We're taking our 11 and 9-year old boys to Orlando for their first visit this summer, and as I haven't been since the days before Epcot, I'm having a hard time describing it to them in a way that generates any excitement. I'm sure I'll like it, but how about the young 'uns?

The stores and restaurants from different countries are only HALF of Epcot. They will LOVE the tommorrowland areas, where there are interactive videogames and really COOL stuff to play on and with for boys the ages of yours.

Thanks, that's exactly what I needed!

Have you explored the website with them? That should get them excited.

Tomorrowland is in the Magic Kingdom, not EPCOT.

Epcot is actually 2 areas, the stores and restaurants are in the World Showcase. It opens at 11, and there are rides there as well. Mexico has a fun ride and Norway has very popular ride as well ...lots of fun. There is a beautiful Japanese garden in Japan which is fun to walk thru. Morocco is also a lot of fun to see. There are performers all the time..like the living statue in Italy and the acrobats in France and the Royal guard thingy that's done in England. All very entertning and lots of fun for kids...very interactive. Also if you get to the World Showcase when it opens at 11 it is a great time to see and meet Mickey, Minnie, Goofy etc...as they arrive on a big red English bus. They stop and get out and have pictures and autographs. Not many people know about this because everyone goes to the MK for this!

At EPCOT..you and your kids will have fun at Ice Station Cool, sponsered by Coke. Free soda, all you can drink with samples of coke products from around the world...lots of fun. At Innoventions, you can send video mail to friends and family. Thee are othere rides here, which I'm sure you know of which are tons of fun. Go to disney.com and check out the disneyworld site. you can visit all the parks and see the rides. Also disboards.com is a great place to go for all kinds of information which will be very helpful to you since you have not been in a long time.

have fun

..Plus The Living Seas which now has alot of Nemo stuff, live manatees, a huge walk through tank viewing area, the Human Body pavillion, Test Track ride, the Space Ship Earth ride in the big dome, and The Earth where you can take a boat ride and learn about agriculture etc.

To clarify a previous poster, Epcot is two parts - Future World and the World Showcase. Future World has The Land -including a new attraction called Soarin that was first seen at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim, Journey into Imagination with a very good 3d movie, Spaceship Earth, Test Track, Mission Space.


Ice Station Cool is closing at the end of June. The ride in Mexico is lame for me and I'm 40. Your sons would hate it. The ride in Norway is good but way too short. China and Canada have interesting movies and the US has a history narrative with talking historical animatronics a la Hall of Presidents.

Check out allearsnet.com for more info and pictures.

I think bamakelly was referring to Future World when she mentioned the tomorrowland areas. There are cool games and such at Innovations for which they're the perfect age. In addition to the rides Wednesday mentioned, there's Mission Space, Soarin' Califronia Adventure (imported this year from Disneyland as part of the 50-year celebration), and the Honey I Shrunk the Audience 3D film, all great for their ages.

In World Showcase, make sure the kids visit the Kidcot Fun Stops at each countries' pavilion. They're basically a large craft table staffed by a Disney employee representing the country. The last two times we visited, kids could pick up a plain mask at any country. Kids could decorate it and then staff members stamped it and attached a tag representing the country at the various stops. We also purchased passport kits ($10), available in all the countries, and the country rep. at the fun stops would stamp it and sign a message in the countries' native language. Disney gears this toward kids 5-12 to make the countries more interesting for them. My oldest was 6 at our last visit, and he really got into the whole passport thing. I think your boys would still be a great age for this.

My kids also enjoyed the idea of sampling food from various countries, especially the desserts! A fun restaurant to eat at in Japan is Mitsukoshi Teppanyaki Dining Room, where a knife-juggling chef prepares food on a teppan grill. Make priority seating reservations if you plan to go there.

Also, don't miss IllumiNations at night. Have a great time!

EPCOT...Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow......Disney-ish

Thanks for all the responses. I have done some research, including the other sites mentioned here, but I'll have to check out Epcot's site as well.

My younger son will get into the passport collecting, and I know the older one will enjoy the food sampling. We're all Pepsi drinkers (I know, that's a whole 'nother thread!), but they'll probably get a kick out of tasting Coke from around the world.

There are also live acts and shows in many of the countries. Las ttim ewe were there there was a very good children's gymnastics troop in China (my early teens really enjoyed that), a mime statue in front of Italy (very amusing), a drum show in Japan, an African female vocal group, etc. We enjoyed timing our walks through the different countries to see the live acts.

YES-- it's Future World, not tomorrowland. Sorry! I think they'll LOVE it there!

Just tell them that, like everything else Disney, it's a fake experience only this one is fake travel to different countries.

Anonymous said "Just tell them that, like everything else Disney, it's a fake experience...."

Oh, no. Don't tell me that. You mean I really wasn't riding through somebody's bloodstream? I'm crushed.

I asked this on another post, but hope to catch someone who has tried the new ride at Epcot, Soarin'. Anybody? Looks like fun. Thanks.

Anonymous: If you don't have anything nice to say...

Sorry, klw, but I see nothing wrong in pointing out that the boys' lack of excitement might be justified.

Anonymous: Your post implied (at least to me) that you're pretty negative on all things Disney. Sorry if I misinterpreted. But SusanM and her family are going to Disney, obviously want to go to Disney, and will probably have a great time at Disney (as most kids do). The experience my kids had there was not fake; the fun they had was very real, and that's what counts, IMHO. And yes, we all know that they "countries" are quite far from the real thing, but for many people it's not realistic to travel internationally with their kids. I see nothing wrong with giving the kids a small taste of different cultures, albeit a Disney-fied version. Most of the posters here seem to agree that her kids will find plenty to enjoy in Epcot.

klw, you did not misinterpret my opinion. Yes, of course I realize that Disney/Epcot are so hugely popular and successful since most people enjoy them. The OP is taking her kids there will the expectation that their opinion will turn out to agree with the majority. But she needed a reminder of the real possibility that the kids will turn out to retain their current minority opinion.

Anonymous, I think you're "projecting" a little bit. I don't believe I said anything to indicate that my boys weren't excited about the trip. They have innocently asked "What is Epcot?" and I have felt my uninformed answer was inadequate.

Thanks to everyone who has posted with suggestions; it does sound like it will be fun, for all of us. If any of you have ever been to Milwaukee's annual Holiday Folk Fest, I used to go as a teen and just loved experiencing the different cultures. Sadly, I dragged my family there last year and it was nothing like I remembered it. Much smaller and kind of lame. (However, the 11-year old proudly reports trying a buffalo burger there from the American Indian booth. I think he'll like the Japanese Mitsukoshi Teppanyaki Dining Room!)