Two 7 year olds - does Epcot require a full day?

[fairestoneofall]

both my kids love it! they are 6 and 9, but we've been going for several years.

 

[JimmyV]

There are two sides to mission space. A quesy motion one, that I don't recommend to anyone and a gentle less intense fun one. Pick the green side...orange is for those looking to loose their lunch

But you have to take into account that as we grow older, we lose our ability to handle motion sickness as much as we could when we were younger. Little kids who sit in the back seats of cars with limited views out the windows are far better equipped to handle motion than adults who almost always sit in the front seat of cars and look straight ahead. As time goes by, our ability to handle motion suffers. So don't be surprised if the 7 year-olds can handle the "motion side" just fine. Of course, someone has to take them on the ride. And that won't be me!

 

[CatManDoo]

Are you sure you want to skip all of this?

Nope, not sure at all, which is what prompted this thread. I'm just not as familiar with Epcot. Last time I was at Disney was 20 years ago, right about the time *MGM* opened. So that was the big thing then. Epcot, admittedly, got short shrift that trip. My lack of Epcot experience combined with trying to guess what the kids will like is what's got me . Guidebooks are great, but DIS reports are the best.

 

[imthatgirl]

But you have to take into account that as we grow older, we lose our ability to handle motion sickness as much as we could when we were younger. Little kids who sit in the back seats of cars with limited views out the windows are far better equipped to handle motion than adults who almost always sit in the front seat of cars and look straight ahead. As time goes by, our ability to handle motion suffers. So don't be surprised if the 7 year-olds can handle the "motion side" just fine. Of course, someone has to take them on the ride. And that won't be me!

I still wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

 

[imthatgirl]

Nope, not sure at all, which is what prompted this thread. I'm just not as familiar with Epcot. Last time I was at Disney was 20 years ago, right about the time *MGM* opened. So that was the big thing then. Epcot, admittedly, got short shrift that trip. My lack of Epcot experience combined with trying to guess what the kids will like is what's got me . Guidebooks are great, but DIS reports are the best.

It's tough to know what the kids will like. I swear every time we go someone likes or dislikes something they loved or hated the last time. It's a never ending guessing game, lol.

 

[delmar411]

I've heard that Mission: Space is pretty much -inducing. Is that accurate? I see it mentioned on touringplans.com worship, but I'm not convinced I'll let the kids give it a go.

It depends. My girls LOVE the orange side. They can ride a few times in a row before feeling the effects. DH won't ever do it because he gets sick on the tea cups and I've done it once but never again! It was terrifyingly real and I made the mistake of closing my eyes for a second (they tell you NOT to do that!) so I couldn't get my center back again and all I could feel was the spinning. I was sick for the rest of the day.

Thankfully I just send the kids on together while Dh and I wait in the play area at the end of the ride.

 

[CatManDoo]

I can ride the biggest baddest roller coaster you can imagine and feel fantastic. Put me on the teacups or a carousel or anything that spins and I'm done for at least a day.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

I can ride the biggest baddest roller coaster you can imagine and feel fantastic. Put me on the teacups or a carousel or anything that spins and I'm done for at least a day.

yeah...lol...me too (well, I can do a carousel but otherwise I am with you).

no way I am ever getting on Mission Space.

 

[mcd2745]

It depends. My girls LOVE the orange side. They can ride a few times in a row before feeling the effects. DH won't ever do it because he gets sick on the tea cups and I've done it once but never again! It was terrifyingly real and I made the mistake of closing my eyes for a second (they tell you NOT to do that!) so I couldn't get my center back again and all I could feel was the spinning. I was sick for the rest of the day.

Thankfully I just send the kids on together while Dh and I wait in the play area at the end of the ride.

I did the orange side last Aug (at age 38). In my head, I was thinking "do the green side"...but my (older) brother immediately decides we're doing the orange and I was too proud to say no. It turns out, it wasn't bad at all. I did exactly as they say, I didn't close my eyes and kept them fixed STRAIGHT AHEAD at the screen. When we got to Mars...I was like "that's it?"

 

[CatManDoo]

Back to Illuminations for a moment...

