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

[momofEAP]

We will be getting to the resort about 1 or 2 on a Monday. Is it worth the money to do a 1/2 day at Epcot? We will only have Tuesday to spend at MK and then we will be going the rest of the week to other places. We will have a 9 DD, 8 DD and 6 DS with us? Is there enough to do justify spending the money to only get 5-6 hours? I really wanted to take them to AK but the hours are even shorter!! (We would only get 3-4 hrs. there!)

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

When are you going?

 

[LSUfan4444]

What's the cost to add the extra day and what other ideas would you be giving up to go to Epcot?

There are certainly things to do there, Mondays are good Epcot days crowd wise, and it can be good time for everyone. Spend a few hours in Future World, make dinner reservations somewhere in the World Showcase (or pick a counter service you want) and try and be done with dinner to watch Illuminations.

Without knowing how many days of tickets you have and will be going to (the cost increase), it's hard to answer "is it worth it".?

 

[momofEAP]

We will be arriving on Labor Day. We only have the one day ticket right now so it would be just about $425 for the extra day. If we don't do Epcot we would most likely just wander the resorts and Downtown Disney.

 

[bentopher]

My first trip with my boys (4 and 5 years old) we only spent 5 hours at Epcot (but I had park hoppers), and we were only at The World 4 days.

In 5 hours we did the following...

Quick Service Lunch at Sunshine Seasons
Little Nemo ride (twice)
Turtle Talk with Crush (twice)
Walk around and check out sea creatures
The Land
Soarin'
Ice Cream Treat (break) at FountainView
Journey into Imagination
and played around inside that building afterwards
and a nice table service meal at Garden Grill.

We probably could have done more if I had utilized our time better.
But to me, that was worth it. My boys still talk about Turtle Talk and Soarin' This trip I have allotted more time to Epcot so we can see and do more.

ETA: Although I Don't know if it was worth $425 ... lol (I just saw that other post).

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[mm1971]

We will be getting to the resort about 1 or 2 on a Monday. Is it worth the money to do a 1/2 day at Epcot? We will only have Tuesday to spend at MK and then we will be going the rest of the week to other places. We will have a 9 DD, 8 DD and 6 DS with us? Is there enough to do justify spending the money to only get 5-6 hours? I really wanted to take them to AK but the hours are even shorter!! (We would only get 3-4 hrs. there!)

Are you asking about buying a 1 day ticket vs. 2 day ticket? I want to make sure I understand the question. So I will assume you are planning on spending only 1 day at MK and maybe 5-6 hours at EPCOT.

I guess my first question is why are you staying on property if you plan to be off site so much or are you staying on property? Where else are you going? If going to Universal or SeaWorld, it would make more sense to stay at their hotels to get the benefits like "front of line" access. Have you been to EPCOT before? Do you like to visit the countries or are you looking for rides/attractions?

OK, on to the EPCOT question. For us, yes it would be worth spending the extra $$ for 5-6 hours in EPCOT. It is our favorite park and we enjoy touring and eating in WS. You can get most rides done in 3-4 hours if you use FP for Soarin' or TT and use stand by for the other. Remainder of attractions should be reasonable waits and you can see a lot in 5-6 hours and Illuminations is always a great show.

A lot of the answers are based on assumptions as your original post I had some questions to clarify.

EDIT: Just saw the other post. $425 is a lot for any activity. We paid that for a day at Universal last time so we might still think it was worth it for us, but we LOVE Epcot as stated earlier. Tough decision. If you have the money available, I say go for it. If money is tight, I would say go to DTD and the resorts.

 

[sjs314]

Epcot is a "not to be missed" IMO, so yes I would say it is worth it. can you get a 1-day Hopper and split your MK Day, making it cheaper?

 

[momofEAP]

Are you asking about buying a 1 day ticket vs. 2 day ticket? I want to make sure I understand the question. So I will assume you are planning on spending only 1 day at MK and maybe 5-6 hours at EPCOT. Yes, that is what I am trying to decide.

I guess my first question is why are you staying on property if you plan to be off site so much or are you staying on property? Where else are you going? If going to Universal or SeaWorld, it would make more sense to stay at their hotels to get the benefits like "front of line" access. Have you been to EPCOT before? Do you like to visit the countries or are you looking for rides/attractions? We are only staying onsite for 2 nights. We will be doing Discovery Cove, Legoland and Seaworld. We have never been to any of the parks!

OK, on to the EPCOT question. For us, yes it would be worth spending the extra $$ for 5-6 hours in EPCOT. It is our favorite park and we enjoy touring and eating in WS. You can get most rides done in 3-4 hours if you use FP for Soarin' or TT and use stand by for the other. Remainder of attractions should be reasonable waits and you can see a lot in 5-6 hours and Illuminations is always a great show. I don't think my DS would be able to ride most of the rides do height. (We also have to be careful w/his neck as he has Down Syndrome and his neck is slightly unstable.)

A lot of the answers are based on assumptions as your original post I had some questions to clarify.

