Do your young kids like Epcot?

[Sunnywho]

My kids loved Epcot. They were big into meeting characters and the world showcase is fantastic for that. There's also the Nemo ride and Turtle Talk with Crush. Those were hits. Living with the Land ride, Figment ride, the big spaceship earth ride, three caballeros ride. We always do a character meal at Epcot too (Akershus or Garden Grill).

If the parks are super ridiculously crowded and you get very little of Magic Kingdom done, then that's different. But otherwise I definitely recommend Epcot with littler kids.

 

[Planogirl]

Our son loved Epcot when he was little but he fell in love with Spaceship Earth for some reason. He also loved the Living Seas and sadly a few other rides that no longer exist or have changed for the worse.

Kids vary though. You would likely be safer if you stuck with MK.

As for Universal, IOA has a great Dr Seuss area and an amazing playground in Jurassic Park if you plan to only go to that one park. It's costly but I wouldn't rule it out.

 

[Mousemommy1]

My kids personally LOVE Epcot (and have since they were 3 and 5). They love Soarin, TT, Mission Space, the Gran Fiesta ride, SSE, Nemo, Captain EO, Journey into Imagination.....well, there's really not much they don't like there! They love visiting the countries and they love IllumiNations. We spend a lot of time at Epcot and my now DD8 counts it in her top 2 parks (DHS being the other)...

 

[olive]

My five year old also loves Epcot, and has enjoyed it since his first visit at age 2. He likes all of the parks, but on our latest trip I think we spend more time at Epcot than any other park. We enjoyed snacks around world showcase and the agent p game, nemo and turtle talk, mission space, Ellen's energy adventure (may be too intense for the little one), test track and soarin, the land boat ride (he has always loved this), imagination (he loves this, too), spaceship earth - his favorite ride at Epcot, as well as enjoying minor attractions like the fountains and the light up squares on the ground near spaceship earth, and the entertainment around world showcase. Our son also enjoyed talking to some of the folks working at Epcot from other countries, and visiting the stores there.

Of disney parks, we put DHS last. Our son does enjoy star tours, but there is less in that park to hold his attention.

From the other responses it just seems like all kids are different in how they respond to the different parks. We assumed our son would like Epcot based on his interests, and he did.

We went to universal for the first time this year with our sons. The infant couldn't do much, but it was a great first trip to universal and IOA for the five year old. I posted a trip report on it. I agree that you may want to postpone universal so you can make the most of it and then avoid having to choose between disney parks. We loved our visit there, though, so I would highly recommend visiting sooner or later!

Good luck with your decision and enjoy your trip planning!

 

[lucifie]

Mine enjoyed Epcot, but given the choice, I think they'd choose MK. They chose MK for the last day after seeing all the parks. I don't know which one they would choose if they had been to MK, but not Epcot, but I suspect they'd still choose MK.

 

[~Tonga Wingo~]

My nieces and nephews (5, 7 and 12) loved Epcot. It is so much more than just Soarin and Test Track. My youngest loved Turtle Talk with Crush. My oldest loved the aquariums. He spent a lot of time talking with one of the CMs about the dolphins. We did the Nemo ride, Maelstrom, Three Caballeros and toured every country. They enjoyed the countries, shopping, watching the street performers, etc. My niece loved meeting the princesses around the World.

I agree with the others about skipping Universal this time unless you plan on not coming back. An extra Disney ticket would be much cheaper. My youngest nephew was not tall enough to ride anything except in Dr. Seuss. My niece (7) was right on the line. We managed the main HP ride for her and we rode Jurassic Park. My oldest nephew 12 rode HP and looked at stuff in the Marvel Section. My sister rode the Hulk. We spent almost three hours in line to ride HP by the time we did the parent swap etc and my niece and I spent two hours in line for Jurassic Park while my sister took my nephews to Dr. Seuss and Marval. All in all combined I think we managed 5 or 6 rides between all of us. It wasn't for lack of planning either. I am an over-planner. Just busy and they were short for most of the rides. We didn't buy the FP add-on as it was expensive just for the days worth of tickets. The kids did enjoy the HP section (it was the reason we went as the 12 and 9 year old are huge HP fans). However, if I ask them what their favorite part about our week was, HP and Universal isn't even mentioned.

If you have two Disney days, I would do MK the first day and decide the second day after that depending on what you get done at MK.

 

[Kaylasmomma]

as suggested by another poster i would skip universal..thats just my opinion

I didnt see you mention DHS (studios) you have a 3 and 6YO... do they watch anything playhouse Disney??

i cant believe there are posters saying there isnt enough to do at Epcot ..its my 7YO.. FAVORITE park. There is TONS of interactive stuff with both innovations , the land is really cool, soaring is AWESOME.
Every country usually has stuff going on too and this is where a lot of characters are ...

I think its each to his own

my neighbor just got back from Universal he has a 5YO (and is sitting next to me right) his 5YO hated universal and he said there is not enough stuff to fill a whole day for under like 10

 

[Mom24Princesses]

Our first 8 night trip was when we had just 2dds just barely 5 & 3. They enjoyed Epcot. Our younger dds visited it at 1, 3,4,5,6,7 We had a lot of great experiences.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I think the only reason we go to Epcot is for Soarin.' Oh and Turtle Talk. The kids enjoy that. I'd be OK with not going to Epcot at all. It's a half day park for us, and that's only to wait for our FP to come up.

ETA: Actually, rethinking this, I think the biggest draw for my kids with Epcot is getting there via monorail. My three year old (who was two on our last trip) told me the other day, "We go to Epcot on the monorail." Yep. Other than that, he hasn't mentioned Epcot at all.

