1st Disney World Trip - Skipping Epcot ok?

[Huff]

Kids generally love Nemo, Figment, Turtle Talk and of course the new Frozen but the other rides they wouldn't be able to go on. Some of the restaurants are very kid friendly such as Teppan Edo. Illuminations fireworks show is good too. Kids would love the aquarium, dolphins etc.

That said if you were skipping a park then Epcot would be the one to skip with young kids. If AK closes at 5pm then it can easily be a two day park to see all the shows and see all the animals. If you have park hoppers then Epcot would be good to go in the evening.

 

[Huff]

Epcot is considered the second best park at WDW,no way I would skip it in favor of a 3rd day at MK.

It's a favorite for many but the OP has very young children. Epcot is more of an adult park, especially world showcase.

 

[shanethesaint88]

When i first read the title i thought, you cannot skip Epcot! Thats crazy. But since i read you dont have park hoppers then i kind of get it now. Especially with young children its probably hard to spend an entire day at epcot. I personally would never skip any of the parks on a disney vacation. But i also find things in each park that i absolutely love. So bottom line for you though...skip it. Do the things you absolutely wanna do! If Epcots not on that list, no shame in that

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

It's a favorite for many but the OP has very young children. Epcot is more of an adult park, especially world showcase.

I'm not sure I agree with that. EPCOT was my favorite park when I was two years old. I loved (and still love) Spaceship Earth and Journey Into Imagination when I was a kid, and loved running around the countries and trying new foods.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I could skip epcot for the rest of my life. The only reason we really go is to ride the Finding Nemo ride. I'd rather have 3 MK days than 2 MK and 1 epcot

 

[RedAngie]

It's your vacation. Do whatever you please. Skip Epcot if you think you'll enjoy the other parks better. Epcot will still be there, hopefully improved, if you decide to return.

 

[ELSA711]

Because it's the first trip, I wouldn't skip it.

 

[disneylove16]

I would definitely not skip Epcot. It was my brother and I's favorite park when we were little. In fact, when I think back on our countless trips to WDW as kids, most of my memories are at Epcot (and a few at MGM). Now they have Soarin, which is a must do for us, and your kids may like Nemo, turtle talk with Crush, and there are a lot of hidden gems in WS your kids may like. Club Cool is fun for little ones, watching the candy being made in Japan (I forget her name at the moment), the characters that you can find in the countries (Aladdin, Jasmine, Belle, Alice, etc. The entertainment in the countries is really something!

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Also, 3 days at MK is way, way too much. You can do all of MK in 2 days.

 

[Angel Ariel]

It's a favorite for many but the OP has very young children. Epcot is more of an adult park, especially world showcase.

That wasn't true for our family at all. I spent more time in Future World with my nephews than I ever have as an adult traveling without kids.

 

[Indio]

The storytellers are all throughout the day, not just at night. The Candlelight processional starts at 5ish and runs into the night.

 

[Jonestown000]

Just want to say to all that I appreciate all the advice, opinions, and input!!!

 

[Sevey13]

Lots of great opinions!

Ultimately, as a few previous posters have stated, it will be up to you to decide what is best for your family. Here are some questions that might help guide you.

1) Looking at your family's plans for the Magic Kingdom, do you feel two days is 'enough' to do the majority of what you want to do?
2) Do your kids like to try different foods, or are they more on the picky side?
3) Have your kids ever experienced live musical performances?
4) Does your family have plans to travel to other countries in real life outside Disney in the next few years?
5) Does your family value intellectual curiosity?
6) Are there any characters at EPCOT not at the MK that your kids might like to meet?
7) Is there a certain type of cuisine your older likes to eat? Chinese, Mexican, etc.
8) Do you have park hoppers?

If you answer no to question 1 and feel you need a third day at the MK, then by all means strongly consider the Magic Kingdom.

If you answered yes to some of the rest of the questions, consider adding EPCOT in there. When I went as a youngster, it helped sparked my interest in continually learning about the world around me, something still important to my life today. If your older really likes Teriyaki, going to EPCOT means you can get some fresh Japanese food for dinner and eat it in an authentic Japanese garden with paper lanterns casting colored light around a babbling brook leading to a koi pond. If you have never taken your kids to see live musical performance, and this is not part of your plans for parenting, EPCOT has a number of kid-friendly bands that can help stimulate their minds and some other live offerings that will spark their imagination, very important for young kids. If you have park hoppers, it gets even easier. Hit EPCOT in the morning. Spend time there, and if it isn't working, ditch out and head to the MK.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I could never skip it, but it's my favorite. The character meets there were the best of our trip.

