Epcot Touring Plan

[Kathleendan]

We plan to be at Epcot on January 16. I've come up with the following plan. We are not planning on staying for Illuminations and we are not doing Mission Space. We have 4 adults and 4 kids (6, 8, 9 & 10)

Rope drop
Soarin' get FP and ride standby
Ride Test Track
Nemo and Friends
Turtle Talk with Crush
Ride Living the Land (or should we do Journey into Imagination or Circle of Life)?
See Honey I Shrunk the Audience
Club Cool
Ride Spaceship Earth
Get Fast Pass for Test Track
Eat Lunch in Mexico (1:00 reservations, will we make it?)
Tour each Pavilion
Ride Soarin' again with FP
Ride Test Track again with FP
Depart

 

[GinnyFavers]

Rope drop
Soarin' get FP and ride standby
Ride Test Track
Nemo and Friends
Turtle Talk with Crush
Ride Living the Land (or should we do Journey into Imagination or Circle of Life)?
See Honey I Shrunk the Audience
Club Cool
Ride Spaceship Earth
Get Fast Pass for Test Track
Eat Lunch in Mexico (1:00 reservations, will we make it?)
Tour each Pavilion
Ride Soarin' again with FP
Ride Test Track again with FP
Depart

You have too much in the morning to make your 1 pm lunch reservation. Skip Honey I Shrunk the Audience, the technology is tired and you will see better interactive movies elsewhere in other parks.

You'll be able to use your Soarin' FP when you go back to ride Living with the Land. No need to wait until the end of the day, and in fact this ride is the one place in all of WDW that it's said the cast members won't let you enter with FP's past their return window end time.

Neither the Journey into Your Imagination nor the Circle of Life movie is worth your time.

My recommendation is to forget about riding Test Track twice, and take your time around World Showcase. You can ride Spaceship Earth on your way out, it's way more worth riding twice than Test Track.

You are missing out on Ellen's Energy Adventure. Do any of your kids love dinosaurs? If so, you need to seriously think about not missing it. It closes at 7 pm, so you'd need to do it before you head into World Showcase for the afternoon/evening.

You say you aren't staying for Illuminations, so I assume that means you have dinner plans elsewhere? It would help me fine tune for you if you told me what time you wanted to be out of the park.

I think you'd be surprised how much time World Showcase can chew out of your day once you get back there. If the kids want to collect character autographs, do all the Kidcot stops, etc., forget it, you will easily be in the park until 9 p.m.

If you're willing to eat dinner at Epcot, and stay for Illuminations, your tour plan would put you around the quite good Chefs de France or Rose & Crown for supper time, or the excellent counter service food from Morocco or fish & chips from the England stand.

The area between the tall stairs and the World Showcase Lagoon railing, or up on the stairs, at Canada is a fine spot for watching Illuminations.

So, for a draft, here's my revision for you:

Rope drop
Soarin' get FP and ride standby 9:15 a.m.
Ride Test Track 10:00 a.m.
Nemo and Friends 10:30 a.m.
Turtle Talk with Crush 11:00 a.m.
Ride Living the Land 11:30 a.m.
Ride Soarin' again with FP 11:45 a.m.
Club Cool 12:15 p.m.
Ride Spaceship Earth 12:30 p.m.
Get Fast Pass for Test Track (if you must) 12:50 p.m.
Eat Lunch in Mexico (1:00 reservations) RUN! LOL
Tour World Showcase pavilions 2:00 - ?? p.m.
Ride Test Track again with FP or Spaceship Earth
Depart

Not a whole lotta time for bathroom breaks in there.

 

[Kathleendan]

You have too much in the morning to make your 1 pm lunch reservation. Skip Honey I Shrunk the Audience, the technology is tired and you will see better interactive movies elsewhere in other parks.

You'll be able to use your Soarin' FP when you go back to ride Living with the Land. No need to wait until the end of the day, and in fact this ride is the one place in all of WDW that it's said the cast members won't let you enter with FP's past their return window end time.

Neither the Journey into Your Imagination nor the Circle of Life movie is worth your time.

My recommendation is to forget about riding Test Track twice, and take your time around World Showcase. You can ride Spaceship Earth on your way out, it's way more worth riding twice than Test Track.

