The Magical World of Epcot

My family just returned from a month-long vacation where we drove from California to Florida and back stopping along the way to visit so many places.  Of the many highlights of the trip, visiting Disney World as well as Epcot was a favorite of my kids. For this reason, I decided to theme our July monthly dinner based on Epcot Center.

Invite:  There are a ton of Mickey Mouse invitations on the internet, but very few for Epcot.  I wanted my invitation to include the Epcot ball, but I also wanted to include landmarks from around the world.  For this reason, I decided to use a "traveling around the world" clipart I found online and just replace the world of the image with the Epcot ball.  I downloaded a free Minnie font and Mickey font to use as well.

Decor:  I went with the standard Mickey and Minnie Mouse colors of black, white, red, and yellow for the party colors. I had a red tablecloth with white dishes.  I borrowed a Mickey and a Minnie Mouse stuffed toy from a friend to set on the center.

I made this Epcot ball using a $2.99 playground ball I picked up at GoodWill.  Any ball would work, but I liked this one because the lines on it seemed to match the mirrors of the true Epcot ball.  I spray painted it with metallic silver paint, and then hand cut grey cardstock to make the "legs" that stand the ball up.  I used the spray paint can lid under it, as the legs were just card stock so they could not have truly carried the weight.

Since Epcot is all about the World Showcase, I decided to make each guest a Minnie ears headband representing the countries in the showcase.  I set these on the plates and let guests choose which country they wanted to wear.  I purchased the Mickey ears on Amazon.  I then used PhotoShop to design each bow with the country's flag centered in the middle.  This was challenging for sure, but I think they came out cute.

Instead of traditional napkin rings, I incorporated one of the 11 countries of the World Showcase into my table, and wove each yellow napkin through a pretzel to represent Germany.

For wine charms, I created Mickey heads with a flag for each country.  Guests matched their headband to the wine charm, so they could easily remember which glass was theirs.  Guests used these wine glasses for either wine or a margarita.

To represent Italy, I served Italian wines and designed labels to play up the theme. For the white wine, I found an image of Mickey rowing a gondola.  I add a wine glass to the image and "Once Upon a Wine."  I also added "I love white wine" in Italian.  For the red wine I designed a Minnie Mouse glass with red wine inside.  I then added "Enjoy Some Red Wine from the Minnie Bar" purposely spelling mini as "Minnie."

To represent Mexico, I served margaritas with salt.

Menu:  The other 8 countries of the World Showcase were covered throughout the meal.  I tried to choose some of the more popular menu dishes from Epcot, but had to pick and choose so as not to have all desserts, etc. For one appetizer, we had a sushi to represent Japan.  I only got a couple of rolls since it was just an appetizer.  The second appetizer was one of my kids' favorite -- mini corndogs!  This was to represent the United States and "The American Experience" at Epcot.

As part of the main meal at the table, we had Chinese Spring Rolls.  These spring rolls were from Trader Joes, and they are tasty.  I cooked them in the air fryer because my double oven was being used for other things.

I also made a Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup using the recipe that Disney released for this soup from Epcot.  It was good, but also very filling.  I only gave guests a small amount, but all that cheese definitely fills your stomach!

Alongside the soup and the spring rolls, I served Fish and Chips to represent Great Britain.

All of this food so far, and I still had 3 countries to account for!  I covered two with my desserts.  I purchased baklava from a local bakery to represent Morocco which was delicious.

I also made the Frozen Bundt Cakes that they make in Epcot to represent Norway. Instead of toy rings at the top, we had edible Frozen themed toppers.

Favor:  The final country in the World Showcase was covered in the party favor.  I purchased French macaroons from Trader Joes. My guests picked a few flavors they liked and put them in a favor bag to go.  We were all too stuffed from our meal to add another bite!

We had a great night sampling so many foods, and of course, the company was amazing.  Definitely recommend a true trip to Epcot to taste and experience the real thing if you can swing it someday.  I would love to go back.