We're in the outpost. Cory Hart is indeed Canadian. He is Canadian. Wow. Okay. Amazing. Okay. Thanks, internet. And like in my heart of hearts I felt like he was. I was like I just feel like Cory Hart probably can eat. Freshman out clothes. And then walk to Moana. And then do the last one.

Shut down. Oh the birds have taken over that island. Now we're passing China. Let's take a little stroll into China. Enjoy some very diet Epcot. Also, my favorite diet Epcot snack here on the left at the Joy of Tea stand, the egg rolls. And you're like, but it's just an egg roll and I'm like yes it is but it's an egg roll that you're having an Epcot so I say which is better an like an egg roll at your like local Chinese place or even China or here at Epcot you decide no question Uh huh. The Always take that beautiful little quiet path to the right when you come into the China

Pavilion. Nice little waterfall. Very calm. Also, like as far as pavilions go, I always like coming here because everything is so detailed and intricate. And just take the time to look at all the carvings. I guarantee you will always find something new. Because I always do.

Like on the gate coming into China, you look at the little corners, and there's the little figures that they carved. They're all in a little line. And even the birds are up there, kind of getting, blending into it. They're like, we're totally part of the display. Wow, so like we just walked into

The Norway Pavilion and you can like feel all the AC So it's like frozen actually feels frozen Also, surprisingly the standby line is not coming all the way out to the walkway, which I feel like always happens Let's take a picture of the puppet. Oh, he's so cute. Norway also has some of my favorite restrooms. Yes. They're very quiet. Very quiet, lots of stalls. Clean, decorated, new.

Best two restrooms in World Showcase, Norway and America, because America's stalls, at least if you're a lady, I love Osborne there because each side has like about 50 stalls. I've never had to wait there, so just a little piece of advice. That's not Yvonne screaming. That's not me. I only have one drink.

That's not me. I'm not the one who's screaming. I will. I swear. I'm like, fuck. But then I know when to stop. I know when to stop. I'm actually waiting for walls.

I have a bunch of patch of pony in the face. What are we doing? Yeah, you got walls and you got a bunch of pony in the face. I'm like, fuck. I'm like, fuck. I'm like, fuck. I'm like, fuck. I'm like, fuck. I'm like, fuck. I know when it's not special, we've got walls and everything. Why don't you catch Polly in the face? What are we doing? Yeah, you've got walls out between the summer house and Mexico.

Each of the little signs on the construction wall have a little character that has something to do with the world showcase. There was Remy and...what's the dragon's name? Um, Mushu? Mushu. There's Mary Poppins. Oh, Mary Poppins again. In every job that must be done, there's an element of fun. The doorknob from Alice in Wonderland. He doesn't have a name.

Uh, doorknob. Okay. This one which sounds vaguely threatening. We started this thing together and that's how we finish it. Okay. I'm assuming that's a quote from Mushu. I don't know.

I would think so, yeah. You can smell the beautiful scent of Mexico and Chihuahua. The Grand Fiesta Tour. The musty water mixed with the smell of burritos. I, okay, I honestly, I love it. Like for me, it's me, and I'm like, I'm an Epcot. That's a smell that we love, that other people are kinda like, huh?

Right. It's like when I went to Disneyland and you get one the parts of the Caribbean line and that musty water, I'm like, yes. And if people look at you weird, leave them. Because you don't need that negativity in your life. Those nachos look good. Hey, give me one of those nachos. Yuck. He's sharing. You could walk up and probably just grab Margarita line is actually surprisingly short. That's short Okay, I mean for me it is because like I said, this is I had a pot

You know what y'all when you usually come that line comes out all the way to the world showcase Pathway, and it's actually not on the pathway so Red alert right there. That's the tell. Mm-hmm. This is, I don't know if it's just me, but for me, being able to, I'm like, that line's short. Do you remember when we were little

and there were flamingos in here? Yes, I have pictures of it. My mom, she has some pictures in her, her numerous photo albums over the air and I found them and I took pictures of that because I was like I tell people and they look at me like I'm crazy and I'm like I'm not lying this is not something I hallucinated I assure you there used to be flamingos here so now there's just birds everywhere. There's a lot of birds.

We're currently trying to figure out how many birds there are. If you are a tippy-hendren, I recommend leaving. Stay away. I fear for your safety. There's a lot of birds here. We took a ride over a pathway that leads to the Odyssey building. The Odyssey, yes. Which...

Or whatever they call it these days. It's the Odyssey for me. Yeah, I don't know if it's like a festival center now or whatever. I think they still do fall out. It's where you go to get the beer flights. Yeah. But... But it's open in Diet Epcot.

Right, and I will say, most years I don't think they keep it open during Diet EPCOT. Looks like they have someone performing. Not right now, but there's a piano set up. If you are here during Diet EPCOT, definitely a good place to come and get some air conditioning and sit for a while. There's even a guy with a pin board. We wanna do some pin trading.

