14 years since my last visit to Epcot! Please help!

[MooksterL1]

We frequent WDW and Hollywood Studios, but my kids have never been to Epcot. And it has been 14 years since my last visit.

I have 3 boys - 13, 12 and 8. The 13 year old loves all things Science, the 12 year old is the thrill seaker and the 8 year old is somewhere in between. I know that Soarin', Mission Space and Test Track will be hits with my boys. We are only spending one day at the park and I want to pack as much fun in as possible. What is on your must do list?

Also, would you schedule dinner or just snack around the world instead? Any food recommendations?

Thank you for any response!!

 

[bdoyledimou]

You hit the three best attractions on the nose but forgot Spaceship Earth! -- we usually hit Mission Space then Test Track early then cross over for Soar'n.

Have Lunch at Sunshine seasons - then hit the world showcase -- and just snack -- try to have something new each visit --

 

[Clare Voince]

We frequent WDW and Hollywood Studios, but my kids have never been to Epcot. And it has been 14 years since my last visit.

I have 3 boys - 13, 12 and 8. The 13 year old loves all things Science, the 12 year old is the thrill seaker and the 8 year old is somewhere in between. I know that Soarin', Mission Space and Test Track will be hits with my boys. We are only spending one day at the park and I want to pack as much fun in as possible. What is on your must do list?

Also, would you schedule dinner or just snack around the world instead? Any food recommendations?

Thank you for any response!!

Add Maelstrom to the list. The 8 year old might enjoy Nemo and Imagination. The kid that likes science will enjoy Living with the Land. Skip Universe of Energy.. it's just too long. I would do Biergarten for dinner, the kids will enjoy the show there.

 

[rainwatter]

All three might enjoy the Perry the Platypus adventure in World Showcase. I would snack around the world, so much yummy food in EPCOT!

 

[NC Disney Fan]

We frequent WDW and Hollywood Studios, but my kids have never been to Epcot. And it has been 14 years since my last visit.

I have 3 boys - 13, 12 and 8. The 13 year old loves all things Science, the 12 year old is the thrill seaker and the 8 year old is somewhere in between. I know that Soarin', Mission Space and Test Track will be hits with my boys. We are only spending one day at the park and I want to pack as much fun in as possible. What is on your must do list?

Also, would you schedule dinner or just snack around the world instead? Any food recommendations?

Thank you for any response!!

Oddly Epcot is my 12 & 14 year old girl's favorite park and has been for years. I agree, they will all like all of the "rides" as there are not many. And, unless your boys are shoppers, you will have more time to ride rides than I do since my girls are into hitting all the countries to shop. The truth is, many of the countries are little more than shopping with a movie thrown in. I personally love the USA show. It's quite impressive. Don't miss it. But Canada and France are just movies--nice movies but movies. You can probably skip those for return ride visits.

My girls really enjoy Spaceship Earth as you get to take a quiz at the end that creates a personalized video that can be sent to you e-mail. Very cool. I bet your boys will really enjoy the Innoventions pavilions in the future world section (one of which is entered from the Spaceship Earth ride). It has a bunch of interactive games, creations and science type of stuff. Don't skip it.

Remember, there is the Living Seas pavilion that will thrill all the boys. The Nemo ride is there as well. A sweet ride but the aquarium is awesome.

In terms of eating, I think that Epcot has some of the best restaurants in all of Disney. My family LOVES eating there. One of our favorites is Coral Reef at the Living Seas pavilion. If you eat at 5:30 and request a window seat, you will get to not only see sea creatures right by your table but also scuba divers who come by. Great place to eat! There are other fun places there like the Biergarten (if they like german food) and The Garden Grill at the Land which rotates while eating. Both of these are all you can eat versus the Coral Reef which is an individual entree menu. I don't know boys but if they eat a ton, one of these options may be good for them. Hope this helps.

 

[SimonSez]

Club Cool to sample the different sodas from around the world

 

[Eynsteinp]

My 12 year olds (boy/girl twins) love sum of all thrills in innovations. You design your own rollercoaster and then ride in on a robotic arm/simulator. I would definitely suggest that your boys will love it. I think the other posts hit most of the other must do's.

 

[MooksterL1]

You hit the three best attractions on the nose but forgot Spaceship Earth! -- we usually hit Mission Space then Test Track early then cross over for Soar'n.

Have Lunch at Sunshine seasons - then hit the world showcase -- and just snack -- try to have something new each visit --

Adding in Spaceship Earth! Thank you. And checking out Sunshine Seasons.

Add Maelstrom to the list. The 8 year old might enjoy Nemo and Imagination. The kid that likes science will enjoy Living with the Land. Skip Universe of Energy.. it's just too long. I would do Biergarten for dinner, the kids will enjoy the show there.

Adding Maelstrom to my list here too! Thank you! I love German food.

All three might enjoy the Perry the Platypus adventure in World Showcase. I would snack around the world, so much yummy food in EPCOT!

I think you are right about Phineas and Ferb! Thanks!

Oddly Epcot is my 12 & 14 year old girl's favorite park and has been for years. I agree, they will all like all of the "rides" as there are not many. And, unless your boys are shoppers, you will have more time to ride rides than I do since my girls are into hitting all the countries to shop. The truth is, many of the countries are little more than shopping with a movie thrown in. I personally love the USA show. It's quite impressive. Don't miss it. But Canada and France are just movies--nice movies but movies. You can probably skip those for return ride visits.

