Epcot...With Kids?

Epcot…With Kids?

            I vividly remember planning our first family trip to Walt Disney World with my wife.  We had a four year old son and we just found out prior to our departure that we would be expecting our daughter in November, 2008.  We knew our first “family” trip to the world would make available many opportunities and some challenges as well.  We could not wait to see our child’s face as he entered The Magic Kingdom for the first time.  We were certain he would love the experiences at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios but we weren’t so sure about Epcot. 

I mean, Epcot is the park that teaches and educates.  What fun would a pre-schooler have there?  As a child of above average height, we thought he might be able to ride Soarin’ or Test Track.  But beyond that, we were certain we would not spend a significant portion of our trip in Epcot.  And I was right.  We made it as far as The Showcase Plaza entering World Showcase, grabbed an icy family beverage, and began to make our way out of the park.  It was an extremely warm day in May and we felt better served at another park or poolside back at the resort.

I’m ashamed to say our next trip was even worse.  On this trip our son was celebrating his fifth birthday and we now had a six month old daughter.  Our challenges seemed to increase while at the same time our opportunities seemed to decrease.  Couple that with the rainiest month of May Central Florida had experienced in almost twenty years and the thought of even going to Epcot seemed like a joke.  We did not have time to go to the parks to learn or be educated.  This was our vacation after all.

Then, as we planned our next trip, a light began to shine on us.  Actually, we began researching the parks more extensively and I began listening to Disney podcasts to learn more about the parks and how to tour with small children.  It was then that I began to find out all that Epcot had to offer for our entire family. 

As you enter Epcot, one of the first things your family should do is have your picture taken in front of Spaceship Earth.  Spaceship Earth is the iconic symbol of Epcot and it looks something like the world’s largest golf ball.  There are plenty of Disney Photo Pass Cast Members to snap a picture of you and they will use your camera if you like.  You can then pass through the Leave a Legacy sculptures and almost immediately find some of Disney’s beloved characters available for a meet and greet under Spaceship Earth.  Speaking of Spaceship Earth, this is an attraction for all ages that is a gentle moving and educational ride for the entire family.  This is a great attraction for the family to get out of that hot, Florida sun for a few minutes and cool off.

After leaving Spaceship Earth you can go in a few different directions.  You can head for a few of the different attractions, such as Mission: SPACE or Test Track at Innoventions East or Soarin’ at Innoventions West.  Now while these attractions are not necessarily tailor made for the whole family, one of our family’s favorite places is in the area of Innoventions.  Just after Innoventions West is The Character Spot.  Our family loves this character meet and greet because we get to meet the Fab Five in a single area.  Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, and Goofy all in one place.  We love to grab a snack and wait to meet Disney’s most famous characters in Epcot.

If you happen to be in The Land pavilion and Soarin’ isn’t the perfect match for your family, there are still so many options.  There is The Circle of Life.  The Circle of Life is a wide-screen movie about the environment and our relationship with the land, hosted by the stars of The Lion King.  There is also Living with the Land.  Living with the Land is a gentle 14 minute boat ride through unique indoor plant growing areas.  An introduction shows tropic, desert and prairie biomes that existed before humans arrived.  An automated narration explains all about the four greenhouses and the aquaculture facility. 

After leaving The Land Pavilion, our family loves to experience an underwater adventure in The Seas with Nemo and Friends.  This attraction and pavilion has evolved over the years and transformed the prior Living Seas Pavilion into a destination for families.  The Seas with Nemo and Friends is a gentle moving attraction with a continuous load into a clamshell vehicle as your family rides through the very colorful story of Pixar’s Finding Nemo.  The ride through has Nemo and friends magically appearing and swimming through a 5 million gallon saltwater environment, one of the largest aquariums in the world.  After riding The Seas with Nemo and Friends, we head straight for Turtle Talk with Crush.  This headlining attraction features a computer animated version of the wildly popular surfing turtle from the Pixar film.  Crush has conversations with visitors and interacts with guests (especially the younger guests) during each 10 minute show.  There is also a play area for children called Bruce’s Sub House, where your children can crawl through Bruce the Shark (a bit of trivia about the character Bruce is that this Finding Nemo character was named after the animatronic shark used in the film Jaws).

