Help with Epcot itinerary?

[donan1212]

First time posting... hoping this is the right place for itinerary advice?

Taking a big trip with my parents, sister, and two daughters (7 and 9) in August. We're staying at the Copper Creek Villas and couldn't be more excited! We went as a family when I was 10 (now 34) and it was our favorite vacation. I'm in charge of planning and am already stuck with day one at the parks. On arrival day we have dinner at Ohana and maybe some swimming at resort. Day two is Epcot. So...

I don't mind rope drop. I would ideally like to take a break back at the resort mid-day since I heard that was recommended with kids (my youngest has ADHD and can get over-stimulated... I know, Disney might be a bit much for her, but I'm trying to go into this with realistic expectations!) I'm thinking it might be better for us to skip Illuminations in favor of getting a somewhat early night back at the resort.

Frozen Ever After is a must.

Other things we would like to do are Test Track, Soarin, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, Living With the Land, Turtle Talk, American Adventure (nice AC break for kids or too long for youngest to sit through?)

4:55 reservation at Akershus for dinner

What should I do with my Fastpasses? When do we eat breakfast if we rope drop? Would it be better to sleep in a little later and not take a mid-day break? I am worried about the heat going in August. And my kids are probably going to want to spend the whole vacation at the pool, haha.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[ErinsMommy]

I would rope drop FEA if you can, and FP+ Test Track, Mission and Spaceship Earth (it amazes me how long that line gets and its outside in the sun). Soarin isn't usually too long of a wait and you can even sometimes grab it as a 4th FP plus the line moves along. Living with the Land, Turtle Talk and AA you dont need FP for at all.

 

[ErinsMommy]

If you do rope drop FEA, go to American Adventure as your just about halfway there from FEA, then you can take the boat back to the front of WS, and hit up Soarin, Living with the Land and Turtle Talk (closest to each other); then Mission and Test Track (closest to each other); then as your leaving the park Spaceship Earth.

 

[Sara_H]

I agree with the post above, except maybe FastPass FEA and rope drop Test Track. When we rope drop, we eat breakfast in our room (pop tarts, cereal, etc.). I wouldn't worry too much about the heat while at EPCOT because they have lots of places with a/c and lots of their rides you wait indoors for. I would rope drop and then head out before the fireworks if you wanted a break. To me, a mid-day break just seems time consuming, but I do understand that it is sometimes needed.

 

[ErinsMommy]

Oh I just saw Akershus for dinner...maybe make Akershus for breakfast right after you RD FEA?

 

[ErinsMommy]

And FWIW my daughter has moderate ADHD and was over stimulated with Disney as a whole, but we learned that mid-day breaks were a bad bad idea as she couldn't "shut down" hearing and seeing kids in the pool, or hearing them run up and down the hallways to get to their rooms. It was time wasted because as much as we wanted her to nap, she just couldn't. Good luck!

 

[princess4life]

I have an adhd son - he's 15 now, but we took him to disney when he was 4, 6, & 8. We did a lot of reading up on attractions as he was super senstive to noise when he was younger. We packed ear plugs for fireworks, etc. My husband was genius in just preparing him, telling him that the people in the Haunted Mansion had one job - to try to scare you even though it's not really scary. And, that his job was to enjoy it and have fun. We did have a lot of success with the afternoon rest time. I always told him he didn't have to sleep but that his body would just need to be still and rest, and he almost always fell asleep for a little while. I think that you know your child best, so plan accordingly. We knew our little guy wouldn't cope well with the bigger rides, so we either split up or avoided those. When we took him back at 12, he was ready for those things and enjoyed them without bad memories. Best of luck!

 

[MJ6987]

Speaking from experience here as a Dad with two daughters with ASD and ADHD. They both love WDW by the way, you’ve just got to pace things a bit.

I think it all depends whether you want to do the evening / illuminations, which I would recommend if you could do it. We are lucky I guess as we come from the UK for 2 weeks at a time, so we tend to do the early mornings in the first week (but finish the day around 3-5pm) and then the evenings in the second week (but not go out until the afternoon). I’m assuming you may not have this luxury so a midday break may be a good option.

If you don’t want to stay till the evening I would definitely rope drop - get there 30 mins before opening, you’ll get so much done in the first hour or so. I would FastPass Frozen, maybe for the afternoon by which time you’ll have made your way to World Showcase anyway. Rope drop Test Track and then straight across to Soarin, then the other bits of Future World you are interested in (nothing else should be too bad) except maybe you could leave Spaceship Earth till the way out unless it happens to have a low wait, it tends to be busier in the morning due to its location and visibility.

In this scenario I wouldn’t bother with a midday break, instead use a leisurely lunch to rest - somewhere like Sunshine Seasons maybe.

If you do decide to go for the evening and Illuminations then I would do a midday break back at the resort. In this case the only thing is maybe your dinner reservation could do with being a bit later, if you were able to change it, but not the end of the world. Again I would ropedrop the morning (same plan as above) but this time head back to the resort for lunchtime, have food there and a nice rest before heading back to Epcot in time for dinner.

In terms of breakfast I would recommend just buying stuff you can eat quickly in the room before you leave, cereal, toast, or whatever.

Enjoy!

 

[sharonabe]

If you do rope drop FEA, go to American Adventure as your just about halfway there from FEA, then you can take the boat back to the front of WS, and hit up Soarin, Living with the Land and Turtle Talk (closest to each other); then Mission and Test Track (closest to each other); then as your leaving the park Spaceship Earth.

American Adventure and the lagoon boat don't open until 11:00, so this won't work.

