Epcot TP for 4yo boy

First time poster! Right now, I’m working on our 1 day Epcot TP. There are 5 of us (me, DH, in-laws, and my son who will have just turned 4). I’m not very familiar with Epcot, and I don’t know yet if my son will hit the 40” height mark. I’ve created 2 TPs – one for if my son is over 40” and another if not. My first question is if there are any rides that might not appeal to a 4 yr old that I should consider leaving off the TP regardless of height. Will a 4 yr old like Soarin, TT, SSE, MS:Green, or Living w/ the Land? Any opinions on Agent P and shows in WS for a 4yo boy? (Note: I don’t plan on using RS if my son is not tall enough. I’d rather spend time doing things we can all enjoy). In general, the plan is to do PPO breakfast at GG, hit most rides/attractions in the morning, and spend a leisurely afternoon in WS taking in shows, character meets, and food (going during F&W). My plan for FPP (if son over 40”) is to hit Soarin right after breakfast at GG, then go to FEA and later use Tier 1 FPP for TT. I do wonder if riding FEA 2x, 1x at RD & 1x w/ FPP (instead of Soarin or TT) might appeal to a 4yo more? If he’s under 40”, I plan to get a tier 1 FPP for FEA-maybe ride 1st thing in the morning and again later with FPP. Thoughts?

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Soarin’, TT and MS will depend on how adventurous the 4yo is. I have not done MS Orange, but took my 6 and 8 year olds on Green last fall and they liked it. It wasn’t particularly scary/rough, more of an enclosed space issue, if that bothers him. Soarin’ if he’s not afraid of heights (or you just don’t let him look down) should be good if he’s tall enough.

I don’t think there are any rides at Epcot that a 4yo would not enjoy. I’d plan for all of the others.

Edit: And welcome to the Touring Plans forums!

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I love this! We did this same plan when our youngest was 36" and honestly didn’t feel like we missed a thing. There is just so much to do anyway. Our 4 year olds loved FEA and could do it over and over. They enjoyed LWTL, but wouldn’t do it more than once. Don’t forget about Nemo and Crush. Both of those were big hits with our 4 year olds.

And welcome to the forums!

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My son LOVED Soarin’ when he was 4 years and 4 months. He also loved all of the characters. The only rides he was a bit iffy about (but did and didn’t object prior to the rides) were Tower of Terror and Star Tours. This was at Disneyland, so I can’t comment on Test Track or Mission Space. He was tall and adventuresome. I would give it a try if he’s tall enough, and seems to enjoy rides. Maybe start with something like Spaceship Earth. Another thing that is fun for kids is to get a passport and have it stamped in all of the countries. They also have activities and things to color.

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I’ve done Epcot twice with boys that age. The rides depend a lot on the child. Older son lamented his bad luck for every thrill ride he was too small to experience. The other balled his eyes out on 7dmr at 5. So that said–

When the boys were 4 & 2, we did 3 short evening trips into epcot and that was very nice. DS4 loved Soarin. Needed lots of help with the buckles

When the boys were 5 & 7, we did the 1 day “Epcot Death March”. It was the 4th day of our trip 5 day trip and we had been going pretty hard. Fantasmic the night before followed by 6am wake up to make 8am GG. Did Soarin, then the Aquarium and Figment on that side. Next character spot FP and SSE FP. The boys spent a long time in the offloading room with all the exhibits after SSE. They loved that room. Then on to the counties. Got the FEA FP in at 1:30. Boys didn’t know what to make of it other than “smelly boat ride”. Boys loved AgentP for the first two countries. DW felt left out by the second mission because no one was talking to her any more. Younger boy was losing interest in Agent P by Germany. It was 2:30pm and the day was now hot. Listed as 88. Felt like 98 on the pavement. Sore feet. Eyebrows crusted with salt. We were in a stupor by the time we got to England at 4. Kids were long done taking turns in the stroller. Picked up a second at the IG Might not have been as rough if it was earlier in the trip or it wasn’t so hot. Felt pretty spent by the time we got back to the front gate at 5:30pm and I’m in good shape. Skipped out on TT and MS:Green to go back to the hotel and soak feet, splash in pool.

