Epcot Worth It and easy?

[4boysandme]

I am trying to see if adding Epcot to our itinerary would be worth it. We have no plans for Monday, April 3 except a 5:30 reservation at Ohana. I just read that it is the Garden Festival at Epcot. I'll be traveling with my husband, in-laws who are 70, and 7-year-old triplet boys. Do you think we can enjoy Epcot and get to Ohana by 5:30?

Second question...if we decide to do that, we are staying at Port Orleans with a car. Should we drive to Poly that morning, take monorail to Epcot, and then be able to drive home from Poly after dinner? Or drive to Epcot in the morning and take our car to Poly and home that night? Basically, how hard is it to park at Epcot?

Or is heading to Epcot that day not worth it? THANK YOU!!!

 

[Hopefully]

I am trying to see if adding Epcot to our itinerary would be worth it. We have no plans for Monday, April 3 except a 5:30 reservation at Ohana. I just read that it is the Garden Festival at Epcot. I'll be traveling with my husband, in-laws who are 70, and 7-year-old triplet boys. Do you think we can enjoy Epcot and get to Ohana by 5:30?

Second question...if we decide to do that, we are staying at Port Orleans with a car. Should we drive to Poly that morning, take monorail to Epcot, and then be able to drive home from Poly after dinner? Or drive to Epcot in the morning and take our car to Poly and home that night? Basically, how hard is it to park at Epcot?

Or is heading to Epcot that day not worth it? THANK YOU!!!

How do you define "worth"? Worth is an individual judgment and only you know when something is worth it to you.
Epcot is our favorite park. On a 7 night trip we spend 2 1/2 days and 4 or 5 evenings in Epcot. We love it and it is clearly worth it to us. During the Flower and Garden show it is beautiful. But it is not ride heavy.
If you decide to go, you can not park at the Poly all day and go to any theme park. Parking is for resort guests only.
Drive to Epcot and park there for the day, then drive to the Poly for dinner.
Good Luck

 

[subtchr]

Epcot is our favorite park, and I think your group will love it.

For transport, I would just take Disney transportation all around. Bus to Epcot in the morning, then to the Poly for dinner. Monorail or boat to the MK after dinner, then bus to your resort.

If you would prefer to drive, you could park at the TTC in the morning, then take the monorail to Epcot. Return via monorail from Epcot to the TTC, then walk to the Poly (right next door). Then you can walk to your car in the evening. Technically you cannot park at the Poly all day, as you are not a guest there. You could also just drive to Epcot, then drive to the Poly for dinner. With an ADR there, you will be able to park there while you eat.

 

[Uncranky Donald]

ummm, yes! YES! Go to Flower & Garden festival for the day, wish I could You get to snack around the world in World Showcase all afternoon and view beautiful plants, flowers, fruits, herbs, butterflies, topiaries, its amazing!! Poly is pretty strict with their parking so I wouldn't go their until you're ready for your reservation. You are not far from Epcot at Port Orleans and driving there will be very easy, someone at your hotel concierge can even help you. Or you can just take a bus from the hotel and then take the monorail from Epcot to Ticket and Transportation when you're ready for Ohana and you can simply walk over to The Polynesian, it only takes 5minutes Then just reverse this when you're done

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Our kids didn't particularly care for Epcot until they were older (though we always liked it as adults). I think it depends on what you are interested in - your boys might like Test Track, Soarin', the Frozen ride, Nemo or Turtle Talk, and Living with the Land. You would need Fastpasses or be willing to wait in a long line for the first three unless you arrive first thing in the morning. My advice would be to arrive before the park opens and then head over to Test Track at park opening and ride that and then hit the other rides you are interested in. If available, I'd go ahead and make Fastpass reservations where you can. The World Showcase opens at 11, so after you enjoy the rides go walk around the various countries, grab some food from one of the many restaurants at Epcot or the food booths, and then head out when you are ready.

Personally, I'd take the bus from Port Orleans to Epcot since that is probably easier than finding a place to park. Alternatively, you could Uber or take a cab over to Epcot for less than $20. Once you are done, take the Epcot monorail over to the ticket and transportation center, then get on the resort monorail to Polynesian (or walk as someone else mentioned), and take a cab/Uber back to Port Orleans after dinner.