4:55 reservation at Akershus for dinner

This ADR pretty much negates any kind of afternoon break. Even if you drive or use Lyft/Uber, you'll need at least 30-45 min travel time each way. If using Disney transportation, you'll need an hour. Assuming you want at least a 2 hr break, you'd have to be leaving EP around noon-12:30. EP has a lot of air conditioned areas to cool off and take a break. Let your daughter decide where those will be by what interests her. At that age, mine could spend hours in the aquarium. There is also a lot of fun stuff to do at the end of TT, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth. All of these areas can be entered through the gift shop "exit" if you're not riding the attraction.

EP has Tiered FP, so riding the three biggies (FEA, TT, Soarin') almost requires a rope drop morning to fit all of them in, so your late morning plan doesn't really work either.

FP+ either FEA or TT, rope drop the other one, then hit Soarin'

 

[SG131]

First time posting... hoping this is the right place for itinerary advice?

Taking a big trip with my parents, sister, and two daughters (7 and 9) in August. We're staying at the Copper Creek Villas and couldn't be more excited! We went as a family when I was 10 (now 34) and it was our favorite vacation. I'm in charge of planning and am already stuck with day one at the parks. On arrival day we have dinner at Ohana and maybe some swimming at resort. Day two is Epcot. So...

I don't mind rope drop. I would ideally like to take a break back at the resort mid-day since I heard that was recommended with kids (my youngest has ADHD and can get over-stimulated... I know, Disney might be a bit much for her, but I'm trying to go into this with realistic expectations!) I'm thinking it might be better for us to skip Illuminations in favor of getting a somewhat early night back at the resort.

Frozen Ever After is a must.

Other things we would like to do are Test Track, Soarin, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, Living With the Land, Turtle Talk, American Adventure (nice AC break for kids or too long for youngest to sit through?)

4:55 reservation at Akershus for dinner

What should I do with my Fastpasses? When do we eat breakfast if we rope drop? Would it be better to sleep in a little later and not take a mid-day break? I am worried about the heat going in August. And my kids are probably going to want to spend the whole vacation at the pool, haha.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

If you want to do FEA, Test Track and Soarin' all in one day don't take the sleep a little later approach. I personally would suggest FP Test Track and rope dropping FEA. Test Track occasionally has issues opening on time and if its raining it won't open. If you get a FP for it, you will be able to go back when it is open. If you rope drop it and for some reason it isn't open right away that could mess up the day a bit. I think American Adventure is a great AC break in August, it also is a slower paced show, so might help with unwinding. As far as illuminations, I think you should play that by ear and see how your kids do during the day. Illuminations is ending in September so this will be the last chance to see it, but I know some people aren't a fan and it isn't a must do for them.

 

[donan1212]

Wow, thanks for all the advice. I'm definitely re-thinking the midday break now. I might skip that for our Epcot day - rope drop and not stay for Illuminations. We will be doing two days at Magic Kingdom so that might be a better time for a break back at the resort (when we don't have an early dinner res.)

I am not a huge fireworks person *gasp*, but my family might really enjoy it, so maybe we'll play it by ear and see if we feel like it. I guess I could plan our next day a little later? We'll be at MK and have an 11 am ADR at Be Our Guest. Ugh.. this is so difficult! I'm realizing that would be WAY too long of a day at Epcot if we rope drop and do Illuminations. It's very hard to plan this far in advance!

 

[MJ6987]

Wow, thanks for all the advice. I'm definitely re-thinking the midday break now. I might skip that for our Epcot day - rope drop and not stay for Illuminations. We will be doing two days at Magic Kingdom so that might be a better time for a break back at the resort (when we don't have an early dinner res.)

I am not a huge fireworks person *gasp*, but my family might really enjoy it, so maybe we'll play it by ear and see if we feel like it. I guess I could plan our next day a little later? We'll be at MK and have an 11 am ADR at Be Our Guest. Ugh.. this is so difficult! I'm realizing that would be WAY too long of a day at Epcot if we rope drop and do Illuminations. It's very hard to plan this far in advance!

Yeah, if you’re not staying for Illuminations you won’t need a midday break, maybe end the day on a “high” with Akershus. I can’t emphasise the importance of rope drop enough, you’ll get so much more done. And, like I say, don’t underestimate things like a relaxed lunch or a show like the American Adventure (as mentioned above), sitting somewhere with an ice cream, etc as ways to “rest” in the park.

 

[Axel]

Akershus for breakfast was way better than Akershus for dinner, IMHO, but to each their own. I agree with a PP who said a solid idea might be to breakfast Akershus and then FP FEA.

It is entirely reasonable to expect an ADHD child to get overwhelmed by the parks, but I've found that, especially for young children, EPCOT is a little less stimulating than say, MK. If you aren't staying for fireworks, a midday break back to the resort probably won't be necessary. When I was little, we would power through until dinner and then go back to our cabin. As I got older (around the same age as your oldest) I was stimulated enough that I was staying up and alert through the fireworks shows like they were nothing.

But I'm also very militaristic in my approach to vacationing at WDW. I mean, how else do you ride RNR and ToT twenty times each in a day?!

 

[donan1212]

Ok, I've spent WAY too much time working on this, but let me know how this sounds!

Grab coffee and quick to-go breakfast at Roarin Fork at resort (or eat in room... would love to use our refillable mugs but don't want to lug them around the park)

Rope drop - right to Soarin

FP Spaceship Earth (9:15-10:15)

hit up the Seas with Nemo

FP Turtle Talk (10:30 - 11:30)

Living with the Land if time allows

Lunch at either Sunshine Seasons or La Cantina

FB Frozen Ever After (11:30 - 12:30)

Mexico Gran Fiesta Tour

Hit up splash pad if kids are hot and cranky

Tour World Showcase, do American Adventure and end back at Norway for

Dinner ADR Akershus at 4:55

Mission Space Green

Any Fastpasses I may be able to snag after using others

Leave before fireworks and hit the sack