Epcot is known for its food, so it’s no surprise that it also has some of the best ice cream in all of Disney World.
From gelato in Italy to sorbets in France, we’ve created the ultimate resource for ice cream at Epcot.
Epcot Ice Cream: The Ultimate Guide
The Best Ice Cream Around Epcot’s World Showcase
Let’s go through the best first. It’s no surprise that the World Showcase is the place to be if you want good food inside Epcot and the variety of ice cream here is exceptional.
We’ll start with our two favorite pavilions for ice cream, then we’ll work our way around the rest of the World Showcase.
France Pavilion
The France Pavilion is the undisputed king of ice cream. It’s good enough that an argument can be made that France is the best place in all of Disney World to get ice cream.
Most of the options here begin and end with L’Artisan des Glaces, the France Pavilion’s dedicated ice cream shop. It has all the charm of an artisanal French ice cream shop and the goods to back it up. As expected, the ice cream here is exceptional. L’Artisan des Glaces ice cream is good enough that it’s almost the unanimous Disney World favorite among people who have visited the shop. The sorbets are really good, as well. Both come in a variety of fairly traditional flavors.
It’s homemade ice cream too, so it’s quite a bit better than many of the other standard, branded ice cream at other Disney World locations.
This shop really hits a new level when you order one of its specialty items. The Croque Glace is easily our pick for best item on the menu here. It takes ice cream and places it between two pieces of freshly made brioche bread. After that, it’s pressed to warm the bread and seal the edges. It has a slight crisp on the outside with warm bread before you get to the cold ice cream. The Croque comes highly, highly recommended!
Another L’Artisan favorite is the Macaron Sandwich. As the name implies, it’s an ice cream sandwich made with macarons. Coffee lovers will enjoy the Cafe Glace, an iced cappuccino with a scoop of ice cream and whipped cream. If you’re an adult and you get the urge to imbibe, you can’t beat the Ice Cream Martini. The martini is made with two scoops of ice cream, a shot of Gran Marnier, and whipped cream vodka or rum.
Outside of L’Artisan, you can find assorted ice cream desserts at the table-service French restaurants. Some may end up being a bit more elaborate than what you find at the quick-service shop. Our favorite pick at the table-service restaurants is La Creperie de Paris, which serves dessert crepes topped with your choice of ice cream. They even have a window where you can order crepes to go.
France also has plenty of other amazing food too. We cover all of it in our massive guide to Epcot dining.
Italy Pavilion
Coming in a close second, the Italy Pavilion also has some of the best ice cream at Epcot. It joins France in being one of the two places in the park to get homemade ice cream. You’ll find plenty of delicious gelato throughout the pavilion.
You’ll find the Gelati quick service window at the front of the pavilion. The gelato menu is large and includes a variety of flavors. All gelato orders come with two scoops, which is perfect for mixing it up. Arguably the best parts of the Italian gelato menu are the specialty desserts. The Gelato Sandwich is a can’t-miss item. It puts your choice of gelato in between two large chocolate chip cookies. Also excellent, the Espresso Gelato “Affogato” is a personal favorite. It takes fresh-made Italian espresso and pours it over Fior di Latte gelato topped with chocolate coffee beans. If you’re familiar with Italian gelato shops, you know that Fior di Latte is often the measuring stick by which the shop can be judged. Fior di Latte stops short of added flavors or egg yolks, so it’s just cream in its purest form. Combine it with espresso and you’ve got a delicious ice cream treat that is quintessentially Italian.
One of the newest Epcot ice cream additions is also inside the Italy Pavilion. It’s a delicious Tiramisu Popsicle. This one comes in a push-pop style container, making it easy to carry around the park. It’s made up of layers of ladyfinger cake and tiramisu gelato with some espresso sprinkled in. You can find the Tiramisu Popsicle at the Via Napoli Donkey Cart, about halfway through the Italy Pavilion.
Many of the gelato-style frozen desserts can also be found inside the table-service restaurants in the Italy Pavilion. At Tutto Italia Ristorante, the Bacio al Cioccolato is a popular choice. It’s a warm hazelnut cake with vanilla gelato and topped with chocolate sauce. Our favorite table-service Italian dessert is the Gelato Frizzante, a float-style dessert. It combines aranciata (orange) San Pellegrino with vanilla gelato to make a delicious ice cream float.
Japan Pavilion
Next up, the Japan Pavilion has a handful of unique ice cream treats. Our favorite frozen dessert here is the mochi ice cream. If you’re not familiar with mochi, it’s a Japanese rice cake. It’s fluffy and has a mild taste, making it perfect for creating unique desserts. Mochi ice cream is a bite-sized frozen treat wrapped in sweet perfection. You can find these at the Kaki Gori cart, located toward the back of the pavilion right in front of the entrance to the grocery section of the Mitsukoshi Department Store. They are sold in boxes that each contain a few mochis.
Back to the front of the pavilion is the Kabuki Cafe. Here, you can find assorted flavors of Japanese Kakigori (shaved ice). Rainbow, strawberry, melon, cherry, and tangerine are some of the flavors available. If you want to get the full Japanese experience, order your shaved ice with the sweet milk topping. It’s also worth mentioning that this is the only location you can get a frozen beer. It’s a traditional Kirin draft beer that is frosty and frozen.
Inside the Japanese table-service restaurants, you can find green tea flavored soft serve ice cream. You can swirl the green tea flavor with the vanilla for a really good mashup.
