Universal & Epcot for small kids?
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Universal & Epcot for small kids?
| Wed, 01-10-2007 - 1:58pm |
We're planning a Disney vacation in the fall with our high-energy boys who will be 6 and 3 by then. Is it worthwhile to spend a day at Universal or is most of the stuff there for older kids? I've heard it's more focused toward thrill rides.
On the same vein, do you think it's even worthwhile for us to spend a day at Epcot? My kids will have no interest in browsing the shops and eateries and they'll be in bed before the evening show starts. Is there enough stuff there to keep them busy as well or should we just stick with MK, AK and MGM?

I have boys. Their first trip was at ages 6 and 3. We did Universal Studios. I think they got bored fast. I would skip it. Universal Islands of Adventure is more thrill ride based and not really for little ones.
Epcot. You know your boys best. Mine don't do Epcot. They will do the "rides" Test Track and Soarin' but have no interest in the countries or anything else there. We didn't make it to Living Seas.
Our favorite park at that age and still (5&8) is MK. Something for everyone. Next is AK and MGM is last. Our 5 year old was finally tall enough to ride thrill rides at Disney this year.
Sarah
I would also skip Universal.
I'm with M'Shel! If you have park hopper passes, definitely make some time for Epcot. The World Showcase is only 1/2 of Epcot, and we don't even like it, except for meal time, lol. But Living Seas is a huge aquarium, and the new Nemo ride and Turtle talk with Crush (both at Living Seas) are aimed just at your kids' age group. In addition, Innoventions is like a big science museum. There's a place near us that has the same kind of stuff and it's $30 a person to get into, and it's about the same size as the exhibit at Epcot. I think that right there is well worth it, especially for boys who love that hands-on, figure out how stuff works stuff! You could spend hours just in Innoventions, lol.
Good luck with your planning!
JoAnna in TX
Hey Dana...
Joey ~loves~ Epcot--this love affair started last year when we took him, just before he turned 4--there is a firetruck in innovations that he was very excited about... plus there were a lot of characters in Epcot that he really liked... the Bears from Brother Bear, Snow White, Belle, Jasmine and Aladdin to name a few...
This past year when we went he really enjoyed the rides too... he loved Soarin' and Mission Space (tamer version) and Test Track...
Are you getting park hoppers so you can go between parks on the same day? If so, definitely try it and see what you think... also the Kidcot stops are fun too... We can't go to Disney without going to Epcot... but he wasn't that thrilled about MGM...
Julie
Val, Co-CL Disney Vacations
I did Universal (pre-IOA) on my honeymoon and I didn't find enough there that Aly at 10 would enjoy yet. I think both parks are more teenager parks. Not to say that there isn't ANYTHING...I would LOVE to visit the Seuss area at IOA, but can't justify the dollar amount.
Now, Epcot we try to visit every day of our trips....it's our favorite and has always been Aly's favorite even at 2. She also loves MK & AK. We didn't visit AK on our first trip because we didn't have tickets for it (we used leftover days pre-AK and she was still free). But we find very little at MGM--would not try to spend a whole day there and even skipped it completely on our last trip.
Alysha
I haven't been to Universal, so can't comment on that.
My boys are now 6 and 3, and Epcot is a 2-full-day park for us. They love it! The older one (almost 5 at the time) said Epcot was his favorite park on our last trip. There are so many things they like, Spaceship Earth, Journey into Imagination with Figment, the Land boat ride, the Living Seas (I think it's Nemo now), Test Track, the fountains they play in (that's probably the favorite, lol), the boat ride in Mexico, making a mask in the World Showcase, really they just like it all. The older one didn't care for Soarin' much, but I liked it.
Hope this helps.
Hey Dana! I wanted to add my two cents on Epcot.