EPCOT What you can see in a day

by Kim Wright Wiley As the author of the WALT DISNEY WORLD WITH KIDS guidebook, I've been to the Orlando park more than two dozen times with my children Leigh, 12, and Jordan, 8. One of our favorite places in the World is Epcot; I love the way it encourages families to pick up the chopsticks, the paintbrush or the laser gun and to actually do things together. So, when DISNEY MAGAZINE invited us to visit Epcot and report back on the ultimate one-day family itinerary, we were ready.The idea of touring Epcot with kids intimidates some parents. It's too big. It's too adult. It's too--drum roll--educational. Some even think you can't get a true taste of all that this sprawling park has to offer in a single day. But, as they say in the France pavilion, au contraire. Jordan's favorite Epcot attraction is Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. Appropriate, I think, because the key to touring this monster park is to shrink it, to present it to your kids in easily digestible bites. Though Epcot dazzles you with big stuff, the true magic begins when you savor the details, like meeting Pooh in a perfect English garden or watching your 10-year-old master her first virtual-reality ski jump. The park is composed of two sections: the nine pavilions of Future World and the 11 nations of World Showcase. The hip and high-tech Future World pavilions have names like Wonders of Life and The Land, and are full of hands-on exhibits, rides, films and shows. World Showcase lets you stroll from Mexico to China in minutes, and the best restaurants and shops are there. As Jordan says, "Future World is more like science, and World Showcase is geography." Close enough.While it might be tempting to view attractions in the order you encounter them, I don't advise it. Better to mix it up a bit, alternating the pizzazz of Future World with the laid-back charm of World Showcase. You may do less, but you'll enjoy more. Here's the plan--hour by hour, detail by detail--that we came up with on our latest Epcot trip, on which we were joined by Jordan's friend Nick, also eight, who helped provide the kids'-eye view. So, get a good night's sleep, set your alarm for 7 A.M., strap on your most comfortable shoes, and we're off.
FamilyFun is also proud to present Epcot's Kidcot Fun Stops at Walt Disney World, where families can make crafts from around the world.
Please keep in mind that phone numbers, addresses, and prices are subject to change. Updated June 2005.
THROUGH THE GATES8:30 A.M. At Epcot they generally open the first section a half hour before the stated opening time, meaning you can walk right into Spaceship Earth and Innoventions while the rest of the crowd is still out on I-4. It's a blast to start the day on Spaceship Earth, surely the most easily recognizable Epcot icon. On the first ride of the morning, you spiral upward 13 stories through "the big ball," passing scenes illustrating the history of communication. At the top, a planetarium sky unfolds before you.
RESERVATIONS8:45 A.M. Stop by the Worldkey Information System, to the left of Spaceship Earth, for dining reservations. Leigh insists on dinner at the San Angel Inn Restaurante in Mexico because "there's a boat ride, so you have something to do while you wait for your food." TIP: If you're staying at a Walt Disney World resort, you can make dining reservations from your room by pressing the "Dining Reservations" button on your phone. From anywhere else, call 407-WDW-DINE.

START YOUR ENGINES9 A.M. Ride Test Track (in the pavilion of the same name) first as -->this automobile adventure is bound to be mobbed by midmorning. Kids have to be at least 40 inches tall to ride Test Track. If your children are smaller, head for Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, in the Journey Into Imagination pavilion. Honey strikes the perfect balance between funny and scary, and the finale is not to be missed. TIP: Nick advises preschoolers who find the special effects of
HONEY, I SHRUNK THE AUDIENCE a bit too intense to lift their feet off the floor and take off the 3-D glasses. That way they won't feel the puffs of air that simulate mice running up their legs, and without the glasses, the snake seems decidedly less menacing.
BODY LANGUAGE9:45 A.M. Hit a couple of pavilions early, while the kids are fresh and the park is relatively uncrowded. We like WONDERS OF LIFE, which has Cranium Command, my vote for funniest show at Epcot. Here, General Knowledge taps an unfortunate recruit named Buzzy to pilot "the most unstable craft in the fleet," the brain of a 12-year-old boy. Buzzy's mission is to guide the lad through a typical day of junior high school without overloading his system. Nick is a big fan of Body Wars, in the Wonders of Life pavilion, though this stomach-churning motion-simulation trip through the bloodstream is a little too realistic for Leigh's taste. While we ride, she hangs out at Coach's Corner, where you can have your baseball, tennis or golf swing filmed, played back in slow-mo and analyzed by Gary Carter, Chris Evert or Nancy Lopez on videotape.
GET CHARGED UP11:15 A.M. When your own energy is flagging a bit, head for the Universe of Energy. This 45-minute presentation starts out as a show in which Ellen DeGeneres dreams she's on Jeopardy! and loses to smarty-pants Jamie Lee Curtis. Bill Nye the Science Guy appears and offers to teach her a little bit about the history of energy, at which point the theater breaks into sections and becomes a train moving through a land of dinosaurs. Since they were toddlers, my kids have loved these huge Audio-Animatronics beasties, although I must confess that I'm still unclear on exactly what the prehistoric creatures have to do with the history of energy. No Final Jeopardy for me, I guess.
Please keep in mind that phone numbers, addresses, and prices are subject to change. Updated June 2005.
WHAT'S FOR LUNCH?12:00 P.M. We like the food court downstairs in The Land because you don't need reservations and everyone can get something different, from salads to spuds to barbecue. (Leigh recommends the killer chocolate-chip cookies.) If you're up for a meat-and-vegetable meal, there's reservation-required character dining upstairs in the Garden Grill Restaurant.