After leaving the Innoventions area, our family love to head toward World Showcase but not before stopping by and watching Fountain of Nations as the fountain performs to musical numbers.  This is a sight to see especially if you have the opportunity to see the fountain during different times of the year. 

As you look past Fountain of Nations you can see World Showcase Lagoon that separates Future World from World Showcase.  Starting from left to right, we love to head to Mexico.  You conceivably can make it through all 11 countries of World Showcase in an afternoon, but only if you are walking past each pavilion and not looking into what each pavilion has to offer.  Some highlights for our family include snacking around the world, Kidcot, and of course shopping.

Depending on your interests or family situation, there are several different “crawls” around World Showcase.  A “crawl” is fairly simple in that you pick a theme (in most cases in World Showcase food or drink) and you sample that theme in each pavilion around World Showcase.  There are so many options in World Showcase, whether you want a snack to walk around with or you want an authentic dining experience.  Whatever taste you have or if the mood suits, have fun developing your own “crawl” around the world.  The “crawls” can become even better during Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival held each autumn.  Additional countries are brought in and booths from nearly 30 countries are represented during one of Epcot’s signature events.

Having small children, our kids love to explore the Kidcot stations in each country.  Kidcot is easily identified by the brightly colored signs in each pavilion and features a small table operated by cast members from the different countries.  The cast members engage the children in conversations about their native country, work on crafts with the children, stamp their passport (sold or crafted separately), and write a personal message in their native language.

Shopping around World Showcase is an experience all its own.  It also could possibly be its own vacation.  Walking through each pavilion and digging a little deeper can unlock the most exquisite treasure.  Authentic merchandise from each nation can be purchased and some of the richest experiences have little to do with the purchased fare.  Chatting with cast members from the various countries is worth its weight in gold.  Our family has found so much magic inside World Showcase.

It would be impossible to talk about World Showcase and not talk about Disney characters.  Whether you find Donald Duck in Mexico reprising his role from The Three Caballeros or Aladdin and Jasmine in Morocco, there are characters to wow the entire family throughout World Showcase.  And here is a little known tip.  Just outside of The American Adventure is a small wooden gate that looks rather inconspicuous.  But if you happen to be there at the right time, Disney characters that are earning their ears will pop up from time to time for unannounced meet and greet opportunities.  Sometimes there will even be a character that is no longer available for meet and greets that will be out.  In January 2011 my 6 year old son at the time was able to meet Bolt and Bolt had been out of circulation for quite some time.  Whatever you do, do not sell World Showcase short.  There are so many wonderful things about this portion of Epcot.

Now at the end of a long day, whether our family had the chance for some down time or we are exhausted, we love to end an Epcot day with Illuminations: Reflections of Earth.  Illuminations is a 13 minute nighttime spectacular on World Showcase Lagoon.  Earth Globe sits on the lagoon and is the first spherical video display system wrapped in 15,000 LEDs.  This show features lasers, fireworks, and even flames set to some of the most recognizable music anywhere in the world.  Illuminations has gone under changes and enhancements over the years, and seems to only increase in popularity.  But none of the enhancements are as popular as the holiday tag at the end of the presentation each winter.

While there is so much that can be learned in Epcot and it is true that Epcot is not totally what Walt Disney may have envisioned, it can not be denied that Walt’s vision of a family spending a day together at his theme park enjoying themselves is exactly what you will find at Epcot.

A Princess is born......

