Epcot

[chloe770]

What are your favorite things to do at Epcot? What would be interesting for my 5yr DS?

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

You will get plenty of suggestions from people of things they love about Epcot. My DD only really enjoys the rides (Soarin, Test Track, and Nemo to be specific) and Illuminations. She really isn't too into the countries. We'll see if that changes this year. She did the do one Kidcot activity last year while waiting for our ressie at Le Cellier and she wasn't that interested in doing it in each country.

My advice is that if this is your first trip, expect that your child MAY be slightly disappointed by the other parks after you do MK. MK is very exciting to preschoolers since they can ride EVERYTHING and there are characters everywhere.

 

[Fantasmic23]

You will get plenty of suggestions from people of things they love about Epcot. My DD only really enjoys the rides (Soarin, Test Track, and Nemo to be specific) and Illuminations. She really isn't too into the countries. We'll see if that changes this year. She did the do one Kidcot activity last year while waiting for our ressie at Le Cellier and she wasn't that interested in doing it in each country.

My advice is that if this is your first trip, expect that your child MAY be slightly disappointed by the other parks after you do MK. MK is very exciting to preschoolers since they can ride EVERYTHING and there are characters everywhere.

Yes, I agree. We first went to WDW back in mid-Feb (with DD who is 9 and DS who was 5 - he turned 6 in April). We went to MK our first day (we were there until the park closed at midnight!) and the next day, we went to Epcot. My husband and I were in our glory but the kids did not really share our enthusiasm. My DS did enjoy Spaceship Earth, Under the Sea with Nemo & Friends and the Living with the Land boat ride (I believe that's what it is called). He had mixed feelings about "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience" (after Mickey's PhilharMagic, he was pretty hard to impress where 3-D glasses are concerned!).

We're going back next Feb and we're debating whether or not to include Epcot in our plans. Everyone wants to do Soarin' (we didn't do that when we went in Feb), but I don't know if I can rationalize just going to Epcot so we can do one attraction. Hopefully, time will tell. The kids will be a bit older. We'll see.

 

[jenb1023]

It all depends on your DS and what he likes to do. My DD loved Epcot at age 4 1/2!

She loved the rides of course but she also loved WS. She really enjoyed all of the Kidcot stops and we bought a passport which she loved getting stamped in every country. The CM's write a little message in their language and stamp your passport at each stop. She also loves meeting characters and collecting autographs and we saw tons of characters in WS.

 

[o2bacelt]

I'll give you a different point of view, my DD (4) says that EPCOT is her favorite park. She loves Turtle Talk With Crush and seeing all the fish at Living Seas, she actually doesn't like the Nemo ride because she doesn't like seeing Bruce.

She loves Innoventions, there are LOTS of kid geared games to play in there and you can do the Kidcot stations in Future World before going off to World Showcase.

DD loves the ride in Mexico. This last trip (a couple of weeks ago) she got one of the passports and went to all the countries and got her passport filled out and then she sat down to work on her mask.

DD loves all the shows that involve singing. Getting to see the characters. Club Cool, the coke tasting, and then there's the Imagination pavilion. There's the British Invasion show in the UK pavilion and Off Kilter in Canada. There is the singing group in the US pavilion as well. Don't forget Mo Rockin' in Morocco. Some of the other shows like the drums and candy maker in Japan are great as are the acrobats in China, the street actors in Italy and the UK.

DD likes going to the Land, she likes riding the boat ride downstairs, she also loves the movie with the Lion King characters.

DD doesn't like thrill rides but enjoys waiting in the areas of Test Track (where there are misters) and she likes Mission Space's store/after ride area.

DD did the Energy ride with Ellen this time and loved it, we had to go back and see it a second time.

The character area in Future World is a great place to get character time and you'll be surprised by all the other characters you see while you're walking through World Showcase as well. If you're lucky you'll see Donald, Jose, and Panchito near Mexico. You may run into Snow White in Germany. You can often find Jasmine and Aladin in Morocco, Mulan in China, Belle and Aurora in France, and Mary Poppins, Alice and Pooh friends in the UK toy store area.

