1/2 Day at EPCOT??? Is it worth it?

[momofEAP]

I would skip LegoLand and buy 3 day tickets for Disney.

My DD(now 10) & I went to LegoLand last May with a friend and her DD. My DD is a HUGE Lego fan! We do the free monthly builds our local mall. She has a ton of sets and likes to build her own things. We enjoyed LegoLand but it is no Disney. You should look into the ride restrictions there. You might have issues with 3 kids and 2 adults. The lines were much slower moving and the rides not as nice. The mini land was our favorite thing but it was so hot (in May) and certainly not worth giving up a day at Disney to see. We also enjoyed the gardens from when it was Cypress Gardens-the banyan tree was awesome. I'm not saying you won't have fun at Legoland but for the price I would say you could get more out of seeing more of Disney.

Your DS should be tall enough to ride everything at 6 unless he's very small. My kids were riding Test Track at 3.

We will have to give your 3 day ticket idea some thought.

My DS is very small for his age...he will be 6 in less than a week and is just over 3 ft! For the most part people think he is 3...maybe 4.

 

[lovesdumbo]

We will have to give your 3 day ticket idea some thought.

My DS is very small for his age...he will be 6 in less than a week and is just over 3 ft! For the most part people think he is 3...maybe 4.

Found this link for Legoland height requirements:
http://www.heightrequirements.com/rides/legoland-florida

And here's an article on the issue:
http://www.theledger.com/article/20111031/NEWS/111039829?p=1&tc=pg

If your oldest is over 48" you should be ok but if she isn't there are a number of rides you won't be able to ride all together even if your DS meets the minimum. Most rides seat 2 together so you & your DH could ride each with a child but your oldest would have to be 48" or 52" to ride "alone" even in a seat in front or behind you. Disney seems to be much easier for my DH & I to manage our 3 children. But I only brought one child to Legoland so maybe it isn't as difficult as it seemed to me to manage 3 children there.

 

[ZoZo]

I think it depends on what you want to accomplish at Epcot. Since you probably won't get to the park until 3:00-ish, FPs for Soarin' will be gone. Which of the other attractions do you want to do? $425 is a lot of money to spend, but only you can determine if you can afford that much or if it's worth it to you given the things that you can do that time of day.

I would also second someone else's idea and recommend getting three-day WDW tickets and skipping Legoland. WDW is such a special place, I think you'll love it. Unless you have a Lego-obsessed kid, I'd skip Legoland and add an extra Disney day!

 

[Hopefully]

I would skip LegoLand and buy 3 day tickets for Disney.

My DD(now 10) & I went to LegoLand last May with a friend and her DD. My DD is a HUGE Lego fan! We do the free monthly builds our local mall. She has a ton of sets and likes to build her own things. We enjoyed LegoLand but it is no Disney. You should look into the ride restrictions there. You might have issues with 3 kids and 2 adults. The lines were much slower moving and the rides not as nice. The mini land was our favorite thing but it was so hot (in May) and certainly not worth giving up a day at Disney to see. We also enjoyed the gardens from when it was Cypress Gardens-the banyan tree was awesome. I'm not saying you won't have fun at Legoland but for the price I would say you could get more out of seeing more of Disney.

Your DS should be tall enough to ride everything at 6 unless he's very small. My kids were riding Test Track at 3.

This is exactly what I would do as well. Especially since you don't know if you will be back soon.
I love Epcot. It is my favorite park. On a 7 night trip we probably end 4-5 nights at Epcot. I think it is worth it.
That said, even the 5-6 hours you have on Labor Day, I would go back to the Magic Kingdom. Your boys are the perfect age to spend time there.
Good Luck

 

[rcraw45425]

We arrived a day early for our 4 night Dream cruise. Checked in at BWI at 1:30pm and headed to EPCOT. FP Soarin and did some other things, then dinner at Nine Dragons and out to walk World Showcase and watch Illuminations. My girls are a lot older than your children though and we typically visit WDW twice a year so we were not trying to set records. The new Phinias and Ferb adventure might be enjoyable to your children, and there are also some princess opportunities in the World Showcase. Another option would be to try to book a Princess Dinner at Akershus . If you do choose to forego EPCOT you may want to try booking dinner at 1900 Park Faire at the Grand Floridian. It's Cinderella, the Prince and the stepmother and stepsisters. Buffet dinner is pretty good and character interaction is great. My girls will be 16 & almost 18 in June and I had to book it yet again for them!

 

[thisismyusername]

I'm of two different mindsets regarding giving up Legoland: I don't know the ages of your kids, but both of my boys (10 and 6) are *very* into Legos, and since we're flying out of Tampa at dinnertime, I am considering making a pit stop on the way to the airport to Legoland. We would only wind up getting a few hours there (probably 10-2:30), but we wouldn't be interested in visiting for the rides. I feel like if we're gonna visit Legoland, this is the year to do it before my kids outgrow it. (I also have an 11 year old daughter.) So if you think it's going to be another 5 years before you'd get back to Orlando, and your kids wouldn't be interested in Legos then, I might take the time to visit now. Epcot will stay interesting for them whether they're 1 or 10 or 100. Legoland has a much, much smaller window of opportunity to interest your kids.

On the other hand, if you have kids who just have a little bit of an interest in Legos, I think the Lego store in DTD is a pretty cool place for kids to visit. I know it's not Legoland, but it's pretty much the only reason my kids want to go to DTD.

On the other hand, if you're willing to part with $400 fairly easily, I do think that Epcot is very much worth every penny. Our first day in Epcot was also a shortened one (last day of our first trip, my daughter wasn't feeling well, so we didn't get into the park until pretty late in the afternoon). We did everything in Living with the Seas (missed every other pavilion), walked around World Showcase, got something to eat, and knew we had missed a ton, but still had a great time. In hindsight, it was one of the most relaxing days of our trip because we were just interested in exploring and taking our time rather than riding rides. Just be warned: both Magic Kingdom and Epcot can take a minimum of two days *each* to fully explore (I'd say HS and AK are both doable in a day, though there might be a few rides/areas that interest you less that you might not get to...) But to answer your question, yeah, I think it's worth $400 to get into Epcot even if it's not a full day--just as long as you're not there to *just* ride rides.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

We did 1/2 day in Epcot and enjoyed it very much. Two adults and 5 kids. But that was in 2005 and the tickets were not as costly as they are today. That is your deciding factor.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[momofEAP]

Thank you everyone! I think we have decided to just do the other free things and save the money for the souveniors!