It was too much of a day for us. Needed a pool break in the middle.

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Everyone is going to have their own opinion about if a ride is appropriate. This question comes up every so often. I’ve worked in theme parks for years, specifically in attractions, and have countless times seen the tears as a child gets off a ride that was too intense. Then you see the sadness / guilt on the parent’s face.

With that said… IMHO your 4 year old should enjoy FEA and Mission Space - Green. (Not Orange!)

SSE and LwtL may be either fun or dull, but not scary. They may be fun “train” and “boat” rides. The same for the Grand Fiesta Tour in Mexico

Soarin is high off the ground and in the dark. TT starts out a bit bumpy and then zooms at jarring speeds. I don’t recommend either unless your child has successfully done roller coasters and “dark rides” before.

Fun shows I’d suggest are Serveur Amusant (clowns) and Jeweled Dragon Acrobats. There are also “Kidcot Fun Stops” along the WS with coloring and activities just for that age. Agent P is more fun if he knows Phineas & Ferb, but is still ok.

There are plenty of fun things for younger kids to do in the Future World section of Epcot too!

Oh! BTW- welcome to the TP community!!

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Welcome to our looney bunch @queridabalerina!
Ask away amiga!

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We have a DD who turned 5 in February, and loves Epcot! Her absolute favorite rides are Test Track and Soarin’ - she’s always been very tall and was 2 the first time she went on them…it was love at first ride! :joy: Other things which are on her must-do list every trip are Spaceship Earth (she mostly enjoys watching the little “cartoon” they make of you at the end), Nemo, Living with the Land, Mission:SPACE (green - she tried orange when she was 4 and found it too intense), Character Spot and Frozen. She also quite enjoys Crush, the Disney & Pixar short movies and the Rio del Tempo ride in Mexico, but it’s no big deal if we miss them. She doesn’t really like Figment as she finds it too noisy.

As far as shows in World Showcase, the Acrobats is the only one she insists on seeing. She’ll watch Sergio or Serveur for a few minutes, but loses interest. YMMV on that one obviously.

When you measure your son, don’t forget that he’ll be measured wearing shoes in the parks. DD always wears the same kind of Crocs sandals, so I always measured her with those on to see whether she was getting tall enough for rides. :slight_smile:

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Welcome to the forum! I am planning a trip for someone just turning five. For him we have decided to skip TT and to try Soarin. I will add MS Green to the list of attractions they can try. The film shorts are fun- don’t miss them!

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Welcome to the boards!

And as some others have said, your mileage may vary. Not all kids react to rides the same way… and often they don’t react as you might expect.

For example, my SiL just returned from WDW and conveniently enough, my 4 year old nephew was on that trip. He freaked out on FEA when it went backward. He also freaked out on Imagination when it blew air on him at the end. Basically, he freaked out Day 1 on 7DMT and they struggled to find anything he’d do the rest of the trip. That’s always the risk with kids that age. Some love everything, others hate everything.

From my personal experience, our kids absolutely love Test Track. It isn’t particularly intense… 60 MPH in a convertible, lol. And they really like the part where they get to design a car.

Mission Space was down on our last trip so I haven’t been able to take our kids on it yet. I’m not sure how they’ll like it, but I could see DD7 not really caring much for it. My strategy on something like this is to fully explain what they’ll be getting into and doing and let them make the call. If they’re indecisive we might YouTube it or something to give them a better idea. We just always try to have these conversations before we go to help us get our touringplan lined up.

DD hates - Hates- Soarin. She freaked out on it last trip as a 5 year old. Also, SiL said that my 8 year old nephew didn’t care for it either. DS9 on the other hand, rode Soarin for the first time when he was 4 and loved it. He remembered the ride in detail and was disappointed last time when he saw the new version and the golf ball scene was gone.

Basically, it just depends on the kid. It’s hard to say what may or may not work for him, but hopefully you can get a good idea of what might interest him and have a fun day in EPCOT!

