Skip Epcot? Epcot 1 day? OR Skip AK, Epcot 2 days?! HELP!!

[MyTwoPrincesses]

I haven't been to WDW in 20 years. But when I went as a kid (I was 10 and my brother was 7) we both LOVED LOVED LOVED Epcot. In fact, I remember Epcot better than I remember the Magic Kingdom. My brother also remembers Epcot very well. So with that theory, we are doing 2 days in Epcot. One of those days, we plan to sleep in because World Showcase opens at 11. Thus one day we will try to get all of Futureworld accomplished and we will leave most of the World Showcase (except for Canada and UK and maybe France) for the second day. We plan to see the live shows, do Kidkot stops, eat at Akershus, meet princesses at the character spots on our World Showcase day. Based on my review of DIS and the Unofficial Guide, Epcot has only gotten better since I went to WDW in 1989.

We have 5 touring days + two half days due to travel. This is our plan:

Day 1: Afternoon in Magic Kingdom
Day 2: Magic Kingdom
Day 3: Epcot
Day 4: Epcot
Day 5: Hollywood Studios
Day 6: Animal Kingdom
Day 7: Morning in Magic Kingdom

 

[henrylovespooh]

Do NOT SKIP EPCOT!!!

My DH loves it just as much as the kids.

They love snacking around the world, including snow cones (kaki gori) in Japan, the boat ride in Mexico (small kids love it), playing in Innoventions, the fountain, and the characters.

There is a fire truck in one of the Innoventions buildings where you can get a picture of your child standing on the steps of the fire truck, and he can decorate the picture with a dalmation, fireman's hat, etc. There's even an opportunity for him to be in his own video game!

We find the lines for characters much shorter in Epcot than at MK.

Lots of food choices there for adults too.

My kids love walking through the hedge maze in the UK area - and Pooh is there too!

My kids (6 and 8) love Journey into Imagination with Figment and the Nemo theming of the Living Seas pavillion. There's a play area with the sharks from Nemo that my kids love, and they love looking at the aquarium stuff too. And of course, Turtle Talk with Crush.

My kids like Epcot better than Hollywood Studios by far. My son loves animals so he loves Animal Kindgom, but we usually only spend half a day there.

 

[ktlm]

My DD's favorite park after MK is Epcot. She has been when she was 2 yrs 10 months and again at 3. If your DD likes Princesses at all, she will absolutely adore Epcot. The WS is full of Princesses with fairly short lines in the afternoon. She loves the Kidcot stations, the entertainers in WS, the boat ride in Mexico and just exploring World showcase. She really liked the movie in China, but that is the only one we have tried so far. On the FW side, she loved the Nemo Ride, Turtle Talk with Crush, Journey into imagination, and the areas after those rides. She is not tall enough for Soarin and Test Track yet, but I know she would love them both. She also loves both Akershus (princesses) and Biergarten (german band with a dance floor) restaurants. I would at least spend a full day at Epcot. I'd probably spend a day in each park as I hate skipping one. Were it not for the Lion King show (which she absolutely loves), DD would probably pick 2 days in Epcot and skip AK. AK closes early so if you have hoppers, you could also spend 1 day at Epcot and then the 2nd day go to AK for a while and then hop over to Epcot. Epcot is a must do!!!!!

 

[itchin2go]

Oh, I forgot to add, some of my best vacation pictures are in Epcot: the Shark in the Seas pavilion, the troll in Norway, and we love standing across the lagoon from the giant golf ball and posing our hands like we're holding it... makes such cute pictures.

 

[OJMom]

My 5 year old twins LOVE EPCOT! We spent two full days and two half days there, their choice, during our trip in April. We rode Test Track so many times I lost count. And they are already talking about doing more Kim Possible adventures when we return next spring. And the Akershus breakfast is a great Princess character meal. AK is worth a half day visit to ride the Safari and see "It's Tough to Be a Bug" but if I had to choose, it would be two days in EPCOT!

 

[drdoyle]

I'm another who would recommend going to Epcot. I was not sure my DD6 at the time of our first trip would enjoy Epcot and it turned out to be her second favorite park. Test Track has been a favorite from day 1 and Innoventions makes learning fun. She also loved coloring the mask at the kidcot stations in the World Showcase. My daughter loves meeting characters and collecting autographs. In World Showcase you can meet Mulan (China), Snow White (Germany), Jasmine and/or Alladin (Morrocco), Belle and/or Aurora (France), Alice and/or Mary Poppins, Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore (U.K.) and Koda and Kenai (Canada).

While we enjoy Animal Kingdom, we are usually finished by 1:00-2:00 on an EMH morning. Half day touring for us. We saw Lion King our first trip and while DD enjoyed it...it's a little too long between the wait and then the show. We have not seen Nemo yet.

So I recommend both parks. If you have park hoppers, I would go to Animal Kingdom on your F! night. A half day of touring then back to the resort to relax until the evening.

Have a great trip whatever you decide!

