Epcot With a 4 year old what to do?

[nannye]

First time at Disney. I have a 4 year old and we will be spending only a few hours at Epcot. I have th option of going so I would like to go and check it out.
I have a 4 year old. Most of it seems boring for her so I am jsut making a short list of the must do and then we will be on our way. I would like to visit quickly one or two of the countries but not all so reccommendations on which ones would be great. We wont get there till the afternoon and want to be gone before dinner so really want to limit it to stuff she and i will really enjoy

Soarin' we probably wont do this, but I will check if any fast passes are left
Test Track (She will LOVE this)
Nemo
Journey Into Imagination

The rest I am skeptical on
Circle of Life
Living with the Land
Spaceship earth

anythign I am missing, anything you would suggest.
Thanks
Erin

 

[candy0730]

It looks like you have a good list so far. Epcot is my 5 year old's second favorite park. His favorite ride was Spaceship Earth - I think we rode that 4 times one day. He also liked Living with the land, I think because it was a boat ride so we are going to try Maelstrom this year. Alot of kids really like the Turtle Talk with Crush show also. Touring the countries was pretty boring for him except when we saw the characters.

Have fun!

 

[SmallWorld71]

Epcot has been DD's fav. park since she was 4. Some of the things she loved at that age:

-Spaceship Earth
-Livin with the Land
-Soarin
-Test Track
-"Driving" the cars at Test Track's exit
-The Seas with Nemo and friends - the ride, Turtle Talk and the exhibits with the Marine life
-The masks at the Kidcot Stops around World Showcase - (They are now Duffy Bears)
-The boat ride in Mexico
-Also, we have found Epcot to be a great place to meet characters. The Character Connection in Future World has Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald generally. The lines can get a bit long here. It's good to hit this up in the morning.
-World Showcase is the place to meet princesses without lines. Belle in France, Jasmine in Morocco, Snow White in Germany etc... Alice can be found in the UK, Marie in France and more!
-She also enjoyed trying some treats from "around the world" - Kaki Gori (like a snow cone) in Japan, chocolate in Canada and so on

 

[MYD714]

-The boat ride in Mexico

This was what I was going to add. I would imagine that a 4yo would love Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros.

The Seas with Nemo & Friends offers a lot for this age. Turtle Talk w/Crush is so much fun.

 

[GoGoBeans]

The Imagination and Innoventions pavilions are neat for little kids. The Figment exhibit is also neat for them.

At the end of Nemo, the interactive Crush segment is fun. Whoever is behind what he says cracks me up.

Don't entirely discount Spaceship Earth. For me it's okay, but the younger kids like it.

We all hated Circle of Life. Love the Lion King, but this was a snoozer.

 

[deetle]

If you want to see a couple countries and keep the little one occupied do a Kim Possible mission or two. She will be playing a game and not even realize you are getting to check out what you want to do too.

 

[GatorMama]

My 2 year old loved it all. Of course, he was asleep for the train in Germany. Too bad cause he'd have LOVED it. He rode Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land (I think it was my favorite ride of the day) Journey into Imagination (I think the puff of scent realy scared him- he hated most anything that puffed into his face), and Nemo. Nemo was probably his favorite... but he LOVED the "pishies" in the pavilion. He was also QUITE the little fan of the lentils we ate as part of our lunch in Morocco.

Not sure when you're going or how often this changes, but Snow White, Alice and Mary Poppins were all out for Greets when we were there three weeks ago.

 

[needtoplan]

We took our 3 year old in May and one of his favorite parts was the characters at Epcot. In one building we saw Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. We waited about 10-15 minutes initially- and then you get to see one after the other. Chip and Dale were found later outside this building and Daisy and Stitch are usually at the entrance- not to mention many other characters at each of the countries. I agree with other posts- he loved spaceship earth ride as well.
Nemo absolutely was the best though.

 

[nannye]

So wait, there are rides in the countries? eeek and I thought they were ride free. and princesses too hmmmm I hope seeing the princesses will be ok. we are doing MK the next day would have been cool for her to see the princesses for the first time there after she visits BBB. I'll have to think about that one if maybe we will try to skip the countries the princesses are in.

Trying to keep our visit under two hours. but maybe a bit longer depending on what time we eventually get there.

 

[nannye]

I remember reading about a diser who in epcot in one of the countries whatched a lady make candy,like chocolates in animals etc... This was an OLD post so she may not be there anymore but if she is can someone give me some info.
Thanks
Erin

 

[PrincessTiffany]

So wait, there are rides in the countries? eeek and I thought they were ride free. and princesses too hmmmm I hope seeing the princesses will be ok. we are doing MK the next day would have been cool for her to see the princesses for the first time there after she visits BBB. I'll have to think about that one if maybe we will try to skip the countries the princesses are in.

Trying to keep our visit under two hours. but maybe a bit longer depending on what time we eventually get there.

We have been going to WDW annually since our kids were 2, 3, 4 and 7 and usually spend 2 days in Epcot - can't imagine just spending 2 hours there . . . .

My kids especially love:

Spaceship Earth
Soarin' - One of the most incredible rides in WDW, probably only second to Tower of Terror or Everest
Living with the Land
Living Seas with Nemo and Friends
Turtle Talk with Crush - My kids love this!
Imagination with Figment
Ellen's Energy Adventure
Mission Space
Test Track
Rio Del Tempio Ride in Mexico
Maelstrom Ride in Norway
Seeing the Acrobats and Terra Cotta soldier replicas in China

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I remember reading about a diser who in epcot in one of the countries whatched a lady make candy,like chocolates in animals etc... This was an OLD post so she may not be there anymore but if she is can someone give me some info.
Thanks
Erin

The Candy Lady is in Japan.

