Help with Epcot FP plan - preschoolers

Surgie2

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 19, 2016
Messages
1,438
Multi/gen trip first week of May including 4 children ages 1-5. Staying at Poly, 8-day hopper tickets, planning two Epcot days, not back to back.

Our first park day will be a Sunday at Epcot. Will have done P&P the night before so not counting on RD. Want to make Epcot super fun since MK isn’t until Day 2.

Trying to make best use of FP. After having been at Epcot last week ((just husband and myself), I take wait times seriously! I feel like everything I’ve read about “don’t need a FP for this or that” is out the window!

So with little ones in mind...can you suggest any tweaks to the FP plan below:

Day 1 (Sunday)-
10:00 Meet Disney Pals
11:00 FEA
Meet A and Elsa before or after FP?
1:00 Spaceship Earth

Day 6 (Friday)
RD Test Track for those tall enough

10:00 Turtle Talk
11:00 Figment
12:00 Soarin’ for those tall enough
 
Day 6 (Friday)
RD Test Track for those tall enough

10:00 Turtle Talk
11:00 Figment
12:00 Soarin’ for those tall enough

You won't really "need" a 10AM FP for Turtle Talk.
And, at that time of year, you will definitely not need a FP for Figment.

If (IF) there are some other FPs you'd like, you could safely choose those.
 
Last edited:
Multi/gen trip first week of May including 4 children ages 1-5. Staying at Poly, 8-day hopper tickets, planning two Epcot days, not back to back.

Our first park day will be a Sunday at Epcot. Will have done P&P the night before so not counting on RD. Want to make Epcot super fun since MK isn’t until Day 2.

Trying to make best use of FP. After having been at Epcot last week ((just husband and myself), I take wait times seriously! I feel like everything I’ve read about “don’t need a FP for this or that” is out the window!

So with little ones in mind...can you suggest any tweaks to the FP plan below:

Day 1 (Sunday)-
10:00 Meet Disney Pals
11:00 FEA
Meet A and Elsa before or after FP?
1:00 Spaceship Earth

Day 6 (Friday)
RD Test Track for those tall enough

10:00 Turtle Talk
11:00 Figment
12:00 Soarin’ for those tall enough

Day 1 has too much backtracking IMHO. If those are the FP+ you want, I would do Spaceship Earth as soon as you enter (10:00 FP+), then Character Spot (11:00 am), then FEA (1:00 pm). Otherwise you are walking from the entrance of EP FW, all the way back to Norway and back to the EP FW entrance again in a matter of a few hours. You can meet A & E before or after FEA (it won't make much of a difference). If you are walking to Norway via Mexico and want to work your way around WS after FEA, I would meet A&E before FEA, again, to eliminate backtracking.

Day 6 - you really don't need FP+ for a show. Perhaps switch that out for Nemo instead (if you are interested in riding).
 
My preschooler really likes Living the Land and it often gets backed up, so you could switch out something like Figment for that fastpass.
 

I travel with a one and (soon to be) 4 year old.

I agree that day one has a lot of backtracking across a big park and you may want to look at the order. I will also say that both of my kids hate Spaceship Earth, but if you are going to ride it, it can be a good use of a FP. My daughter loves characters, and we find Character Spot FPs useful.

On day 6 I would probably FP the Nemo ride or Living with the Land over Turttle Talk. The line for Nemo is always hit or miss. My kids love that ride and we typically ride it several times during a trip.

I also agree with a poster who mentioned living with the land. My little guy loves that ride. We typically rider swap Soarin’ and who ever stays with the 2 year old has a FP for Living with the Land. Then uses the swap to ride while the other person took him to the Lion King show. Not sure how we will work that now that the theatre will be used for something else.
 
I agree that day one has a lot of backtracking across a big park and you may want to look at the order. I will also say that both of my kids hate Spaceship Earth, but if you are going to ride it, it can be a good use of a FP. My daughter loves characters, and we find Character Spot FPs useful.

That's my only hesitation about making Spaceship Earth our very first park ride on our very first day. Husband and I rode it last week and tried to put ourselves in the place of our little ones and I really think it could go either way. The last thing we want is tears! That's why I originally had it as our last FP...thinking we'd have a shorter day and do it on the way out of the park. Our plan is to (loosely)see half of FW and WS on day 1 and the other half of both on our second EP day.
 
That's my only hesitation about making Spaceship Earth our very first park ride on our very first day. Husband and I rode it last week and tried to put ourselves in the place of our little ones and I really think it could go either way. The last thing we want is tears! That's why I originally had it as our last FP...thinking we'd have a shorter day and do it on the way out of the park. Our plan is to (loosely)see half of FW and WS on day 1 and the other half of both on our second EP day.

It always surprises me that my kiddos love SE. They like the interactive part but I can definitely see not making it their very first ride. Maybe hit it early in the day your second day.

I would suggest switching the FP on Day 2 to TT and RD Soarin. The lines for it build slower so if the kids really like it they can go more than once before wait times get out of control. Also, TT goes down more often and doesn’t run if it’s raining. If you have an FP for it you at least get an anytime FP to use.

We’re there that same week but don’t have any overlapping Epcot days.
 
That's my only hesitation about making Spaceship Earth our very first park ride on our very first day. Husband and I rode it last week and tried to put ourselves in the place of our little ones and I really think it could go either way. The last thing we want is tears! That's why I originally had it as our last FP...thinking we'd have a shorter day and do it on the way out of the park. Our plan is to (loosely)see half of FW and WS on day 1 and the other half of both on our second EP day.

I think making it the ride on the way out is a good way to do it. I wasn’t thinking that you timed it out for breaks and we’re leaving the park. I could see that as good timing then. We’ve taken the kids twice. Tears both times and then it’s hard to get them to do anything else for a bit. You never know your kids could love it, but I think on the way out is good.
 
I agree with others, Epcot is so huge, you want to basically make your FP for FEA at a time when you think you will be done with Future World and ready to do World Showcase. Otherwise the amount of walking will really waste time. The Touring Plans site recommends getting the FEA FP for afternoon, but since you are doing EPCOT twice you could try for late morning too.

Edited: just saw that you are doing a 1/2 day. I think this works fine if you do your third FP as you leave. You will potentially also have a chance to add a 4th after you scan your Spaceship Earth FP if the kids still have energy and you want to ride something else on your way out.
 
Edited: just saw that you are doing a 1/2 day. I think this works fine if you do your third FP as you leave. You will potentially also have a chance to add a 4th after you scan your Spaceship Earth FP if the kids still have energy and you want to ride something else on your way out.

Yes, with P&P the night before we don't know what the kids' stamina will be. So planning for a short day, early lunch at F&G and back to the resort. Thanks for the suggestion - we will try for a 4th FP and see if we get anything in the area of Spaceship as long as no one is traumatized at that point!
 


Disney Vacation Planning. Free. Done for You.
Our Authorized Disney Vacation Planners are here to provide personalized, expert advice, answer every question, and uncover the best discounts. Let Dreams Unlimited Travel take care of all the details, so you can sit back, relax, and enjoy a stress-free vacation.
Start Your Disney Vacation
Disney EarMarked Producer






DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter

Add as a preferred source on Google

Back
Top Bottom