I foolishly started reading Google reviews for Epic and now I’m feeling unsure about our late January visit. We have been looking forward to it for a year. We upgraded to AP during our last trip knowing we would want to come back for Epic. I have elementary age kids.
We are all so excited. But we have limited patience for long lines and an aversion to dense crowds. As a family we would ride 4 rides, Mario Cart, Mine Cart Madness, Carousel, and Wing Gliders. DH would probably ride everything if possible. We would get power up bands for the kids and see both shows. We would skip Dark Universe and probably just walk through HP. We would try to meet every character in Nintendo and Berk. They would play on the playground. Have some good food. We would go back to the hotel by 7 for bed for the kids.
After reading reviews about breakdowns and line frustrations, I’m considering changing our Epic day to an Epcot day and making our way to Disney. Plenty for the kids to ride there and the park holds up in bad weather. It’s the only WDW park they haven’t been to and we don’t have Disney plans until at least 2027, probably 2028.
What are your thoughts? We would still stay on site at Universal and do a few days at the OG parks. We would probably come back winter 2027 for Epic and whatever replaces RRR.
Do you think Epic operations will improve enough to make waits tolerable by January? Tolerable is more like 30-40 minutes for us. Will adding AP erase the progress by adding more people (speculating January)? Help me think it through, please.
I do not anticipate waits to improve. I expect they will get worse in 2026 as Universal lifts limits on entry to Epic. Even if Universal gets things running at 100%, demand is high. I don’t think that will diminish.
We are going in February 2026, and just anticipate long lines, so planning at least 2 days at Epic. But we typically do 4-5 days at UOR even before Epic.
To Epic or not seems to be common theme on this forum (and probably everywhere else too). We were going back and forth for our fall 2025 trip and recently decided to spend 1 day at Epic (and 1 less day at WDW). But, we made the splurge for Express Passes because I expect the long lines at Epic to increase in the fall and continue being long into 2026. I’d be surprised if the lines for Mario Cart, Mine Cart Madness and Wing Gliders were regularly down to 30-40 minutes by January 2026.
My kids (DD10 and DS7) have seen the Epic commercials and really want to go to SNL and HTTYDL and DD10 is also very interested in Dark Universe so DW and I decide to make it happen. If we didn’t have room in our budget for Express Passes, I think we would have skipped Epic this year.
Given that your kids have never been to Epcot before, I think that is a great alternative. My kids love Guardians, Remy, Nemo, Three Caballeros, Journey of Water, Test Track (old version as we haven’t been for the new one yet) and the many character meet and greets.
There is no wrong answer to your question! Both are great options.
I agree with others that I don’t expect line length to go down. It was doable for us (with a strategy) but things were still pretty crowded overall.
For me, I would ask you how into HTTYD and Harry Potter or Jurassic Park your kids are. That would be what I would go by. My kids are SO into the dragons and that was what made me decide “now.” My older son got more into Harry Potter in anticipation of our trip and now is cranking through the 3rd book.
If you aren’t going back to FL for 3 years I would capitalize on what interests them at this point in time since we all know these ages are fleeting.
We’ve been twice to Epcot and I am not a fan with small kids - but I think I’m in the minority. The park is huge and walking to the different rides takes forever. Plus, the amount of adults over indulging has always given my Vegas vibes. We’ve almost been taken out by too many drunk scooter riders late at night. We’ve been there at drop rope and at closing (came after lunch). I think rope drop and leaving after lunch is better for avoiding drinkers so that aligns with your plan. Def take a look at the Disney closures / construction since I believe multiple parks are going to be effected over the next few years. We’re trying to figure out when to go to Epic as well but DD is older now so some of the decision making is easier.
Exactly… I really like EPCOT (as an adult) but as a kid I’m not sure.
Yes to all of this as well. It’s such a big park and my kid hates walking it. For us there are only 3, maybe 4, attractions we like. EPCOT is the “adult" park now for going and getting fall down drunk in.
UOR has served alcohol for years before Disney ever did. However, they don’t tolerate even a fraction of the drunken BS I have seen at EPCOT. When your entire park is infamous for being a drinking game then it’s gotten outta hand. People make T-shirts to wear promoting that all they’re at EOCOT to do is get wasted.
I was pleasantly surprised and the small size of Epic! We bopped between lands a lot especially at the end of the night hustling for the low waits. The center is very compact so you can cross portals in only a couple of minutes.
Thanks everyone! I suppose they both have their issues. It’s been about 6 years since I’ve been to EPCOT, but I used to go every year. I don’t remember seeing drunken people. But I always went during the week and during the day. I know drinking around the world is a thing so maybe I was just oblivious. We wouldn’t spend much time in world showcase with the kids but I think there are way more rides/attractions available to children there than EPIC.
