Epcot and toddlers

[Picabo]

How much time should we expect to spend in EPCOT with toddlers? Some have said that kids that age don't like Epcot - however I'd love for the girls to go to Akershaus for breakfast with the princesses! Is there enough other stuff there for them to enjoy that would make it worth it to use a park day there? (We are not going to get hoppers) Would a 2 and 3 yr old enjoy the Kidcot activities or are those geared towards slightly older kids? What else is in EPCOT that 2 and 3 yr olds would enjoy?

I hate to NOT go there b/c I know they'd enjoy Akershaus AND b/c we'll be there during the food and wine festival!

But we only have 4 1/2 days at the parks and it's our girls first trip to Disney. So I'm trying to figure out how to get everything in and not over-do it and wear them out too much.

THANKS!

 

[cmusschoot]

Last year I had planned to spend 1/2 day with my kids at Epcot (ages 3 and 1).

They loved it so much we ended up spending another 1/2 day there.

My son was tall enough at the time to ride both Test Track and Soarin', both of which he loved.

We spent a lot of times in the Seas with Nemo...they also really liked the Land ride. They enjoyed walking around the world showcase...including the Mexico boat ride and shopping in the market there.

Spaceship earth was fun for them too...a bit dark, but it didn't seem to bother either of them.

Well worth a day...

 

[aidtrismommy]

My kids are also 3 and 1 and loved Epcot, we spent a day there. SPaceship earth is a favorite, especially if the little one is tired, they are sure to fall asleep on this ride. The Nemo ride was great and they liked seeing the fish and manatees. They liked innoventions. There is a great character meet there, but can get really busy. The Land was a nice ride and they liked the fact that it was in a boat. There are a few spray fountain areas that they played in for awhile, I couldn't tear them away. After lunch they took naps in their stroller while the adults walked around the World Showcase. We then took the boat to DHS and had dinner and finished the night there. We love Epcot.

 

[3R1C]

When my kids were 3 and 6, we spent (almost) as much time there as MK. We were shocked at home much they liked it. They really enjoyed going to the Kidcot stops.

 

[LWatson]

another family who has kids that liked Epcot here.

We went just after my oldest turned 3 and he loved Innoventions, Space Ship Earth, and kept begging to ride Maelstrom over and over. I think its a wonderful place to show the kids other customs when you cant travel all over the world. We are going again right around Christmas and cant wait to see the Christmas around the World or whatever its called. We too only planned a half a day because we thought it wasnt going to be fun for the boys, but we spent that half a day and then another whole day. The kids loved it. Not everyday you can sample things from around the world w/o driving all over town.

 

[MrsKreamer]

We will be in WDW in Sept for 7 days in the parks. We have allotted 2 1/1 of those days for Epcot. It is my DH and my favorite park and we think our kids will enjoy it as well. I am looking forward to the Living Seas, Living with the Land, Kidcot, and I am also going to make them each a passport for the World Showcase. It will have room for the stamp and for a cast member to write something in their native language.

 

[MrsKreamer]

Oh and my boys are 3 and 5.

 

[monorailsilver]

My kids love Epcot.

But it may be because dh & I do & we don't give them a choice not to.

Like a PP said we spend as much time there as we do at the MK.

My kids like The Living Seas. We had mixed reviews on Spaceship Earth (younger 2 didn't like the dark parts). They liked looking at things, they loved the Imagination Station, loved trying Cokes. The older 2 loved Test Track (I have 3 kids).

They all loved Illuminations.

 

[ktlm]

My DD's 1st trip was at 2 yrs 10 months. We were at Epcot from open to close and did not feel like we had enough time. Other than MK, it was her absolute favorit park. We went back to WDW this May when she was 3 and allocated 2 days to Epcot. Epcot is more about letting the kids explore and less about running from attraction to attraction. My DD loved Akershus (1st trip) and Biergarten (2nd trip). She is princess crazy so she loved world showcase. There are lots of princesses out in the afternoons to see and the lines are not too long. She loved the Kidcot stations- she had fun finding them and getting charms for and decorating her mask (be careful they have permanent marker sharpies). She wanted to ride the boat ride in Mexico multiple times. She loved the Outpost area with drums to bang on- the 1st trip we had to drag her out of there after letting her bang for 1/2 an hour. She loved stopping to watch the street entertainers and exploring the stores, especially the toy store in the UK. She liked the movie in China. On the Future World Side of Epcot, she loved the Nemo ride, Turtle Talk with Crush and exploring the area after the ride. She also loved the Imagination ride and could have stayed in the area after that all day. She also loved the splash pad area over by mission space. If you let them loose there, you will definitely need a change of clothes. We wound up buying a beach towel at Mouse Gear to dry her off. She liked Spaceship Earth and the Land rides too. She liked illuminations too.

 

[kalc12345]

My kiddos LOVE Epcot even the 3 year old. We spend a lot of time there.

 

[tinkermom23]

When we went in April our twins were 2 yrs. old (almost 3) and we all loved Epcot so much that we took another 1/2 day to go back.
They liked the making the masks and coloring, they liked all the cool things to see, DD loved looking for Princesses even though we had eaten with them, but there are princesses all over Epcot!
They were bored while DS9 was doing the KimPossible mission and wanted the cell phone to themselves so I took them to a playground and they loved it there. As a matter of fact, we discovered there were a bunch of awesome playgrounds in Epcot for the little ones!
They really liked the music that was in the different countries and we all had fun with the "magic sidewalk" at night. And the musical water fountains by "Honey I Shrunk the Audience." They were too short for many rides so we used Child swap, and we went to "Honey I Shrunk" against my better judgement and regretted it...

Oh, and we all loved the School bread in Norway!!!!

My opinion.... Spend a day there, it's a different experience than the rest of the parks butit was still great!

 

[badblackpug]

Okay, my kids at a younger age did not enjoy most of the World Showcase part of EPCOT. They liked a few of the shows and demonstrations, and they liked Mexico and Maelstrom, but for the most part they found the countries a bit dull. We did the passport thing, but they were happy to just get it stamped and run off to the next one. They liked the kidcot stations. However, they love the Future World section of EPCOT. We would mainly spend our day over there and then head to WS for dinner and do a little browsing while walking back from dinner.