Like we mentioned in our previous entries the next trip was already being planned before we left Orlando for the first time. We knew there would be a new baby for that next trip and a young one at that. Our daughter Mia was born in November of 2008, yes a princess. It was decided that we would celebrate Peyton's birthday again and do another May trip. So trip #2 May 2009. This is that trip that started all of the Disney research that we still do this very day. Like Eric had mentioned, the Animal Kingdom Lodge was suggested to us and after looking into we were intrigued. An African Savannah with animals outside your resort window? I'm in! We stayed at the Jambo house and fell in love, absolutely a home away from home. The restaurant that is located in the Jambo house is called Boma and is an absolute favorite for us. They have a neat African inspired menu that we think is just great! The exotic look that this resort has is breathtaking. The staff is so nice, as we checked in a gentleman named Elmo from Swahili sat on the floor with our son and colored. The real surprise however was when we got to our room and I walked out onto the balcony and a giraffe was standing there feeding. Amazing! I found myself waking up early every morning just to run out and see the animals walking by for breakfast.

I will be perfectly honest, I thought taking a 6 month old to Disney World would be a lot harder than it was. The sights and sounds seemed to keep little Mia interested and when she got sleepy she would take a nice nap in her stroller. I think Disney makes this even easier with the Rider Swap program. For those unfamiliar with this, you get a swap ticket at the entrance of a ride that you cannot take a baby on. For instance,  I would get a swap ticket, my husband would take our son on Big Thunder Mountain, they would get off and I would then be put in the fast pass line with my son so that I could then ride with him also. Peyton of course loved this because he was able to ride with both parents and also experience the ride two times in a row, great idea!

I was surprised of all the rides we were all able to ride together, to name a few Dumbo, Pirates, Magic Carpets, Toy Story Mania, and many more. Mia loved her first visit as we could tell, she made sure she met her princesses and has been in awe of them since. Naturally I loved taking our daughter to see all the princesses and the "girl things".

This was the first year that we experienced the new Pixar Place that opened in Hollywood Studios the summer before, which we enjoyed. Buzz and Woody have a meet and great in Andy's room which is neat and the ride Toy Story Mania is a ton of fun. We are a family that loves the Pixar movies so the parade in this park is also a favorite because it has all of the Pixar characters in it. The Animation court yard became a favorite spot to meet characters.  Peyton loved seeing Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Sorcerer Mickey, and the Incredibles. 

Peyton had another fantastic birthday dinner and cake at Chef Mickey's, (told you we started a tradition). We also got a cool photo pass shot that was a neat addition to his birthday invitations that year ;) 

This was by far the most rain I had ever seen, anywhere. There was 9 inches, yes I meant 9, inches of rain during this week. It was more than Orlando had seen in the month of May in twenty years. This of course made things a little more tricky.  We even had ponchos covering the stroller. We held little Mia in a carrier strapped to one of our chests for a good part of the days.  I highly recommend one of these if you are taking a tiny tot. 

Surprising as it may be even with all of the rain this trip brought we had a blast and made it through just fine. We saw Fantasmic! for the first time and WOW, love this show, (even in the rain). Some of the other new things that we found on this trip were the Disney Dining Plan, 'Ohana (oh how I love 'Ohana), T-Rex at Downtown Disney. 

We thought because we stayed longer this trip we would have "covered" everything, didn't happen, and still hasn't. There has been something new to see and do each and every time. 

Do As Dreamers Do~Kim 

And The Birthday Continued...

My wife Kim did such a great job with her first blog and it made me so excited to pen my own initial entry that I decided to do it twice.  Actually I'm doing it a second time because my first blog didn't save with the exception of a "C" in the draft.  Boy was I frustrated because in my mind I wrote the perfect blog! ;)

When Kim and I decided to start a blog about our love for and knowledge of Disney, we decided we would each try to write to our strengths.  Kim's strengths are her attention to the details of even the smallest memories and I think that's something that makes her a great wife and mother!  My strengths are sort of the other things that tend not to matter as much once the vacation is over, but I've done a lot of research and planning in my day and I love to share that knowledge as well as those experiences.

