What Can I Do At Disney's EPCOT With Little Kids and Babies?

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EPCOT.  It is the "Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow".  This was something of a pet project for Walt Disney but he died before being about to see the plan through, so instead of a city we have the theme park.  

Can I bring my little one on rides at Disney's EPCOT?

There are currently seven rides that guests of any height may ride.  They are as follows:

• Ellen's Energy Adventure (Be prepared, it's 45 minutes long.) UPDATE: No longer available. 
• Journey Into Imagination With Figment
• Living with the Land
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros (World Showcase)
• Frozen Ever After (Brand New! World Showcase)
• Spaceship Earth

What can't little kids and babies ride?

As to be expected, there are a few rides that simply aren't safe for shorter riders (or if there are certain health concerns).  For these rides your group will need to split up.  Be sure to take advantage of the Rider Swap option to get everyone that meets the requirements on the ride!  Here's a list of the rides with height restrictions:

• Soarin' -- 40 inches 
• Chevrolet Test Track -- 40 inches
• Mission: SPACE -- 44 inches
• The Sum of All Thrills -- 48 inches (54 to go upside down)* UPDATE: It's gone! I'm so sad. 

*This ride is highly under-rated in my humble opinion.  Big kids and adults should be sure to check it out!

What shows will the little ones enjoy?

The following four are indoor, and air conditioned, shows that we've seen.  The first two are big hits for our family.

• Turtle Talk With Crush
• Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival
• The Circle of Life
• 'O Canada!

What else can the kids do at EPCOT?

EPCOT is neither ride heavy nor oozing animated characters like Magic Kingdom.  Yes, those two characteristics are present, but this park has a different feel.  (And there are some characters that you can ONLY meet in EPCOT, so be sure to check them out!  Mulan, Snow White, Mary Poppins, Joy, Sadness, and Baymax are some of my favorites!)

The World Showcase really is an amazing place.  I'm still discovering more details and hidey-holes.  Many of the countries have small museums that are rich with history and information.  The architecture of each section is breathtaking.  The street shows are fascinating.

Colortopia is an interactive exhibit where my whole family (including the toddler) could spend hours.  (Sadly, though rightly, they do try to keep people moving through the attraction.)

Phineas and Ferb: Agent P's World Showcase Adventure is a smart phone based scavenger hunt through the World Showcase.  (You can borrow one if you need to.)

The aquariums at the SeaBase (with Nemo) are mesmerizing.  You can watch the Dolphins play, see the manatees float about, marvel at the sea horses, and rediscover a sense of wonder.   (Of course, you can also get a cheesy, yet adorable, photo in a shark's mouth.)

Some of the rides have interactive games at the departure point of the ride, such as Spaceship Earth, Mission: SPACE, Figment, and Test Track.  This is especially helpful for the rides that your kids don't meet the height requirements.

Finally, this is a Disney park.  So, of course, there are character meet and greets!  This is the place, as in these characters don't appear in the other parks, to meet Baymax, Joy, Sadness, and Belle (in her blue dress -- you can see Belle in her ball gown during Enchanted Tales, but that one isn't a true meet and greet).

Keep in mind that things at Walt Disney World are constantly changing.  Something that might be there today might not be there tomorrow.  Something that is there today might not have been there yesterday.  If you notice something on this page that needs updating please leave me a comment.

Be sure to check out the other posts in this series!

What Can I Do At Disney's Magic Kingdom With Little Kids and Babies?

What Can I Do At Disney's Hollywood Studios With Little Kids and Babies?

What Can I Do At Disney's Animal Kingdom With Little Kids and Babies?

Alice in Wonderland Character Greeting and Handmade Costume

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Somewhat to my surprise, Catherine requested an Alice in Wonderland costume for Halloween last year.  While I was surprised, I was up to the challenge.  It's been ages since I read Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (the Kindle version is only $0.99!), but what I remember of it was that it was rather . . . odd.  Much like Disney's Alice in Wonderland, which is currently how Catherine is familiar with Alice, and that is the look she wanted.

Buy the movie from Amazon.

The traditional Disney Alice has a very timeless dress with an apron.  I used the Fairy Tale dress from Oliver + S for the dress.  (I won mine during a giveaway from Whimsical Fabric.)  I pretty much followed the pattern exactly for view A.  It's such a classic dress for a little girl, and was exactly what I needed!  However, I left off the skirt lining, as well as the tulle, and opted for a removable puffy underskirt.  I also used width of fabric for the skirt front and (added together) for the back because I wanted to capture the fullness of Alice's dress.  It was my first time doing an invisible zipper.  (I have various individuals from sewing groups to thank for my success in that endeavor.)

I free-handed the apron.  This took me lots of trial and error.  I really wanted an apron that looked like it was from the Disney movie.  I'm actually rather surprised how much Disney's Meet and Greet Alice's apron isn't like the movie.  Where is the rounded shoulder detail?  Why is there the additional cross in the back?  Their apron is seriously not true to the movie at all and it bothers me!  Is that because I'm a purist or because I sew, so I'm always looking at how a garment is constructed?  I'm not sure.  Maybe it's a little bit of both.

Alice's dress is rather full and flouncy (both in the movie and on the character at Disney World!), so I needed to add an underskirt.  Since we have a lot of princess type dresses in our future, I decided to make it a separate garment.  The underskirt is a couple of yards of tulle gathered onto half inch elastic.  (By the way, have you seen Rae Gun's gathering tip?  It has made my life so much easier!)  The tulle underskirt certainly adds some pouf!

Catherine loved the dress, which made me super happy.  Of course, I also relished the fact that everyone knew who she was on sight!  Well, except for that one lady during trick or treating . . . she thought Catherine was Mary Bo Peep.

Just recently, Catherine was able to show her dress to Alice in Wonderland at EPCOT.  (She's found in the United Kingdom part of the World Showcase.  Times are always available online.)  It was such an adorable exchange.  Alice kept referring to Catherine as "me".  I am constantly in awe of the Disney cast members.  Catherine tends to get a little star struck when meeting her Disney favorites, but they all do such an amazing job of making it a special experience.  Alice was simply delightful.

I also love that the photographers allow us to take as many pictures as we want.  I click away pretty much constantly during every character meet at the four Disney parks I've been to and every time I've been met with nothing but kindness.  In fact, most of the photographers have even offered to take photos using my camera if I want to be in the picture.  We always scan our bands too, for the Photo Pass, but we haven't actually purchased any . . . yet.

Just one more little critique of Disney's Meet and Greet Alice (the costume, not the girl): what is up with the white collar?  In the movie it clearly is blue to match the dress!

I love sharing my projects around the blogosphere.