Do Families w/ Sm Kids go to Epcot?

[LeeAnn]

Planning ahead for our time in Epcot w/ DD 2-1/2yr and DS 16mo. Are these attractions good for young kids?

EHM - Mon (In 2 Weeks) 8:00A
Leave a Legacy
Spaceship Earth
Innov. East (Make a Plastic Robot)
The Land - Soarin' (For adults w/ FP & Baby Swap)
The Land - Living With the Land (Is this good for kids-Keep them interested?)
The Land - Making Cookies
Imagination - Honey I Shrunk The Audience
Imagination - Journey Into Your Imagination With Figment (Good for Kids?)
Imagination - The Image Works
Depending on time, Character on Holiday @ Showcase Plaza


ADR 12:10 PSB Lunch
Character on Holiday if missed eariler.
Innov. West for "Meet & Greet Character" sometime after 1:30P


LEAVE for Mid-Day Break - Nap 2:30/3:00P
Return at 6:00P for World Showcase.


Do I have enough time for...
Attractions @ Mexico & Norway, Kidcot at all countries, and eat the different foods from IF&W Festival... and get an OK spot for Illum.


Good plan or too crazy?

 

[LegoMom3]

Can't say for the 16-mo. old, but our last trip my youngest was 2 1/2. He had a great time in Epcot! We didn't get to the countries so not sure about that. I know they have KidCot Fun Stops where they can do little activites and such. But in Future World there was plenty to hold his attention. He LOVED Spaceship Earth! Also Living Seas (which I hear is currently closed for refurbishment and not sure when it reopens), and Journey Into your Imagination with Figment. After Figment there's a lab type place where they have all sorts of fun interactive stuff, like stomping out a song or waving your arms to conduct music and lights on the wall! My kids loved that. Obviously compared to MK it's not so much geared to the younger set, but it's not out of the question, either.

 

[klj27]

We do! It's our favorite park and I think the kids feed off of our excitement.

 

[tommygirl79]

Most of what you have for the morning sounds fine. Just take it one attraction at a time. One thing I would skip or do baby swap would be Honey I shrunk the audience. It's pretty loud and there are some scary things that we didn't take either of our daughters (3 1/2 and 18 months at the time) in. I would skip this. I don't know if your kids are stroller sleepers at all, but we did PSB late morning and rode Maelstrom. By the time we got to the rest of World Showcase they were tired and it proved to be THE BEST place for them to rest. Enough to look at while laying down in the stroller but not enough to keep them awake. It gave us adults the perfect opportunity to enjoy WS for awhile while pushing them around. By the time we made it to England they were awake to see Pooh Bear and Eeyore and then on to Future World.

You could most definitely go for the rest as planned at your resort (I'm fully aware that some people have very strong opinions on this). Only you know whether you/your kids need a break completely away from everything, so take this with a grain of salt please. However, we found that it was nice to have some adult time in the WS to shop, sit down and take a breather in a great location, etc and they got the rest they needed.

If you do go for a break, you most likely won't make it through the whole WS and be able to see EVERYTHING, but you could pick some favorites and get a good spot for Illuminations while enjoying a nice evening snack if nothing else.

I just know, for me, I couldn't even come close to getting WS done in that time amount.

Good luck on all your decisions...

 

[GEM]

Our two year old loves Epcot! In fact, he's been to Disney World at 12 months, 20 months, and 26 months - and he's loved Epcot every time, which is a good thing because it's DH's and my favorite park!

Some of his Epcot favorites:
-Journey Into Your Imagination
-Spaceship Earth
-The Living Seas (he LOVES fish!)
-watching the Fountain of Nations "dance" to the music, especially at night with the lights
-all the performers in World Showcase - especially the Chinese acrobats and MoRockin' (the band in Morocco)
-Illuminations (easily his very favorite thing in all of WDW - on every trip)
-playing on the boat in Norway
-the Maelstrom boat ride in Norway (LOVED it!)
-the model train running through the little town in Germany
-The Jammitors (I thought his head would explode from excitement! Trashcans, brooms, and music are three of his great loves. To have them all combined was almost too much for him.)


And, for what it's worth, we happily spend a whole day in World Showcase - and then go back several more nights for dinner and entertainment! No way could we do World Showcase in only a couple of hours. If you do, you'll be rushing and you'll miss all the little things that make it so special.

 

[ZippyDooDah]

I ditto GEM. Our son went at 5 mths, 11 mths, 1.5 and 2.5 yrs. And in addition to all things mentioned by GEM, our DS liked to just watch the cars go around test track. The Ellen Degeners Energy ride (can't remember name) might be fun too. But it is full of dinosaurs so could be too scary. And don't forget the ride in Mexico. Epcot is a place you'll want to go and stroll most any night.

