Tell me about Epcot with young kids....

[asrai555]

Admittedly I only have been to Epcot once. When I was realllllllllly sick with a bad cold. I only had my dd then, but this trip in April I will be traveling with her (6) and my son (4).

What sorts of things will they enjoy? I remember the Under the Seas exhibit and she and he will like that since we are big Ocean fans. I know about Turtle Talk with Crush....are there other not-to-be-missed things for young children there. Is it really worth a day usage of a park pass?

[chrisb26]

They will probably like the Sea's With Nemo and Friends also Journey Into Your Imagination with Figment is cool. Around in the World Showcase they have Kidcot fun stops that have crafts for them to do which they should enjoy

[wdwnomad]

I think Epcot is a great place for kids. The Seas, Figment and Spaceship Earth will no doubt be fun. If the kids like a little excitment they will like Soarin and Test Track, if they meet the height requirements.

In the World Showcase, there are the rides in Mexico (with Donald Duck) and Norway. Most of the countries have characters in them now so you can stop for them. Plus the Kidcot stations in each country are fun. The kids can get a mask in any country and at every other country you can color some more on it and get a stamp. I go with my neices who are the same age. They love to do the masks. This past year they also really enjoyed sitting down and watching the street performances at each country.

You can definetly get a full day out of Epcot if you take advantage of everything. Stopping in the countries can take up alot of time. What we like to do is hit up Epcot during an EMH morning to get the rides in Future World out of the way. Get a fast pass for Soarin then head over to Test Track and get in line. After it might be time for Soarin. If it isn't then do Nemo and Crush because the lines normally aren't bad. Then head up to Soarin. The last stop before going to World Showcase is Figment. Normally by then it is around 11 or so and World Showcase is opening. Finally, on the way out of the park we do Spaceship Earth.

[FromKnoxvilleto Disney]

This past summer my 4 year old loved crush, nemo ride, soarin', figment, and all the princess characters around World Showcase! She also enjoyed looking around in Mexico, Norway, and Japan (Hello Kitty stuff everywhere).

[dteed]

I have found that my kids will take interest in almost anything for as long as the show or attraction lasts. Kidcot was nice as well, it gives them something special to do as well as the passport. We did the passport thing a few years ago and since they have lost interest in their passport books, they gave them to me and I will return them to them as an adder to their wedding gift or something like that. Innoventions is a nice place to let them roam for awhile as well.

[Funforall]

Take your time and enjoy the little things like the dancing water by JIYI, the swans around the lake are fun for little ones, walk around the countries and check out the buildings and gardens. You would be surprised how much younger children enjoy the Epcot environment. It's the teenagers that are harder to keep entertained.

[stitchaholic]

i thought the same thing last year when i went with my kids(6 and 8 last year),we ended up spending 2 days at epcot,1 full day in future world and world showcase on another afternoon/evening(really beautiful at night). it was really one of our favorite parcs.

[Kenny1113]

Ditto. My kids DS7 and DS4 LOVE Epcot!!! I think they like it better than MK. DS4 just started riding Test Track on our last trip and still loved epcot before that! If you decide to take your older one on Mission Space there is a cute little playground to wait with your younger one.

[Goes4FastPass]

EPCOT is great for kids when the parents aren't convinced it's educationally yuckky and the parents are willing to expand their interest beyond chicken nuggets.

Some of my elementary age niece's WDW-favorites are Nemo, Soarin' and TestTrack.

There are many character meeting opportunities around World Showcase as well as KidCot actvities at each "country".

[teambricker04]

We love EPCOT! Even with a 1.5yo and a 3yo, there is soooo much to do and see. We spend the most time there out of all the parks.

The only thing they probably won't get to go on is Mission: Space. They may not care for circle visions, but you might be surprised.

There is kidcot (mentioned already), a cookie baking thing at the land... are some fun things to do.

Also, there is a new Kim Possible Treasure Hunt thing you may want to look into. We haven't done it, but it looks like fun.

[dmosher]

Just a thought in addition to all the great ride ideas above.