I agree that it is a lot of walking, especially if it’s hot. Kids will be in strollers when needed so not that big of a deal walking with them.
As for interests, we have recently introduced them to HTTYD with a story book. So, not attached to that and haven’t seen the movies/ show . But, they would love it without the story anyway because…dragons. They LOVE Mario and know the characters, have played the Mario Kart video game. They are excited about playing mini games. I am nervous that the lines for mini games and character meets are going to be too long for us. We already love the thought of Epic. I’m just nervous that the reality of it will sour the experience and that nothing will be easy. Specifically, if we wait in a line and it gets dumped due to technical difficulties, there will be tears. Those are the reviews that most concerned me. I’ll be watching to see if reliability increases. If that happens, we might be ok. They don’t know HP, only that it’s about magic. I’m a little nervous that the show might scare them. They would probably want to meet Frankenstein’s monster, but that’s really the only thing in Dark Universe.
Of course, Disney Tourist Blog just posted about his amazing day at Epic on Friday, riding things repeatedly and waiting no more than 20 minutes. So there’s hope. I suppose we just will not know until we get closer.
I know that getting drunk at Epcot is a thing now…but we have been fortunate not to really experience it. But…we do try to avoid Epcot on weekends, and avoid World Showcase at night more or less. More to just avoid crowds, but this results in us avoiding the excessive drinking.
My wife watches these police cam videos that happen in Orlando, and BOTH get their fair share.
However, one thing that in the case of Epcot makes it particularly problematic is that, with all the food booths and not just restaurants serving up alcohol, it becomes extremely difficult to “police” overdrinking. If all the alcohol was served at bars or restaurants, there is at least a level of time spent in each location that provides some level of forced moderation, or even a bartender who can cut someone off. But with food booths, it is one drink after the other with very little downtime between them or any way to check.
You would think people could just use a bit of self control, and I know Disney prefers not to have to control this, but as we see more and more drunken fights happening at the Magical place, I wonder if they will need to start doing more. Not sure how, exactly.
Absolutely! My point is that, IME, Universal actively polices and monitors it better than WDW. I see intoxicated people being taken to the Universal jail at the security hub and removed from the park more often than at EPCOT.
I habitually complian about how “mean" security can be at this time of year, HHN, about making sure people aren’t getting out of hand. They establish a “tone” right when you enter. “Have fun, but just know we will cuff you if you act stupid.”
We took our grandsons, ages 9 and 7, to all of the parks in July. They absolutely loved Nintendo World at Epic! So did we! It was the highlight of the day. There is so much to do, and there are hidden games you can find by just walking through a tunnel. They have attendants at most of these places to help the younger kids accomplish what they want to do. Many of the games are tailored for the parents and kids to play together. We found Nintendo World to be the most impressive area at Epic. We did pay extra for the express pass, so that helped with the lines. The HO Battle at the Ministry as well as Mine Cart Madness are not included on the Express pass. We arrived early, and we were able to ride Battle. We were never able to ride Mine Cart. Isle of Berk and Nintendo were where we spent most of our time. We did ride the Frankenstein ride, but I wouldn’t advise it for kids. We would go back again just for the Nintendo area. We did experience rides being closed, but it was due to weather. It rained off and on most of the day, but that kept us from having to deal with the heat. The longest line we waited in was to see Toothless. The boys also really enjoyed the playground. The oldest one loves any rollercoaster, so he and I rode a few of those while the youngest waited with my husband. Hope this helps!
Thank you! It does help. Before I started changing my mind, I purchased some preowned power up bands and they arrived today. It’s so hard to imagine not going. Did you see the shows? I am worried that my kids will be a bit frightened by the HP show. But, I know they will love Nintendo World. We all will. Did you have to wait in line for the games? Did you feel like it was hard to get around with crowds? It’s still a bit unpredictable right now, I suppose. I’ve worked up plans for both and we’ll see how it looks as we get closer. They haven’t opened express passes for January yet. The cost of those will better help us evaluate, too. Thanks for sharing your experience!
I am admittedly not great at gauging what will scare children (traumatized my nephew by taking him on Toy Story Midway Mania…oops) - but I don’t think of it as scary. There are some dark moments, some flashes of lights, but I think the creatures are really amazing to look at.
We did not see any of the shows. I remember looking at them before we went, but the times never seemed to fit with where we were in the park. We jumped around a lot, and the rain dictated a big portion of our day.