The American Adventure Pavilion
The American Adventure Pavilion has a few simple but good frozen desserts. The first one is our favorite. It’s funnel cake with vanilla ice cream, crushed cookies, and chocolate sauce. It doesn’t get much more American than that. You can also get a simplified version with just the funnel cake and vanilla ice cream. They serve both at the Funnel Cake stand at the front of the pavilion. It’s hard to miss, as you can always catch the scent of warm funnel cake as you walk by on the main World Showcase walkway.
For something a little different, Fife and Drum Tavern has a slushy made up of vanilla ice cream, frozen strawberry, and frozen raspberry called The American Dream. The slushy is good for introducing some Red, White, and Blue to a hot Florida day.
Mexico Pavilion
The Mexico Pavilion is a little light on the ice cream options, but there are still a couple of good ones. If you have reservations at one of the two Mexican table service restaurants, La Hacienda de San Angel or San Angel Inn Restaurante, they both offer a variety of Mexican-style sorbets. San Angel Inn Restaurante also serves Sweet Corn Ice Cream for added Mexican flair.
*Bonus: If you want something cold but don’t necessarily need ice cream, go inside the Mexico Pavilion’s pyramid to La Cava del Tequila. It has a massive number of margaritas and other tequila-based drinks. La Cava is one of the most popular Epcot locations for adults.
Norway Pavilion
We’re going to cheat a bit for Norway. Other than the regular Mickey Bar carts, the Norway Pavilion won’t provide you with a ton of ice cream options. However, what Norway lacks in ice cream it makes up for in “Rice Cream”. You can find Rice Cream in the Kringla Bakeri og Kafe, right next to the big stave church at the front of the pavilion. It is a rice pudding, topped with strawberry sauce. It’s a classic Epcot dessert and it’s definitely worth trying if you’re looking for something unique. It’s not ice cream, but the name is close enough!
China Pavilion
The China Pavilion is often passed over by Epcot guests searching for food, but it does have something special to offer in the ice cream department. China is the only place at Disney World that you’ll find caramel-ginger ice cream and it’s located at the Nine Dragons Restaurant.
If you like ginger, it’s very good. The caramel does a good job of balancing out the ginger. The ginger isn’t overpowering to begin with, so you don’t have to worry about anything too extreme. You can also find strawberry red bean ice cream here. Don’t be scared off by the “red bean” label. Red bean paste is a common ingredient in many Asian desserts. It’s made from a small, sweet bean called adzuki. The ice cream is sweet and creamy with a heavy strawberry flavor.
Lotus Blossom Cafe also serves the Caramel-Ginger ice cream, alongside a unique Lychee Ice Cream.
Germany Pavilion
The German Pavilion doesn’t typically offer any particularly noteworthy ice cream options, so we’ll pass over it. However, it does have amazing apple strudel, so pay it a visit if you want a non-frozen dessert.
Morocco Pavilion
Unfortunately, the Morocco Pavilion is very low on ice cream options, so we’ll mostly skip over this one. There are a few frozen drinks available at the quick service stand at the front of the pavilion and the table-service restaurants have some standard ice cream desserts.
United Kingdom Pavilion
Unfortunately, there’s not really any noteworthy ice cream items in the United Kingdom Pavilion.
Canada Pavilion
The Canada Pavilion joins the United Kingdom Pavilion in being the areas to avoid if you’re looking for ice cream. However, you can find some at the Refreshment Port right next to the Canada Pavilion.
The Best Ice Cream Inside Epcot’s Future World
It can be easy to breeze right by Epcot’s Future World when the World Showcase’s many restaurants are nearby. There are a handful of ice cream options in Future World though.
Coral Reef Restaurant
Coral Reef Restaurant typically has at least one ice cream-centered dessert on their menu. It’s nothing spectacular, but still gets the job done if you’re in the mood for ice cream.
Connections Eatery
This new place has filled the Electric Umbrella-shaped hole inside Future World. You’ll find it adjacent to Epcot’s main retail store, Creations Shop. Connections Eatery serves several delicious milkshakes, including Apple Pie Gelato, Madagascar Vanilla, and Mango-Coconut flavors.
Connections Cafe
Connections Cafe is essentially a Starbucks, meaning you can find every frozen and coffee-flavored drink imaginable here. There’s no true ice cream or milkshake on their menu, but there are plenty of Frappucinos to go around.
Final Advice
Hopefully, we’ve given you enough information to help you spend your time enjoying some Epcot ice cream instead of spending your time searching for it. There are plenty of options and we’re confident that there is something here for anyone and everyone.
If you’re planning on spending time at Epcot and want the best ice cream possible, skip everything and head straight to either the France Pavilion or the Italy Pavilion. There are plenty of good items at other locations in the park, but none of them can really compete head-to-head with those two countries. There are only a handful of places in all of Disney World that offer homemade ice cream and Epcot has two of them with France and Italy. Even if you eat your lunch or dinner at a table-restaurant in a different part of the park, we absolutely recommend going to get French ice cream or Italian gelato afterward. The walk is worth it, no matter where you are at in Epcot.
Also, we’d be remiss if we failed to mention that a Mickey Bar is often still the perfect way to get your ice cream fix anywhere on the Disney World property. Epcot has plenty of carts offering them, along with all the other “standard” ice creams.
Looking for food at Epcot?
If you need something to eat before your ice cream, check our list of Top 13 Epcot Restaurants for Adults or our guide to the Best Kid-Friendly Epcot Restaurants.