 

[hakepb]

Depending on how the 70yo parents are feeling, I'd consider Monorailing from TTC to Poly.

The walk from TTC to Ohana is not short, and might feel a bit confusing if you haven't done it before. (I had to ask a CM 1st time I walked from TTC to Poly because it isn't super obvious)
Personally, I would do the walk unless it was raining. But if I was with my FIL, I would monorail .. especially since Ohana is upstairs anyway.

 

[4boysandme]

Thank you so much! After I posted that I thought of course I can't park at Poly...duh! Love all the transportation suggestions though! "Hopefully," by worth it I guess I just meant we will be spending approx $700 in tickets to have to leave by 4ish...would we see everything? Or on the flipside will my 7 year olds be bored? I have googled it extensively and it seems like Epcot is a lot more exciting than I remember it being as a child. I thought HS would be a good half day choice but looks like many exhibits are closed. I know I am overthinking! But I can't help it! I am sure my in-laws will love the Flower and Garden Fest but want to make sure the kids would enjoy too. It's our first day at a park so I want everyone to have a great time. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer me! Looks like Epcot is a good choice!

 

[alliecat523]

I think Epcot is worth it. F&G will be fun for all. Throw in some rides and country visits (shows and characters in each) and you'll have a good time.

 

[loves to dive]

As another said, worth it is subjective. We love Epcot, always have even when my son was little but he was always fascinated with the countries. F&G is a great time to go there. There is normally a really cute playground for the kids, they can do kidcot at each country and the adults can enjoy the flowers and the food booths. I'd use Disney transportation, bus to Epcot, monorail to TTC then either walk or monorail to Poly then reverse it or boat over to MK and catch the bus back to the resort.

 

[subtchr]

Thank you so much! After I posted that I thought of course I can't park at Poly...duh! Love all the transportation suggestions though! "Hopefully," by worth it I guess I just meant we will be spending approx $700 in tickets to have to leave by 4ish...would we see everything? Or on the flipside will my 7 year olds be bored? I have googled it extensively and it seems like Epcot is a lot more exciting than I remember it being as a child. I thought HS would be a good half day choice but looks like many exhibits are closed. I know I am overthinking! But I can't help it! I am sure my in-laws will love the Flower and Garden Fest but want to make sure the kids would enjoy too. It's our first day at a park so I want everyone to have a great time. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer me! Looks like Epcot is a good choice!

How many days is the rest of your trip? Where do you figure $700? You can add a day to your existing tickets; how much it is depends on the length of the tickets you have.

 

[4boysandme]

These are such great suggestions, thank you! We are doing MK one day and Universal one day and then going on the Disney Cruise. So we have Monday open, except for Ohana at 5:30. I was just figuring about 100/pp to add one more park. So it would be a 2 day park ticket. Is there a better way??? (Crossing fingers...)

 

[Sweettears]

Thank you so much! After I posted that I thought of course I can't park at Poly...duh! Love all the transportation suggestions though! "Hopefully," by worth it I guess I just meant we will be spending approx $700 in tickets to have to leave by 4ish...would we see everything? Or on the flipside will my 7 year olds be bored? I have googled it extensively and it seems like Epcot is a lot more exciting than I remember it being as a child. I thought HS would be a good half day choice but looks like many exhibits are closed. I know I am overthinking! But I can't help it! I am sure my in-laws will love the Flower and Garden Fest but want to make sure the kids would enjoy too. It's our first day at a park so I want everyone to have a great time. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer me! Looks like Epcot is a good choice!

The F&G includes many amazing topiaries of Disney characters. I'm sure your kids would like those.

 

[bweagle]

Thank you so much! After I posted that I thought of course I can't park at Poly...duh! I just meant we will be spending approx $700 in tickets to have to leave by 4ish...would we see everything? Or on the flipside will my 7 year olds be bored? I have googled it extensively and it seems like Epcot is a lot more exciting than I remember it being as a child. I thought HS would be a good half day choice but looks like many exhibits are closed. I know I am overthinking! But I can't help it! I am sure my in-laws will love the Flower and Garden Fest but want to make sure the kids would enjoy too. It's our first day at a park so I want everyone to have a great time. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer me! Looks like Epcot is a good choice!

