There are SO many quick service spots in EPCOT, how do you choose where to go for a cheap meal?

With restaurants in all the World Showcase pavilions, plus a few options near the front of the park, you can get a wide variety of cuisine options around this park. But have you ever been to the food court? I took a trip there for lunch recently, and my experience was not what I expected!

Atmosphere

Sunshine Seasons is located in The Land Pavilion at EPCOT, and you can see the theming as soon as you walk in! The four hot air balloons that hang from the ceiling are themed to the four seasons of the year.

The quick service restaurant is one of the largest in the park, and it has a TON of seating. Each of the different seating areas is themed to a different season.

This is a great place to dine when it’s raining or if you’re planning on hitting up all the attractions inside the pavilion.

The seating area across from the restaurant between Soarin’ and Living With the Land is usually the emptiest, so this is typically my favorite place to sit when I dine here.

Sunshine Seasons has a food court-style set-up, where there are multiple order counters for different types of cuisine. There’s a dessert counter…

…several different counters for various entrees…

…as well as some refrigerated cases for grab-and-go items like sandwiches, fruit, and snacks.

There are multiple drink stations throughout the food court area. They have Coca-Cola products, as well as coffee and tea.

After you pick up your food and drinks, you’ll head to one of the checkout counters. Here, you can pick up other prepackaged snacks like chips.

And once you’ve checked out, there are condiment stations near the seating areas. They’ve got a variety of prepackaged options, including add-ins for your coffee.

So what’s on the menu at Sunshine Seasons?

Menu

The important thing to note about this review is that I went to Sunshine Seasons for LUNCH. The lunch menu is the most extensive of the three meals, so if you want the best experience, go here midday.

Starting out, there are 10 different hot entrees that you can order at the various counters. They’ve got everything from fish to chicken to stir-fry to pizza rolls. There’s a lot of variety!

For grab ‘n’ go entrees, they have offerings like salads and wraps. These can be picked up from the refrigerated section.

This restaurant is home to more kids’ meal options than some other places. You can order salmon, chicken, grab ‘n’ go meals, pizza rolls, or mac and cheese. 

Sunshine Seasons has a TON of snack options, since it’s set up food court style. They have fruit, prepackaged snacks, chips, candy, and more.

And of course, we’ve got to mention dessert! The Peanut Butter Whoopie Pie and Turtle Brownie are favorites. They also have rotating seasonal milkshakes at the dessert counter.

Let’s order some food and test it out!

Eats

To get a good feel for the menu, I ordered two entrees and a dessert — let’s dig in!

Starting out with one of my faves from this restaurant, we’ve got the Pepperoni Pizza Roll for $11.79. It’s served with pasta salad on the side. If you like hot pockets or pizza rolls, this is definitely a meal you may want to try!

Rolled inside the dough was mozzarella cheese, sauce, and pepperoni. Most of the pepperoni was concentrated in the middle of the roll, so the ends were a little less exciting, but this is a fun and unique way to eat pizza, and I enjoyed it more than I’ve enjoyed some of the round personal pizzas I’ve had in the parks. The pepperoni was savory and meaty, the sauce had a nice tomato tang, and the cheese was plentiful. My only complaint is that this can be a smidge greasy.

The pasta salad on the side is pretty good, but it’s not really anything to write home about. The pasta was soft and there was a decent amount of dressing, but I think it would’ve been improved with the addition of more add-ins like olives or feta cheese. 

For my second entree, I ordered the Stir-fried Chicken for $12.29. This comes with teriyaki chicken, peppers, onions, pineapple, and a tangy sweet-and-sour sauce.

This dish smelled INCREDIBLE, so I was really excited to try it, but unfortunately, I was let down a bit. The rice was dry and crunchy in some places, but the sauce did have a nice mix of sweetness with a hint of spice. The chicken thighs were a little bit gristly and a smidge overcooked, which made them drier. The peppers and onions were also overcooked, making them mushy.

Honestly, the flavors here were pretty delicious (especially with the tropical kick from the pineapple), but the textures are where things went a bit off the rails.

For dessert, I ordered one of our DFB faves, which is the Peanut Butter Whoopie Pie for $4.29. This is such a cheap treat, but the portion size is great!

You get two chocolate cake-like pieces with a peanut butter frosting filling, and then it’s topped with chocolate shavings and a bit of whipped cream. You’ll probably want to eat this quickly because the frosting is very light and it will start to squish as you let it sit. The whoopie pie itself is definitely more cake-like and the chocolate is rich and not too sweet. That’s good, considering the frosting is VERY sweet — it tastes like regular whipped frosting with peanut butter mixed in.

This would be a great treat for chocolate and peanut butter lovers, but I won’t say that it’s the BEST chocolate/peanut butter treat in Disney World. Definitely better than many quick service desserts though, and I would recommend it!

So how does Sunshine Seasons fare?

Overall

All in all, I think this restaurant is sorely underrated. People talk about all the places to eat in World Showcase, so Sunshine Seasons gets overlooked, but it has some great menu variety, plenty of seating, and some truly top-notch snacks and sweets. Plus, it’s indoors, so it’s a great choice when it’s raining!

You’re probably not going to order a culinary masterpiece here, but it’s not bad by Disney quick service standards. It’s not topping our “best restaurants” list anytime soon, but it’s also not offending us. This is just a classic, reliable choice!

Nosh or Not?

Celebrate the four seasons and dine in The Land if…

• You want a relaxing, air-conditioned place to enjoy a cheap meal. Want to sit down in air conditioning but don’t want to spend an arm and a leg? This is a reliable spot! There are almost always seating options available and it’s not too popular.
• You’re eating lunch. Sunshine Seasons has the best menu offerings at lunchtime, whereas the dinner and breakfast options are a bit more limited.
• You want to knock out The Land Pavilion all at once. Hitting up Soarin’, Living with the Land, and Awesome Planet all at once? Don’t worry about walking to the World Showcase to get food! Just stay in the pavilion, grab your eats, and then move on.

Venture outside The Land for your meal if…

• You’re eating breakfast or dinner. The menu is more limited here for those two meals as compared to lunchtime.
• You want truly spectacular cuisine. The food here isn’t groundbreaking, so if you want some really amazing quick service food, you might want to try elsewhere.
• It’s a festival season. If you want to enjoy some festival food around EPCOT, we would recommend doing that for one of your meals instead of stopping at a quick service.

That’s a wrap on my visit to Sunshine Seasons! Thanks so much for coming along, and stay tuned to DFB for more food reviews from Disney World.

Should You Eat at EPCOT’s Most Basic World Showcase Restaurant? Click Here!

Have you ever been to Sunshine Seasons? Tell us in the comments!