Breaking Epcot into Two Days

[mumumouse]

Usually do one day in Epcot. My strategy was always doing FW stuff in the a.m. Miss heading straight to Soarin' to get the fastpass!

Then I would do some of the Flower and Garden/Butterfly garden stuff/Figment, etc. before heading toward Canada or Mexico. WS can be killer earlier in the day when the Florida sun is at its strongest! So, thru trial and error this had become my plan.

Did the same last year. All went well, felt like we had a very productive first part of the day. Headed toward Mexico. My back was already feeling pooped out. Yikes! I became a cranky person. The rest of WS was totally unpleasant for me because of my back. I remember fussing at the kids while they were doing the Agent P. game. Never thought I would make it to France!!

This year I am trying a new strategy for old folks with bad backs. LOL. I can laugh now.

Just wondering how many break EP into a two day park?

With the new fastpass system there is no room for last minute changes, so I would hate to regret this plan.

 

[minnie mum]

Shouldn't you perhaps post this on the Theme Parks board?

 

[mumumouse]

Sorry I do not know how to operate the boards very well.

 

[Babsy]

Sorry I do not know how to operate the boards very well.

See the menu bar just below the Swan/Dolphin ad? Click on the "Disney Trip Planning Forums". Then scroll down and select the "Theme Parks and Attractions".

Or perhaps a moderator will move this for you?

Re your original question:

I am an older lady with bad knees and a finicky back. I break down the theme parks into short visits and then go back later all the time. LONG gone are my commando style touring days!!LOL

Good luck. I am sure that it will be fine. I actually enjoy a more relaxed pace more now. With two days you will get to relax and enjoy the little things more. Epcot is a very large park!

 

[MeridaAnn]

I think splitting up WS is a good idea, not only because it's tiring for anyone, but also because there's so much to take in that it helps to break it up to two days. I like to choose which half I want to do and use the ferries to go across to the other side so that I can start in the middle and make my way up one half, so that I end at the front and don't have as far to go to leave at the end of the day. (The ferries eventually stop running to prepare for Illuminations, so I feel more confident using them at the start of my WS visit than trying to rush to catch them at the end.)

 

[tsme]

We always go multiple times to Epcot WS. I like to make evening ADRs there. So we'll go on multiple evenings to eat and explore. I've found as I get older, it's much easier to slow it down & take on parts of Disney a little at a time. This past trip though, I made the mistake of thinking (that I was younger than I am ), since my DD & DH went back to the hotel, I'll just walk around the WS, browsing, looking, shopping, etc. I made it to America, barely, and sat for 2 hours inside, resting to build up my strength to continue to make it to the IG. So, lesson learned, remember my age & even shopping at Disney is exhausting! Seriously, though, just take it easy, maybe do the evening ADR thing, or go in the morning to one park & to Epcot in the evenings (if you have park hoppers). Whatever works for you & your family is best.

 

[Lynne M]

Moving to the Theme Parks board.

 

[kkayluvsdis]

We always split EPCOT into two days. There is just too much to see and do in my opinion.

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

we always do EP in 2 days.....FW and some counties in WS.....then FW again and the remaining countries

 

[MataHari22]

I always have two days for Epcot, I cannot imagine trying to do it all in one day, and I don't even try and do everything, there's plenty I do not do.

Depending on the trip, if I can, I try and cut the park in half, doing the west side and around to America one day, and then the other day, start with the east side and go around that way.

 

[msmama]

If I split Epcot into 2 days (which I prefer to do but don't always have the time), I usually do (basically) the right side one day and the left side the other day.

Usually 2 hours is plenty of time to do what we want to do in Future World that day so then we move on to WS when it opens.

 

[GPC0321]

Looking at my current draft of the possible itinerary (LOL), I wouldn't be surprised if we find ourselves in Epcot almost every day. It seems to be the default place that I put down. I want to do Future World stuff one morning. I want to hop over there from MK on Easter because I like riding the monorail into Epcot and I want to spend some of Easter doing their "Egg-stravaganza" egg hunt thing just for fun while walking around the World Showcase. I also plan on us going back one evening just for dinner and IllumiNations. And there's another "free day" that we very well might wind up in Epcot just because of the Flower and Garden stuff.