We've got 6:45p reservations at Rose and Crown for 10 people. Our hope was that we could see Illuminations from there or at least from the viewing platform. Let's say we're done eating between 8 and 8:30. Are we SOL for Illuminations in terms of viewing options? In other words, too far from 9p to hang around but too close to 9p to get a good viewing spot?

 

[dzorn]

Epcot is a two day park for us.

Denise in MI

 

[imthatgirl]

Back to Illuminations for a moment...

We've got 6:45p reservations at Rose and Crown for 10 people. Our hope was that we could see Illuminations from there or at least from the viewing platform. Let's say we're done eating between 8 and 8:30. Are we SOL for Illuminations in terms of viewing options? In other words, to far from 9p to hang around but too close to 9p to get a good viewing spot?

If you continue to order drinks and or food I don't see a problem. To not be eating or drinking and just taking up space, especially as a party of 10 is probably nit a very nice thing to do. There are people waiting for the table.

And honestly, if you just step out of the restaurant and take a seat next to it, the view is the same. I can't see a good reason to hold other people up.

 

[jackal]

My DD7 could easily spend a day in the World Show Case alone. She loves the kidcot places. She loves all the characters we see over there. She loves to go through all the shops, etc. We could easily spend about 3 days in Epcot on our Disney trips. I got her a passport and she had all the CM's sign it in the countries. It's really a lot of fun.

 

[CatManDoo]

If you continue to order drinks and or food I don't see a problem. To not be eating or drinking and just taking up space, especially as a party of 10 is probably nit a very nice thing to do. There are people waiting for the table.

And honestly, if you just step out of the restaurant and take a seat next to it, the view is the same. I can't see a good reason to hold other people up.

We would never just sit at a table and hold others up if we were done eating. I have no way to estimate how close to 6:45 we'll actually get seated and how long it will take 10 of us to eat appetizers, entrees, and desserts. If it doesn't take us until 9, I'm just not sure what that would mean for Illuminations. Would Rose and Crown let us use their viewing platform? Would it be better to book an earlier time and plan on finishing early and staking out a spot? Do we just play it by ear?

 

[CatManDoo]

She loves to go through all the shops

Game, set, match for my 7. I guess I need to change this thread's topic to "Is two full days at Epcot enough for my 7?"

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

I think Epcot is a 2 day park.

We spend 1 day mostly at Futureworld and another mostly at World Showcase.

For futureworld day, we will do Soarin, Test Track, Mission Space, Nemo, Spaceship Earth, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Nemo, Turtle Talk with Tuck and the Seas, and Living with the Land. We will also have a TS dinner at WS (Mexico).

For World Showcase day, we will do things we missed on FW day, tour the world, try a kim possible mission or two, see the entertainers, and have a TS lunch AND a TS dinner at two different countries. Then we'll see Illuminations.

I plan to do FW first, but that may change. FW is better on the day the weather isn't as nice. We love EPCOT! For some reason, people assume that Epcot isn't fun for kids, but it's really a blast!

 

[Mickey Fliers]

Don't forget Sum of All Thrills in Innoventions. This has been a hit with my kids since it opened. I also send DH to Sum with the kids while I run and grab FP for either Soarin or TT. We always get it done before everyone else even knows it's there.

EPCOT is my kid's favorite park and has been since my oldest was 5.

Have fun!

 

[ktlm]

Game, set, match for my 7. I guess I need to change this thread's topic to "Is two full days at Epcot enough for my 7?"

Oh yeah- my DD LOVES Epcot, and has since she was 2. We do usually spend 2 full days there. If your DD still likes Princesses at all, you can spend a whole afternoon in Epcot pretty much just going from Princess to Princess in World Showcase- Mulan, Snow White, Jasmine (sometimes with Aladdin), Belle (sometimes with Beast), Sleeping Beauty, and several other characters too (Donald, Marie, Mary Poppins, Alice, Pooh, Tigger). Between that, the street entertainers, the shopping, the boat ride in Mexico; a meal at either Biergarten or Akershus (DD's 2 favorite places other than CRT); and the pick a pearl in Japan, DD could spend a full day in World Showcase alone. The only movie we have seen with her so far, is the one in China, and she was pretty impressed with that too. We always have plans to do some of the other movies, but so far, even with 2 days, we haven't gotten around to those yet.

