Epcot for a toddler!

[jennriggs]

Hi all, is there much to do for a toddler at Epcot?
We have only got a 5 day disney ticket so wondering whether I should skip this park and maybe go to magic kingdom or Hollywood studios a couple of times instead. Our son will be 2 and loves disney junior and toy story!

 

[Rosemc2011]

The finding memo ride is there and the aquarium... My daughter loved that

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Our kids love EPCOT as much as MK. We feel there are more characters to see. We love turtle talk with Crush, Nemo and Figment - which are great for toddlers. Plus INNOVENTIONS West is great for toddlers.

We also love the ride in Mexico - it is like a mini small world boat ride. There is also Kidcot Fun Stop, your child will get a cardboard Duffy for them to decorate and go over collecting stickers at each station.

We would skip AK over EPCOT if we only had 5 days.

Enjoy!

 

[Disneyaddictz]

Our family will skip Epcot for a second day at MK in a heartbeat. But we could also spend a week in MK!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[MSSANDRA]

My boys have always loved Epcot. Our little guy for some reason LOVED Space Ship Earth. Both loved innovations and Ellen's Energy Ride, The Mexico Ride, The living with the land ride, Nemo and Crush and so much more. Remember too that the trip is for you too and your little one will just enjoy being with you where ever you are. We really found HS to be the least toddler friendly. Yes, TSM is great, but chances are you will only get to ride once, and maybe once for the PHDS. Many of the shows there can be a bit scary for little kids. My younger guy liked it much better and earlier than his older brother so it does depend on the kids.

 

[Feberin]

My daughter is nearly two years old (23 months) and we just returned. She loved the aquarium and I think it was one of her favorite things we did all trip. She also enjoyed all the boat rides (Living the Land and Grand Fiesta Tour) and Maelstrom. My son who is older however hated Maelstrom. Both kids enjoyed but weren't thrilled with the Nemo ride. And my daughter couldn't sit through Turtle Talk with Crush.

 

[robndani]

At that age I would choose Epcot over Hollywood Studios. My kids are 4 and they love Epcot. Since I love Epcot (especially during Food & Wine) I've just trained them to love it to. I let them explore in the countries, take pictures with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, etc. and they also love the aquarium!

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

Epcot has been my favourite park since I was 3. There is so many things to do there for a little one! There's the Nemo ride, Spaceship Earth, Figment, and Living with the Land. You can easily kill time at the aquariums after Nemo and the Figment play area. The fountains on Future World can keep a kid occupied for a good amount of time, too! That's half a day at least in Future World! Not to mention the character meets, etc.

As for World Showcase, try to see if you'll catch some performers. There are character meets there and the trains in Germany and the koi pond in Japan (or China?) are really neat!

 

[cmellen]

I agree with the majority here, Epcot is great for kids! It has been my favorite since I was little.

 

[kiramay]

In addition to what's been mentioned, if you go through the shops that exit TT and Mission Space, there's fun things for kids after the rides. At TT my ds2 loved playing in the cars, and at Mission there's a whole climbing maze. We also stopped at all the Kidcot stops to color and get a country stamp. Innovations was a lot of fun, and the play area after Figment....

 

[mommajo143]

The character spot is also an area not to be missed - hit it at the end of the night and there will be little if any wait & you'll gets lots of fun character interaction... My boys stayed in there for 15 min one night goofing off with goofy when no one else was in line...

My boys also LOVE the drums in world showcase by the "Africa" Outpost area and all the street performers found throughout the world showcase are fun too...

I agree EPCOT isn't a park I would skip. Unless you are going during a special event ( food & wine festival comes to mind) when the # of inebriated guests generally keeps us & our kids away...
In general one day is barely enough to see it all much less really experience it all....

 

[dtr_angel]

We usually do 5 park days - 2 days at MK and one day at the other 3. We were just in Disney with our 21 month old and there was plenty for him at Epcot.

 

[texasroni75]

Our last trip our toddler enjoyed the following at Epcot:

The trains in Germany (World Showcase) - he would have watched them all day.
Living with the Land
Finding Nemo Ride
Gran Fiesta Tour ride in Mexico
Banging on the drums at the Outpost (World Showcase)
Looking at the firetruck in Innoventions
Splashpad at entrance to World Showcase
Watching the Fountains just beyond Spaceship Earth
The play area near the aquarium at the exit of Finding Nemo ride.

Taking the ferry back and forth across the water at World Showcase

Going up and down the steps at Canada, and looking at the waterfall outside O Canada.

And, eating all the fun foods along the way!!


Like previous posts mentioned, my son liked Epcot better than DHS (my older kids like both). Despite loving Disney Junior and watching it everyday at home, he just wasn't that into sitting on the floor for the performance of Disney Junior Live!

 

[rachael95]

Our last trip our toddler enjoyed the following at Epcot:

The trains in Germany (World Showcase) - he would have watched them all day.
Living with the Land
Finding Nemo Ride
Gran Fiesta Tour ride in Mexico
Banging on the drums at the Outpost (World Showcase)
Looking at the firetruck in Innoventions
Splashpad at entrance to World Showcase
Watching the Fountains just beyond Spaceship Earth
The play area near the aquarium at the exit of Finding Nemo ride.

Taking the ferry back and forth across the water at World Showcase

Going up and down the steps at Canada, and looking at the waterfall outside O Canada.

And, eating all the fun foods along the way!!


Like previous posts mentioned, my son liked Epcot better than DHS (my older kids like both). Despite loving Disney Junior and watching it everyday at home, he just wasn't that into sitting on the floor for the performance of Disney Junior Live!

Thanks for this list! I actually copied it into my notes for what to do with our DS when we go. Epcot is our favorite park, so we weren't missing it, but definitely wanted him to have some things to do too.

 

[DopeyDame]

Yet another vote for Epcot for toddlers! My son enjoyed it even more than MK when he was 2. And HS was a miserable failure at that age - one day is more than enough there (if that)

 

[scrapbookingpro]

I just wanted to add that my son loved Epcot when he was little, and in addition to the great things already mentioned, he would spend forever in the maze at the UK.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that pace of things at Epcot (and Animal Kingdom) can be very different, compared to the MK or Studios.

In AK or Epcot, you can spend as much time as you want at many of the post-show activities within an attraction. Like at Nemo, you can ride the ride, but then walk around the aquarium as long as you like. Or at imagination, there's the after-show area with interactive things for kids to do, plus fountains. Same goes for AK where you can spend a long time on an animal trail or back in the Rafiki's Planet Watch.

Compare that to the MK, where you go from ride to line to ride to line...there's not as many (any?) places where you can spend 30-45 minuets at a particular attraction. Same goes for the studios.. you can go from Muppets, to Toy Story, to Disney Jr, but then feel like you're done.

Which is all a long way of saying that the pace at Epcot and AK is a nice change from the pace at the MK and Studios with little ones.