Epcot with kids

We severely underestimated our Epcot experience when we brought our son for his 3rd birthday.

We spent 2-3 hours in the Nemo area alone. We road Spaceship Earth twice. It was almost impossible to get him out of the front area of the park. We are going back for his 6th birthday and Epcot is the park he is most excited for by far. He’s not a dress up kid, but he’s already talking about bringing his astronaut suit to wear on mission space.

Epcot is a fantastic park, and IMO doesn’t get enough credit.
 
I have 5 kids- oldest is 9 and youngest is 2. They have been to Epcot 3 times and really enjoy the park. It's probably their next favorite after Magic Kingdom. They love all the big ticket attractions- Test Track, Frozen, etc. They also like to check out the shops and characters in the World Showcase. We usually only do 1/2 of the WS. However, we didn't have a great first visit there and I quickly figured out what to avoid with small kids. I am specifically commenting on Epcot in the heat, because we have only been there in 90+ degree weather. I think you need a different strategy when dealing with high temps and little ones.

On our first trip in May 2015, we ended up at Epcot on a very hot day during the Flower and Garden Festival. We arrived at the park around 11:15am (mistake #1), and we had made dinner reservations in Italy for 4:30 (mistake #2). We did Future World during the first couple hours, and that was fine. It was very hot and crowded everywhere, but manageable. Around 2pm we headed towards the World Showcase and it went downhill from there. All the character lines were very long and not in the shade. There was minimal walking space because of the festival. It was hard to push a stroller through (or 2!). We were so hot, and the kids were ready to leave by 2:45, saying they were hot and bored. Oh, did I mention I was also 6 months pregnant with #5 and my oldest was only 6 at the time?

We had to stick it out until that dinner res at 4:30 so we melted in the crowds until then, trying to pop into shops that had A/C and were not too crowded. We didn't have much success, especially since we had 2 strollers to park. We finally went into the restaurant when it opened and cooled off in the foyer. My 1 year old immediately dropped a full sippy cup of water that exploded all over the floor in the crowded foyer. She was just keeping things interesting for us, I guess. I think we ate at Tutto Italia (?). It was the only Italian place with an avail res at that time, but it was more of a fine dining feel. Not the kind of place you really want to be with a 6, 4, 3, and 1 year old. Glassware everywhere, a side plate for every side, etc. It would have been an amazing dinner for just my husband and I, but I could not get out of there fast enough with the kids. My 1 year old was in her glory grabbing at anything and everything. I think the servers sensed our stress level because we had our food very quickly and were in and out of that place in record time. The early 20's guy waiting on us was very sweet about it all. We high-tailed it out of Epcot after that and swore we wouldn't be back for years.

Well, the following July we scored a fastpass for the brand new Frozen ride. So, with four little girls 7 and under, that was that! We were going back. It was a totally different experience. We arrived at the park for rope drop and did Future World. Around lunch we went back to our resort to recharge and rest. We returned to the park around 4:30 or 5pm, refreshed enough to deal with the late afternoon heat before the sun starts setting and the nice summer evening settled in. Without a festival to celebrate, Epcot felt much more spacious. We had an amazing time. The kids loved Illuminations. We followed that same schedule the following year and it was great. The kids had a blast and we are going back for our 4th visit in a few weeks.

My tips to manage Epcot in the heat with little ones:
1. avoid festivals if you can (guessing some kids don't care about the flowers, exotic foods, and especially the booze LOL). If you are doing the fall one and it's not too hot, it's probably fine. Crowded and hot is a bad combo with little kids, especially if crowds are for something they aren't really interested in.
2. Get to the park at rope drop and get out of there for a few hours during the high afternoon sun. If you want to stay all day, maybe do the indoor stuff in future world while it's really hot.
3. Don't eat somewhere YOU can't relax. My kids ate leftover cold pizza in a little alley behind Morocco last summer and it was very relaxing for us. I am not saying you shouldn't do TS meals- that's a crazy suggestion. I am just saying it's important to go somewhere you can enjoy with your kids, instead of running interference the whole time. We didn't like the food at Biergarten, but the atmosphere was much better for the kids.
4. Grab a dessert treat and stay for the nighttime show. The heat is less overwhelming and it's really fun for the kids.
 
My niece and little cousin ages 9 and 10 both say epcot is their favorite. we've gone every year since they were 5 and 6 and its always a must do. They love the flower and garden festival, taking pictures with topiarys and trying things from the booths. We also always do the kidcot stations we usually buy the passport but the free Duffy bear is also super cute. Plus they love the festival searches, Remy for food and wine and spike or the egg search in spring it's a fun and cheap souvenir.
Even without the festivals there's plenty to do epcot has a ton of fun character meets like Alice and Mary Poppins which are harder to find in other parks. As well as club cool and if all else fails i let my girls get treats from different countries while we stroll.
 