Yeah, actually, I see, I like this. It's very quiet in with a pin board. We want to do some pin trading. Yeah, actually, I see I like this. It's very quiet in here. Very chill. It's a nice respite from the absolute chaos of the living season today. This is nice. Let's check out the progress on old test track. Oh, yes.

Oh, speaking of. I can actually hear it running. Look at that. Another good timing. Which I'm personally very excited for test track. I wonder, do they still have the mirror up on the front? I wonder if we can see one of the cars go by. Only one way to find out. What was the opening date? July? July 22nd. Same day as the parade. Week after my birthday.

Eww! I need to go home and take a shower. I was like how close can you get but there's a castle right there. I was about to get as close as I could. But also there are the magical, which I'm sure if you all have been here and have seen it, the magical hedges that they move around that create a barrier that you cannot bypass? I can see the shop. Nothing in the shop, but you can see it.

I guess they did take the mirror off the front where you could see the car because I'm looking and I don't see it. I was also curious to see what they actually did to the cars because I'm like I'm sure they were gonna give them a come-from so... I think they're black. Oh they're black then? I think so. Hmm. There's a bunny.

Oh is there? Oh so cute. Disney bunny versus Disney duck? Difficult because... Duck season? Rabbit season? Disney bunny versus Disney duck Difficult because duck season rabbit season. I've always wanted to pick up one of those rabbits and just massage their ears And I know like it's not it's not gonna go that way Lounge is actually you can see into the lounge Walking around just under the monorail track. I have the sign. The test track you can see the new signage.

There's a car out front. Let's see if we can turn on the lights. Oh you can, you can see upstairs. Yeah, no mirror. No mirror, but the scaffolding is gone. So it's nice to at least see the whole of the ocean. You can actually see the building again. Right, it's nice to see the circular, sleek building.

And directly behind us we turn around. Connections Eatery. Spaceship Earth. One of my favorite views, honestly, because I like how Spaceship Earth peeks out from the top of it. It's like an ice cream cone. Or just a golf tee.

Oh yeah, or if you hit a golf ball into a sand trap. Guardians of the Galaxy on the right, which, what's the wait for that right now, I'm curious. I don't know, let's go look. Because last time I came with my friend, she told me when she had come before a few weeks ago, it was like an hour and a half, and then the day that I came with her,

it was 60 minutes, which is pretty short for that ride. And that's Disney time, so that could be with her, it was 60 minutes, which is pretty short for that ride. And that's dizzy time. So that could be like anywhere between a half hour, to an hour and a half. Because I was with my mom at Magic Kingdom, same thing. The line for Peter Pan said 45, we waited 20 minutes. I should have played the lotto that day because that never happens.

And that was in the middle of the day. So time means nothing here. Looks like people are just walking on. And then to the right, the Shuttered Wonders of Life Pavilion. You mean the Play Pavilion? Oh, right, right, right. Yeah. It'll take a long way to go.

That didn't last long. No. Oh, I lied. There is a big line. Oh no! But, at least if you're waiting out here right now, the sun's not out, so. Still has that new ride smell. I still smell the dinosaurs. Turning back around.

I'm turning toward Mission Space, the former site of my beloved Horizons. Even though the building and the attraction are gone, there are little things that still exist specifically from the good old days of Horizons. Also known as before, 1999. Yeah. You're looking at it right now. Oh, the planter.

That's right. The planter is the last thing left. The planter that led up to the entrance. It's in the shape of the building that kind of, I don't know, trapezoidal? I don't know. It's horizon shaped. It used to have the sign right in front. It's good I had a drink before we talked about this. I have like a very specific sense memory of like walking up there like eight

o'clock at night with my family And like those doors slid open Both of these And that snow The tunnel? Like the rainbow tunnel at the end? Yes! And then like when it was still the GE sponsorship like that like mirrored sort of like ring thing that would turn Oh man Okay

This is sad Now you've done it Now I've done it Oh man. Okay. This is sad. Now you've done it. Now I've done it. See, I can't come to Epcot and make myself sad. This is a happy place. It's a happy place.

You walk in and they're like, Horizons 1. Now boarding. They had to sign with all the destinations. Like, come to Messe Verde. Isn't it crazy how I remember all of it? Like, we remember it like it was, like, such a huge part of what it was. Right. It was a huge part of who we were growing up.

It was. I mean, it was. Like, Epcot was, like was new when we were little. I think, I will say, I always thank my grandma for my love of Epcot because she didn't like thrill rides. So we ended up at Epcot most of the time and she loved going to see Maria Checobre in the Mexico Pavilion. So we would always inevitably end up here. And as a kid, I don't think I appreciated it as much. Sure. Then when I got a little older I am glad that I rode Verizon's as many times as I did. Because I have very fond memories of riding it. The part of Horizons that just lives in my brain

forever is the sea lion floating outside when you go around the sea castle house. Yeah. And you've already been introduced to the family and the sea lion. Oh yeah. But you see him outside and it looks like he's floating. Yes. And it was like magic.

