Please help with an Itinirary for Epcot w/kids.

[lisaross]

It will be the last Monday in August - arriving at park opening and have lunch reservations for 1pm at Garden Grill.

Kids are 4 & 6 - hoping 4 year old will hit the 40inch requirement for Test Trac and Soarin.

Also want to just stay on the Future world side till lunch then finish up after lunch and hit the WS on another evening when we'll stay for fireworks.

I want to do the least backtracking etc.

these are what i'd like to try and hit:

Soarin
Test Trac
Ellens energy
living seas/turtle talk
Spaceship earth
living w/the land ride
honey i shrunk the audience

thinking after lunch hitting innoventions and image works - do the kids spend a long time here?

Planning to head back to CBR for a swim and CS dnr by the pool leaving epcot by about 3 or 4pm.

What do you think my best plan of action would be? This is also our first day in any of the parks so i really want the kids to enjoy!

lisa
first family wdw trip

8/27 - 9/4
CBR

THANK YOU!!!!

 

[jobie61]

Thats a lot to do in the morning, we generally allocate most of the day to the rides before heading over to the other worlds.

Make sure you fast pass test track and soarin.

 

[jsfein]

Will this be your only visit to Epcot (other than visiting the countries)? If so, you may be tight to try to squeeze all that in with a 4 & 6 year old. On my last trip with a 4, 6 & 8 year old, we did the following. First grabbed fastpasses for Soarin. Then walked over and did Test Track (multiple rides -- kids love it) and Mission Space (which you haven't listed, but you could do Ellen's Energy instead). By then, we were at our fastpass time for Soarin. After Soarin we did HISTA, Imagination, and living seas, and spent at least 1 hour in innoventions/image works. Also squeezed lunch in somewhere there too. Rode SE on our way out of the park. This was pretty tiring.

 

[jeannief]

Lisa, we were there in early may with a 5 and 6 year old. here's how our day went (from the trip report I'm still working on!)
Epcot day. I forgot to look at my planner and didn’t realize that it was EMH there until shortly after 8. We left the resort at 8:15 and got in at 8:30. Ran to Soarin and rode that first (DH had to step out of line for a bathroom break w/ DS6 but got back before we went past the CM). Great ride!!!! We got FP for another turn and went over to ride Test Track, got a FP for that and then stood in line for Turtle Talk w/ Crush – how cool is that attraction dude?. We missed our FP time for Soarin by about ½ hour but the CM said it was no problem. Then back to TT again. The boys (big and little) all liked the cars at the end of the ride. Note that the second time we rode we had 2 singles with us. The singles line was about minutes, the regular was about 50. - Added for Lisa- all this was before 11 am. A bit of backtracking but worth it
Lunch at Garden Grill at 1:00, but they were running late and we didn’t get seated until close to 1:30. Thank goodness for Kidcot stands to occupy the kids as we were hungry by then. Lunch was very good, the catfish was outstanding and we got seconds on that. The kids didn’t really like much of their food though, they found the mac n cheese too overdone and the chicken fingers at Disney did not appeal to them.
We wanted to leave after that to swim but first rode The Land and then wandered around Innoventions and played some games with other families, putting out fires in the home and trying to match crops to states to make a pizza. My older son was too shy to participate in the second game and by the time he got enough courage it was over. The wonderful CM let our family play again so that he could participate and later took him outside to release ladybugs into the flowers. He got a “working for Disney” card from her for that.
Back to the hotel for a rest and a swim at around 4.

More to Lisa- you might want to skip Ellen's Energy, that thing is an hour long! Honey I shrunk the kids was closed when we went last time but it is great for kids. I'd also recommend getting some Character autographs at the Character Connection since it's their first day and on your way between TT and Soarin. If your 4 year old isn't tall enough for TT then I'd ride Soarin, get a FP for it for afterwards and then wait for Crush. We couldn't get teh kids OUT of Innoventions, they had a ball in there. Plus it is air conditioned. Have fun!

