[goofygal1975]

Well, my son and I are heading to EPCOT this Sunday, to activate our AP's and to see the Flower and Garden Festival!! My son has never been to EPCOT, and I haven't been to EPCOT in about 2-3 years. Is it worth it to get there *right* at 9am. Is there enough to do in Future World to keep us busy until 11am when World Showcase opens? I know (from another thread) that the Flower and Garden show is pretty much all over Epcot, so we'll keep our eyes out for that, especially. We just want to get the feeling of Epcot before our June trip. (I hope to *sneak* and get a passport to throw into ds welcome basket for his bday trip in June)

Any Ideas on what time we should get there (we plan to leave around 5-6pm so we can get home and rest before our memoral day cook out on Monday) and how we should hit the park attractions?? Like I mentioned, we're not too concerened about getting everything in this one trip, just the basics. My ds is 7 and will *not* ride test track;) Thanks for any help and opinions!!:)

Ohhh...I almost forgot...do you know if they are now selling Pal Mickey at Epcot? Or will we need to make a detour to a resort first to pick him up?

[tinkerbell]

ok one thing the girls love to do is innoventions because there are all the video games and all sorts of new things in there. its funny but I cant remember seeing anyone post about this. The girls can spend hours in there. Of course the JIYI with figment ( I am so glad he is back) and honey I shrunk the audience .. there is the part with the snake that still bothered our 11 year old granddaughter last year but she takes off the glasses right before the snake. and over In the Land .. there is Food Rocks ..always fun! and a Lion King movie on polution. and the Living with the land boat ride is fun :) there is a place sponsered by Coke where its fun to walk through and a taste test area of other country soft drinks.

[dab]

There is plenty to do for 2 hrs before the WS opens!! The nice thing about Future World are the areas you can linger if you need to "kill some time". The Living Seas and Innoventions are our favorite places to take a closer look! My only tip about the rides is: don't ride Body Wars unless you are completely unaffected by motion sickness. I rode Star Tours at MGM and was fine but Body Wars made me soooo sick! Just a word of caution!
So, your son won't ride Test Track or you don't want him to?? My DD rode it for the first time when she was almost 4 and it is our family's favorite!!
Have fun Sunday and don't forget about the KidCot stations in the World Showcase. Your DS would probably enjoy decorating a mask and getting all of the country stamps. It makes a nice & free souvenir!

[tinkerbell]

Originally posted by dab
There is plenty to do for 2 hrs before the WS opens!! The nice thing about Future World are the areas you can linger if you need to "kill some time". The Living Seas and Innoventions are our favorite places to take a closer look! My only tip about the rides is: don't ride Body Wars unless you are completely unaffected by motion sickness. I rode Star Tours at MGM and was fine but Body Wars made me soooo sick! Just a word of caution!
So, your son won't ride Test Track or you don't want him to?? My DD rode it for the first time when she was almost 4 and it is our family's favorite!!
Have fun Sunday and don't forget about the KidCot stations in the World Showcase. Your DS would probably enjoy decorating a mask and getting all of the country stamps. It makes a nice & free souvenir!

I am glad you remembered to mention the KidCot stations!! ooo and look for the little bitty frogs around the China pavillion. most kids love them .. I knew they have always been there in May when we went.

[jmouse]

The thing about the Epcot pavilions is that it takes about 30-60 minutes to do everything inside them. So you will find plenty of things to do if you get there first thing in the morning. One thing you do not want to do first thing when you get there is Spaceship Earth. Everyone goes there first and there will be a long line. Stop by Spaceship Earth on your way out of the park that evening and it will be a walk-on!

I would do some of the Pavilions when you get there and then go to World Showcase right at 11am. Do whatever you want in World Showcase. Your son if I recall correctly is young grade-school age, right? He might find most of the films in World Showcase boring. But he will probably enjoy the Kidcot stations. You might want to pick up the children's adventure booklet for Epcot. It has learning pages for each area in Epcot for the kids to complete. You can find these at the entrance with the guide maps or at Guest Services.

