Help ~ my DD hates EPCOT! (long)

[>>^..^<<]

I have to admit ~ I was not thrilled with our EPCOT visit either - so there must be something we are missing.

Our story - first of all it was mercilessly hot (August) and we arrived early to go to the PSB Breakfast. World showcase was not opened yet, therefore pretty but kind of boring.

I picked up 2 FP's while passing Test Track on the way to Norway so after PSB (World Showcase Still not open) we ran back to Test Track and rode it with out FP - it was fun....

Innoventions my DD thought was too educational for a holiday Living Seas, just okay, HISTA was fun.. and that was about it... it was so hot by then we had a quick lunch and were oout of there and back to the pool at AKL.

I just mentioned to her that this time our hotel (BC) is a 5 minute walk to EPCOT and she said "Nooooooooooo!" Don't make me go there"! LOL

A few months ago the Simpsons show went to Disney and when Homer was looking out of the jet down at EPCOT he said "Oh it's even boring from up here" (or something like that) - my DD got the BIGGEST laugh out of this!

Today on a trip report I read about Oysters you can buy that may have pearls in them in Japan?... is there anything else neat for kids in the other countries?

Somebody tell we are missing ~ we love DAK, MGM & MK

So many people say this is their favourite park - I want to love it too.

>>^..^<<

 

[rigs32]

I know other people who don't like EPCOT, but my hubby and I love it.

The last time we went, DH and I went with two friends between the four of us we had - a Paramedic/pre-med bio major, a history PhD student, a chemist, and a biologist doing AIDS research. We loved EPCOT. We spent our time picking apart the science when it was overly simplified and sometimes even wrong. But we're classified as geeky anyway, so we saw this as great fun.

In Innoventions, they have the Disney Dance Dance Revolution game, which is fun for a try. You step on the arrows as they go up the screen.

Norway has the log flume ride. You can even skip the movie afterward and move on.

The outdoor bands and performance groups make for a nice lazy afternoon of fun and entertainment.

 

[PammyK]

Actually, the oysters in Japan are guaranteed to have pearls in them - if there is no pearl in your first choice, you get to pick another oyster. It is a lot of fun and I've seen some lovely pearls, including twin silvery-grey pearls that were just gorgeous.

Also in Japan is Miyuki, the candy lady. She is wonderfully talented and a wonderful person. Get there early, be polite and you have a good chance to get a free candy shaped in the animal of your choice.

Then there are the kidcot stations. Kids can decorate masks, adding stamps and other items in each country.

Also, each country has live entertainment of some kind. Kids usually seem to like Off-Kilter in Canada. I know lots of kids who adore the Voices of Liberty andAmerican Vybe in America. The statues in Italy are usually good for a few giggles as well.

 

[Emy'sMom]

My DD will be 6 next month and she's been to WDW every year since she was 3. I thought for certain she would not like EPCOT but she LOVES it.

Some of the things she gravitates to each year . . .

* Ice Station Cool
* Universe of Energy
* Spaceship Earth
* Coloring masks in the countries at WS
And, my DD inherited the 'gift of gab' from her father so she likes to talk to the CMs at the different countries too. She's 5 1/2 going on 35!

Debbie

 

[pnelson]

My son loves it-How old is your daughter?

 

[>>^..^<<]

Hi there ~ she is 9, loves rides and characters - hates shopping (unless it's for her)

>>^..^<<

 

[tar heel]

You sure didn't spend much time in EPCOT! My family loves it and spends more and more time there each trip. You didn't say how old your daughter is, but here's what my son has liked best the past couple trips when he was 7 and 8.

In Future World: Test Track, Journey into Imagination and Ice Station Cool. He also likes Innoventions, Spaceship Earth and Energy okay. We try not to overload the educational stuff -- like if we do the land pavilion, we don't do the life one the same day.

World Showcase: Doing a mask at the Kidcot stations. This is a great way to visit the countries without it being boring for the kids.

Imaginum (the living statues) located in Italy.

Miyuki (the candy maker) in Japan. We see her at least 3-4 times each trip and are lucky enough to always end up with one of her creations.

Le Mime Roland and A Chair Act in France. These are GREAT shows.

The acrobats in China. Truly amazing.

World Showcase Players in Great Britain. Very funny and somehow one of our family members keeps ending up in the show.

Playing on the Viking ship.

Eating at Teppanyaki and Marrakesh.

My son does not like the movies and can take or leave the musical acts (DH and I really like Off Kilter, though)

World Showcase can get very hot since there's so much pavement and so few trees. We like to tour there late afternoon/evening or after a rain.