It's just the one park that you don't really have to have a "plan" going in to enjoy. It's kind of a nice place to chill, soak up the atmosphere, eat, shop, and learn something instead of busting butt to go from attraction to attraction.

 

[disnut8]

My advice is to split the park not into Future World and then World Showcase but to do half of each on each day. So, day one, do one side of Future World and then venture out to World Showcase and do one side of that. Take it easy, take it slower. Once in the back, you can take the boat towards the front. The second day, do the opposite sides. The nice thing about this way is that, while walking, there are lots of spots for a rest or a break. Not tons of benches anymore but plenty of stopping spots. Go to the gardens in Japan. Or sit outside at the Liberty Inn in America. Watch the fountain in Future World. Walk to the far back shops in Morocco.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

In the past, we usually went to WDW for 6 days and planned 2 in Epcot.

If you feel up to it, you can ALWAYS visit a few favorites twice. That was kind of our approach. We almost always go on TT, but skip Soarin about 2/3 the time. We can also widely vary how much we stop for shows in the WS. Most trips we never see the America show.

Another option is to park hop with HS. Suppose you cover the WS and it is too early to quit...maybe add hopping to your tickets.

If walking around Epcot is too much, renting a scooter for the day is also might an option to consider. If you rent directly from WDW, renting just on your Epcot day is an option.

If we stay over in the BC/YC area, then we hop into Epcot some evenings for dinner- but visit other parts of the WS.

If you are NOT staying at one of the Epcot area deluxes, then getting to an ADR in Epcot can be a pain, especially if it is pouring rain. Getting from the monorail resorts to WS for dinner is a hike via WDW transportation!

We find waiting on concrete is a killer. It also sounds like maybe you are talking about a summer trip. In summer, we usually take afternoon breaks to escape oppressive heat. We return at night refreshed. If your hotel is close- taking an afternoon break is another option.

 

[jmkjr72]

We do 2 days. The first day we go to the right the second we go to the left
We normally get half way around before we start to tire at Tha point we slow down and skip things and work our way to dinner
The next time in the park by the time we tire we are to stuff we have allready don this trip and if we are too tired we skip stuff we allready did and work our way to dinner

 

[DavidNYC]

Always there 2-3 times especially during Festivals as too much to do and/or eat that overlap (and some acts I like catching are only certain days)

 

[lindsmom]

We like to split it - one day we will do RD and hit the rides that the kids want to do (both under 13 years old for reference). We may do a country or two near FW (i.e. Canada and England). Then we go back to resort for a midday break. Our other "day" will be that evening or another evening, with FP for a few good rides, and a stroll around the countries. We stop at the ones that interest the children most. This way, they get to have rides with each Epcot visit, mixed with some of the country visits.

 

[smiths02]

On our last trip, we broke it up into 3 different visits. First visit was arrival night...we basically just did The Land (Soarin', ate at Garden Grill) and Spaceship Earth on our way out. The next time in Epcot, we slept in/resort pool...we got to Epcot in time to use FP for Soarin and Character Spot before heading to lunch at Biergarten and explored the World Showcase. We ended up leaving as Illuminations was going on (we have toddlers)
The 3rd time in Epcot was a rope drop Future World kind of day until lunch at Coral Reef...we had enough steam to do one Phineas and Ferb mission in Mexico after lunch.

 

[Chelley00]

We break into a Future World Day and then a World Showcase day. Usually on our FW day we have some time left where we feel up to redoing some of the World Showcase things.

 

[Babydreamz]

My advice is to split the park not into Future World and then World Showcase but to do half of each on each day. So, day one, do one side of Future World and then venture out to World Showcase and do one side of that. Take it easy, take it slower. Once in the back, you can take the boat towards the front. The second day, do the opposite sides. The nice thing about this way is that, while walking, there are lots of spots for a rest or a break. Not tons of benches anymore but plenty of stopping spots. Go to the gardens in Japan. Or sit outside at the Liberty Inn in America. Watch the fountain in Future World. Walk to the far back shops in Morocco.

I agree with PP, we always break Epcot into 2 days, sometimes even 2.5 days. This is exactly what we do. Work down one side of the park then into WS and take the friendship boat back to the front after dinner.