Which would you go to, Epcot or HS?

I would say go to Epcot. There is more to do and see and some great character meets. We love Hollywood Studios but for a five year old I think it would be more fun at Epcot. You won't go wrong with either though... If she's really into frozen & little mermaid HS might be a better fit for you guys personally.
 
My girls loved the big rides at HS but otherwise really liked Epcot better. The food is better, better people watching... I always choose Epcot, but Frozen may be the kicker.
 
My daughter was 5 or 6 when we first visited WDW. Epcot was our first park of that trip. To this day, it's her favorite park. Every kid is not the same, but there are kids who love Epcot. She did Soarin and Test Track, Nemo, Turtle Talk, Figment, Spaceship Earth in FW. Club Cool was a big hit too, but I think her favorite was the jumping fountains outside of the Imagination pavilion. She would have played with those for hours. In World Showcase, she liked the Kidcot coloring stations and trying treats in the various countries. Sadly, she adored Maelstrom (RIP). Pick a Pearl in Japan was a big hit too. I think we did Akershus on our 2nd trip - lots of princess fun. The meet and greets in WS are great too.

I would never go to WDW and not go to Epcot. DHS I can take or leave. It's kind of a shadow of itself right now.
 
My instincts say Epcot, because there are more choices all around. But I think this one is entirely dependent on her likes/dislikes. Would she be more interested in rides (which Epcot has more of) or kid-type shows (which HS has more of)? Also are there particular characters she'd really love to meet? (Look up Kenny the Pirate for specifics on who meets where.) You know your DD's tastes best, so I think do a park-by-park comparison & see what you think she'll get the most out of. Sorry I know this list must be missing stuff, but this is the best that I know:

EPCOT:
Soarin'
Test Track
Sum of All Thrills
Spaceship Earth
The Land
Ellen's Energy Adventure
Figment
Nemo
Turtle Talk
Circle of Life
3 Caballeros
Innoventions play area
play area after Figment
Agent P
musical & theatrical entertainment all over World Showcase
international food, as well as several character meals (overall food choices are waaaay better here for both Counter Service & Table Service)
IllumiNations!

HS:
not sure if she'd be into the thrill rides yet- Aerosmith Coaster, Tower of Terror, Star Tours
Toy Story Midway Mania
Great Movie Ride (has some scary moments)
Muppets show
Disney Junior show
Little Mermaid show
Frozen sing-a-long
Indiana Jones show
Beauty & the Beast show
Lights Motors Action stunt show
Disney animation drawing class
Honey I Shrunk...play area
Fantasmic
overall food choices are not great here, but you can find a few things that get decent reviews

Hope you have a magical trip!
 

I'm going against the grain completely because I would skip both of them and spend the day at one of the other two parks. However if you decide to pick one I would go with DHS. Even with the construction I think that there is more for kids there.
 
Thank you everyone for your replies! I'm still pondering the best thing to do but if I'm going to change my ADRs I should start deciding soon!
 
HS all the way. Epcot has Soarin (which is a little overrated to begin with) and that's pretty much it. Fine, also Nemo.

HS has TSMM, Frozen sing along, amazing shows for kids (Disney Jr, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast), and Fantasmic. Then you and DH can enjoy RnR, ToT and Star Tours if you don`t mind using rider swap.

Epcot is a half day park for me because we have many little ones and there`s nothing for them to do there. HS is 1.5-2 days.
 
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I say EPCOT 1000%. Of course that is just me as it is my favorite Disney park of them all. It is also my 8yr old daughters favorite as well and has been since her first trip several years ago. She loves meeting all the princesses, and the classic characters, loves test track, space ship earth, the Mexico ride (the Donald ride as she calls it) and soarin although her favorite ride of them all Maelstrom was recently closed :sad1: but something tells me she will grow to enjoy its replacement (although I wish they had left Maelstrom alone and put in a frozen based ride elsewhere in EPCOT, but i digress as that is a topic for another thread :thumbsup2). Plus (and this is just me) I like the educational value to EPCOT and while i would not expect a 5 yr old to be looking to learn it is just kind of hidden in the fun of EPCOT. Something as simple as a waiter writing my daughters name for her in Hebrew after a meal and that creating a brief but informative little discussion with her as we talked about all the different languages from all around the world.
 
This question is much tougher than it seems to be on the surface. I'm going to go against conventional wisdom here and suggest that HS is the better option for her. Epcot is the superior park of course, however, a 5 year old girl won't find as much fun at Epcot than she would at HS. Between the Little Mermaid show, Beauty & the Beast, the Frozen Sing-a-long, Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, Fantasmic, Playhouse Disney and all those characters, the characters in the Animation Courtyard, Buzz & Woody, and TSMM, DHS is better overall for a young girl. Not many 5 year old girls are going to like Sum of All Thrills and Test Track. Most won't much enjoy Spaceship Earth. So we are pretty much down to Soarin' and Nemo. Sure, there are some nifty character greetings in the World Showcase, but overall, Epcot is more oriented to older kids and adults. Especially if she is going during the FW festival.