Make sure to pick up an entertainment schedule b/c there are really good things going on at Epcot in the afternoon/evening.

 

[lisajl]

A co worker of mine just got back from WDW. She hated Epcot.
She hates science, etc.

We loved it. The kids had a blast playing video games, getting our photo emailed to family, learning about other countries.
I guess it just depends on what you like.

Of course we love MK, and AK, MGM, too~
But Epcot is a nice learning experience.

Lisajl

 

[DeborahB]

One thing my sons really enjoyed when they were young (say 12 and 9) in World Showcase was the World passport. At the time it cost about 7.95- it looks like a real type passport. They take it to a special spot in each country(usually a certain register) and the CM will write a short message in it, in their native language, with a translation too, of course. And they take time to talk with the kids. I thought it was great! It's a nice way to weave through the countries and learn about them in a fun way.

I think these passports are still available, but I'm sure the cost is higher now!

We really enjoy Epcot. There's great entertainment here. Make sure to pick up a schedule and try to see the Chinese acrobats and Voices of Liberty( in America ) two of my favorites, which I think would appeal to someone your daughter's age too.

Debbie

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

We love Epcot and so do our kids!
Don't do World Showcase in the middle of the day in the summer-too hot! Wait until about 4 or after you have had an afternoon swim and are fresh.
DD(8) loves the boat ride inside Mexico. She thinks it is similiar to IASW !
They both love Innoventions, we always send pictures or video e-mails. Ice Station Cool, Test Track, Spaceship Earth, JII and Universe of Energy, and Maelstrom(we always skip the movie ) are favorites.
My kids enjoyed doing the Passports the first time they went.
Sample different foods around the world and enjoy! Luckily my kids take after me and LOVE to shop!

 

[CamColt]

My DSs are 3 & 6, but they love Epcot, probably their second favorite. I used to think there wasnt much for kids there, but they have proved me wrong. Some of their highlights are...

Fish at the living seas...they could watch them all day
Universe of Energy...love the dinos
Innoventions...anything hands on they enjoy
Wonders of Life... Cranium Command, and the fitness fairgrounds
Imagination...What if labs

They even enjoy the little things like the dancing fountains, and light up walkways.

 

[ksmom]

We have done the passports and the masks. Both were a lot of fun. Plus we gave our daughters a little spending money for the shops. Not much and if they wanted something bigger they had to use their own money. They learned to be very thrifty and to explore all their options so they loved to look around.

 

[holidaybarb]

The passports are $9.99 now. I was with kids ages 7,9, and 12. We spent a lot of time in the World Showcase because they were so caught up in getting the passports signed and decorating their masks. They also talked to the CMs who are all from the countries they represent. I was amazed at how absorbed the kids were and how much fun it was.

The masks are a great idea - each country attaches something to the side that represents an aspect of the culture. The CM also stamps the stick of the mask. The idea is to decorate it as you move along the countries since some have different kinds of paint or markers. CMs wrote a quick note to each child in the passport and then the kids affixed the stickers for each country.

The kids also enjoyed the various performances that occurred - and at about noon a "tour" bus full of disney characters pulled up right outside Japan. It was cute, cute, cute. Then they all signed autographs.

It's harder when a child has had a bad experience previously. I hope she'll see kids enjoying the mask decorating and want to get involved. Good luck!

 

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

We visit Epcot a few days into our trip when the kids are ready for a mellow day anyway...we haven't doenmuch in Future World beacuse my kids are little, but we have a blast in the World Showcase...(if it were me, i'd really spend time in each country,but withe kids, we kind of just drift from country to country at apace that suits them...

Here's what we enjoy:
- making the masks
- getting the passports stamped
- viking ship playgound in Norway
- boat ride in Mexico
- Market in Mexico
- miniature trains display in Germany
- hedge maze in England
- lots of characters in the countries (Aladin, Jasmine, Peter Pan & Wendy, Mary Popins, Tigger & Pooh, Belle & the Beast...)
- Harlequin type clowns in Italy
- the parade is super!!
- Illuminations fireworks
- live entertainment in the different countries, depending on your interests, is great!
- moving statues

Outside of the World Showcase:
- the splashing fountains
- the cooling station

Haven't tired, but would like to:
Coral Reef restaurant
Ice Cream Social (ice cream witthe characters at the Garden Grill)

I know there's more, but I hope that helps...might be worth another shot....we usually go around 4pm and stay until the park closes.

 

[Maridw]

My DD is 16 now, but she enjoyed doing the passport when we went in 97. She did the oyster in March and got a beautiful pearl, 11.25 mm in size. The two right before hers were 11.75 & 11.5 mm. She also ended up buying a doll in Germany. (expensive). Sometimes you get lucky and can watch them make one. I finally broke down and got myself one. I had one made and my daughter bought a pre-made one. But we were lucky to get them signed by the owner/vice president of the company. He was there and signed them & personalized them for us.

