To be honest with you, before having my son I never really immersed
myself in the World Showcase. Like so many others, I thought there was not much to do in Epcot. My family is not very adventurous when it
comes to food and we're not big on drinking so we've never done the
eating/drinking around the world. When I was researching for our son's first Walt Disney World (WDW) vacation back in 2014, I learned that I had been missing out and that there was plenty to do around the World Showcase. I also learned about Kidcot.
Kidcot is a great way for kids to learn about the 11 countries currently in the World Showcase without them knowing that they are learning. A win-win for us parents! As I said, I had learned about it when preparing for our
WDW vacation back in 2014, but we didn't have enough time to actually participate in Kidcot during that trip.
We finally got to experience it in April 2017. According to
WDW's website, each child can get a cardboard Duffy the Disney bear (Mickey's teddy bear) to decorate. Since we were there during the
Flower and Garden Festival, our son was given a field guide passport.
At each country, you'll want to look for the Kidcot sign. Each location will have tables, chairs, and markers for the kids to sit down and do some coloring. Our little guy had to stop and color at every country which made it a great way to get out of the hot sun. For his field guide passport, there was an extra stamp that the Cast Member (CM) would stamp on the country's page. The stamp represented the fruit that is most commonly grown in that country with some fun facts. A great way to get some learning in while on vacation - one of my favorite things about a Disney vacation.
In the back of the passport, the CMs also stamped with the regular Duffy stamps. In China, Japan, and Morocco they spelled our son's name in their language which just makes it even more special. All of the CMs are from the countries they represent and are able to answer any questions the kids/adults might have about that country.
Kidcot is not just for the kids. We saw several adults with no children getting passports stamped at the different locations. Yes, Disney has passports for sale for the adults or kids to purchase and have fun getting them stamped around the world. While researching for our trip, I ran across several websites where you could download pages and make your own passport. I didn't have enough time to actually do that, but it sounds like a great activity to do with the kids in preparation for your Disney vacation.
After this last trip, I feel that Epcot could actually be a two day park. Spend one day having fun riding rides and meeting the characters in Future World and spend another immersing yourself in all the cultures and meeting the characters that the World Showcase has to offer. Who knows, after all the updates Disney has planned for Epcot you might want to spend three days there! All I know is even after spending a full day at Epcot back in April 2017, we didn't experience everything. Even more of a reason to plan another trip.
0 comments