 

[Pmlocke]

Do yourself and especially your children a big favor and get a Park Hopper Pass. Do not try to spend the entire day at one park. With children that age you need to take a break and going back to your hotel and taking a nap is the best way to do that. Then go to a diefferant park for the evening. The next day, go back to the park you were at during the evening in the morning to experience it in the daylight. Be warned, EPCOT's World doesn't open until I believe 11 AM but the kids will probably enjoy the front of the park more any way. That way you can enjoy all of the parks, both during the day and night time and you will not over do it

 

[mshanson3121]

My family will be headed to Disney World Dec 4th - 10th. We are staying at the Polynesian and are trying to finalize which parks we want to visit to so we can make our dining reservations. We have two kids, and at the time of the trip our son will be 5 and our daughter will be 1.

We definitely going to do 2 days at MK, 1 day at HS, and 1 day at AK. We have one other day to plan, and we are considering skipping Epcot altogether, most likely in favor of a 3rd day at MK.

Is this a good move? It doesn't seem like there's all that much at Epcot that would really appeal to us given the kids' ages. We don't have park hoppers, so it's just one park per day for us.

Appreciate any advice.

There's probably not much I can add to this, but here's my two cents anyways

Overall, I would go. December would be a beautiful time to visit, and there'll be extra entertainment. There's character M&Gs, the live entertainment is nice, the and there's some fun things for younger kids: Figment, Turtle Talk, Nemo, Soarin, Frozen ride (Test Track can be hit or miss, it flat out terrified both my 8 & 5 year old, but many kids love it) etc... But that said, no, there's definitely not as much there for young children like you have, as MK. So if you have park hoppers I would at least plan a half day there.

That said, if you don't have park hoppers... I would just leave it up in the air and see how you feel that day. See if you want an extra day at MK or elsewhere, or if you want to head into EP. It's their first trip, so they're not going to know what they're missing. And if you plan on going again, then you can always hit EP the next time, when they're a bit older.

For our family, on our first trip (kids were 8 & 5) we did 3 days at MK, 2 days at AK, 1 day at HS and 1 day at EP. And still easily would have loved more time at MK, AK and HS. Granted we weren't doing full days on all of those, I think we spent a total of 20-21 hours at MK, 10 hours at AK, 12 hours at HS and about 5 hours at EP. We would have spent more time at EP too, because we missed stuff I know the kids would have liked, but, it definitely didn't compare (for them) to the other three parks.

 

[mshanson3121]

Also, 3 days at MK is way, way too much. You can do all of MK in 2 days.

I think you'll find you're pretty alone on this opinion. Especially during busy season. In no way can you do all (rides, shows, parades, fireworks, meet & greets) of MK in 2 days. Especially traveling with young children. Highly unlikely that's going to happen. We spent 3 days at MK (a total of about 21 hours), and it was way, way not enough. Not only did we not get everything done, we just loved it and wanted more time there.

 

[loves to dive]

While my son is grown now, we have been going since he was 2 1/2 and he always loved Epcot much more than MK. The trick to Epcot is to explore and go slow, as others have pointed out, it's not an amusement park so much as a learning park. I'm a firm believer that if it's our first time and you have more than 4 days, you should really do all four parks just to see what they are about. There is no way you are going to know if you or your family will enjoy them until you try them. Each park has something to offer to all age groups.

 

[Jfsag123]

As many others have said, you know your kids and family best, and so,ultimately you can make a better decision about what will or won't work for you better than anyone on this forum. That being said, I'll be another voice that says give it a try. My kids were 5 and 2 on our first trip. While I thought they would be all about the Magic Kingdom (and they did love it, of course), after it was over both of them said their favorite park was Epcot. My son's favorite ride at 2 was Spaceship Earth. Now that he's tall enough to have tried other things, he has a new favorite - Soarin'. My daughter's favorite was and continues to be Test Track. They also love all of the hands-on activities after each of the attractions in Future World. For us adults, you can't beat the food and drink options in World Showcase. Plus the atmosphere is like nowhere else.

Bottom line, you may not like it, but you won't know unless you try. I wouldn't skip any parks on a first trip if I had enough days to hit them all.

 

[dreiwhit]

IMHO, I wouldn't skip Epcot. Its actually my favorite park. I love the combination of rides and the World Showcase. You can do some character Meets & Greets at Epcot as well.

When we went to MK last March, we did a lot of character M&G. Pretty much all of them besides Woody & Jessie. We ended up being in the parks from shortly after rope drop until fireworks. The M&G do take up a lot of time. We didn't get to do many of the things we wanted to do because of the time spent in line with M&Gs.

If you skip all the M&G, you can do MK in two days. If you want to do character M&Gs at MK, I would add the third day.