We have seen the living statues and the players. Even my friend's son enjoyed seeing the different things at each country. We like the ride in Norway too. Also the ride in Mexico is good.

If you want to catch some of the other fun things and happenings, you can check the map because it usually gives times when things like the acrobats in China start etc. These are other things that would be interesting for kids. Did you check out Body wars? It is like Star Tours, but it is a journey through the body. Also Cranium Command is kind of neat.

These are just a few other ideas of things to do.

 

[tammydel]

Golly!
I saw your thread and was anxious to give my ideas. But it looks as if most ground has been covered!

I would second so many things I saw listed here:

Live entertainment!
There is so much that takes place right in fron of you, like street performers. Especially the Living Statues (used to be in France, now Italy) and also the "Venician Maquerade Guys" Sure that is not what they are called or how it would be spelled even if it were! Also in Italy.
Chineese acrobats.
My favorite - Off Kilter.

The whole indoor Mexico Pavillion, Boat Ride - a little hokey but kids love it. You'll enjoy it more after a Margaritta. Eating while watching the boats, the Mexican Bazzar.

Eating in Germany w/ the band and dancing in the courtyard setting.

The whole passport thing is great.

Oh, and no one mentioned Body Wars! O.K. I can't ride this - motion sickness issue. Did once, thought it was a GREAT ride, but I felt very sick. But I know your DD loves the wild rides!


Also you can stake out Mission Space and maybe get a test ride. I can do it for a special annual passholder event while I am there - I just don't know if my tummy can handle it!

**Another great thing - from BC your a stroll away. Rather than the hassle of the bus its more of a come and go as you please.

Here is to hoping you BOTH end up wanting to do more coming than going.
Tammy
P.S. Ability to spell leaves me at 9 PM. (and it is not good the rest of the time -ask my fourth graders!!!)

 

[holidaybarb]

And if you need anymore ideas take a look at this:

http://family.go.com/travel/disney/feature/dmag88epcot/

Have a good time!

 

[WDWfanatic288]

we love Epcot(well my mom and I do!) we seriously go everyday to see the France movie.

One thing is it could just be the age of your daughter, my brother is 11 now and hates Epcot...LOL! but he might just be sick of how much time we spend there. When I was 9-11(I'm gonna be 17 soon), I hated Epcot too.

what we love about Epcot(and ALL of this World Showcase...lol...we rarely go into future world)--
-ILLUMINATIONS! ahhh! I'm obsessed with this show...the best show on Disney property IMHO
-THE FOOD! you gotta eat a beaver tail(Canada) and a crepe and a passerry and ice cream from the crepe cart(all in France) and a kaki gori(Japan) and a churro(Mexico)...LOL
-the France movie-best movie ever! I know all the words(all the words to the movie, the talk the people give at the beginning of the movie, etc) and the music is wonderful
-Si Xian in China-this lady Ahn plays a Chinese harp and it's lovely! we bought her CD!
-American Vybe-AHHHHH! a wonderful singing group...best around(Voices of Liberty are good as well)
-Alfredos in Italy and Le Cellier in Canada-awesome food!
-Living Statues and Masquerade people in Italy
-pretty much any player person you can see
-Off Kilter as well
ok some suggestions-
-passports...my mom has forced me to stop this(I have 6...she said I'm too old anyway) but they are cool!
-masks! my mom has also made me stop making masks...she says I'm too old! but the kids go around to the countries and add stuff to the masks
-Norway ride and Mexico ride
-also do some character meet and greets

ok that's all I can think of off the top of my head

(sorry if that made no sense...it's late!)

 

[Terry S]

My kids really love makeing the masks at the Kidcot stations. They are both very goal oriented and had to make sure to get a stamp on thier mask at every country. This allowed them to talk to the CM's from each country, they really enjoyed it.

They also love the rides in mexico and norway. The Living Statues in France are really fun as well as the masqurade people in Italy. We have so many pictures with my kids and each of the masqurade people.

In future World, we spend about an hour at the Livings Seas and they enjoy Ellens Energy Aventure, Spaceship Earth and Test Track

 

[4greatboys]

Epcot is my family's least favorite park. Yes there a handful of things we do enjoy but on the whole we have a better time at the other parks.
We have tried to see and do almost everything at every park because I think everything should be tried atleast 1 time. Then if you dont like it no need to do it again but atleast you know whats it's all about.
No every park is for everyone.