You are missing out on Ellen's Energy Adventure. Do any of your kids love dinosaurs? If so, you need to seriously think about not missing it. It closes at 7 pm, so you'd need to do it before you head into World Showcase for the afternoon/evening.

You say you aren't staying for Illuminations, so I assume that means you have dinner plans elsewhere? It would help me fine tune for you if you told me what time you wanted to be out of the park.

I think you'd be surprised how much time World Showcase can chew out of your day once you get back there. If the kids want to collect character autographs, do all the Kidcot stops, etc., forget it, you will easily be in the park until 9 p.m.

If you're willing to eat dinner at Epcot, and stay for Illuminations, your tour plan would put you around the quite good Chefs de France or Rose & Crown for supper time, or the excellent counter service food from Morocco or fish & chips from the England stand.

The area between the tall stairs and the World Showcase Lagoon railing, or up on the stairs, at Canada is a fine spot for watching Illuminations.

So, for a draft, here's my revision for you:

Rope drop
Soarin' get FP and ride standby 9:15 a.m.
Ride Test Track 10:00 a.m.
Nemo and Friends 10:30 a.m.
Turtle Talk with Crush 11:00 a.m.
Ride Living the Land 11:30 a.m.
Ride Soarin' again with FP 11:45 a.m.
Club Cool 12:15 p.m.
Ride Spaceship Earth 12:30 p.m.
Get Fast Pass for Test Track (if you must) 12:50 p.m.
Eat Lunch in Mexico (1:00 reservations) RUN! LOL
Tour World Showcase pavilions 2:00 - ?? p.m.
Ride Test Track again with FP or Spaceship Earth
Depart

Not a whole lotta time for bathroom breaks in there.

Thanks for the comments. We didn't really have a planned time to be out of Epcot, basically whenever we finished touring and thought we would just have supper somewhere quick, the counter service places would work for us. I guess if we finished everything by 7:00, that would work. I think the kids will end up getting tired of each pavillion and I can see them hurrying through some of them. The kids all want to do Honey I Shrunk the Audience so I don't think I can talk them out of this one. They do like Dinosaurs but I thought Ellen's show would take too much time. I didn't realize Spaceship Earth was open until park close in January. We can skip riding Test Track twice and ride Spaceship Earth when leaving. Thanks for the tip on the Fast Passes for Soarin'. I think I'll move the lunch reservation up a 1/2 hour, hopefully I won't have a problem doing this.

 

[Mcbruns]

I would suggest seeing Ellen's Energy Adventure if you can. Good for all ages. Plus you get a nice long, refreshing break.

 

[Kathleendan]

Thanks for the comments. We didn't really have a planned time to be out of Epcot, basically whenever we finished touring and thought we would just have supper somewhere quick, the counter service places would work for us. I guess if we finished everything by 7:00, that would work. I think the kids will end up getting tired of each pavillion and I can see them hurrying through some of them. The kids all want to do Honey I Shrunk the Audience so I don't think I can talk them out of this one. They do like Dinosaurs but I thought Ellen's show would take too much time. I didn't realize Spaceship Earth was open until park close in January. We can skip riding Test Track twice and ride Spaceship Earth when leaving. Thanks for the tip on the Fast Passes for Soarin'. I think I'll move the lunch reservation up a 1/2 hour, hopefully I won't have a problem doing this.

I got our reservation moved up to 1:30. Where should I fit the Ellen show in? If we have to, we can skip riding Soarin' twice.

 

[DLR29]

I got our reservation moved up to 1:30. Where should I fit the Ellen show in? If we have to, we can skip riding Soarin' twice.

In that plan, I'd put it right after Club Cool and move Spaceship Earth after lunch.

 

[GinnyFavers]

LOL, forgive me, but now I'm going to go out on a radical departure here and really shake up your original itinerary, but I think this will work perfectly.

Honey I Shrunk the Audience, the Living Seas pavilion and Spaceship Earth are all open until 9 p.m., yes, even Turtle Talk. World Showcase opens at 11 a.m. is very quiet and empty and wonderful earlier in the day.

