Epcot & HS 1/2 Days w/small kids

[CoopTroop6]

We've got a little less than 3 weeks to go and I'm finally planning our park days! My question is about HS & Epcot (specifically World Showcase). Our group has a rather timid and *tiny* 4yo & a rowdy 2yo who is NOT the patient, movie-watching type. We have 4 days to spend in the parks, and I'm thinking of only planning a 1/2 day at Epcot & a 1/2 day at HS, with the extra time spent at MK. No one's into thrill rides (except my hopelessly short 5yo dd & me lol) so we'll be skipping basically everything that the whole family can't ride (with the exception of Star Tours for DH & 10yo DS).
It's been a long time since we've been, but DH really didn't care for World Showcase at Epcot last time, and I'm pretty sure the 10yo will vote to skip it too. We definitely want to do Future World, however we'll be skipping Mission Mars & Test Track. Is there any major reason to not skip WS? The 2yo won't sit through the movies, and we're not really into the dining/shopping either.
Becuase of the "no thrill rides" rule, we'll be skipping ToT, RRC, the Great Movie Ride (if I'm remembering correctly, the Alien scene will terrify my 4yo) & Soarin at HS. Dad & the 10yo MUST do Star Tours though! lol Is there any reason we couldn't do this in 1/2 a day? We'll be going mid-week, so hopefully not too many crowds.
I know MK is going to be the biggest draw for all of us. We'll be skipping the mountains, but will probably do most everything else. I really want to make sure the kids get to do & see as much as possible. I was thinking we would spend 1 whole day at MK, then spend 1/2 of Tues at Epcot & the other 1/2 at MK, 1/2 of Weds at HS & 1/2 & MK, all day at AK Thurs (they close @ 5pm) and back to Epcot for Illuminations that night. Does all that sound do-able...or insane?? lol
This will be our very 1st vacation w/all 4 kids, so it's gonna be a learning experience. Hopefully a good one!

 

[cormac05]

I just got back from wdw and loved hs, but my 4yo is just over 44" and could ride nearly everything. We loved the shows and all the rides (did not do rcc) and films. I personally loved the vibe of that park best of all. Absolutely go to sci-fi drive in for a meal... We didn't have ADR and got in for a 6:30 dinner. We spent 1.5 days there and i wish we had more time As to WS, we skipped it entirely, it was too much soul sucking shopping and the kids weren't interested.

 

[CoopTroop6]

That's good to know cormac, thanks! How did your little one do on the Great Movie Ride? I seem to remember the Alien part being scary...? And w/skipping WS did you still spend a whole day at Epcot?

 

[MSSANDRA]

It really looks like a good plan. You might find a break at the resort between the two parks works well too. A couple thoughts: I can not image a 10 year old boy not really loving Test Track. It is great and a not miss for us. Fast but not really a trill ride. Soaring is not a trill ride either but another not miss for us. Both are 40 inches so plan from there. On the great movie ride, our preschooler really liked it and I knew the ride well enough to know when to distract him for the brief time the alien was there. Also my kids would pick fantasmic over illuminations as a night time show. Much more kid friendly and all around better in our opinion.

 

[msmama]

My son (almost 5 now) has always loved both HS and Epcot.

Epcot has always been my sons favorite park (from 10 months old). I think a lot of people sell it short as not having much to do, but for us, it generally keeps us busiest!! He loves the "states" (what he calls the world showcase) and visiting all the kidcot stations at each country. We don't do much shopping (maybe walk through stores) and have never watched movies (except when tired and he was napping).

He could also spend a whole day just in Innoventions if I'd let him!!

We skip mountains at MK, and we don't feel the need to spend more than a day and a half there - and the half day is pretty much to do Fantasyland first thing in the morning - the other day is the rest of the park.

I always seem to be opposite of most people. For us, AK is only a half day, lol!!

 

[CoopTroop6]

It really looks like a good plan. You might find a break at the resort between the two parks works well too. A couple thoughts: I can not image a 10 year old boy not really loving Test Track. It is great and a not miss for us. Fast but not really a trill ride. Soaring is not a trill ride either but another not miss for us. Both are 40 inches so plan from there. On the great movie ride, our preschooler really liked it and I knew the ride well enough to know when to distract him for the brief time the alien was there. Also my kids would pick fantasmic over illuminations as a night time show. Much more kid friendly and all around better in our opinion.

My 10yo boy is really more the sci-fi/nerdy/science type. Not into cars at ALL. The 2yo & 4yo however...lol TestTrack would be an argument waiting to happen! lol DH & I have done Soarin at Disneyland many times. I love it - DH not so much. And since the little guys are too short & the 10yo is a little shy of heights, we'll probably skip it too. Can't wait till my 5yo is bigger - she'd ride everything if she was tall enough! lol

Good to know the Alien part isn't to bad. I actually like the ride itself! And thanks for the reminder about Fantasmic - we'll most likely do that instead of Illuminations.

I'm really trying to justify the extra $ for the park-hopper option right now. So far it seems to be worth it!

 

[alc571]

We went in October with our DS7. He ranked the parks MK, EP, HS, AK. He actually hated AK and wasn't keen on HS either. He's not a thrill ride kid (hated the great movie ride, btw). He loved the Toy Story Mania ride and the Honey I Shrunk the Audience playground. That's all we did at HS. Definitely not more than a half day for us. We were worried about taking him to Epcot (our fav) especially during Food and Wine, but he loved it. We actually closed the park down, which we have never done. We didn't do much in the World Showcase except eat, visit Japan (Pokemon kid! lol), and ride the boat in Mexico and Maelstrom. Otherwise he loved Nemo in the Seas, and the "Epcot ball". We didn't try Soarin (sadly) because we were worried we would wait all that time and he'd hate it.