Does the Living Seas being closed change your touring plan?

[akghutton]

I am so disappointed that The Living Seas will be closing the day before we arrive. I really wanted to take my DSs(5 & 2) to Turtle Talk. I even made each boy a Nemo themed hat to attend this attraction. What a Bummer , but hey we are still going to Disney, so I can't be too upset

 

[duck_adoo]

When is the living seas closing??? I missed that whole thing!!!We were *so* looking forward to it, DD loves dolphins and was hoping to see one!

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

Not at all. We've avoided the Living Seas the last few trips anyway as it was so run down.

I completely agree!! I'm happy that it's closing for renovations...it's in dire need of an overhaul. We skipped it in February on our last vacation. If it happens to be closed next time we visit, it will actually make me happy knowing that on our next trip, Living Seas will be changed for the better and we'll be raring to check it out!!

 

[ReggieB]

We are going in November and have decided to focus just on Epcot and MK, as we have a limited amount of time. I have to say we didn't do The Living Seas in May, as I thought we would get plenty of time to do it in November, so I guess it does alter our plans a little. But as we are still there for Food & Wine festival, just means more time in World Showcase...excited to see some new country booths (yeah Singapore!)

 

[ChrisLei]

Does anyone know when in November it will be reopening? We will be in Epcot on Thanksgiving Day. I am hoping it is open by then. My two are really looking forward to going there

 

[crow11ad]

Wait wait. Start from the beginning. The Living Seas is closed and why and for how long?

 

[gw_lit]

I would agree that Epcot does not have the attractions that a 2 & 5 yr old would find interesting.

What!? I disagree! We spend a FULL day at EPCOT in May with a 2 & 5 year old. "Apricot" as my 5 year old called it, was a huge hit! He love Test Track, they loved Ellen's Energy Adventure, Imagination, the Land, Living Seas (I know it will be closed for a while) plus seeing all of the countries and everything at those countries.

I know different tastes for different folks, but I wouldn't rule out EPCOT as having nothing small kids will find interesting.

 

[AbbysFamily]

Wait wait. Start from the beginning. The Living Seas is closed and why and for how long?

Back to the beginning... According to the Allearsnet newsletter, Living Seas is closing for refurbishment Aug 20 thru late November.

I have confirmed with WDW Tours that Coral Reef will remain open AND the behind the scenes tours will remain open (Woohoo - I still get to 'dive'), but that both Turtle talk and the rest of the viewing area will be closed for refurbishment.

 

[Jackie H.]

I also disagree that EPCOT doesn't have much to entertain kids this age!! My kids loved EPCOT from their first trip - they were 4 and 18 months! Never once have I heard either of them say "I don't want to go to EPCOT".

I think they would enjoy Spaceship Earth. It is dark, but not at all frightening. Do they like dinosaurs? If so, they would love Ellen's Energy...the dinos don't jump out or anything....it is a slow ride through a dino habitat. There would be things they would enjoy in Wonders of Life...but it's closed, isn't it? I bet they would enjoy watching the fountain "dance" to the music. They would like the Simba movie in The Land....the boat ride there is a GREAT place for a cooling off and maybe even a nap! You will enjoy the ride and maybe even the 5 year old...the 2 year old can snooze awhile. There is a great play area when you exit the figment ride and they would enjoy that, I think. The "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience" show is rather intense, however....I don't know if I would recommend it.

Here is another thought for kids the age of yours. Are they afraid of the dark? A lot of rides at WDW are dark even though they are tame (like Peter Pan). When mine were that age (the 5 year old anyway) I bought them these little flashlights on a string. They were very small and they wore them like necklaces. I explained when they felt nervous they could cut it on and shine it on their laps or feet (with a warning I would take it away immediately if they shined it anywhere else). This gave them a feeling of control. After the first day, they no longer used it at all. After the 2nd day, they left it in the room!

Also, here is a thought to consider (another tip I got from these boards years ago). EPCOT is not as exciting to kids this age as the sight of a castle! With this in mind, you may consider planning EPCOT for your first day. They will enjoy it, but they won't be constantly asking to go to Magic Kingdom like they may be after they've experienced MK.