You won't see everything in the time you would have. Epcot is such a big place. We usually devote a full day to FW and another to WS and will be adding another 3/4 day to focus on the F & G Festival this year.

I would probably focus on a couple of the headliners in the am before World Showcase opens and then move to that part of the park and enjoy the countries and F & G Festival the remainder of the afternoon before you need to head to Poly if you decide to go ahead and add the park ticket. I think your kids would enjoy the WS part of EPCOT with the kid-cot stations, entertainment and snacks around every corner. Lots of character meets too in the countries.

If you are hesitating at the cost of adding a 2nd day, there are lots of other options on Disney property that you could enjoy without adding a park day before your Ohana ressie Maybe looking into Disney Springs, or resort hopping around the monorail loop? Fort Wilderness and a Pontoon Boat ride for the family? Just a thought to save on some $$ but still enjoy a Disney Day!

 

[subtchr]

These are such great suggestions, thank you! We are doing MK one day and Universal one day and then going on the Disney Cruise. So we have Monday open, except for Ohana at 5:30. I was just figuring about 100/pp to add one more park. So it would be a 2 day park ticket. Is there a better way??? (Crossing fingers...)

Okay, I was assuming your original ticket was for more days. A 2-day ticket is $215.13, so how much more it is depends on which season your original 1-day MK ticket would have fallen under.

 

[dreiwhit]

FWIW, Epcot is our favorite park.

Give it a try - you may like it!

 

[BebopBaloo]

Making sure that you select 3 FP+ in advance will definitely help it be 'worth' it. The FPs are tiered at Epcot, unlike at Magic Kingdom. Tier 1 includes Frozen Ever After, Soarin', Test Track. All of those are good choices, but you can only FP one. You could catch another right at opening though. Personally, I would suggest catching Soarin' or Test Track at Rope Drop and FPing Frozen. Frozen is in World Showcase, so it will be on your route to enjoy the Flower and Garden topiaries,etc. Also, the Gran Fiesta Tour (slow boat ride in Mexico) with Donald Duck is right next door.

Tier 2 of the FP+ includes Living with the Land, Journey into Imagination with Figment, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Turtle Talk( I don't recommend using a pass on that because it's not needed), a couple character meets, and Mission Space. If you opt for Mission Space...go with the green side. You can read lots about it in other threads, but the Orange side is very intense and you may not feel like eating for the next two days. It doesn't phase some, but it messes up a lot of others...so be warned. You get to choose two of the tier 2 options.

Both of my kids enjoy Epcot. They are almost 8 years apart in age and my oldest has always considered it her favorite park. We started taking her when she was not quite 2.

 

[hakepb]

These are such great suggestions, thank you! We are doing MK one day and Universal one day and then going on the Disney Cruise. So we have Monday open, except for Ohana at 5:30. I was just figuring about 100/pp to add one more park. So it would be a 2 day park ticket. Is there a better way??? (Crossing fingers...)

It's a more difficult answer in your scenario.

I'd still lean Epcot if you would be willing to change the ADR from Ohana to one of the many great Epcot WS restaurants

 

[BebopBaloo]

You could monorail to Ohana from Epcot (TTC then Resort Monorail) and the just monorail back to Epcot after dinner and finish out your evening there if everyone is up for it.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

I want to put a fine point on size. Epcot is *gigantic*. Screaming, OMG, are-you-kidding-me, I-want-a-golf-cart huge. I would carefully balance the energy and ability to walk long distances of your party (specifically your in-laws) against a few key things you might want to do at Epcot. Ordinarily it is a two-day park, and it is usually crowded and there is little shade, so it can be a stressful park, too. Everything you look at on a map of Epcot is generally going to be farther apart and require more walking than you will assume in advance. It's also essentially two parks functionally, as Future World and World Showcase are very different in theme and purpose.

That's not to say don't go. Just manage your expectations carefully for a "greatest hits" kind of visit, knowing that once-around-the-park is an hourlong, nonstop walk, and you'll increase your chances of having a good time and still making it to Ohana without frayed nerves.

 

[glocon]

If I had only one day- I would go to MK