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My just-turned-five year old was fairly indifferent to Soarin’. He liked Living with the Land and Figment, I think he was a little baffled by Spaceship Earth but liked the part at the end where you answer questions. Frozen Ever After was a hit, as was the ride in Mexico. Nemo, the aquariums, and Turtle Talk were also pretty popular. Mission Space made him nervous with the pre-show stuff and then was underwhelming in actuality, but he liked the play area afterwards. There are also some great meets at Epcot - Ralph and Vanellope, Joy and Sadness, Baymax…

We didn’t do any of the WS movies, but they liked the pavillions, especially Mexico (my son is obsessed with pyramids and couldn’t believe he “actually got to go INTO a REAL PYRAMID!”). The World Showcase passports (you can buy them at any gift shop, I think) were probably the highlight, he loved getting the cast member to write in it, putting the stickers on the page, and then colouring in the little postcard they gave him.

Oh, and you’re thinking about potential dinner plans, Biergarten was his favourite restaurant of the whole trip.

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I had an epic TP day at Epcot this past May with my sons- 7 years and 4 years. (I dont think we waited over 15 minutes for anything, and that was for the boat ride in Mexico)

My 4 year old loved Soarin. I had him watch videos before we went and explained that it would be like sitting on a bench swing and looking at a huge movie screen, etc, so he would be prepared and not freak out. There was a 4-5 year old boy sitting next to us who cried the whole time so you never know. But preparation helped us!

My 4 year old also enjoyed Test Track. It goes fast at the end, so have him watch a You Tube video or just let him know it goes fast (like a car!) at the end.

Our Epcot plan was to rope drop FEA (we were on the second boat! no wait) then headed straight to Soarin’ (5 minute wait) then met some characters and had TT Fast Pass later in the day. Looking at the wait times for Soarin & FEA later in the day made me so glad we had rope dropped. My boys thought Living with the Land was fine, but not super impressed. Same for Figment. They loved the little ride in Mexico in World Showcase.

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There’s just something about that ride. The kids always love it. We probably ride it like 5 times every trip just because it is a short line and the kids always want to do it. Looks like your plan was pretty flawless… not sure many people can say their longest wait was for It’s a Small Mexico!

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My kids love it too! On the other hand, my mother-in-law (a Spanish teacher) always comments on how WDW ruined a great ride about Mexican culture with the conversion to Three Caballeros.

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Jajajajajaja
1950’s shots of Acapulco wasn’t exactly a great representation of Mexican culture to begin with, but yeah it was probably better than a love crazed duck chasing a poor señorita.

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:rofl::joy::rofl:

It’s a pequeña Mexico?

Well yeah, but that’s because we took pity on the USA and gave them half their territory!

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My son was 4.5 when we went and he loved all rides at Epcot except Mission Space. I think it was mainly due to the noise, but he came off that ride crying. He also didn’t like Figment for similar reasons. Soarin!, TT, and Nemo were his favorite rides there. He also enjoyed the Mexico ride and Lioving with the Land. FEA was just ok for him.

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We went on Father’s Day and my four year old loved everything. It will depend on how adventurous your kid is, but all of the rides you mentioned should be fine for a four year old. The only ride we didn’t get to was Frozen, so I can’t speak to that one.

Also, before our first trip, I was really worried about my son being 40". Every time we measured at home, he seemed to be right at 40". I was worried that he’d be able to get on some rides, but not others just depending on the cast member. But when we measured him at the park, he was well over the 40" line. I’m not sure if Disney gives an inch or so of buffer so kids who are actually close can get in, but based on our measurements at home and what we’ve seen at the park, it wouldn’t surprise me. Of course, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that we hung our height chart wrong too. LOL.

Finally, if you’re going to do Test Track, I’d recommend doing it as early as possible. It shuts down in the rain and if you’re going in the summer, it’s going to rain at some point. On the Father’s Day trip, it shut down right around 2pm, and I don’t think it re-opened the rest of the time we were there.