 

[RobPuffdaddy]

For a 5 year old you can not miss AK, there is so much for her to see. You would be upset if you do not go and see for yourself. With that said though, I think there is so much more to see at EPCOT that one day would not be enought time... I would go to EPCOT first and at least concentrate on Future World and plan to spend the entire day there. If you are able to do everything and still have time left then you can try to go to World Showcase...But make sure you take your time and see everthing in Future World. Then on another day get to AK at rope drop and if you do, in my experience, you can do everything there in about 6 hours or so, then you can go back to EPCOT and do World Showcase and stay for Illuminations.

 

[Vipper of Vipp]

Sorry, but I disagree with most in this thread.

EPCOT has a few nice headliner rides. My 5 & 3 year old sons did like Soarin and Test Track, but the rest was a real letdown.

AK on the other hand was our big surprise of the trip.

 

[shelemm]

For many families, EPCOT is a winner. But for a first time visit with a child under 7, DO NOT MISS AK!!!! If you return when the child gets older, maybe the magic of AK can wear off a little, but for your family, AK is perfect.

 

[amyj1024]

I would skip AK or MAYBE do a 1/2day at AK and definately do Epcot.

I also think your appreciation/enjoyment of AK depends on your home zoo experiences. Honestly, I wasn't that thrilled with AK--my 5 year old was not a big thrill ride junkie--so we skipped Everest and Kali. And we thought she was too young for it's a bugs life. She did REALLY enjoy the Nemo Musical, and the boneyard. But other than that it was "eh.. " for me. We went on the safari, but I really wasn't that impressed, sorry. It was SUPER hot when we were there last October...and it gets really congested in the walk ways so it was hard to manuever around the park.

We have pretty good zoo here--so a lot of the animals at AK we have seen...we couldn't figure out how to get very close to the tree of life unless we got in line for Bug's life...all in all I was disappointed.

But both my 2 year old and 5 year old had a blast in Epcot and we only had 1/2 a day there (since we split the day between Epcot and AK). Our next trip we plan on skipping AK and doing 2 days at Epcot. We also plan on doing the Kim Possible thing around the World showcase.

 

[Mom2PrincessK]

Between the two, I would pick Epcot, but I would go for 1 day in each...or if you have park hoppers, I would do AK in the a.m./early afternoon - then rest and do Epcot WS in the evening. Then do Epcot FW in the a.m. and Epcot WS in the evening.

I wouldn't dream of skipping either if I had time for them.

Sometimes in AK we don't do the animal trails..if you don't you can easily do AK and finish by 1-2. You could also spend the entire day there if you wanted to everything there is to see.

 

[buzz5985]

I'm another that would disagree about AK. To our family, it's our favorite after MK. I think most of the people that feel it is a 1/2 day park - never ventured out to Conservation Station, didn't do the scavenger hunt, or let their children roam in the Oasis area, or saw Flights of Wonder. AK is a place where you stop and smell the roses. As for food - some of the best CS in WDW. The queues for rides are very interesting at AK if you care to look around you, especially Kali River Rapids.

I would recommend 1 day in AK and 1 day in Epcot. Give your 5 yo free reign to roam. You will be surprised what they can find. DS is now going to be 13 on our next trip - but he still loves AK. Especially the conservation/recycling aspects of AK.

Janis

 

[itchin2go]

I'm another that would disagree about AK. To our family, it's our favorite after MK. I think most of the people that feel it is a 1/2 day park - never ventured out to Conservation Station, didn't do the scavenger hunt, or let their children roam in the Oasis area, or saw Flights of Wonder. AK is a place where you stop and smell the roses. As for food - some of the best CS in WDW. The queues for rides are very interesting at AK if you care to look around you, especially Kali River Rapids.

I would recommend 1 day in AK and 1 day in Epcot. Give your 5 yo free reign to roam. You will be surprised what they can find. DS is now going to be 13 on our next trip - but he still loves AK. Especially the conservation/recycling aspects of AK.

Janis

Tell me what to do in AK, because we just didn't "get" it. I'm definitely giving it another try in January, so I would love your suggestions.

We didn't do most of the things you list, so I guess that's a start. We did ITTBAB, Safari, Dinoland and the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail.... What's the scavenger hunt?

We won't be doing Kali since it's January. No one minds getting a little wet, but getting SOAKED in January is not enticing.....

 

[Katie Dawn]

Hi! I just wanted to chime in & say that I don't think that your DH is being a stick in the mud for his current feelings about Epcot. I hope that all of this encouragement will change his mind but he's basing his opinion on his experiences several years ago.

I've been to "the World" 4 times...twice with my middle school in '91 & '93, the again with my high school in '95 & '97. My memories of Epcot are...forgettable. In middle school in particular the school gave us homework assignments/quiz questions we had to complete around the World Showcase (this was how they were able to justify it as an "educational" trip) & I found it very booooooooooring. I don't remember any of the rides that were in Future World at the time except for Spaceship Earth (fun but not thrilling). The "most fun" thing I remember was Maelstrom actually.