By mid-afternoon, World Showcase will be crowded. head back to Future World to do some more pavilions. Most of the people will have moved onto World Showcase, leaving Future World wide open.

Pal Mickey may be rented at the Camera Center in Epcot or purchased at Mouse Gears in Epcot (just past Innoventions and Pin Central).

Don't forget to see if there are any children's activities happening at the Flower & Garden Festival. There is the dog maze, some "playgrounds" and Ladybug releases.

Have fun! :)

[goofygal1975]

Wow, thank you guys! That's a lot of good Ideas!!

jmouse, thats a good tip about Spaceship Earth, I would have gone straight there first!! I like the idea of a Childrens adventure booklet!! I'll have to get that, too! Thanks for letting me know where to get Pal Mickey too!!
dab , we will *not* go on Body Wars!! Thanks! Neither one of us could handle it!! It's my son's choice not to do Test Track!! He's *just* now going to try Goofy's Barnstormer again hehe (and Haunted Mansion, too!) So for us, at least, we don't have to worry about going on any of the "big" rides just yet!!
tinkerbell, my ds loves video games, so I guess he'll have a great time there too!!

I didn't realize how much was in Future World. We def. want to do JIYI!!! It looks like we can be kept busy there!! Thanks again for helping us plan our day!!


:D

[goofygal1975]

Is Honey I Shrunk the kids a show or an actual ride? My ds is 7 (almost 8). If there is anything scary, he can take off the 3D glasses.

[jmouse]

Honey, I Shrunk the Audience is a 3D show. there are special effects in the theatre where the people sit besides the 3D film "reaching" out to you. Specifically, they warn anyone with a great fear of snakes or mice to be aware that this show may not be for them. (Hint: you can close your eyes and pick your feet up off the floor)

[tinkerbell]

the 3D effects are really good .. just like Muppet Vision and Its tough to be a Bug. but jmouse is right ..if you have a fear of snakes or mice beware.

[grinner01]

If you have never visited at the time of the flower festival, and you love gardens, flowers and the like, you could spend half a day (or more) viewing all the flowers and gardens they have set up for the event. Truly magnificent.

[Disneybound]

Our son is 7. This past March was his first visit to DW since he was 5 months old. He was terrified of Its a Bugs Life.....
He was so terrified....he passed up many other opportunities as he didn't want to take a chance that another attraction would be so frightening.....we ended up spending most of our time at the pools.....or just walking around the parks....
I literally had to drag him in to see Fantasmics....and then he was happy to have seen that.
We have really been talking about our imaginations, make believe,...and so on. Since we are going back this July....
I am hoping that his fear will be replaced by having a great time.
When we got home from our March trip he didn't mention anything about DW...he only spoke of his wonderful time on the ship!

[goofygal1975]

Well, we went to Epcot this past Sunday. I'm so glad I asked this question and found out some things about Epcot. Good and bad. haha. Honey I shrunk the audience..:madmad :bandit not for us. We had to leave after the first few minutes. Thank goodness you guys told me about the rats...i still almost had a heart attack...and w/my son's high blood pressure....oh my.... it would not have been good:nooo: I knew enough to have him sit w/his legs up in the chair. Haha...but we did find so many things that we like and had such a wonderful time. Thank you to everyone again who helped me plan such a great day at Epcot!! :)

[MickeyMamma]

Pardon my asking, but what is Pal Mickey?? It was mentioned a few times here and I have never heard of it.

Thanks!

[goofygal1975]

Originally posted by MickeyMamma
Pardon my asking, but what is Pal Mickey?? It was mentioned a few times here and I have never heard of it.

Thanks!

Its a new interactive plush Mickey doll. If you go to "search" and type in "Pal Mickey", there are quite a few threads about him. He looks really cool. He tells jokes, and gives you advice about your day at the park!! Reminds you of parade times and fun stuff like that!!:)