EPCOT at opening

[dthogue]

We are going to WDW for a soccer tournament so we only have 3 days to go to the parks. We want to hit our favorites during that time.

At EPCOT we want to do Soarin', Mission Space and Test Track. If we arrive prior to opening what order should we try to ride these rides? Go to Soarin first - ride or get fast passes then proceed to Test Track, Mission Space?? Just not sure which way to go - I realize we'll have to stand in line for at least one of them.

Thanks,

 

[nono]

For me, I'd get Fast Passes for Soarin' and then head over to ride Test Track. Then, with any luck, you'll be able to pull a fast pass for Mission Space while you head over to Soarin'...and maybe sprinkle in a couple other attactions in there. I find Test Track good, Soarin' better, and Mission Space best. So, I like to do a build-up in the morning. After those three, it's definitely time to chill out and get a cup of coffee!

Have a blast!

 

[Otimon]

Would recommend going right to Soarin and either ride it right away or get a Fastpass or do both!

Then head over to Test Track and Mission Space which both have Fastpass.

Have fun.

 

[disgal1]

Here's what we did,
Soarin first, no FP, grabbed FP on exit, headed to test track, only waited a few minutes, then Mission space, able to do that twice with no wait, then we headed back to soarin using fp.

My kids liked mission space the best, so after soarin the second time, we grabbed a snack, then did mission space again. They only waited 15 min for that.

We did early entry, and entered at the world showcase entrance. Very few people there, walked over to Soarin with no problems.

The kids were shocked at how we did so much by 1030, then headed to MGM.
Also this was on July 4th!!

 

[mo3]

Disgal,
Is it a long walk to soarin from the IG? We are staying at the swan and the unofficial guide says to use the main entrance. Did you go on a EMH morning for epcot?

 

[klj27]

We were there at opening on a very crowded day two weeks ago. Here is what we did:

Straight to Soarin' and got a fast pass.
Road Living with the Land.
Road Soarin'
I stayed in the Land with the three kids while my husband went to get fp for MS and TT. He ran into a CM friend we were meeting and they walked over together. He got the FP for TT, but our friend said that MS doesn't ever get really crowded and he didn't get one for that.
Had lunch at The Garden Grill.
After lunch my husband rode MS (about a 1/2 hour wait).
Next we used our FP for TT.

The only ride we were quick to get to was Soarin. Even though we didn't rush to the other ones we didn't have any problems.

 

[cindyfan]

As another poster said.....M:S doesn't ever seem to get crowded.....
It's our least favorite anyway.
So....we did TT, then could have done M:S but decided to skip it (it happen to be the day after the little boy died )
Then headed to Soarin'.....the wait was short but we needed to get breakfast.....so grabbed FP, ate breakfast, rode Living w/ Land, then did Soarin'.
Then headed back to TT grabbed FP, did some shopping at Mouse Gears, then rode TT again.

The entire week we were there we never saw the line for M:S get longer than a 5 minute wait.
And I think once the novelty of Soarin wears off....the waits for that will decrease.
However, I think TT will always have a long line and need FP.

 

[isyt]

We just did this also and it was myself and 3 kids, I choose to run to TT got fastpasses and ran to Soarin'. We waited maybe 10 min. but it was easier to do it that way with the kids. It was fine. The next week when my dh was there we did it opposite but it was already 9:30a when we got there so we waited on line for TT while dh ran to Soarin' , we waited about 20 min but it was better than the 45min on Soarin or the 90 min when we went back later for our fastpasses. Whenever we did MS it was only 10-15min wait.

 

[ajcolorado]

We were at Epcot in late June. We walked straight to Soarin' and got on quickly. The line was up to 45 minutes when we got off. Fast passes were going later and later into the day rather quickly. Later, we saw 95 minute stand-by lines.

After Soarin', we went to Test Track and then rode Mission Space. Because it was right after that little boy died, we were actually able to pretty much walk on to Mission Space any time we wanted. We rode it several times. Test Track closes down a lot in the afternoons due to lightning.

 

[snappy]

Thursday night at one point (not long before 9 pm) the wait for Soarin' was 3 hours. Luckily we had fastpasses we had obtained in the am that had very delayed returned times. The wait was less once Illuminations started.

We went on Soarin' on two different days this past week. The lines are greatly impacted by whether or not both concourses are open. Only one was open one morning right at opening, the other morning at the same time both concourses were open. Also, Thursday night only one was open when the wait was 3 hours. It was amazing to me that with that many people waiting they did not open both sides.

 

[disgal1]

yes, we were staying at the Swan, and went in the IG on an EMH morning.
We got there at 745, and were almost the first in line. We only had one pack to search, we breezed through. There were very few people in front of us.
I thought it was a quick walk to Soarin.

 

[kirbsam]

go to soarin and grab a fastpass for it right away...then go on soarin...walk to tt, by then you can grab another fastpass, grab it...get in satndby line if it is short...then go back to soarin...ms and back to tt...

 

[snowy76]

We did this in late June (even getting to the park about 15 minutes after opening) and it worked great:

Grabbed FP for Soarin, then got in standby line (about 20 minute wait)
Rode Soarin in standby; as we came out, our FP was good so we rode again immediately.
Walked to TT, grabbed FP.
Walked to M:S, rode standby.
Went back to TT and rode on FP.
After that we hit the rest of Future World.

 

[CanadianPaco]

This has been INCREDIBLE!! What wonderful feedback! Thanks to all!!

 

[dthogue]

Thanks everyone for your very valuable advice - I think we have a game plan for our morning at EPCOT.