 

[JLR]

We'll be at WDW for 6 days in June and I'm trying to plan our time. Epcot has me at a bit of a loss. It doesn't SEEM like there is enough there to keep two 7 year olds interested for a full day, but I can't shake the feeling that I'm being naive. I know we'll want to do Soarin, Test Track, and Turtle Talk. We'll also want to hit World Showcase, but I don't know how long we'll be able to hang out there before the kids get bored (assuming they will?). We've got dinner ressies at Rose and Garden at 6:45 in hopes of catching Illuminations. What I'm trying to decide is whether or not we should hit Epcot early in the morning and stay all day or maybe hit MK for a couple of hours and then hit Epcot, maybe after lunch?

It depends on what your kids like to do. Epcot is a HUGE park - almost like 2 parks stuck together. Here are some things I think a 7 eyar old would like:

Future World

Chances are your kids would like quite a bit of what Future World has to offer. Other posters have done a great job of listing these. The Seas Pavillion is especially cool. In addition to the primary attractions, don't neglect Innoventions. There are lots of small very fun exhibits (kind of like what you'd see at a science museum). We were going to skip innoventions, but then a friend of mine from FL came to DW to see us and we met at Innoventions. Our kids (9, 8, and 6) had an absolute blast while the adults sat around and talked.

World Showcase

Do one or more Kim Possible Adventure.s Your 7 year olds should love it! It is sort of a virtual scavenger hunt. You get something that looks like a cell phone and it sends you on a hunt around a country - to save the world from evil of course. You have to answer questions and by pushing buttons you can make things happen - like make a recording play, a ball light up, a statue nod, a flag raise, a lamp turn on, or a picture change. On your park map will be markings KP - and you go to those places first to get a FP (don't worry - they are not real FPs you can still get one for soarin'). Then later you can pick up your kimmunicator after the time printed on the FP. The Secret agents will tell you what to do then. There is a definitive guide to KimPossible at www.stitchkingdom.com/kimpossible.

You can also meet a lot of characters in the World Showcase: Berlioz 70 has made some nice maps for finding characters at WDW: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=37147840

Another thing kids like to do at the WS is try on the hats in each country.

Other fun things in the WS:

1. 3 Caballeros ride in Mexico and some kid friendly shopping
2. Maelstrom Ride in Norway and Princess Storybook Dining (if you have a reservation) You can also meet this guy.

3. There are lots of fun inexpensive toys at the shops in China. In addition I am hopeful that whatever performers are replacing the acrobats will be great fun!
4. I think there are drums to bang on at the Africa outpost
5. Biergarten in German is another fun place to eat (buffet).

They have a live band and the children (and many adults) enjoy dancing. You can often make same day ADRs here. My dd LOVED it! (Warning - they will seat you with another family. That was part of the fun for us but you may not like it.) Germany also has a cool miniature train set.
6. We ran out of time and didn't see much of Italy - I think they also have live performers and a new restaurant with reputedly great pizza. The other reason we put this country low on our list is that it is one of the smoking areas and it looked like the smoking area was in the middle of the area.
7. We are looking forward to touring the USA pavillion next time - I don't know if the exhibits there would appeal to your kids.
8. Japan had the most challenging Kim Possible adventure of the ones we tried. You can do "pick a pearl" in the store, which was fun.

They also have a Kid popular restaurant Teppan Edo - where you sit at the tables where they cook for you.
9. Morocco - the restaurant has a belly dancer that my daughter liked, but I don't think the food was that appealing to kids and it was kind of a wait for the belly dancer. The also have a rock group called MoRockin.
10. France - Has Server Amusant (spelling?) an acrobatic pair which performs outside periodically
11. UK - World showcase players and a Beatles tribute band
12. Canada: Off Kilter

I think you and the kids could have a great time!

 

[kadesha]

Epcot requires 2 days for my 6 and 7 year olds!