Now that I've been researching for an "adult" trip, I can say that Epcot seems like a very different park! It seems like Disney has really made an effort to up the fun factor of Epcot. Future World has a ton of fun rides, attractions, etc. And the Kim Possible/Kidcot projects look really interesting. I don't remember ever hearing musical performances on prior trips (I'm not suggesting they weren't there, just that I never saw them) which could be fun.

So basically I'm saying I totally get where he's coming from, but would ask him to give Epcot a second glance...I think things have really changed.

 

[kangaand2roos]

I really think the best compromise is to do 1 1/2 at Epcot and 1/2 at AK. I have a 6 and 4 year old and Epcot is the favorite park for both. I think some older kids might be bored there (and some not) but my kids LOVE it! Spaceship Earth, Nemo and friends, Turtle Talk, all 3 attractions at The Land, Figment, HISTK, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Innoventions and Test Track are all favorites in Future World (not to mention the Character Connection ands Ice Station Cool!)

In World Show Case the love both the Maelstrom and Grand fiesta tour and they LOVE doing the Kidcots in both WS and FW.

Animal Kingdom is "Nahtazoo!" There are animals anad you pay to get in, but the similarity ends there. Yes there are some zoo-like exhibits, but it is a full-blown, brilliantly imagineered Disney Theme Park that should not be missed, especially if you have never tried it yourself. That said, you CAN hit the highlights in a half day and then spend an evening at World Showcase, but you might find that you want to stay longer!

Bottom line, until you have experienced each park, don't dismiss any of them!

 

[indimom]

i would definitely give all four parks one day of your touring plan. then decide where to spend your fifth day. i'm guessing you don't have hoppers, but if you do, then see ak on your fantasmic day, you'll get a good taste of the park and still have time for a break before the show...
we loved both parks. ak is beautiful with lots of fun things to do and see, and you shouldn't have an issue with the heat/lack of shade because of the season you are traveling (it was pretty bad in june, i have pix of the kids just melting and absolutely NONE of me. ).
but, our fav was epcot. the kids were 5 & 7 and loved it. honestly! and they didn't even do the kidcot stops. they LOVED innoventions, soarin, test track and didn't complain once in the world showcase (although we skipped most of the indoor shows). we loved the street performers in each country. it was really nice, you could walk up, enjoy the show and move on, no lines, no sticking around if a particular show wasn't to your taste.
no matter what decision you make, your going to have a great time, there are things to enjoy at all of the parks and you can always go back in a few years to enjoy the rest! have fun!!

 

[Pembo]

We did FW in Epcot one morning, finished by 2 or so. Went to the hotel and swam.
We did WS another day...got to Epcot at opening, did Soarin and a few other things and were ready to go in the WS right at 11. That day we did just the countries...took most of the day.
After many trips, DH commented that was the most fun he had ever had at Epcot. (Loved Kim Possible Adventure)

I wouldn't skip AK either...gotta love my fruit bats. I'd got there at park opening and stay as long as you can. You can always go to Epcot in the evening.

 

[tinkerfan1]

If you have park hoppers, Epcot is a wonderful place to do in the evening, too. We would never skip Epcot. The fireworks show is magnificent. Don't let the little ones skip Figment, either. It gets a bad rap from a lot of people but its part of Disney and my kids really enjoyed it at that age. Of course, we don't skip AK, either. One of my son's favorite rides is there (Kali River Rapids). Of course, my oldest son loves Everest, too, but I doubt your 5/6 year olds would be into that. We often do AK half a day in the morning and then go to Epcot in the evening. We never stick to one park all day.

 

[ogreenlee]

Epcot today ain't yer mama's Epcot!

Seriously, things have changed a lot at Epcot over the last two decades. They have made it much more kid-oriented.

Soarin' is one of my DD6's favorite rides. We look forward to Test Track this year, as we skipped last time. Not sure why. Anyway, she really enjoyed being at Epcot last time more than AK. She got freaked out in Bug's Life, which we did early on and it spooked her for the rest of the day. We'll do AK again, of course, but will skip Bug's Life to make sure to do Lion King and Nemo shows. Not sure why she freaked out in Bug's Life, because the rest of the 3d shows at Disney thrill her. Anyway... I digress.

I would do all the parks, not have a full day off, and use it for your AK day.

We're going for one week, coming back home on the 22nd before Christmas. Our schedule looks like this:

Tues - Travel Day - Downtown Disney for Dinner
Wed - MK - all day
Thur - Epcot all day, then MVMCP at MK that night from 7-11
Friday - MK for half day, then Epcot for dinner and EMH
Sat - AK then HS for Osbourne Lights
Sun - HS then MK maybe for EMH?
Mon - Epcot then MK
Tues - We leave late, and we're not sure what we want to do yet.

 

[DisneyJen0504]

I would not skip AK with a little one. I would do Epcot for 1 day and AK for one day. You will never see it all anyway, I would go and enjoy both parks.