When I think about our first Walt Disney World vacation, I think about questioning if this type of vacation would be the type of trip that would really satisfy our young family.  While our family loved all things Disney, the thought of spending a week at a theme park seemed like a bit of a reach for us.  At the time I thought we would try it but I never thought about what might (or what would definitely) happen to us.

As Kim said, we stayed at All Star Movies and because our son Peyton loved Toy Story I booked a room in the Toy Story building.  Walking through the "bedroom door" into Andy's Room was as magical as we'd ever seen.  One of my most vivid memories of staying at All Star Movies was outside of the Toy Story buildings was a life sized replica of R.C. the remote controlled car from the movies.  Every morning as we left our resort room, Peyton would dash for R.C. and every morning he'd trip and scrape an elbow or skin a knee.  But he would always jump in the car in the hope that it would speed away with him in it.  We loved staying at All Star Movies!

Kim went into great detail about our adventures at The Magic Kingdom and Disney's Animal Kingdom.  I'd love to go into great detail about our first experience with Epcot but it will take longer to read this blog post than our time in Epcot on that first trip.  We had this misconception that Epcot was just about learning and education.  We figured we wouldn't have any interest in that park with a pre-school aged child.  We entered into Future World on an extremely hot and sunny May afternoon and made it as far as the Odyssey Pavilion before getting an icy, blue drink to share and we promptly made our way to the exit and headed for The Magic Kingdom.  I can't even tell you we learned our lesson on our 2nd trip because on that trip we thought that since we didn't do anything in Epcot on the 1st trip, why even go to that park.  Boy, were we in for a shock when we finally decided to tour that park for real!!!

While we didn't tour Disney's Hollywood Studios as much as The Magic Kingdom or Disney's Animal Kingdom, we certainly spent more time there than we did at Epcot.  Because we didn't know what to expect from this park we tried to do as much as we could.  We rode The Great Movie Ride which sort of left us flat because the most recent movie referenced seemed to be Star Wars or Indiana Jones so we didn't get much out of it.  We really enjoyed Playhouse Disney Live (now re-themed Disney Junior Live) and it was in the Magic of Disney Animation that we found our first hidden gem in WDW.  There are character meet and greets inside The Magic of Disney Animation and some of the characters are somewhat rare.  And the bonus was that because we were there on a night that Fantasmic! was shown, many of the villains were available for meet and greet opportunities.  We even walked past One Man's Dream to a new section of the park called Pixar Place.  There were friendly cast members standing in front of Pixar Place to let us know it wouldn't open for a few more days so we would have to wait until our next trip to realize the magic of Toy Story Midway Mania.  Alas, Disney's Hollywood Studios has become our least favorite of the 4 parks over the years.

Kim talked about the celebration for Peyton's 4th Birthday at Chef Mickey's and I must concur.  It was an amazing experience.  Watching cast members, characters, and other diners celebrate our son's birthday with him is a memory that I will always treasure.  Those memories are the reason we book this restaurant every trip.  Even though the cuisine may not be what we once thought it was, this restaurant will always be so special to us.

I remember the night of Peyton's 4th birthday so vividly.  It was our last night on property and after dinner we were really excited to go to The Magic Kingdom because we were going to experience Extra Magic Hours that night and it seemed so perfect.  It was on this night that I found my greatest Disney love... Spectromagic!!!  Spectromagic is a night time parade in The Magic Kingdom that ended its run in the Summer of 2010 and was replaced with The Main Street Electrical Parade.  Watching this parade blew me away.  The music, the pageantry, the characters.  I loved every second of it!  On this night we saw the only rain of our trip, which oddly enough would be the polar opposite of our next trip but that's for another post.  Peyton loved riding Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in the dark as well as the rain.  We rode until the wee hours of the morning before kissing the park good night and sadly, good bye.