We just got home from our 2nd trip to the World. My daughter (who is now 9) enjoyed Epcot, especially the Frozen ride, the China pavilion (where there were some shows with stunts that were very impressive), and the Mexico pavilion (where there was a marketplace and ruins to see inside). I hadn't expected her to want to go into the pavilions at all, so I was glad she asked to go in some and loved them. She also enjoyed the Nemo ride and the Soarin' ride (but the child on the other side of me said he was nauseous in it). I'm not sure I'd recommend Mission Space for any young kids (we even did green, which was still more intense than I expected - my daughter was kind of frightened). Spaceship Earth is also good - just prepare the kids that it's dark inside, but it isn't scary. Coral Reef Cafe has a great aquarium to look at while you eat.
 
Our kids (now 9 yo) have always really enjoyed Epcot. They're old enough to enjoy Test Track and Soarin' now, and we do character meet and greets. Turtle Talk with Crush is great, and (our) kids always seem to enjoy the rest of the aquarium type exhibits.

We have gone around the world showcase three times now and last year at 8 the kids were still into coloring their Duffy bear and getting the stamps at each Kidcot station. Last year the kids did a ton of walking in July heat with no complaints. They're also generally interested in the different cultural exhibits, but we regularly go to museums at home so that could be a contributing factor. I think enjoyment of Epcot can be fairly kid specific.
 
I’m all ears in terms of ideas. We went to Epcot for the first time last Tuesday and generally speaking, it just sucked. Mostly because everything is so spread out and you have to walk pretty far to get from one attraction to the next. We were wiped by 2pm and left. Originally had plans to go back for Illuminations, but my 10 yr old and 11 yr old didn’t think it would be all that great to have to walk a mile or two just to see a 20 min water and light show.

More than half of the interactive play stations after you exit Figment were not working so that really sucks if you want a cool place in the summer heat for a little one to cool down. My kids’ impression of Epcot was that it was all about restaurants and shopping. Between that, almost no shady places to sit, and hot temps, I would absolutely not recommend it for a family with little kids. Heck, my slightly older kids hated it. But other people’s mileage may vary!

If I were planning to go to Epcot again, I would absolutely avoid any of the Epcot festivals because I’m just not interested in dealing with my kids and drunk people.
 
I know this may be controversial, but Epcot is the worst park for our family. It reminds me of an outside mall.... nice setting but for whatever reason it always seems a little lifeless. I also concur with the above regarding alcohol, as it is served quite freely at Epcot, I have never been exposed to so much poor behavior, bad language and plain loutish behavior.... of course this happens everywhere, but from my perspective, the incidence from our experience is much much higher at Epcot. It's sad how the few can ruin the experience for so many, including those who wish to engage in an adult beverage every now and again. I was filming outside of figment getting some panorama shots for our vacation video when I filmed a rather brutal assault.... sent the video to Disney Security and they weren't interested. It's a park we will visit one afternoon and then thats it....

Apologies to all the Epcot lovers! It just isn't for us
 


My kids love Epcot too. I think we never gave them a choice not to love it lol.

Henna tattoos in Morocco is a must for them now. They used to always want to get their faces painted and it drove me nuts. One kid always rubbed it off ... the other two would last all day and throw a fit at bath time because we had to wash it off ... then they would want another one the next day. Now we let them all get a henna tattoo. It lasts for days (even weeks if you aren't swimming, etc. a lot). Plus it is something even older kids and adults like.

I didn't know about henna tattoos! They will love that. My kids also love love loved Epcot. They liked seeing all the neat buildings and the shows and getting people's signatures from each country, and it really makes it feel like a vacation in another land VS just an amusement park. There are not many places you can see Chinese acrobats AND ride rides :) Epcot at night was by far their favorite because it was all lit up and the interactive fountain was a blast.
We had better meet and greets there and we were able to do some attractions multiple times. I'm glad we prepped two Epcot days because they enjoyed it so so much.

I was worried about the free flowing alcohol, but since we went during a non-peak time, it wasn't noticeable at all.
 
There are no roller coasters yet which is what some kids associate with Disney world and thus it might be a let down. When I was a kid I didn’t love Epcot but I do now. My kids love it though. We always start with Garden Grill for breakfast which is our favorite meal in the parks. We do Soaring, Figment, Character Spot, Crush, the Land, and Nemo all before lunch. That satisfies their entertainment. Then we do lunch in Mexico and walk around the countries. My kids never liked the interactive scavenger hunts yet but maybe they aren’t old enough. They usually fall asleep in the stroller and we drink around the world. Then we knock out the other side with Test Track and Innovations. We finish the day with the showcase again with Frozen ride, Three Cabaleros, and dinner somewhere in Italy or Japan. My kids always enjoy it and they are all under 6.
 

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