It was like you're really underwater. Yeah, because he was just like kind of hanging on. There was like a bar in front of him. Yeah. And he was just like hanging onto the glass. And the lighting and it just was so real. I was also weirdly obsessed with the menu that the characters were holding because I remember like once I was like it closed in 1999 so I was like maybe 16 or 15 when it closed

and I remember becoming really obsessed with that menu and like the logo that was on it and everything and I wanted to like climb out And look at it And then years and years later I figured out that actually did that if you have not go to mess it ready times And look for that whole website is it's amazing. But anyways Yeah, just like the little things now that like I really like kind of hone in on So you saw Josh's documentary Yeah, I did it was great that like I really like kind of hone in on. So... You saw Josh's documentary, right? Yeah, I did. It was great.

I saw it, Howe was there, he sat next to me, Hop hours, and yeah, it was a great documentary. So, if you're at all interested in stuff like that, watch Stolen Kingdom. I don't know when it will ever be streaming, honestly. Josh is hopefully... They're working on it. Yeah Josh says they're looking for distribution but definitely watch it it's free. Looking inside G-O-A-D-2.

I haven't yet used my glass yet. Oh you got a glass from there? They gave us free ones when we came home. Just that first week told me about that. It's that first week here. The sun has gone down, the lights have come on, Spaceship Earth is glowing. Yes, this is the... If you are a person that likes the classic lighting on Spaceship Earth with the colors, it's like, the game with your peach, it's beautiful. And I love the new 50th, you know, of lights that they added but I also very much love

The old lights used to shine you get like all these pretty gradients and all these pretty colors The one from like the album photo. Yes Classic album photo And even though I don't love all the parts of the Epcot redo, them bringing back that acrylic fountain was the best thing they ever did. It's one of those like, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And I feel like they just looked at the original like, we're not going to do better than this. And they smartly just went right back to it.

So. We just ruined the picture that we walked through. They were trying to hold up Spaceship Earth and we walked right through them. You know what? All I've had is McDonald's breakfast today and this glass in for a second so I cannot be held responsible for what I do. Hope you enjoyed this trip around Diet Epcot and I hope that it inspires you to come when there isn't a festival and I also hope that you enjoyed it even after my glass of Prosecco which I probably should have had dinner first but anyways, yes, come and enjoy Epcot when

there isn't a festival, believe me, you will love it but I hope too many of you don't come because then it will get too crowded and then it won't be fun to come to diet I've got so everybody coordinate don't everybody come at once Okay, there's one thing you got to do on the way out. What's that? Rides fish birth. All right, let's go. Yeah, let's go Please take small children by the way and what percent welcome aboard Now locate the monitor overhead to the right. Make sure your face is clearly visible and wait for the flash.

Good. Sending photo to the future. All systems are go. Linking you now to your guide. Like a grand and miraculous spaceship, our planet has sailed through the universe of time, and for a brief moment we have been among its passengers. But where are we going? And what kind of future will we discover there? Surprisingly, the answers lie in our past. Since the dawn of recorded history, we've been inventing the future one step at a time. So let's travel back in time together.

I'll show you how our ancestors created the world we know today and then it will be your turn to create the world of tomorrow. Pounding Reeds flat is inventing papyrus as of paper. Papyrus in turn creates better record keeping of plans, designs and unfortunately taxes but it also brings with it the dawn of great civilizations. At this point each civilization has its own form of writing which none of the others can understand has its own form of writing, which none of the others can understand. But the Phoenicians, who portrayed with all of them, have a solution. They create a simple, common alphabet, adaptable to most languages.

Remember how easy it was to learn your ABCs? Thank the Phoenicians. They invented them. At the 13,000 years of time travel, here we are. A truly global community, poised to shape the future of this, our spaceship Earth. Your time machine is now rotating backward. Please remain seated. Attention, you are now rotating backward for your return to Earth. Please remain seated, time travelers. Attention travelers, please remain seated. Your time machine is rotating backward for your return to Earth.

So thank you for joining us on this trip around diet Epcot and liminal Epcot, whatever you want to call it. And now we have to give a shout out to our patrons. At the beautiful tomorrow level we have Vette Castle, Bill and Erin Zeiss, Breoni Grant, Derek at Satisfactual Sign Company, John Hamilton, Meredith Aizzo, Hannah Ginn, David Krause, Jessica Davis, Courtney Otter, Kara Luisa Moody, Laurie B, Randall Lynch, Barbara Torino, Barry Campbell, Norm Disney, RJ Lucia, and Fabian Gumbinger. And then at the Living Laboratory level, we have Debbie Jambala, Eric Steinhauer, Josh Nakano, Lindsay O'Connell, James Bouchamp, and Eric Atuso. As always, thank you so much for listening. Your support means so much and helps us to keep moving forward. If you like what you hear and you'd like to be part of the show and get to know us a little

better, check us out at patreon.com slash walkabout wdw. We'd love to have you. As always, thanks for joining us and we hope to have you join us again soon. Nailed it!