As we waited for Magical Express to arrive at the resort the next morning, a man standing next to me began chatting me up.  He asked how long we stayed at the resort.  I told him we'd been there for a week.  He told me they had been there for 3 nights but spent the previous 5 at The Animal Kingdom Lodge.  His description and explanation of that resort had me convinced.  On the coach ride to Orlando International, Kim and I made our plans for our next trip.  And we were going to stay at The Animal Kingdom Lodge.  But on the next trip, we were going to bring our new princess and introduce her to her kingdom.  Until next time...

It all began with a birthday.....

Our first born was about to turn four, and we found out we were expecting our second little one....what's one to do....go to Disney! My husband and I have always had a love for all things Disney. In fact,  I think he holds the record for the number of times someone has seen The Lion King in theatre :).
Our son Peyton naturally loved Disney, at the time it was Toy Story, mainly Buzz. So my husband started his research of Disney World and off we went, May 2008 our first trip.

We stayed at the All Star Movies resort, Toy Story room of course. Loved it! I'm not sure who was more into this trip me, my husband, or our son. Talk about feeling like you are 5 all over again. For someone who has never been there I simply cannot explain the feeling you get when you walk into the Magic Kingdom, look down Main Street, and there it is...Cinderella's castle.

We visited all four parks on this trip however we only went to Epcot for a very short time. We actually bought a slushy and basically left. We didn't think Epcot was meant for children which later found out we were wrong, more on that in a later post. The Magic Kingdom of course was a favorite, I think mainly because the three of us could ride almost everything in the park together even with an expecting mommy on board. Big Thunder Mountain was Peyton's first roller coaster experience and still remains a favorite. That year we started a tradition, the Tea Cups was our first Disney ride, and has been every time since. 

 

Meeting characters became something we really enjoyed as well. The first character meet for us was Chip n' Dale, boy are they fun in person ;).  You need to be ready with your autograph book and pen in hand, the characters will sign your book which makes for a really nice and memorable souvenir.

Let me tell you that Disney knows how to Celebrate. It all starts with the "birthday button", wearing this ensures hundreds of birthday wishes from cast members, characters, even complete strangers who are vacationing just like you. Even a few cast members sang to our son, so neat. We ordered a special cake for our son's birthday and had it brought to our table after our birthday dinner at Chef Mickey's. The Big Cheese himself came out to start the birthday dance, the entire restaurant gets in on this, waving their napkins and dancing, brought tears to my eyes, my boy was turning four and celebrating in such an awesome way. 

Hard to believe that we had only been to one park and we were already hooked. I can honestly say that the Animal Kingdom was just as breathtaking and shocking. You feel as though you were just dropped right into the middle of Africa. The safari in the Animal Kingdom is one of my personal Disney favorites. This experience is different each and every time, you board a safari like truck and off into the African Savannah you go. To see giraffes, lions, rhinos, even a cheetah that close in such a beautiful setting is like no other.  This park has so much to look at, and you can go from Africa to Asia all in the same day :). We also found one of our favorite counter service meals at the Animal Kingdom during this trip, Flame Tree Barbecue which also has a very neat outdoor seating area.

One of my best memories of this trip was a Dash tattoo that my son had put on his forearm. The tattoo had lasted until about three days after we returned home. I can still remember him crying in the bathtub that night when Dash washed off. 

I must say that I was so happy we had decided to go when we did, but I do wish we had thought of it sooner. I disagree with many people who say a child can be to young for Disney, or too old for that matter. There is something about shooting lasers on the Buzz Light year ride, or sword fighting with your son after getting off of the Pirate of the Caribbean ride. There is no set age to get that magical feeling while watching the wishes firework display above the castle. 

When the time came for our trip to come to an end it was harder than I thought it would have been, waiting for the magical express coach to take us to the airport was kinda painful, but on the plane ride home we decided one thing was for sure, we were going back! 

My husband Eric will be adding his thoughts on this first trip and will more than likely go a little more in depth on Hollywood Studios and some of our other 1st visit memories. 

Do as Dreamers do~ Kim 

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