This plan only gives you time to stop inside four pavilions, Canada, America, Norway and Mexico. But it will give you guys a taste of it, and keep you from getting bogged down in there and overtired.

So, to fit in Ellen, Honey, give yourself enough time to really enjoy the Living Seas, and minimize waits all day, I suggest the following:

Rope drop
Soarin' ride standby 9:15 a.m.
Ride Test Track 10:00 a.m.
Club Cool 10:40 a.m.
Enter World Showcase at 11 a.m. via Canada
Walk around counter clockwise
See Canada movie
See American Adventure & the National Treasures exhibit
Ride Maelstrom
Eat Lunch in Mexico 1:30 p.m.
Ride the Mexico boat ride 2:30 p.m.
Ride Ellen's Energy Adventure 3:00 p.m.
Ride Spaceship Earth 4:00 p.m.
See Honey I Shrunk the Audience 4:30 p.m.
Nemo and Friends & Turtle Talk 5:30 p.m.
Depart

This gets you out around 6:30/7:00 p.m. Watch your time in World Showcase. Check the American Adventure show times and be sure you make one. If everyone hates American history and doesn't want to see the AA show, see the France movie instead (check show times). But I'd still visit the National Treasures exbhibit!

If you'd like a recommendation for good eating inside the front part of Epcot, the only place I like is the character meal at the Garden Grill. It's expensive, but the food is very good and the characters are fun. The restaurant revolves through the Living with the Land scenes, kind of neat. Only issue is, with your large party, I don't think they can seat you all together (they have fixed booths)?

 

[Kathleendan]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll have to mull it all over to decide what to do.

 

[disneyfan55]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll have to mull it all over to decide what to do.

Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow. Some attractions may be slower or more busy. Make sure you use your fastpass if there are crowds. Have a great time. We are visiting Halifax in October. Can't wait!!

 

[Kathleendan]

Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow. Some attractions may be slower or more busy. Make sure you use your fastpass if there are crowds. Have a great time. We are visiting Halifax in October. Can't wait!!

Yes I'm sure that we will end up doing that but at least we have our top picks narrowed down. I just don't want anyone to miss out on things they really want to do. I work in Halifax. Are you planning on going to Cape Breton. The Cabot Trail is beautiful and if you are into Celtic music there is a huge festival going one there in October, Celtic Colours. Enjoy, Halifax is one of my favorite places.

 

[disneyfan55]

Yes I'm sure that we will end up doing that but at least we have our top picks narrowed down. I just don't want anyone to miss out on things they really want to do. I work in Halifax. Are you planning on going to Cape Breton. The Cabot Trail is beautiful and if you are into Celtic music there is a huge festival going one there in October, Celtic Colours. Enjoy, Halifax is one of my favorite places.

Have a wonderful time visiting Disney. Have you ever visited before? We are going next week for a weeks stay with the free dining promo.

We will visit Halifax on the Crown Princess during the week of Oct 13th. We visited Halifax the first time on a cruise we took in Oct 2004, just when TS Nicole was around (Oct 12). We saw the weather posted near the Maritime Museum when we were there. We visited the Citadel and it was really neat. The only problem iw that the day we were there they didn't fire the cannon at noon!! They said it was the first time not fired since there was a problem with blasting caps at the US border. My husband was somewhat dissapointed. Little boy in him!! Anyway, hopefully we will experience that this time. Are any of the place you mentioned within walking distance to the port? We usually just try to do things on our own to save money. Thanks again and Halifax is a beautiful place to visit.

 

[Kathleendan]

Have a wonderful time visiting Disney. Have you ever visited before? We are going next week for a weeks stay with the free dining promo.

We will visit Halifax on the Crown Princess during the week of Oct 13th. We visited Halifax the first time on a cruise we took in Oct 2004, just when TS Nicole was around (Oct 12). We saw the weather posted near the Maritime Museum when we were there. We visited the Citadel and it was really neat. The only problem iw that the day we were there they didn't fire the cannon at noon!! They said it was the first time not fired since there was a problem with blasting caps at the US border. My husband was somewhat dissapointed. Little boy in him!! Anyway, hopefully we will experience that this time. Are any of the place you mentioned within walking distance to the port? We usually just try to do things on our own to save money. Thanks again and Halifax is a beautiful place to visit.