 

[ammag]

Our 5 yr old loved it, we did one half day future, one full showcase with a bit more future. She loved everything others mentioned, countries, great characters, land, caballeros, etc. she was enthralled with spaceship earth we did it 3 times, when park was at a 1 crowd level. It's nice for kids to slow down a bit there too, explore things after space. Earth, innovations, mission to mars games etc. just having ice cream by the fountain was nice. I don't understand why many people assume kids won't like it! (if they are not familiar).

 

[mickeypro]

Epcot (then EPCOT Center) has been my favorite park since age 3 (this according to my parents). My earliest memories of WDW was having to beg to be taken to EPCOT Center at age 7.

I recently took my friend's daughter, who is 5, to WDW. At first, she was reluctant to go, preferring of course to see all the traditional Disney fare at the Magic Kingdom. After we finally convinced her to go to Epcot, she fell in love with it. So much so that it became her favorite park and now she wants to become a scientist when she grows up. Surprisingly, her favorite attraction turned out to be "the big ball" (spaceship earth) - which is probably the most educational ride in the entire park!

 

[Timandalicia]

Our kids loved Epcot at that age, but the question really is: when will you be back? They'll like it more as they get older. If you only get one shot at the Magic Kingdom while your children are that young, I say double down while they are still more Winnie the Pooh, and a little less Test Track.

 

[Mom2darlingboys]

Our kids have loved Epcot since they were 5 and 8. It's still their favorite thing to do. I think they like that they keep moving, not too many long lines, the kidcot stations, colouring, characters, lots of different foods (we eat around the world and get something from every country to share). They absolutely LOVE the mini-train village (next to Germany) and the entertainers.

I will add - they have NEVER loved the pavilion movies (Canada, France, China, Norway), and agree to do one every trip, but the rest of the time - FORGET it. Totally bored. The rest they've loved!

 

[tiggspring]

Epcot has always been my kids favorite park. Each trip we have had extra time and without fail they want to be in Epcot. I think it may come down to how the parents approach the parks. My kids were going to museums, Avery's, conservatories , zoos and non ride parks since they were infants. We spent many days using their imagination to decided what it would be like to be an animal, live in a fort ,live in the desert where a cactus or other cool plant was from etc so when we got to Epcot and Animal kingdom they weren't bored but amazed. Some children do not like these things no matter what but most do if you help them use their imagination in these places. My dd8 biggest complaint in November was that the Epcot masks you used to make in each country were replaced with a cardboard Duffy the bear. While cute she hated that it had nothing to do with the countries. She liked making masks that looked like the countries she "visited".

Be sure to stop and see the mime in Italy the Chinese acrobats etc. They really make a nice short diversion for the kids. My kids also liked meeting Remy in France for lunch. It was a little tricky to time our reservation right but it was fun. You may also consider using the longer boring shows like the American adventure at nap time. Its cool and easy to fall asleep in there. Of course this only works if your kids don't cry when they get close to nap time.

If you kids like to explore things and don't have to be electronically entertained every minute than I sure you will find plenty of things they will enjoy in Epcot.

 

[tiggspring]

Epcot has always been my kids favorite park. Each trip we have had extra time and without fail they want to be in Epcot. I think it may come down to how the parents approach the parks. My kids were going to museums, Avery's, conservatories , zoos and non ride parks since they were infants. We spent many days using their imagination to decided what it would be like to be an animal, live in a fort ,live in the desert where a cactus or other cool plant was from etc so when we got to Epcot and Animal kingdom they weren't bored but amazed. Some children do not like these things no matter what but most do if you help them use their imagination in these places. My dd8 biggest complaint in November was that the Epcot masks you used to make in each country were replaced with a cardboard Duffy the bear. While cute she hated that it had nothing to do with the countries. She liked making masks that looked like the countries she "visited".

Be sure to stop and see the mime in Italy the Chinese acrobats etc. They really make a nice short diversion for the kids. My kids also liked meeting Remy in France for lunch. It was a little tricky to time our reservation right but it was fun. You may also consider using the longer boring shows like the American adventure at nap time. Its cool and easy to fall asleep in there. Of course this only works if your kids don't cry when they get close to nap time.

If you kids like to explore things and don't have to be electronically entertained every minute than I sure you will find plenty of things they will enjoy in Epcot.

 

[rizzo0904]

As a kid, and as an adult, Epcot was my favorite park. I'll be taking my 3 and 5 year old boys in September and i expect them to love it. The rides will be a hit. They'll love the fountain. My older son is a food fanatic...his favorite is sushi. So he's going to think it's awesome being able to try new food all around the world showcase. And I'll let them each buy some candy in every country. I'm excited for it!

 

[Suellen]

My kiddos love it - always have. They like kidcot And they like looking at the toys from different countries.

they like the movies about other countries, Nemo, Journey, Soarin, Test track, Mission Space. They love the butterfly tent when it is up - the fairy houses, the playground when up. Spaceship Earth is a big favorite - oh and The Great Pig Race.

Can't forget Living with the Land. Really they would choose it almost every time over any other park.

 

[Herfnerd]

My two kids have always like Epcot - at least they better, if they know what's good for them!

 

[Albytaps]

I also would take another look at leaving Universal (or WDW) for another trip if you're budgeting. Unless you plan to not go back to Orlando for many years or ever again, it's much cheaper buying multi-day passes to one or the other.

As far as Epcot goes, the kids will most likely prefer more MK time. However, Epcot is wonderful. I wouldn't miss it if you haven't gone there yet. There are plenty of things to do for the kids... maybe you can just bypass going around ALL the countries in the World Showcase. Just stay to the left and hit up Mexico and Norway (rides.) Future World has plenty of kid friendly things to do. I would skip AK and DHS and do MK and Epcot.