EDIT: Just saw the other post. $425 is a lot for any activity. We paid that for a day at Universal last time so we might still think it was worth it for us, but we LOVE Epcot as stated earlier. Tough decision. If you have the money available, I say go for it. If money is tight, I would say go to DTD and the resorts.

We would consider doing the hopper but my girls are VERY into the princesses right now!

 

[Kimi313]

We will be getting to the resort about 1 or 2 on a Monday. Is it worth the money to do a 1/2 day at Epcot? We will only have Tuesday to spend at MK and then we will be going the rest of the week to other places. We will have a 9 DD, 8 DD and 6 DS with us? Is there enough to do justify spending the money to only get 5-6 hours? I really wanted to take them to AK but the hours are even shorter!! (We would only get 3-4 hrs. there!)

We love Epcot so if you don't mind spending the money then yes. I believe as long as you get a FP for Soarin you should be able to ride TT and MS in stand by leaving plenty of time to catch Nemo and Friends and any of the other attractions you would like. Also after all that is done you can enjoy a fun meal at one of the countries or do a progressive dinner around epcot, DD really loved doing that. Then end the day with Illuminations!

 

[automaticsoap]

I also think it's worth it -- IMO you'll have way more fun things to do at Epcot vs. DTD or your resort. Epcot is my favorite resort, and I especially love it in the afternoons and evenings.

 

[LSUfan4444]

We will be arriving on Labor Day. We only have the one day ticket right now so it would be just about $425 for the extra day. If we don't do Epcot we would most likely just wander the resorts and Downtown Disney.

This is a tough one...$425 is alot of money, but I don't know your financial situation. On the surface, if you asked me if 6 hours was worth that much money I would say no.

It doesn't mean it isn't fun and you guys wouldn't have a blast, but I think thats too much money for 6 hours. You could also have alot of fun playing mini golf, swimming in the resort pool, then a dinner reservation at California Grill, Ohana or Narcoosee's, etc. and a viewing of Wishes from somewhere outside of the park (for free). Then, when you went to MK you could spend the time during Wishes doing attractions with shorter wait times.

There is no wrong answer here, but only you can provide the true answer.

 

[mm1971]

We would consider doing the hopper but my girls are VERY into the princesses right now!

With the answers you provided, I would skip it this time. Since you will most likely not do some of the most popular rides, the additional $$ is a lot. I would certainly encourage going on a future trip when you have more time available (and you have more days available to lessen the ticket prices). I would recommend spending the extra time at DTD (the have the new bowling alley done and I hear it is a lot of fun) or in the pool at the resort. With just the two nights, I would think the kids would like to have some pool time.

Discovery Cove is awesome and we love SeaWorld. You'll have a great time there. We are planning to go again in August for a day. If you have extra time, the money you save from not doing the EPCOT day could be used to visit Aquatica at SeaWorld. We may try it this time, friends have said it is really nice and definitely worth the cost.

Whatever you choose, have a great vacation.

 

[EmilyJ517]

I would also skip. Epcot is my favorite park, but - depending on where you are staying - the resort hotel pools/amenities are often overlooked and they are really fun sometimes. Mini golf is also really fun if you can get over there! Either way I don't think you'll regret your decision.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

Hmmm. that is a tough one. $425 is a lot of money. Is this a "once in a lifetime" Florida trip or a "we won't be won't be back for at least 5 years" trip? If yes, then I would definitely pay the money and go.

If, however, you are planning another trip in the near future and will have more time to spend in the Epcot, I would consider skipping it this time.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

We will be arriving on Labor Day. We only have the one day ticket right now so it would be just about $425 for the extra day. If we don't do Epcot we would most likely just wander the resorts and Downtown Disney.

Then I would say it's not worth it

 

[momofEAP]

Depends on who you talk to wether this is a "once in a lifetime" trip. I would love to be able to plan at the very least every other year but the hubby likes to hold onto our money a little bit more!

 

[#1hoosierfan]

Depends on who you talk to wether this is a "once in a lifetime" trip. I would love to be able to plan at the very least every other year but the hubby likes to hold onto our money a little bit more!

I understand!

I would go to Epcot then. No question!

 

[Planogirl]

If you can afford it I say go for it. I certainly wouldn't put myself into a financial bind for it though.

 

[donna111]

I love Epcot, but I think it is not worth it for you. What resort are you staying at? I would suggest you get to the ticket and transportation center and just take the Epcot monorail on a roundtrip - this way you see a little of the Epcot area for free from overhead and it is like a fun ride. Also you could take the monorail or ferry to the main entrance to Magic Kingdom (without going in) and take one of the boats to Fort Wilderness - there you can see some animals and go to the quick restaurant or the Hoop de Do dinner. Or maybe go to tour the resorts along the monorail. Also, you could go over to the Boardwalk hotel, usually you can tell the guard you just want to see the Boardwalk area, and then you can walk or take a little boat over to the back Epcot entrance and without going in you can see a little of France and if you are there at nine pm you can see a little of the fireworks.
I hope you do get to see Epcot some day, but perhaps you can just take a free peek this time and enjoy the resorts, monorail and boats.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful trip.
Donna in New Jersey

 

[lovesdumbo]

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.