My husband and I were in Disney about 11 years ago but we have never been with kids before. The places I mentioned are about 4 hours from Halifax so you won't be able to go there. I'm sure that you will enjoy walking around Halifax and I'm sure the canon will go off. Have fun.

 

[december]

Just remember that likes and dislikes are a matter of opinion! My kids loved the Circle of Life movie last year (they were 9 and 6). Ds9 insisted on seeing it twice. And my daughter's favorite ride of the week was Test Track. We tried to ride twice, but it ended shut down for lightning that evening. We are doing 2 Epcot days this year, and plan to do TT each day, along with Soarin' (my son's favorite). We probably aren't doing Figment or Ellen, but we will definitely be doing Circle of Life! But we are skipping the WS movies. Dd slept through all of them last year!

 

[Kathleendan]

Just remember that likes and dislikes are a matter of opinion! My kids loved the Circle of Life movie last year (they were 9 and 6). Ds9 insisted on seeing it twice. And my daughter's favorite ride of the week was Test Track. We tried to ride twice, but it ended shut down for lightning that evening. We are doing 2 Epcot days this year, and plan to do TT each day, along with Soarin' (my son's favorite). We probably aren't doing Figment or Ellen, but we will definitely be doing Circle of Life! But we are skipping the WS movies. Dd slept through all of them last year!

Right now we don't have any plans to do the WS movies. The kids don't have any interest in seeing them and would rather do rides again if we have extra time on the way out. My daughter watched some of Living the Land on Youtube and found it boring and said that she didn't want to do that, so I'm not sure if we should do that one, Circle of Life or the Ellen Show. Thanks for the info on COL (my kids are the same age as yours were) I hadn't really looked much at that one but will have to take a second look.

 

[december]

If they like the Lion King movies, they'll probably like it. Once was enough for me, but he insisted on seeing it again. I hadn't planned to watch any movies in WS either, but we were there on a very rainy day, and they kept us dry. This was day 5 of a very commando 6 day trip, and my daughter was so worn out. In Canada, she just laid down in the floor (you stand for the movie), and slept! Then she slept through American Adventure. Our WS plans this year are going to be very loose, just walk around, look at the scenery, and watch any shows we might come up on. But we are going to stay away from the movies!

Oh, and don't forget Mission Space. We are ride weenies, but the green side is not bad at all! And the "lab" when you exit the ride is wonderful. I'm planning on taking our time there, around 45 minutes, and letting mine play. If they like space stuff at all, they'll love it.

 

[Kathleendan]

If they like the Lion King movies, they'll probably like it. Once was enough for me, but he insisted on seeing it again. I hadn't planned to watch any movies in WS either, but we were there on a very rainy day, and they kept us dry. This was day 5 of a very commando 6 day trip, and my daughter was so worn out. In Canada, she just laid down in the floor (you stand for the movie), and slept! Then she slept through American Adventure. Our WS plans this year are going to be very loose, just walk around, look at the scenery, and watch any shows we might come up on. But we are going to stay away from the movies!

Oh, and don't forget Mission Space. We are ride weenies, but the green side is not bad at all! And the "lab" when you exit the ride is wonderful. I'm planning on taking our time there, around 45 minutes, and letting mine play. If they like space stuff at all, they'll love it.

We are going to do the same thing in WS, just pretty much walk around and stop when we want to. My daughter is the only one out of 8 that wants to do Mission Space so we have taken it off our plan all together. If we have time we may do the "Green" version but it's not a priority.

 

[PlutoPony]

If you want to ride Test Track a 2nd (and 3rd, 4th, etc time, using the Single Rider line can get you in and out VERY quickly. With moderate crowds in August, we typically saw single rider wait times posted at 5-10 minutes and found we could get in and out in around 15 minutes.....

 

[GirlsTripOct07]

Right now we don't have any plans to do the WS movies. The kids don't have any interest in seeing them and would rather do rides again if we have extra time on the way out.

Fair enough, but the new Canada movie is just out -- so I would make time for just the *one* if I were you -- you'll be one of the first to see it!