What were your kids favorite rides or activities at Epcot? My daughter will be 6.5 when we go. I think, but could be totally wrong, that she will like WS. She is pretty into the idea of other cultures and I think she will like the performers and characters meet. I’m not as sure about Future World. Soarin’ for sure, but I’m not sure about the other stuff.
Lastly, I’m considering breaking the park up into two days. (we have park hoppers). I was thinking WS for a half day and then FW for another, maybe coming back in the evening on one of them. Which part would be better at night? Especially taking IllumiNations into account.
Future World, or at least parts of it, often closes early so I think by default WS is the better option at night. Soarin’ is great for any age - my son has always liked Test Track. If she’s into thrill rides, Sum of All Thrills is very good as you can design a roller coaster and then ride what you designed in a simulator. One of the better “stealth” rides in the park, although if she doesn’t like coasters, skip it. And of course I presume Frozen Ever After would be a big hit. Living with the Land and Three Amigos are also solid boat rides with typically low wait times…
Sum of All Thrills is going away in September or October.
Mission Space: Green is pretty tame and most kids get a kick out of having a “job” to do.
The Disney Pixar Film Festival (I think that’s what it’s called… it’s something like that, anyway) is also pretty great… it’s a series of short cartoons with some of the best 3D I’ve ever seen (plus a few “4D” effects like at other Disney 3D attractions), and it’s right next to Journey Into Imagination… kids seem to love Figment (the star) until they’re at least 7 or 8.
Spaceship Earth can be a little dry, but there are some really fun games (free) to play after the ride.
Then there’s The Seas with Nemo… the ride is cute (if a little juvenile) and there are some cool effects, then it drops you out into an aquarium with manatees and dolphins and lots of fish, and also the ever-popular Turtle Talk with Crush.
Oh, all The Seas attractions will be a big hit with her. She is in a strong Nemo phrase right now and loves animals. I figured she would like Figment as well. It’s the Spaceship Earth and Living the Land type rides that I’m not sure she will enjoy…especially considering how long they are.
My son (6 yrs) loves Spaceship Earth. You would think it would be boring or potentially scary because of the darkness, but he totally surprised me and it was his favorite Epcot ride. I think we rode it about 5 times during our last trip!
Unless you’re short on time then I’d say go for everything that she won’t actually be scared by unless there’s a long line. With kids sometimes the weirdest things pique their attention (even though I’m a science nerd I find Mission Space to be really boring so I had no clue my niece would like it as much as she did, but we did it 5 times last year)… if she’s not a huge fan then at least you got 20 minutes off your feet!
My DS5 loved The Seas with Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush. He was okay with Mission Space, but he did not like Soarin’. He also found IllumiNations scary and we left in the first 5 minutes. If your daughter is okay with loud noises and fireworks, she may be fine with it though.
My boys (ages 3 and 5 when we went last September) loved all the rides at Epcot - I think they liked Test Track the most, but they actually really liked the slower rides as well like Spaceship Earth and Living with the Land.
Hmm, interesting. Maybe I am short changing Future World a bit. Which makes me think that breaking it into two half days is even better. So next question: If I WERE to break it up…and I was choosing between a CL 3 and a CL 7, which section would do you during a more busy time?
I would do FW at the CL3 since it has the longer waits for rides.
Also make sure that you do Agent P in World Showcase. It is really cute and my DS7’s favorite part of Epcot. Also the boat ride in Mexico ranks up there on the favorite list. My DS7 really likes Epcot and I think two days would be fine.
Agreed… you’re not going to wait in lines for most things in WS (Frozen and the associated M&G notwithstanding) so the CL is really not a factor there. How much you can do in FW, on the other hand, is going to be heavily dependent upon the CL. Splitting is also a way to use FP on 2 Tier 1 rides and hit the 3rd at RD. I’d do WS in the afternoon & evening, because that’s the best place to eat dinner and that’s where you’ll want to be if you want to watch Illuminations.
My DS4 (when we went to WDW earlier this, now is 5) loved Test Track, all of the Seas and even though he wasn’t tall enough for Mission Space, both my kids loved the playground at the end- after nearly an hour there where the hubby & I did rider switch and then hubby did the mission game at the end, they still weren’t ready to leave!! Soarin’ was down when we went, but he has seen it and loved it plenty at DLR where were more often frequent. He has been asking to go back to Epcot now to see Frozen Ever After and see Soarin’ at WDW (he doesn’t believe me that it’s pretty much all the same). He also LOVE WS and Kidcot stations and all the good eating there is to do around World Showcase and of course the Three Caballeros, but we also missed out on a lot of the shows offered in Epcot (acrobats, American Adventure namely) trying to finish up Kidcot. We also didn’t get to finish our 2nd Agent P mission (which was a big hit too), so he’s been asking to go back and get to see and finish all of that, but he asks most about the Frozen!
Illuminations was only OK for him. Surprisingly he loved Living with the Land and when I mentioned to him that there is a tour of the greenhouse, he asked if we could plan that for next time. We did also eat at Garden Grill right before/after (I forget now) our ride so he had a good layer of it to experience and appreciate it more. As for Imagination, he hasn’t ever talked about it since, but he did love the games at the end and he LOVED the fountains near there.