There's plenty of stuff to keep little ones occupied at EPCOT. You might be surprised and it may turn out to be your little one's favorite park too.

 

[SSDonut]

Test Track
Soarin'
Test Track
Nemo
Turtle Talk with Crush
Soarin'
Test Track

Well, that's how our first few hours would go with DD7 and DD9.

They like WS, too! We originally bought DVC at BC because I was being practical and thought that some day they might really like being close to Epcot. That day came sooner than I had imagined!!

 

[MickeyWanaBe]

We're going back next Feb and we're debating whether or not to include Epcot in our plans. Everyone wants to do Soarin' (we didn't do that when we went in Feb), but I don't know if I can rationalize just going to Epcot so we can do one attraction. Hopefully, time will tell. The kids will be a bit older. We'll see.

Epcot is our FAVORITE park! DS who just turned 13 loves it too. It is also his favorite park and has been for years.

Activities we have done in the past:
* Passport - You can buy them throughout Epcot and have the stamped and signed at each country. You take the to the kidcot areas and the person there will usually write you a short note in the native language and then translate it to you. This is great interaction for the kids that are a little older, say school age.
* See the street performers in each country - check out the times guide for the list of shows throughout the day. When DS was smaller he loved them and was even selected to participate in a couple. The chinese acrobates are wonderful and you can't miss the Candy Lady in Japan.
* Select a food item from the shopps at each country to try or bring back home as a souvenir. DS loved this. And let me suggest not getting the seaweed from Japan... Not good, but we did have quite a good laugh about it once we got the taste out of our mouth. We LOVED the maple cream cookies from Canada! Oh what I wouldn't do for one of those right now...
* There are characters in some of the different countries for the kids. I am not sure if there is a list or schedule for them, but I am sure someone here will be able to tell us. To name a few: Belle, Mushu, Adaddin, etc. And they added the character meet and greet in Future World.
* Enjoy strolling through the different countries and shopping. Take break here or there and talk to the different CMs in the shops. They are always very friendly and love talking to guests. Some of them have very interesting stories to tell and some have interserting trivia too.
* Look for the Hidden Mickeys in each country and future world. CMs will help if you ask. They are everywhere! DS2 has even spotted a few.
* Future World has Innoventions which DS has always loved. They have in the past had hands on activities for them to do. It has recently gone though some renovations, so I am not sure what specific things are there now, but in the past DS has made paper there and I think a robot. They have games and activities.
* Every time we go we try to eat at a different country. DS loves to try new things now. He didn't used to though... One year we got him to try sushi and he can't get enough of it now. Ever since then he has not been afraid to try new things.
* There is always the Kidcot Fun Spots, but to be honest we haven't done those since our first trip. DS was never really interested in them (he can color at home). Too many other things to do...


There are soooo many things to do a Epcot it is a 2 day park for us and a must to everytime we visit WDW.

They usually recommend doing MK last (or later in the week) so kids don't expect to have all the rides at each park. This has been our strategy in the past, but we now usually make Epcot our last park day since we love it so much. We save the best for last.

 

[bzzymom]

Epcot has been DS's favorite park since he was 4 years old, he is 11 now, and it is still his favorite park. We have to go to Epcot first, unlike many who goto MK first. Test track is one of his favorite rides at WDW, that and soarin. He isn't real big into the WS shopping, but he likes to watch the performers, like the chinese acrobats. He loves to eat in Japan where they cook the food right in front of you.

 

[james'mommy]

DS likes to try the different sodas in club cool.

 

[chloe770]

Wow! Thanks for all of the suggestions. I know DS will love the rides and the passport is a good idea for WS. What countries seem to be the most interesting for the younger kids?
Third trip. I think we will definitely be starting with Epcot.