Epcot strategy?

[Gina Starr]

I have read that Future World is crowded morning/early afternoon and World Showcase gets busy late afternoon/evening. This makes sense since WS opens later and is at the back of the park. So would it make sense to start the day at WS then go to FW? We are going in January with 4 adults and 5 kids. I was thinking about a 10am FP for FEA then the Anna and Elsa meet and by then the rest of WS will be open. Is this a good strategy?

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

In my opinion, I would not start at World Showcase an hour into park opening. I usually rope drop EPCOT more than any other park. That is because I want to get the big rides out of the way so I can go explorer World Showcase as soon as possible. I usually rope drop Test Track because that gets up to a 45+ minute wait pretty quickly. I'll then go to Soarin after that around 9:20-9:30 a.m. and that has been about a 20 minute or less wait at that time whenever I was there on vacation. After that, I would ride Living with the Land since it is right there and that has had a 0 minute wait lately at that time of the day. When I'm done in the Land Pavilion, I would go ride Spaceship Earth which has about a 20 minute wait at that time, but usually I had a fastpass that would end around 10:30 a.m. for that ride so I would get right on. By this point, World Showcase is close to opening and that is when I would have a fastpass for Frozen for the 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. time frame. I have not done the meet and greet, but I have seen it as short as 10 minutes and as long as 45-60 minutes.

Another reason why I would try and not start at World Showcase is I can see you have a big group. Epcot is a very big theme park. You will most likely do the most amount of walking that day. I would advise trying to start in Future World and make your way back so that you aren't walking back and forth the whole day. A bus driver once told us when he was dropping us off at EPCOT that EPCOT stands for "Every Person Comes Out Tired" (not the real meaning). For that reason, I would say try and get there at rope drop if you can and work your way back. I hope this helps. Again, it's only my opinion. I hope you enjoy your vacation!

 

[Klayfish]

In general, yes, Future World is most crowded from park open to late afternoon and the crowd at World Showcase builds as the day goes. But it doesn't mean you can't do WS in the morning. We do it all the time. In WS, the 2 big rides that are tough to get are Soarin and Test Track. Soarin has gotten a lot better since they opened the 3rd theater, but it still gets crowded. TT is still the same, it gets busy quickly and is weather dependent, so that's the one I'd try to get on first. What we've done, more than once, is get to TT either right at park open, or very shortly thereafter. Then get off that ride and go right to Soarin' for standby. If you do that, you shouldn't have to wait more than 15-20 minutes for Soarin'. Joy and Sadness meet and greet doesn't have FP+ and that line can get long, so be ready for that. Otherwise, the rest of the rides in WS are relatively easy to ride standby or via FP+.

Now...FEA...that's a whole 'nuther ball 'o wax. If you can snag a FP+ for it, do it, they go very, very quickly. If you can't snag one, our experience is that if you get there by 10am, you won't have to wait super long in standby line. If you're there after 10am without FP+, good luck.

 

[Gina Starr]

Thanks for the advice! I forgot to mention we don't plan on doing Soarin or Test Track. All five of the kids are my sisters and are between 1 and 11 and she wants to do everything as a group which means we aren't doing anything with a height restriction. I'm not sure if we can accomplish rope drop as we have a ppo Cinderellas Royal Table the next day. I am trying to decide how to plan our FP since my FP day is next week.

 

[Monki]

I was logged on at 630 AM at my 60 day mark, waiting to make FP+ for my party of 5 in December. The earliest FP I saw for FEA was at 3pm-ish, and I took it! If FEA is on your list of must do's, I would suggest taking whatever FP time you can get. I saw on the boards folks who were logged in by lunchtime said no FEA FP were available. We haven't yet ridden, so I cannot speak to the standby lines, I have been reading they are very long, and the ride is still breaking down and not opening on time quite a bit it seems. Good luck and happy planning!

 

[Klayfish]

If you're not going to do TT or Soarin', then Epcot should be a breeze as far as rides go, especially those without height restrictions. The only one you have to really worry about is FEA, and that's one you'll want to get a FP+ for if at all possible.

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

In that case, FEA will be your fastpass of priority. Now, you have a better chance of getting a better FEA fastpass time later in your trip rather at the beginning since people with trips beginning earlier than you can already get those fastpasses. Other good fastpasses might be Spaceship Earth and Journey Into Imagination. Living with the Land is a great attraction, but it just hasn't seen the lines ever since the new Soarin' opened. Since you aren't planning on doing Test Track or Soarin, you should be able to do everything in Epcot that you want to. Have fun!

 

[Accident]

The 10am fastpass for frozen makes this interesting. If your rope dropping, I would knock out soarin, living with the land and figment on your way to your fastpass. after it I would probably do the countries on the way back to test track. it's really going to depend where you want to eat lunch because you basically need to do some things on your way to your lunch spot. future world will have some things you can do a little faster but your not going to get a short line on test track or soarin in the evning. figment closes by dinner time so you have to do that earlier if you want to enjoy it.

 

[Monki]

Let's not forget to mention, FEA is in the middle of the world showcase. Unless you enter on the International Gateway, it is a looooong walk to get to FEA from the front entrance. Accident has a good point - develop some plan to visit the countries, maybe eat lunch in one of them, instead of criscrossing the park and wearing yourself out. Epcot seems very large, and about halfway through WS I am usually tired, hot, and needing a rest.