 

[utahkennedys]

We took DD3 this past April and then just on our last trip a few weeks ago. I don't think it's the best park for kids obviously, but she didn't seem bored. On the plus side, we saw SO many princesses and no other kids were ever around! DD had about 5 minutes totally alone with Aurora outside of France in a small garden. We only go for 1/2 days or so to EPCOT anyhow since it isn't my favorite or dh's favorite either.

 

[Huntava]

I really love to hear about things that toddlers will love about Epcot. We will be there in November, and I have been taking many notes from Disboards on this very subject. From what I have heard there are so many things, from the characters to other attractions that toddlers will love.

 

[Lesley]

My kids have always loved Epcot too. Honestly I think the kids' enthusiasm, especially at such a young age, has the most to do with whether or not the adults are having fun. Besides the attractions there are a couple of water splash areas for kids that mine like too.

Have fun!

 

[R4racing]

These are my then 2 yr old's impressions, at least what appeared to be her impressions.

Spaceship Earth--It was ok
Innov. East (Make a Plastic Robot)--got bored with the intro, but liked the robot
The Land - Soarin' (For adults w/ FP & Baby Swap)-adults and 5yr old loved it
The Land - Living With the Land (Is this good for kids-Keep them interested?)--no real opinion one way or the other, liked the Mickey veggies
The Land - Making Cookies--did not do this
Imagination - Honey I Shrunk The Audience--did not do this
Imagination - Journey Into Your Imagination With Figment--2yr and almost 3yr old liked it, there is one totally dark spot
Imagination - The Image Works--liked parts of it
Depending on time, Character on Holiday @ Showcase Plaza--took a little bit to warm up to characters
Mexico and Norway rides--liked them both, but not too keen on troll in Norway


2yr old and 5yr old liked the Kidcot stops, but they take too long decorating the masks to really get all the stops in along with everything else in one day.

 

[Merriwind]

Planning ahead for our time in Epcot w/ DD 2-1/2yr and DS 16mo. Are these attractions good for young kids?

EHM - Mon (In 2 Weeks) 8:00A
Leave a Legacy
Spaceship Earth
Innov. East (Make a Plastic Robot)
The Land - Soarin' (For adults w/ FP & Baby Swap)
The Land - Living With the Land (Is this good for kids-Keep them interested?)
The Land - Making Cookies
Imagination - Honey I Shrunk The Audience
Imagination - Journey Into Your Imagination With Figment (Good for Kids?)
Imagination - The Image Works
Depending on time, Character on Holiday @ Showcase Plaza


ADR 12:10 PSB Lunch
Character on Holiday if missed eariler.
Innov. West for "Meet & Greet Character" sometime after 1:30P


LEAVE for Mid-Day Break - Nap 2:30/3:00P
Return at 6:00P for World Showcase.


Do I have enough time for...
Attractions @ Mexico & Norway, Kidcot at all countries, and eat the different foods from IF&W Festival... and get an OK spot for Illum.


Good plan or too crazy?

My DD7 has loved Epcot since her first visit at 25 months. With such little ones, you may want to play it by ear a bit. I think your schedule, which basically has you covering all of World Showcase and most of Future World is probably a little too ambitious. Sorry.

I would avoid Honey, I shrunk the Audience. It's loud and intense. There's been a crying child carried out almost everytime I've been to it. Leave a Legacy wouldn't be very interesting to anyone, imho. DD has always enjoyed
Spaceship Earth. It's a little dark, but relaxing. Perhaps you could time Soarin to correspond to cookie baking? The Land boat ride is interesting--for adults. If your kids will enjoy being on a boat passing by different scenery and through a greenhouse, they'll do fine. It's about 15 minutes long. Kidcot stations may get old for such little kids, unless they're really into coloring.

Definitely see the characters on holiday--great way to meet lots of characters. The Mexico boat ride is festive. Norway's ok, potentially scary, but easy to distract mine away from the trolls and such when she was little. See how they do. Hands-on activities at Innoventions and the ImageWorks should be popular too.

Sorry to ramble. See how they do and take your cues from your kids. There is so much to do at Epcot. Try not to feel stressed to get it all in, just enjoy!

 

[mrstbalt]

We took our girls almost 4(autistic) and 5, they were bored for the most part. They liked Spaceship Earth, Test Track,Mexico and Norway. Honey I Shrunk the Audience scared them and every other kid in there. Imagination! is nothing like it use to be, ok so that was 14yrs ago...they got to meet Figment which they liked. We went on Soarin'...I wouldn't wait more then 20min for it. IMO it was just ok. Wonders of Life was closed and so was Living Seas, which I think the girls would of liked. I was told they are putting in a ride and also making the Nemo section including Turtle Talk With Crush bigger...it's going over so well I guess. Overall I wouldn't go back until the kids are older then 7, we felt the same way about MGM. We had a great time at MK and AK though.