 

[lisaross]

this will be the most time we'll be spending on teh FW side - unless of course we love it so. We'll actually be coming back to EPcot the last day of our trip on a Sunday - was planning to arrive about 4p or so - we have a dnr reservation at 6pm at Coral Reef - guess we could fit in a couple of things b4 dnr - then i want to walk about the countries b4 finding a place to sit for the firework display!

I did not mention mission because my little guy won't be able to ride!

OK so what do you think i can fit in b4 our lunch reservations?

thanx

 

[lisaross]

Garden Grill, or did you have to walk to the Countries??

thanx so much keep the info coming.

lisa

 

[Misa]

Your little guys might like spending alot of time in Innovations..mine did! They can make their own computerized robots and then 'race' them against other kids..then they can make a plastic robot to take home with them.

There's also a spot (in the same building) where you can shoot a 10 sec video of yourself and email it home. Very cool!

When we toured the WS..we entered backwards (opposite side from test track) and found it a easier for some reason.

When you're in the WS, the kids can get a mask and in each country, usually located in the gift shop somewhere, there are CM dressed up (and typically they are native to that country) they will stamp your child's mask and add a plastic charm. You can also have them sign their autograph books. Keep your eyes out for characters here too. Usually they are the "real person" characters (think Alice in Wonderland) and they will chat with the kids.

Turtle Talk with Crush was not open when I went in Oct and I was so bummed about missing that

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Seems like most folks have to decide between Test Track or Soarin' first. I guess whichever you choose, be sure to get over to the other ASAP. I have seen lots of DISers report Soarin' running out of FPs. I agree with the person who said you may wish to skip UoE. It is cute, but a huge time-sucker. I would consider it a minor attraction and not worth the time you will need to invest in it, especially given your short schedule. My kids never have spent a lot of time at Innoventions, YMMV. JIYI is always something we look forward to and we have never run into a line, so it may be a good one to squeeze in while you are near Soarin'. It's hard to say what the best strategy is for Turtle Talk. From what I read it is crowded from opening to close. I guess you just have to take a look and decide whether its worth it. It is definitely a great show. Our kids just loved it, but I don't know if I'd spend lots of valuable time waiting in line for it.

 

[mamaminnie]

Garden Grill, or did you have to walk to the Countries??

thanx so much keep the info coming.

lisa

There are kidcot stations in The Land, Living Seas, Test Track, Mission Space (?) there may be more, I'm sure someone knows where. You get a lanyard type necklace instead of the mask. If your little one is too short for rides, there's a nice play area in Mission Space to keep you busy while big kids ride.

 

[jeannief]

this will be the most time we'll be spending on teh FW side - unless of course we love it so. We'll actually be coming back to EPcot the last day of our trip on a Sunday - was planning to arrive about 4p or so - we have a dnr reservation at 6pm at Coral Reef - guess we could fit in a couple of things b4 dnr - then i want to walk about the countries b4 finding a place to sit for the firework display!

I did not mention mission because my little guy won't be able to ride!

OK so what do you think i can fit in b4 our lunch reservations?

thanx

LOL Lisa. We went back to Epcot on our last day for dinner at coral reef at 6! Too funny, great minds and all that.
We did NOT have time afterwards to walk around the countries. I would instead suggest that after lunch on your first day you do the countries, then on your last day do Innoventions as Coral Reef is towards the front anyway. We dashed around the countries between 4 and 6 and it was just that, a dash. We didn't go into any of them nor go on any rides. When we arrived that day Soarin was a 120 minute wait, TT was 100 and there were no FP at either. So Innoventions would have been the best thing at that time. Next time we'll do innoventions on an afternoon arrival and the countries after lunch.
There is a kidcot station within viewing distance from the GG so you can check in and then walk over there until your table is ready.

 

[english rose 47]

I need help too my first ever WDW trip so obviously first Epcot. Party 0f 5 dd,me, dgsx2(11) & dgs 5. Arrive around 8:45 . As soon as opens head for Soarin ride and get FP then over to Living Seas for Turtle , then Honey I shrunk Garden Grill for luncharound noon after that Innoventions East & West Get FP for test Track first ride tt then onto part of worlde Mexico boatride Norway Maelstrom, and Germany cos dgs are german background Back to Future eat at Electic umbella chack out Spaceship earth and watch Illuminations from near entramnce for fast exit IF DGS makes it that long. How does this sound to much ? Anything I should add delete.

