Ellen's Energy Adventure

Description And Comments

The attraction begins with a preshow film starring Ellen DeGeneres. While watching TV, Ellen dozes off and dreams that she’s competing on the game show Jeopardy! against her know-it-all former college roommate Judy (Jamie Lee Curtis). All of the Jeopardy categories deal with energy in its various forms, and unfortunately for Ellen, Judy has a PhD in the subject.

Luckily, Ellen’s next-door neighbor happens to be Bill Nye the Science Guy, who convinces Ellen--along with everyone else in the audience--to take a time-traveling crash course in the history of energy, along with everyone else in the audience.

You move from the preshow hall to what appears to be an ordinary theater to watch another film, this one about energy sources. Then the seats divide into six 97-passenger traveling cars that carry you from the Big Bang (the beginning of Ellen’s energy lessons) to the swamps and animatronic dinosaurs of a prehistoric forest. Special effects include the feel of warm, moist swamp air and the smell of sulfur from an erupting volcano.

The dialogue between DeGeneres and Nye is humorous and upbeat, but the script was written almost 20 years ago, when ExxonMobil was sponsoring the attraction. Don’t expect to hear calls to action on climate change or carbon footprints, or much more than a passing reference to alternative energy sources.

For children, it’s a toss-up. The dinosaurs frighten some preschoolers, and kids of all ages lose the thread during the educational segments.

A Zionsville, Indiana, reader agrees with us that Ellen’s Energy Adventure is more than a little dated:

Ellen is genuinely funny, but this attraction is so old that the video quality is only slightly better than the Zapruder film’s.

Touring Tips

Because the theater has a ride component, the line doesn’t move while the show is in progress. When the theater empties, however, a large chunk of the line will disappear as people are admitted for the next show. Because of this, lines are generally tolerable.

Ellen's Energy Adventure Wait Times

This chart shows you roughly how long you'll wait for Ellen's Energy Adventure when you visit on a day with a given EPCOT Crowd Level. The blue bars represent the average "peak" wait time (that is, how long the line will be at its busiest). The bottom and top black lines represent the range of peak wait times to expect (for you fellow nerds out there: it's the 5th percentile and 95th percentile of peak wait times). Please note that these are estimates, and for a better forecast for your travel dates, see Ellen's Energy Adventure Wait Times.

Attraction Photos

Special Needs

• Handheld Captioning Available
• Assistive Listening Devices Available
• Audio Description Devices Available
• Must Transfer To Standard Wheelchair