My girls really enjoy Spaceship Earth as you get to take a quiz at the end that creates a personalized video that can be sent to you e-mail. Very cool. I bet your boys will really enjoy the Innoventions pavilions in the future world section (one of which is entered from the Spaceship Earth ride). It has a bunch of interactive games, creations and science type of stuff. Don't skip it.

Remember, there is the Living Seas pavilion that will thrill all the boys. The Nemo ride is there as well. A sweet ride but the aquarium is awesome.

In terms of eating, I think that Epcot has some of the best restaurants in all of Disney. My family LOVES eating there. One of our favorites is Coral Reef at the Living Seas pavilion. If you eat at 5:30 and request a window seat, you will get to not only see sea creatures right by your table but also scuba divers who come by. Great place to eat! There are other fun places there like the Biergarten (if they like german food) and The Garden Grill at the Land which rotates while eating. Both of these are all you can eat versus the Coral Reef which is an individual entree menu. I don't know boys but if they eat a ton, one of these options may be good for them. Hope this helps.

My boys eat like grown men! LOL They won't really want to shop though, although I may. Thank you for the suggestions. I will be looking over menus tonight! I downloaded the Disney Experience app and it looks like I can still get reservations for most restaurants - we will be at Epcot next Thurs.

Club Cool to sample the different sodas from around the world

Oh, this is awesome! They will love it. They have been to the Coke factory in Atlanta and it was a huge hit. Thank you!

 

[MooksterL1]

My 12 year olds (boy/girl twins) love sum of all thrills in innovations. You design your own rollercoaster and then ride in on a robotic arm/simulator. I would definitely suggest that your boys will love it. I think the other posts hit most of the other must do's.

Adding this too. My 13 year old in particular will love this! Thank you so much!

 

[MooksterL1]

My 12 year olds (boy/girl twins) love sum of all thrills in innovations. You design your own rollercoaster and then ride in on a robotic arm/simulator. I would definitely suggest that your boys will love it. I think the other posts hit most of the other must do's.

I just pulled this up on YouTube and it looks like there is a jet option. My 13 year old will flip! Flying jets is a career goal right now.

 

[bdoyledimou]

oh and Club Cool! Free softdrinks from all over the world -- and Beverly --

 

[thumper*]

Didn't read all the post so sorry if this has been mentioned. The boys would probably like the Sum of all Thrills. They can build their own coaster and then ride a simulation of it.

 

[MooksterL1]

Thank you all so much! We are getting really excited!!

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

My 12 year olds (boy/girl twins) love sum of all thrills in innovations. You design your own rollercoaster and then ride in on a robotic arm/simulator. I would definitely suggest that your boys will love it. I think the other posts hit most of the other must do's.

I was just going to suggest this

 

[Order66]

If your kids are at all into Japanese entertainment, anime, godzilla, transformers or pokemon stuff....do make time to at least stop to shop in Japan. They have a huge store and half of it is just filled with that kind of stuff. I have 2 boys, now 14, and they still spend the bulk of their souvenir money in there. My son was so excited to finally find some Kingdom Hearts merchandise. He loves that series, but it's not as wildly popular here as it is in Japan.

regards

 

[babydoll65]

My son (now 17) has loved epcot since he was 8. Japan is his favorite country since they are the creators of pokemon. Favorite place to eat is via napoli in Italy. All of us are pizza lovers nd they have the best.

 

[MooksterL1]

If your kids are at all into Japanese entertainment, anime, godzilla, transformers or pokemon stuff....do make time to at least stop to shop in Japan. They have a huge store and half of it is just filled with that kind of stuff. I have 2 boys, now 14, and they still spend the bulk of their souvenir money in there. My son was so excited to finally find some Kingdom Hearts merchandise. He loves that series, but it's not as wildly popular here as it is in Japan.

regards

Oh my goodness! I may never drag my boys away! LOL They have Transformers?? I have spent a small fortune ordering the G1 Takara Transformers on Ebay.

 

[MooksterL1]

Thank you, babydoll65!

I really can't believe we have waited this long after reading through all of the great responses on this thread. My boys usually beg to hit Star Wars weekend, but my husband and I couldn't work it out with our work schedules this year. Epcot may move up the list with the boys now.

 

[disnut8]

I know it's not thrills and chills but have you checked out the World Showcase entertainment options? This would be perfect for walking around with your snacks since most are open air places where you can come and go as you please. If you like, you stay, if you don't, you move onto the next one. Link is here - http://wdwent.com/

 

[Order66]

Oh my goodness! I may never drag my boys away! LOL They have Transformers?? I have spent a small fortune ordering the G1 Takara Transformers on Ebay.

Yes, they sure do. The shop in Japan is an actual department store chain from Japan. I couldn't tell you which ones they carry however because my kids have moved past them as far as toys. They were more interested in the anime at their age now. But there is a pretty good sized display for Transformers there, and we there last a month ago.

My boys can sure waste a ton of time in that store. The good news is the other half of the store has some very pretty stuff to browse through while the kids are drooling over the toys.

regards