 

[Megangel31]

I am bummed about this as well. I was really looking forward to taking my two older nephews (ages 4 and 3) to see Crush.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I'm so happy that the Epcot Seas Aqua Tours will be taking place. (I called to check as soon as I saw this thread.) We'll be going on Oct. 1st and it's really the highlight of my trip!

Bobbi

 

[mom22boys]

Jackie H. thank you for the great suggestions. That is exactly what I need. Now I am off to allearsnet.com to look up some of these attractions. I have only been to Epcot once and that was in Feb '89, so I will gladly take any help from all of the experienced DIS'ers.

 

[dwmlaf]

It was not a big deal for DBF (58) and myself (43). We work for a commercial diving company and we have seen plenty of divers. I know DBF was not interested in see Turtle Talk. So now we can fit in Ellen's Energy Adventure into our morning plan

 

[crow11ad]

I am kinda bummed. Me and DW really like Turtle Talk. It was so cool. It wont ruin our day, but come on. First Ice Station Cool and now Living Seas. I know that at any time something can be closed, but during the Happiest Celebration on Earth? Everything should be open. Espically with the food and wine festival going on. We love World Showcase and last trip really vistited more of the countries, I guess if they added Soarin, then something needed to take away from the old to give to the new, but geez. At least it won't be closed for good.

 

[PoohBearLovinMama]

Well, I was considering skipping Epcot this time since Living Seas will be closed. Since, that was the one thing Dd2 really enjoyed last time and I can't ride TT or M:S (possibly Soarin'). But I might try out Jackie's suggestions. We didn't really try those last time, thought she'd like the WS kidcot centers (those didn't go over well.) Dd might even be old enough to try out some stuff in Innoventions this time. I guess we'll give it a try, we could always hop somewhere if she really doesn't like it!

 

[Rob_b]

Yep, had to change my plan. I wonder if they will open Wonders of Life while Living Seas is closed?

 

[tinker-kyle]

my problem is this ... we arrive at WDW saturday 8/20 (after a long drive) for 8 nights

we're planning on doing EPCOT several evenings (our free dining package starts 8/21) for dinner and figured we could hit a bunch of things here and there rather than having a whole EPCOT day

we were planning on MK for saturday 8/20 (i dont love MK on saturdays, but its a "tradition")

so ... should we reconfigure our plans to go to EPCOT and tour living seas on its last day open 8/20... we were really interested in Turtle Talk
or should we leave for our next trip which is scheduled for this December?

 

[keishashadow]

I completely agree!! I'm happy that it's closing for renovations...it's in dire need of an overhaul. We skipped it in February on our last vacation. If it happens to be closed next time we visit, it will actually make me happy knowing that on our next trip, Living Seas will be changed for the better and we'll be raring to check it out!!

Funny, we also skipped it in February. My "story" was that it was run down & depressing, but I really just needed one more MK fix and figured we'd be able to see it this December. I'm not announcing this to my family, just hoping the rennovations are completed on schedule; or I'll never hear the end of it.

 

[VAN]

Let me restate ... yes, everyone in my family enjoys Epcot ... even when the kids were small.

However, compared to the other parks, Epcot is greared more toward the "educational". As much as I like Epcot myself, I do not find it nearly as interesting as I did, say 10 years ago. Living Seas is a big example ... I could go down a whole list of things that they used to have and have discontinued. Another example: Spaceship Earth. You used to get off the ride and there were a lot of interactive exhibits for the kids. That has all been closed down. Imagination is not as good as it used to be.

I do hope they restore some of the things they used to having in the Living Seas - when we were there in March they didn't even have the manatee exhibit open!!

I just guess my comments were geared to the fact that a 2 & 5 yr old would find MK much more interesting than Epcot. If someone with small children were pressed for time (only had a few days at the parks vs a week or more) I would recommend that they concentrate on some of the other parks instead of Epcot.

I'm a lover of Epcot and hope that improvements continue to be made!!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

I actually was a bit happy that Living Seas will be closed. There is SO much to do at Epcot. It is DH's first trip (both of us are 26) and I did not want to intentionally skip anything. We have both been to several aquariums and Sea World so this was not really high on my must-see list. This will just be one less thing we have to try to hit at Epcot.