I agree with the others, do the Kidcot mask making around The World Showcase. Also check out Paper Making at Innoventions (E or W I honestly can't remember), Cookie Making is always fun and one thing that I haven't seen mentioned is the Passport. DW and I (no kids) do this every year but kids seem to love it too. PIck up a Passport at any shop in Epcot and put your stickers for each country in them. Then take each passport to the Kidcot stops in each country and the Cast-member there will write your name and a message to you in their own language. It's very cool and a great keepsake of each trip. I cannot believe how many of these I have amassed over the years!

D

[CU Tiger]

During our last trip to EPCOT, we did not expect to stay the entire day with out DDs. We assumed that they would get bored or not have much to do. We were pleasantly surprised how much they actually liked it and we actually ran out of time. They will enjoy it!

[stitchaholic]

yes,the passports are a must,we were determined to make it around the world showcase to get stamped and autographed in each place.
my kids have brought their passports to many a show and tell!

[whymsycalwitch]

DW and I (no kids) do this every year but kids seem to love it too. PIck up a Passport at any shop in Epcot and put your stickers for each country in them. Then take each passport to the Kidcot stops in each country and the Cast-member there will write your name and a message to you in their own language. It's very cool and a great keepsake of each trip. I cannot believe how many of these I have amassed over the years!

OMG! I didn't know that they did that for us "Big Kids" too! I've always seen the little ones with them and envied them because I thought it was a kid only thing. I have no little ones of my own and I don't have any to borrow, well, any that I would want to bring with me to Disney. This is great! I'm so doing this in January when we go!

[Mary M]

Agree with above posters on all points - it's great for kids.

Plus, since it's more spread out, there's more room for them to just run around and burn off some energy. We took my son there when he was 19 months old and he had a great time playing in the woodchips in Canada.

[KAJUNKING]

i agree, our kids love epcot, in addition to the attractions mentioned above living with land is nice, and ellens energy adventure is fun (the dinosaurs may be scary for some small children) but overall i think your kids will love epcot and it may take you two days to see most of it

[dreamscometrue]

The first time we took our kids to Epcot was when they were 8 and 4. My daughter (the older child) was fascinated that we would be "visiting other countries" and for weeks before, she would want to know all about them...My son just lapped all of this up by listening...They were actually enthralled with visiting Mexico (loved the music), China, Canada, etc. They would ask the cast members questions just to hear their accents...I just remember that first time as one of the most relaxing and least crazy days. There was no test track or seas with nemo or passports back then and my kids still loved Epcot.

They are now 19 and 15, and go right to the thrill rides in future world first, but they still go to WS as their "relaxing day." They love the atmosphere, the entertainment and the food!

[dmosher]

OMG! I didn't know that they did that for us "Big Kids" too! I've always seen the little ones with them and envied them because I thought it was a kid only thing. I have no little ones of my own and I don't have any to borrow, well, any that I would want to bring with me to Disney. This is great! I'm so doing this in January when we go!

Yep they let us do it.. in fact despite the weird looks you may get, ANY of the kids activities (or almost any) are available to silly, slightly immature and kiddish adults like us. Try it, it can never hurt. We highly recommend doing the passports.. really. Plus if more adults do it, we look less silly when we walk up to the counter!

On our last trip we wore our Anniversary buttons and on the trip before our Wedding buttons and each time the cast members wrote congrats ands special messages about our SPecial Day. VERY VERY COOL!

D

[wire0monkey]

My kids love Epcot.

We always hit the shows in the World Showcase. My kids love the Japanese drummers and the fife and drum corps and the story tellers and the Chinese acrobats.

They also love Living with the Land. The other rides that people have mentioned are big hits, too -- Soarin' and Maelstrom and Journey into Imagination and The Seas with Nemo. The Imagination Pavilion (at the Journey into Imagination exit) is a huge hit. My kids could ride Soarin' several times in a row. (Thank god for off-season touring.)

They love the big fountain with the music. There's a leap-frog water fountain outside the "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" show that they really like too.

[grwoolf]

Epcot is our 3rd favorite park behind MK and AK. The kids have always liked it since we started going when they were around 5/6. We have spent a little time in World showcase a couple times, but it's not really our thing. There is still lots of stuff to do besides World showcase. The kids have really enjoyed Innoventions the last few times we went and of course all the big rides in future world. Club Cool is also a favorite, although we liked it better when it was the Ice station. The seas is also a place we spend a bit of time.