Hi Kristie,
I like your way of thinking as far as starting at the rear of the park and working your way back towards the front. However, if you are planning on spending an entire day at
Epcot (which is highly recommended), this plan might not work out too well. Epcot is divided into two main sections: Future World and World Showcase (which is where the countries are located). Future World opens at 9:00 am and World Showcase opens at 11:00 am. I recommend that you cross a few Future World attractions off of your list first thing, and then head to World Showcase when it opens.
You heard correctly, there are two "Friendship Boats" that help transport guests across Epcot's World Showcase Lagoon. There are two different routes which you could take. They both leave from World Showcase Plaza. One departs from the Canada side and heads to Morocco, and the other departs from the Mexico side bound for Germany. That all being said, you are going to want to stop and visit each country, as they all offer unique opportunities to discover different cultures. If you hop on a boat at the entrance to World Showcase, you will miss several countries. I know that this is a lot easier to envision with a map, so please click on this
Epcot Guide Map and scroll down to the second page. At the top of the map is the entrance (in orange). Imagine a straight line from there to the middle of the map where you will see "Showcase Plaza" (in yellow). If you follow the dotted line across World Showcase Lagoon, you'll see the path the boat takes (and the countries you would miss). I suggest that you simply choose to start at either Canada or Mexico and work your way around to see all countries.
Wishing you magical memories,
Kaylene