WONDER WORLD1:00 P.M. Having spent the morning at Future World, we head to World Showcase. It's laid out in a 1.3-mile circle around the World Showcase Lagoon, so we start at the opposite side from where we'll be having dinner. We plan to end up in Mexico at 5:30, so we start in Canada. Wherever you begin, drop by any gift shop and pick up Epcot Passports for your children. As you visit each country, an attendant stamps the kids' passports and writes their names in that nation's language. Jordan, a collecting fiend, propels us from country to country in a quest to fill his book. (He later took it to school for show-and-tell.)Each of the 11 nations is staffed by citizens of the country represented. Disney recruits, relocates, houses and, if necessary, teaches English to the attendants, shopkeepers and waiters. When a young man working a vendor's cart in Italy sees Jordan's soccer shirt, he heads him an inflatable ball. Leigh still has the origami ornament a woman from Japan helped her make during our Christmas visit.
STREET SCENE1:30 P.M. Allow time to relax and take in one of the many street shows. I love the United Kingdom's World Showcase Players doing a silly send-up of the King Arthur legend, complete with audience "volunteers." Leigh, an oldies junkie, gives a solid thumbs-up to the British Invasion, Beatles clones who perform around the corner in the garden gazebo. This entertainment is neatly tailored to each country--acrobats in China, fire-eaters in Morocco, opera singers in Italy.TIP: The street shows are a better choice than some of the indoor attractions for a family with preschoolers. If your kids get restless or fussy, you can just amble on.
TOWER POWER2:30 P.M. At the Kidcot Fun Stops outside each country's pavilion, you'll see that each nation teaches kids a craft or indigenous game. The kids spent a half hour in blue smocks painting pictures of the Eiffel Tower in France. It turned out to be our all-time best Epcot photo op.
STARS AND STRIPES3:30 P.M. You don't have to be a history buff to enjoy the patriotic show in THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE, which has some of the most complex Audio-Animatronics Disney has ever developed. The Ben Franklin robot actually walks upstairs to visit Thomas Jefferson. The show doesn't flinch from less glorious moments either; the scene where Mathew Brady photographs a family in conflict over the Civil War has literally brought me to tears.TIP: Afternoons are ideal for taking in shows such as The American Adventure or Impressions de France, which let you sit.
SUPPORT THE LOCAL ECONOMY4:00 P.M. You see things at Epcot that aren't available elsewhere in Walt Disney World: German wines, Chinese silk robes, an entire shop devoted to English teas, hand-knit Norwegian sweaters. Kids' souvenirs, such as plastic Viking helmets and rubber samurai swords, are available from the outside vendors.TIP: I limit impulse buys by giving the kids a certain amount of Disney Dollars for souvenirs when we enter the park. The bills, available from Guest Relations and the ticket booths, come in denominations of $1 (Mickey), $5 (Goofy) and $10 (Simba), and are accepted anywhere in Walt Disney World. When my children were little, I had them convinced that this was the only form of currency the parks accepted. They're onto me now, but Disney Dollars remain a family tradition.
STARSTRUCK4:45 P.M. Looking for another fun and unique photo? During the afternoon, characters appear around World Showcase in their "home" nation. Aladdin is in Morocco, Alice hangs out in the United
Please keep in mind that phone numbers, addresses, and prices are subject to change. Updated June 2005.
EARLY DINNER5:30 P.M. Eat early, when everyone else is still touring. The Epcot eateries are all suitable for kids (each has high chairs and kiddie menus, and accepts a certain noise level), but some are particularly child friendly. We like the oompah band in Germany's Biergarten, and the slice-and-dice fest at Mitsukoshi, in Japan. And we keep returning to the San Angel Inn in Mexico. The tables overlook El Rio del Tiempo, the boat ride that encircles a Mayan pyramid. It's so dark inside the pavilion that it feels like midnight even at noon. The service is fast and friendly, and the margaritas aren't bad either.
BACK TO FUTURE WORLD6:30 P.M. While most of the crowd converges for dinner reservations in World Showcase, you can head for Future World pavilions you missed in the morning. Give yourselves extra time at The Land, which has a cute nutrition show called Food Rocks and a film on ecology (Circle of Life) starring The Lion King gang. And be sure to go next door and check out the enormous aquarium at The Living Seas. Then ride the upbeat Journey Into Imagination (in the pavilion of the same name), where a colorful little dragon named Figment serves as your tour guide.
GAME BOYS7:30 P.M. Innoventions is the arcade of the future, and one of the dumbest things I've ever said is, "We'll stop in for just a minute." Once Nick and Jordan got a glimpse of these brand-new video games, they were hooked. Since the lines are much shorter at night, you can play the virtual-reality games more than once.
THE BIG BANG8:30 P.M. To get a good view of Illuminations, Epcot's nightly laser, music and fireworks show, station some members of your party around the lagoon at least a half hour in advance. Everyone in the park converges here by 9 P.M., and there's an air of anticipation that can re-energize even the most exhausted kid.TIP: Watch from a location near your exit. If you're leaving via the main gate, find a good spot near Mexico or Canada; if you're staying at an Epcot resort, the best viewing is on the bridge between France and the United Kingdom. There's an in-joke that Epcot, an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, really stands for Every Person Comes Out Tired. Well, we have a word in our family: "tirappy," meaning "tired but happy." At day's end, wearing our glow-in-the-dark necklaces, dragging our hand-painted Eiffel Towers, dripping our last Mouseketeer ice-cream bars, we head toward the exits. "This is the best part," Nick says, referring to the miniature white lights that outline World Showcase while lasers transform Spaceship Earth into a huge, spinning globe. Epcot's big, overwhelming at times, but with the right planning, even families with young kids can ensure that everyone comes out tired but happy.