Skipping Epcot?

[KennyandKim]

We are thinking about skipping Epcot on our trip in Sept. It seems like alot of people visit Epcot more than once on their trip. What do you find to do in Epcot that long? The only things we have found we liked at Epcot was Soarin and Fast Track and those are two things we could do without on our trip.

We aren't that into visiting the shops in the different countries. Our kids are older as well do you think this has anything to do with it?

[caryrae]

EPCOT is our 2nd favorite park. We love walking around the countries and do their attractions and look through the shops. Some people like EPCOT a lot and some maybe not so much just depends on you. We can do what we like in one day ourselves since most trips it's just my wife and I and we can get through things at a good pace if we want to.

This last trip we went into Innoventions which for some reason we don't always do and found a neat attraction called "Storm Struck: The Tale of Two Homes". There are some pretty fun things to do in this building that I think can get passes up.

[KylesMom]

I'm curious - how much "older" are your kids?

At about the age of 11, DS fell in love with all of the experiences at Epcot. Now, with our trip on the horizon, he'll be 13 1/2 & it's his "chosen" park of the day. He loves interacting with CMs from other countries, seeing their histories/cultures, and from a "computer geek's" standpoint, all of the interactive things that Epcot has to offer.

Epcot's known for its potential lack of appeal for younger kids, but not older - that's why I'm curious about your childrens' ages . . .

My mistake - just saw your kids' ages in your signature line. While shopping is a fun thing to do around the nations, have you done any of the interactive dining or tours that WS has to offer?

[MNNHFLTX]

Of course, everyone has their personal preferences, but Epcot is probably my favorite park. I love going through most of the attractions (the only ones that I don't routinely go to anymore are Journey into Your Imagination and Ellen's Energy Adventure). I love browsing through the shops in the different pavilions; in fact, I enjoy it even more now that my son is grown up and I can do it without being bugged ("Hurry up, Mom, let's go!") And I do still like to watch the movies featured in the different countries. With all that, the different musical shows, the wonderful restaurants there (and the chance to indulge in a beer or two in the World Showcase), Epcot has so much to offer, IMO.

[Dulcee]

skip epcot

can't even imagine it. We spend a lot of time in world showcase just wandering. Oh and I LOVE Universe of Energy.

[forever a child]

My DD is 16 and both she and I LOVE Epcot. We would be more inclined to skip AK than Epcot. Now when she was younger...she loved AK and didn't get much into Epcot..but now the opposite is true.

We love visiting WS. Love how Disney has native people from those countries working in each respective country. We love hearing the accents. Of course DD wants to do International Studies as a minor is college...so perhaps that helps in her interest.

We do skip the Innovations building on periodic trips. We both just rode Spaceship Earth for the first time this Dec. Don't know why we never rode it before....but we had a blast and rode it around twice!

[cajunmickey]

Epcot is our favorite park. Even when my kids were younger they loved this park. We love innoventions there is always something new to discover. The countries with all the different performing groups. The food from the different countries. There is never a dull day. And Illumanations to finish the day off.We always find something new to do or try for the first time.

[KennyandKim]

This is why I asked if we were missing something. We aren't too much into visiting the various shops. My daughters did pick a pearl (one of them got the biggest one of the day) and we had one made into a ring and the other a necklace. We will be traveling with our twin daughters this trip that will be celebrating their 16th birthday. We liked Illuminations the first time but after that it wasn't anything we couldn't bear to miss. Maybe we just need to look deeper. My daughters went to ride Spaceship earth but after the talk they got when preparing for the ride they both opted to get off. I personally am deathly afraid of heights so I am not very adventurous about what I ride.

[forever a child]

My daughters went to ride Spaceship earth but after the talk they got when preparing for the ride they both opted to get off. I personally am deathly afraid of heights so I am not very adventurous about what I ride.

I have sever height issues but this ride is not scary at all. It is a great ride, IMHO and I wish we had "discovered" it years ago on earlier trips.

[Daisy'sMom]

I can't imagine what kind of talk they got when boarding Spaceship Earth. That's the first I've ever heard of something like that. Are you confusing it with Mission Space?
Epcot is our favorite. Have you done anything else other than Soarin and Test Track? I'm confused.

[mom2morgan]

*Donning flame retardant suit* to say that I totally agree with you. No-one in my family likes Epcot at all, other than me - and I could pretty much take it or leave it. We DO love the restaurants there, and I like Illuminations - but there aren't a whole lot of other things that really compell us. First time we went we spent a LOT of time in the World Showcase, but we've NEVER spent any real amount of time in the other section without being quite bored. Sorry, folks! ;-)

[gerald72]

What kinds of attractions do you like at the other parks?

[SBETigg]

I guess it depends on who you are and what you like. World Showcase is my 17 yo daughter's favorite attraction in WDW. My son, 19, could easily skip it, except for some of the restaurants. We spend days in Epcot. If it's not your thing and you won't miss it, though, then give it a pass and spend more time doing what you love.

[SpecJoe Magic]

I think Epcot is overrated so I understand what you mean. The thing that aggravates me about it is the huge amount of wasted space. There is a lot of walking area where there is very little to do in terms of legitimate attractions. I hate to shop so World Showcase in particular bores me after a little while (though the Kim Possible thing makes me enjoy it more). I do like certain attractions a lot such as Mission: Space, American Adventure and Spaceship Earth but I feel that most attractions at Epcot are mediocre like Test Track or flat out terrible like Journey into Imagination. The best thing Epcot has going for it in my opinion is atmosphere but how far that goes towards enjoyment varies among people so it just may not be your cup of tea. Do not feel bad about skipping it if that is what you desire.

All that said, I still enjoy going to Epcot. I just think the hype for it is excessive.

[faline]

If it doesn't appeal to you, by all means, skip it. The best thing about Disney is that each of us can tour a we like. If something isn't to our liking, we can move on to those things that are!

[Sylvia]

Of the 3 parks (MK is in a class all by itself, in my opinion), EPCOT has always been our favorite. Meeting CMs from other countries is enjoyable, but more than that, we enjoy all of the live entertainment that is available.

EPCOT is much more than just attractions and restaurants. The wide variety of live entertainment as a big plus for EPCOT, and especially World Showcase.

We must be in the minority, because we spend at least 2-3 days (sometimes more) in EPCOT on every WDW trip. We especially enjoy walking around World Showcase at night during EMH, listening to the sounds around us.

[forever a child]

As SpecJoe Magic mentioned...American Adventure is another classic "must see." The theater alone is beautiful and the show they always do afterwords outside of the theater with the military uniformed marching band is great! A tear almost always runs down my face

[UCJen]

I love Epcot and I can't imagine not going. I think it is a great park to just stroll around enjoy the atmosphere. We spend most of our time there.

However, I understand skipping a park if you don't like it. The last time we went, I skipped DHS. DH and DS love TOT and RNRC and I don't do thrill rides.

I went to Epcot instead.

[Dakota Rose]

We are skipping Epcot on our trip in a few weeks much against my wishes. But my younger sis (she's 30!) hates Epcot and frankly, when she's unhappy the whole pickin' world is unhappy. That and we budgeted time for other things in FL that we've never done before.

BUT....I LOVE Epcot. And have since my first trip when I was 11. I'm having a very hard time with the idea of skipping it. To me, it's the leisure park.

That's just me. Everyone's different and I know there are lots of other people out there like my sis.

[BellesRose]

I say, skip it! Do what you enjoy! My family doesn't care for Epcot at all, they just go because I enjoy it. As much as I love Epcot, I agree that a lot of it is really boring.