Circle of Life is highly skippable and if I only had 2 hours in Epcot, I definitely wouldn't see it.

 

[annacali]

Depending what time you are there, some of the Princesses are easier to find and with shorter lines than at MK (unless you are doing a character meal). Belle is in her blue dress in France, and Beast joins her some of the time. Jasmine and Aladdin are in Morocco. Mulan is in China (and this is really the only place to reliably find her). Alice and Mary Poppins are in the UK (and again, finding them in MK is very hit and miss). We found the best Ariel ever in Future World 3 weeks ago just in front of the Imagination Pavilion...she was so bubbly and chatty and perfectly Ariel. My girls had a great time with her. My girls never, ever mind meeting Princesses more than once each trip, and the Princesses are very quick to "remember" that they have already met when reminded!

 

[skoba-nelson]

On the last day of my May 2008 trip I gave my DS the choice of which park to go to. He chose Epcot. In our 10 day visit we went three days. It was his favorite park at age 5 for all the same reasons the PP have mentioned. He also enjoyed the live entertainment, especially the WSP in England. BTW Mary Poppins remembered him from earlier in our trip. She called out to him for she had no guests at the time. She asked "Master Brad" if he was having a good visit. He went over and chatted with her for quite a while.

 

[tinkandpan]

Since my kids were babies, Epcot has always been their favorite park to go to. it is so much easier to see the characters there- the lines are much shorter and the characters are in some different costumes.
My kids have always loved:
Living with the Land
Seas with Nemo and the whole fish tank area
Turtle Talk
Spaceship Earth
Trains at germany
Norway Ride
Grand Fiesta in Mexico
Chinese acrobats
Music at United Kingdom
Innoventions
All the snacks throughout the different countries.
The little playgrounds and water ju,ping fountains.

 

[gigi1313]

just a word of warning... soarin' has a height requirement, and a 4yo might not make it... i believe it is 40" (which my "tall," or so people tell me, 3yo is just hitting)... i'm hoping he makes it by november!

 

[WVMomof3]

First time at Disney. I have a 4 year old and we will be spending only a few hours at Epcot. I have th option of going so I would like to go and check it out.
I have a 4 year old. Most of it seems boring for her so I am jsut making a short list of the must do and then we will be on our way. I would like to visit quickly one or two of the countries but not all so reccommendations on which ones would be great. We wont get there till the afternoon and want to be gone before dinner so really want to limit it to stuff she and i will really enjoy

Soarin' we probably wont do this, but I will check if any fast passes are left
Test Track (She will LOVE this)
Nemo
Journey Into Imagination

The rest I am skeptical on
Circle of Life
Living with the Land
Spaceship earth

anythign I am missing, anything you would suggest.
Thanks
Erin

I am going to say, if you only want to stay 2 hours, you will be lucky to get done Test Track, Nemo and Journey into Imagination. You will need to get FP for Test Track as soon as you get there and hope that it is within your 2 hour time frame, if not, plan on at least an hour to stand in line and ride. Even with a FP, plan on at least 20 minutes to go through the screening room and line and ride. Then walk to the other side for Nemo and Journey into Imagination. The kids like to explore the areas after the rides. I would say Turtle Talk is not to be missed. I would skip the Nemo ride before I skipped Turrtle Talk. So by the time you park, walk to gate (I don't think Epcot parking has trams, at least I haven't been on one, the parking is usually pretty good here) ride these 3 rides and walk back to car, I would say you are at your 2 hour mark or more. I also think Soarin is not to be missed. But I don't think you will be able to do both TT and Soarin in your time frame. I would def pick Soarin over Test Track, but I don't think you will be able to get a FP within your timeframe at the time you arrive.

I don't think you will get anywhere near the countries in your time frame, especially Japan as that is one of the farthest from either side.

It always surprises me that people that have not been to Epcot think it will be boring. We usually take midday breaks, but on our Epcot day we stay all day 9-9 and still don't get to everything. We just went with my 3 and 4 year old nieces and they stayed all day, and enjoyed everything. They rode everything but Mission Space. Loved Soarin, loved TT, loved SpaceshipEarth, they really loved everything. They did the Character Connection while the rest of rode Mission Space and got to meet alot of characters.

 

[TheTurners]

My DD will turn 4 in 3 weeks, right before our trip. I measured her last week and she was 38.5". The height requirement for Soarin and Test Track is 40". Just FYI--hopefully your 4 year old will make it.

 

[lync]

My husband loves the countries and my girls love doing the kidcot stops so it is a win win for everyone. I think you will be plesantly surprised at how much fun Epcot really is. It is also the most spread out park so it will be very hard to accomplish even a few things in 2 hours. I would try to plan on a little longer .

 

[EastonCat]

My older daughter is a big Epcot fan and loved it at four. Her younger sister is a fan, but will just be four this fall, so perhaps her tastes will change as her four-year-old preferences get a little more assertive.

The tour suggestions you've gotten so far are very good. Our kids also like to poke around in the UK courtyard and gardens and various nooks and crannies in other countries as well. They don't want to poke around in very country, but two or three in a touring day is a good number for us. They only squeak if we start spending too much time in the shops, which is true regardless of the park we are touring.