mshanson3121
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2015
- Messages
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I figured I'd just do updates after we've done each park, rather than one huge long one. So we went to Epcot today with our two kids (8, 5). Supposedly the crowd level was a 9, but wow. It sure didn't feel like it. Oh the big rides had LONG waits (Test Track was over 2 hours at one point), but to walk around it didn't feel crowded at all. It was hot, yes, but we found it very manageable by just drinking water, and ducking into shops or rides for a quick a/c break. We were both pleasantly surprised, we read on here over and over how Epcot is horribly hot, there's no shade, no break from the heat... we didn't find it that way at all. World Showcase had a great breeze, and we always found shady spots for a break, and almost all the restaurants and shops had AC - and this is coming from a Canadian whose home-town high temperature for yesterday was 52F, lol.
We didn't arrive in park until 10:30, so we went to Journey of Imagination, followed by ImageWorks, which the kids both loved. From there we went to the World Showcase. We didn't go into all the countries, but walked the entire thing. We got to meet B'rer Fox & his sidekick in United Kingdom, we ate lunch in France at Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie, which was OMG good. Do not skip this place! We did Pick a Pearl in Japan. We picked 4 pearls, and got matching necklaces for my daughter & I, then picked two extras which will be Christmas gifts. And man, can my daughter pick pearls! She got a silver pearl, and all four were 7.5-7.75 mm! We watched Matsuriza, which was great. We watched the trains in Germany, both children had their faces painted at the African area. We watched Reflections of China, which IMO should NOT be missed. We all left there rather stunned at the beauty, and the children loved it. In Mexico we watched Mariachi Cobre (which is also great) and went on the Gran Fiesta ride which the kids loved.
From there we went to Test Track which was a semi-disaster. For starters, I was really surprised, this ride is far more intense than I imagined, and I would recommend anyone with young children preview it on YouTube before taking them on it. Now, I'll preface this by saying that both of our children have special needs, ASD, SPD etc... So, they are definitely more timid for some things, but even still, I can see how this would scare any child. This ride TERRIFIED them. The part in the dark where you're jerking, jolting, screeching breaks, a transport coming at out you, had our daughter (5) flat out screaming/crying in fear. This was my mistake, in not previewing the ride, because had I known, I would NEVER have tried it, which is a shame as the kids had both really wanted to do it. We had to carry both kids off the ride crying, at the end.
But all was not lost - they loved designing their cars before the ride, and they LOVED the post-ride stuff. And here's our moment of bragging - by that point in the day (3:00), our son's car was 3rd place out of all the riders for the day!
From there, we watched JammItors, which was so neat, the kids loved it. My son had bought a bongo drum in Mexico, and dug it out and played along with the musicians. They noticed and were smiling at him, laughing, while he played with them. And when they were done their set, they even pointed him out and gave "their helper" a special thank you. Well, lemme tell you that made his day!
We finished out our time in Epcot meeting Pluto, which the kids enjoyed so much. We took a ride on the monorail for fun because the kids wanted to, and headed home around 4:30. We missed the torrential downpour by about 2 minutes. It started rumbling around 4:00, sprinkling as we were walking to the car, and by the time we hit World Drive it was downpouring so hard we could barely see, lol.
So, all in all, a great day!
ETA: Added some photos in the comments
We didn't arrive in park until 10:30, so we went to Journey of Imagination, followed by ImageWorks, which the kids both loved. From there we went to the World Showcase. We didn't go into all the countries, but walked the entire thing. We got to meet B'rer Fox & his sidekick in United Kingdom, we ate lunch in France at Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie, which was OMG good. Do not skip this place! We did Pick a Pearl in Japan. We picked 4 pearls, and got matching necklaces for my daughter & I, then picked two extras which will be Christmas gifts. And man, can my daughter pick pearls! She got a silver pearl, and all four were 7.5-7.75 mm! We watched Matsuriza, which was great. We watched the trains in Germany, both children had their faces painted at the African area. We watched Reflections of China, which IMO should NOT be missed. We all left there rather stunned at the beauty, and the children loved it. In Mexico we watched Mariachi Cobre (which is also great) and went on the Gran Fiesta ride which the kids loved.
From there we went to Test Track which was a semi-disaster. For starters, I was really surprised, this ride is far more intense than I imagined, and I would recommend anyone with young children preview it on YouTube before taking them on it. Now, I'll preface this by saying that both of our children have special needs, ASD, SPD etc... So, they are definitely more timid for some things, but even still, I can see how this would scare any child. This ride TERRIFIED them. The part in the dark where you're jerking, jolting, screeching breaks, a transport coming at out you, had our daughter (5) flat out screaming/crying in fear. This was my mistake, in not previewing the ride, because had I known, I would NEVER have tried it, which is a shame as the kids had both really wanted to do it. We had to carry both kids off the ride crying, at the end.
But all was not lost - they loved designing their cars before the ride, and they LOVED the post-ride stuff. And here's our moment of bragging - by that point in the day (3:00), our son's car was 3rd place out of all the riders for the day!
From there, we watched JammItors, which was so neat, the kids loved it. My son had bought a bongo drum in Mexico, and dug it out and played along with the musicians. They noticed and were smiling at him, laughing, while he played with them. And when they were done their set, they even pointed him out and gave "their helper" a special thank you. Well, lemme tell you that made his day!
We finished out our time in Epcot meeting Pluto, which the kids enjoyed so much. We took a ride on the monorail for fun because the kids wanted to, and headed home around 4:30. We missed the torrential downpour by about 2 minutes. It started rumbling around 4:00, sprinkling as we were walking to the car, and by the time we hit World Drive it was downpouring so hard we could barely see, lol.
So, all in all, a great day!
ETA: Added some photos in the comments
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I just had a feeling all along you'd like it better than you thought! There really is quite a bit there for kids to enjoy, the majority just isn't rides. You found and liked some of the things many people skip right over or don't bother stopping for, like the JammItors and Mariachi Cobre 
I also totally agree about Les Halles, LOVE IT! And you were so lucky to meet B'rer Fox and.....B'rer Bear? B'rer Rabbit? They aren't regularly out anymore, but sometimes characters are out training in EPCOT which is most likely what you happened upon. Always great to get a M & G with "rare" characters!