 

[jeannief]

I need help too my first ever WDW trip so obviously first Epcot. Party 0f 5 dd,me, dgsx2(11) & dgs 5. ...Get FP for test Track first ride tt then onto part of worlde ...Illuminations from near entramnce for fast exit IF DGS makes it that long. How does this sound to much ? Anything I should add delete.

English Rose, my boys are 5 and 6 and in the Floriday heat could not last a full day in the parks.. and they were in a stroller! In our cooler February trip they were fine though. If I were you I would get a FP for Soarin first, then ride Soarin using the standby line, then ride TT and get a FP for it (the timing should work out). You can do Crush after Soarin if you want but the line up is pretty constant any time of day whereas TT gets longer and longer as the day goes on. You can use the FP's later in the day as you want (they will let you use them after your time, don't worry). Your gs's will probably love TT the most (boys and their cars!). Innoventions is a great place to spend some down time and cool off. The countries are spread out and a fair bit of walking so leave yourself lots of time for that so you don't get too exhasted. If you are on property I would take a break if you can.
And Illuminations is great, but next time we'll try to get closer as we didn't really get to see the lake part of the show, and our boys couldn't see that part at all.

 

[intrep93]

We are planning 2 days at epcot, one for FW, one for WS. WS can take a long time to get around and there is a lot of neat stuff to see. Even little ones will get a kick out of some of the street performers, though they may not be interested in all the movies. We are doing WS our very 1st day at WDW. Epcot has AM EMH so we are going to tour FW from 8-10, just get as much in as possible, then go around WS from Canada starting at 10 when they open. We have ADR's in Germany (my DH's people) at 6:55 (we are doing CS "around the world" for lunch. Then we can hit Maelstrom and El Rio Del Tiempo before getting our spot for Illuminations. Make sure you are "up wind" of the barge or all you'll see is a face full of smoke! 3 days later we will be back for our FW day. We have ADR's in Canada that night as it's right on the border between FW and WS so we don't have to walk half way around WS to get to it. Then we can either watch Illuminations again, or ride our favorite stuff one more time while everyone else is watching and the lines are short! Good luck with your planning!

 

[kidd_freeper]

My kids (DS6,DS5,DS4) were not that thrilled with the kidcot station stuff.

However the Junior Chef cooking class in the Land was a HUGE suprise hit.
Also the Innoventions stuff was also a big hit.

I suggest getting to the Junior Chef class 15 minutes early (and have a camera ready!)

The Innoventions stuff is a great way to fill time, and you can be guaranteed that your kids will find something they like there.

 

[english rose 47]

Thanks Jeanief, DGS prefers fireworks from a distance as we learned this summer! How far is it from Soarin to t.t. Just trying to cut down on backtracking bnut I agreee DGS will love tt

 

[english rose 47]

Thanks Jeanief, DGS prefers fireworks from a distance as we learned this summer! How far is it from Soarin to t.t. Just trying to cut down on backtracking bnut I agreee DGS will love tt

 

[jeannief]

Hi English Rose,
Soarin to TT is a brisk 5 minute walk. We were motoring though to get as much in fast.
My younger guy also was not a fan of being close to the fireworks the first time. What helped was bringing glow sticks/necklaces/bracelets from the dollar store. It gave him something else to look at and think about, he was busy making friends with other kids by giving the sticks away. One family told us their son had never watched a fireworks without his fingers in his ears until our son gave him a glow stick. He was so entralled with it that he forgot to be nervous.
We missed the chef class.... next time for sure.

 

[english rose 47]

Thanks again for tips I already have glow sticks etc for the evening sshows.I'd heard of the chef class where is it exaactly?

 

[jeannief]

I believe the chef class is somewhere in the Land pavillion, it is sponsored by Nestle.