How long to plan for touring Epcot Holidays Around the World

[tarheel]

Hi. We will be there in December. My kids will be 6 and 9. How long should I plan for touring the World Showcase for Hoildays Around the World? Also, where is the best place to eat with them prior to the evening CP? Do you recommend one of those dinner packages? Any advice would be great! Thanks!

 

[goofy4tink]

If you want a sit-down meal before CP I would suggest Garden Grill at Living with the Land Pavillion. We got the package last Dec and it was really nice. Just leave plenty of time to get to CP!! It's a fair walk. Now, if you want to do all the countries and their holiday things, then you might want to grab somthing in WS. Check out the offerings at Deb's allears.net site. (I think I'm remembering that correctly) We tried to see too many of the countries in one afternoon. Get a parkk schedule and plan from that. My dd loved Norway best while I love Germany. But all the countries we saw were terrific. I think the times of the holiday programs is listed in the park guide supplement.

CP and the Holidays around the World are the big reasons we're going back after Thanksgiving!!! Have fun.

 

[Badger Brent]

We took 2 days at a nice pace to enjoy the storytellers and decorations. Have them do t the kidcot stations to keep them entertained. I loved the canadian presentation along with the norway and germany. Great photo ops with the countries versions of santa.

As far as the package, that becomes a personal thing wether it's worth the money when you also have the chance to see it free without the package. We've done it both ways and choose the standby way now.

 

[wannabee princess]

I think 2 days is needed to see the Santas (and others)! There are so many and the times that they run would not allow you to do anything else except walk from one to the other.

A note about the Santas. If your kids believe, but are iffy about the magic of Santa, this is may be confusing them more. My 8yo was pretty questioning about everything after watching the first couple. Just a thing to think about.

We had dinner at Le Cellier, and I would highly recommend it! We had a great meal, it was a leisurely walk to the CP (ate at 5:15 and show at 8:15). Dh is a steak kind of person, so it was great for him, the kid's meal was perfect for ds (and he got to try the chocolate "moose").

I like the dinner package personally. I plan on one big meal a day anyways, this just added the benefit of having seats for CP without a 2 hour wait!

 

[webray]

Yep, I would plan on two days...especially if you want to do the kidcot stations along the way..that takes a bit of time, but, fun for the kids.

All the santas are wonderful, the extra things going on around the park.

I would recommend the dinner, chefs de france, or Alfredos with your CP show. Guarantees you have a seat. Otherwise, you may be standing outside the theatre. You can still hear, but, it would be much nicer to sit down inside and enjoy it comfortably.
Just make sure to make your dinner reservation for that night a bit earlier than you normally would. The popular restaurants are very busy on CP night, and there can be a wait time before you even get in. Last time we did this..we cut it very close as to making it to the show on time, because the restaurant we chose had a 45 minute wait..apparantly everyone else wanted the same restaurant.

 

[tarheel]

Thanks for the advice everyone!