I completely agree with this. Although my daughter loves Epcot, and we really enjoy it as a family, HS will probably be a better choice. Additionally, the park is much smaller and more manageable without completely tiring your little one out. The Frozen sing-along is a must-do! Also, I think Fantasmic is completely worth it.
 
Another against the grain to chose DHS instead of Epcot. On our next trip we will be spending about 1/2 a day at Epcot for the must rides (Soarin', TT, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth and Figment) and gasp a full day at HS :tilt:. DD loves RNR, ToT, Midway Mania, Great Movie Ride, Animation Academy. We have the Frozen package this year, but we stayed all day last year (and we are mid-day break people). For us, good use of Standby, FP+ and all the shows, and activities makes for a relaxed touring of DHS. This is our last park day and I can't wait.

That being said, everyone has their own things that make a park a must for them.
 
My five year old loves DHS. Star Tours is her favorite ride there but she also enjoys Tower of Terror, Great Movie Ride, and Toy Story Midway Mania. She is too short for Rock n Roller Coaster. She absolutely loves Disney Junior Live on Stage, as well, and I have to admit that I also thought it was very cute. She really enjoys Little Mermaid, as well, and Muppet Vision 3D. We haven't been able to work in Beauty and the Beast but judging by her reactions to the other stage shows, I do think she would like it. Sci Fi was her favorite restaurant on our most recent trip and she chose that over Akershus, Cinderella's Royal Table, Tusker House, Chef Mickey's and 'Ohana (among others). She enjoyed doing Anamation Academy and seeing "the Mushu show" as well as meeting Sorcerer Mickey and Minnie in her dressing room. She really laughed at the streetmosphere shows, as well. If we suggested skipping Hollywood Studios, she would not be happy.

This is not to say that she doesn't enjoy Epcot. She absolutely adores Soarin and Spaceship Earth. She also enjoyed spending time in The Seas pavilion and riding The Seas With Nemo and Friends. She was okay for some of World Showcase but got bored if there weren't street acts to watch. She enjoyed Biergarten, Garden Grill, and Akershus and would love to do any of those again. That said, she wasn't really able to put in a full day at Epcot like she was at DHS. Back in the days before FP+, we were able to do Soarin' multiple times and that helped fill the day, but that's really hard to do now. I know people say that DHS is a half day park and that it feels like it is turning into a ghost town, but I can easily say the same for Epcot. My husband is an engineer who used to LOVE Epcot. It has gone from his favorite park to third (and sometimes fourth).

So, our five year old daughter does love both parks, but if it comes down to spending a day at one park, unless you are looking to spend a short day and then head to the resort pool, Downtown Disney, or something else, I recommend DHS.
 
This is tough, for all of the reasons mentioned! We have take our DS's at 4, 5, and now 6 and we seem to find more to do with our time at Epcot. But, I think a lot of it is because there is a lot of exploring for them to do there. Not so much rushing from one attraction to the next, but really letting them walk around, explore, and get some energy out.

I don't know if you will be using a stroller, but one of our favorite ways to spend the afternoon/ evening is to stroll around World Showcase, grab a couple of drinks for the walk, and ALWAYS end with Illuminations. There is nothing like it! Good luck with your choice :)
 
It sort of depends on the 5yo, how tall, what rides she is going to do. Our 5yo niece did not do ToT/RnRC/ST on first trip. For her it would have been a no-brainer to choose Epcot over HS, just because there's so much more to see at Epcot, and a lot of rides at HS that she wouldn't/couldn't do.
 
This question is much tougher than it seems to be on the surface. I'm going to go against conventional wisdom here and suggest that HS is the better option for her. Epcot is the superior park of course, however, a 5 year old girl won't find as much fun at Epcot than she would at HS. Between the Little Mermaid show, Beauty & the Beast, the Frozen Sing-a-long, Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, Fantasmic, Playhouse Disney and all those characters, the characters in the Animation Courtyard, Buzz & Woody, and TSMM, DHS is better overall for a young girl. Not many 5 year old girls are going to like Sum of All Thrills and Test Track. Most won't much enjoy Spaceship Earth. So we are pretty much down to Soarin' and Nemo. Sure, there are some nifty character greetings in the World Showcase, but overall, Epcot is more oriented to older kids and adults. Especially if she is going during the FW festival.
This is right on!
 
I like DHS more than most, but epcot is much better and offers a ton more to do. Soarin, Test Track, and restaurants are top of the list.
 
Epcot is not to be missed. Your DD will likely enjoy the Living Seas, and meeting princesses and other characters in World Showcase.
 














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