Epcot Questions w/ young kids

[timandlesley]

Hello! I am a Disney Fanatic (as are most on this board) and we are planning our next trip to Disney with myself, my husband, and our 4 year old and 18 month old. We spent our last trip at MK, AK, and MGM, we only went to Epcot for dinner and illuminations. This year we are doing the package without hopping and wanted to spend one of our 7 days at Epcot.
For some reason in looking through the books I'm just not that thrilled about our visit there - help me!
What is there to do with younger kids? Will they be board? What would your top recommendations be with kids this age? Any help would be most appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your help, I want to be excited about every day in Disney, and I think I need a little help getting there with Epcot.
Lesley

 

[GEM]

I can't help you with the 4 year old, but I can tell you that when we took my then 19 month old in December, some of his very favorite things on the whole trip were at Epcot!!

He absolutely LOVED -

-The dancing Foutain of Nations. Seriously, we just watched it for like half an hour. He was mesmerized.

-Journey Into Your Imagination. He was crazy about that whole ride!

-Spaceship Earth. He loved this one, too!

-The Living Seas. He LOVES fish, so I knew this would be a big hit, and he went nuts over it.

-The Chinese Acrobats at the China Pavillion in World Showcase. He watched the whole show and was totally fascinated.

-Illuminations. Probably his favorite thing from the whole trip. He jumped up and down, clapped, said "Wow!" like a million times. . . I've never seen him so excited about anything!

 

[gigi1313]

all of that is great for the 4yo also!

and add to that list... kidcot stations throughout world showcase where they make a mask and learn their name in different languages... the boatride in mexico... the candy sculptress in japan... the biergarten w/the oompah band or restaurant w/the bellydancer (i am drawing a blank as to name/country! sorry) or princess meal in norway... there's plenty to keep a 4yo occupied and busy and happy in epcot, try not to miss it!

 

[tazdeb]

It just amazes me that there is this perception that EPCOT is not kid friendly. It has been my daughters favorite park every year since they were 2. The east/west future world pavillions have lots of ever changing hands on exhibits that are like a childrens museum. There is a Coke place that lets you try wierd tasting coke products from around the world. The Living Seas is themed to Finding NEMO and is an aquarium with a cool meet Crush exhibit. Mission to Mars has space related exhibits and free games to play near the exit of the ride ( you dont have to go on the ride to enjoy this). Basicaly there is kid friendly stuff in every building in the" Front half "of EPCOT. The World Showcase is even better. There are kidcot sections in every country where the kids meet and interact with native people from the host country then help them with an art project. Also, each place has entertainment themed to that land. Such as bell ringers in Germany, Acrobats in China, Living statues in France etc.... Another thing that is good about World Showcase is that the characters are themed to the country and there are usually tons of them there. For instance, Alladin and Jasmine will be in Morraco, Peter Pan in England, Belle and the Beast in France,etc....Then there are the different foods that some kids will try and not like, but if you make it a game a least they will become aware of different cultures. There are fountains to play in, bands to listen to, a good fireworks show, and rides, rides, rides..... The thing about EPCOT is its not major attraction driven. Its not a place where you rush from one major ride to another but rather slowly walk and take in the sights and sounds. Its a park where the little things are the attractions and my daughters (and us parents) like that.....TAZ

 

[gigi1313]

i agree completely! and you said it so well!

 

[timandlesley]

Thanks so much everyone! I am so excited about it now. I have written down all of your suggestions and now I can't wait. I think taking time to relax, walk around, and enjoy the day will be great for everyone. I wish the tourbooks were written by the people here on DIS, you made it sound incredible!

Thank you,
Lesley

 

[all4fun]

We were just there w/our 20 mos old ds and 7 year old neice. I thought the Meet Crush exhibit in The Living Seas was so cool and our neice loved it. She also really loved doing the mask thing at the Kidcot stations and she really enjoyed the "big" rides of course (not sure if your four year old will be tall enough or want to go on MS or TT at that age though). Anyway - just wanted to add my 2cents. There are also character greets that go on, usually in the area between the WS and FW. Both kids really enjoyed those as well, although you have to pay attn to when they're happening or you'll miss it.

 

[timandlesley]

We were just there w/our 20 mos old ds and 7 year old neice. I thought the Meet Crush exhibit in The Living Seas was so cool and our neice loved it. She also really loved doing the mask thing at the Kidcot stations and she really enjoyed the "big" rides of course (not sure if your four year old will be tall enough or want to go on MS or TT at that age though). Anyway - just wanted to add my 2cents. There are also character greets that go on, usually in the area between the WS and FW. Both kids really enjoyed those as well, although you have to pay attn to when they're happening or you'll miss it.

Thank you. How do you find out about the character greets each day? Is there a schedule? If so, where could we find one? I assume Living Seas is a huge exhibit, do any of the above mentioned areas have fast passes that we should head to first thing?
Thanks again for everyone's help, we really appreciate it!
Lesley

 

[Twigs]

If you go to guest relations when you enter the park they should be able to give you and idea of which characters will be out and where to see them. My DS's have always liked Epcot since they were 4. I won't repeat the advice you got already, it is all very good. One thing I got for DS's when they were small was the World Passport, it is sold in gift shops in Epcot and looks like a passport. The kids can get them stamped in each country (usually at the Kidcot stops), and the CM's wrote hello and a short message in their native language.(I used to write down the translation). There are also stickers to put in it from each country. They really liked to keep track of that. Also, I am not sure if they still have this, but at the turnstiles ask if they have the Epcot Discovery Guide. It also has places to be stamped at each country, and place for it to be signed. We used to get this for free, but had to ask for it, it was not out in plain site.