Florida Guide > Epcot
Epcot Center with Toddlers
Personally, I believe that Epcot Centre is designed for adults and older children who will most definitely have a greater appreciation for what this park has to offer. However, since Epcot is our favorite park, we visited many times over the years beginning when our children were very young. Each visit provided a new and different experience for them as they grew.
The first time we took our two older children to Epcot, they were both under five. Get there early when the park opens and since World Showcase opens later than Future World, you’ll start there! The first thing you’ll see on entering the park is Spaceship Earth (it resembles a giant golf ball)! This is a very slow moving pleasant attraction that is fine for toddlers. If your child is afraid of the dark, though, it may be best to avoid this one.
The Universe of Energy pavilion has one of our favorite attractions at Epcot, “Ellen’s Energy Adventure”. Your children may enjoy this, or they may be very frightened of the life-like dinosaurs that move and roar. Use your judgment on this one!
Not to be missed in Future World with pre-schoolers are The Living Seas pavilion and The Land Pavilion. They will particularly love “The Seas with Nemo and Friends” as well as “Living with the Land”. My children particularly enjoyed this and wanted to go back on the boat ride again and again! They were quite enthralled with the trip through the Disney greenhouses where they saw unique new-age growing methods in practice plus a number of unusual fruits and vegetables.
Before leaving Future World, you’ll want to take in one more attraction, “Journey into Imagination with Figment” at the Imagination! Pavilion. My kids really enjoyed this ride led by a very lovable purple dragon named Figment. Let me warn you, though, that you won’t be able to get that song out of your head!
This is a good time to go back to the villa for a nap! You can return late afternoon or early evening to take in the World Showcase. When you return, depending on the age of your children, stop in to one of the gift shops and consider purchasing a Passport for them. This will keep them busy as you tour the country pavilions. You can read more about this item here:
http://www. orlandovillas. com/florida_guide/epcot-passports. aspx
Before you enter the World Showcase, check out the times for the various live performances. There will be a variety of acts outside the different pavilions and some of these may appeal to your children. So, plan on taking a few of these in as you stroll through the countries. Most of the main attractions in this area of the park will not be suitable for young children. The Maelstrom seems tame enough but there is a fast drop and a frightening troll that really disturbed my children so I don’t recommend it! There are beautiful films in China, France and Canada but the short attention span of your young children will more than likely only allow you to attend one of these. If that’s the case, we found “Reflections of China” to be a great choice. The one main attraction that will be suitable and most enjoyable for little ones will be “El Rio Del Tempo” in the Mexico pavilion. This is a very pleasant and beautiful boat ride through a very colorful and festive world!
If you managed to get a nap break in at some point during the day, you’ll want to stay and see “Illuminations: Reflections of Earth”! All of Epcot comes to “light” with this most spectacular grand finale laser light show. Your children will be in awe – so will you! !
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