EPCOT - 2 day plan - ready for advice

[jenninaustin]

I'll start out by saying I have a touringplan subscription and I've played around with it some but am still struggling a bit with stuff. It's also too early for me to get FP+ but I'm onsite so I'll be able to get them early. THANK. HEAVEN.

Anyway....

Our EPCOT days will be June 8 and June 11 (both listed as recommended on EasyWDW and are listed as crowd 4 and 5 on TP).

I've realized that (1) since I have 2 EPCOT days; (2) since the FP+ are tiered in EPCOT; and (3) because I think it would annoy me to cross the park unnecessarily - it makes the most sense for me to do one day where I FP+ Soarin plus the other stuff on the west side of Future World and then another day when I FP+ TT and do the stuff on the east side of Future World.

June 8 will be the Soarin' side b/c we have a Behind the Seeds tour that day and also have Garden Grill reservations. Those are in the afternoon (I guess that's self-evident for GG).

Having said that - I am completely open to other suggestions. I also realize it's not that far between the west and east sides so this might be silly, I'm just wanting to find the right combination of efficiency plus enjoying the atmosphere and hoping to cut down on the rushing around if it's not required.

I guess I have a few questions related to this plan:
- will one morning be more heavily loaded with stuff than another morning? I know we want to try to do Sum of All Thrills and I'm seeing mixed info on that - do I need to rush there? Is it ok to keep that on my Test Track day and should it be the first thing that day?
- Has anyone else done it this way? Any special little gems we might be able to see with this plan that we might miss if we cross all over or will we end up killing time one day and being too full of activities on another day?
- Our World Showcase plan is to wander and enjoy. Hopefully we'll catch Maelstrom. I don't really care about the Mexico ride this time. I think my kids will have fun with Agent P even though they're older so I'd welcome any advice about how to put that in (I assume just pick it up right around 11?)

 

[jenninaustin]

bump

 

[JimmyV]

If you can do two days at Epcot, then I wholeheartedly agree with your strategy. Make one day a TT day and one day a Soarin' day. Book those FPs for late morning. Maybe as close to lunch as you can. Then, when the rest of the crowds head straight to those attractions first thing, you can have your pick of the litter of the rest of the park. Sum of All Thrills is a great ride, but has a horrible line. So if you do it first thing, or close to first thing, it is an absolute "walk-on" and you can do it several times in a row. Once the line builds to 45 minutes, it is a real drag. But if you have a FP for one of the two "big" attractions at, say, 11:00-12:00 and plan to go at 11:45, you will have an absolutely great time doing things all by yourself from 9:00-11:00, such as Innoventions, Living Seas, etc. Some of the "lesser" Epcot pavilions really shine when you have them to yourself. Two leisurely mornings in Future World will allow you to cover absolutely everything and will provide plenty of time to tour World Showcase before the crowds build. Next time we go to WDW, I am definitely building in two days for Epcot to do exactly what you envision. We have always rushed to do both TT and Soarin' in the same day, usually twice each (if not more). But with FP+, we will go with the flow (Nemo reference) and spread things out for our own sanity.

 

[jenninaustin]

You've really helped me - it's amazing how even if you THINK you're on the right track, it feels a lot better to get confirmation. Especially about the Sum of All Thrills thing - which sounds great - but prob an early thing!