Would you rather do half day at Epcot or Hollywood Studio with a 5 year old?

[VTdisneytravel]

One of my days is a half day... which should I choose Epcot or Hollywood Studios? I have a 5 year old little girl.

 

[AnCsMommy]

I would do Hollywood Studios. I have a five year old who we've done two trips with in the last year and a half, and he really just doesn't enjoy Epcot. We still do it on every trip because I enjoy it (okay, I enjoy the snacks and shopping), but he wouldn't miss it.

 

[BigHero4]

I would do DHS. We took our 5 year old son, and he LOVED the Toy Story and Star Wars attractions. He did like Epcot Future World and a little of the culture in World Showcase, but given the choice, he'd rather fight Darth Vader at DHS.

 

[englanddg]

My kid enjoyed both, but I'd say for a half day (one or the other), if it's a little boy, go with HS.

If it's a little girl, she may enjoy the meet and greets at World Showcase just as much, but...

However, one important thing to check first are ride heights and make sure your 5 year old can go on Star Tours / ToT (unlikely he'll be able to do RnR <wink>). If too short, do Epcot.

 

[Howdy]

My 3 year old couldn't care less about DHS, but would ride the Grand Fiesta Tour all day long if I let him!

 

[DizneyPryncess]

Does your 5 year old like any of the Disney Junior shows? They have the meet & greats for Jake, Sofia & Doc at DHS. Plus the Disney Jr. Live on Stage show. My 3 year old loves those parts of DHS. Plus, Toy Story of course. My daughter also likes Epcot, but given the choice, I think we'd choose DHS for her.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I would do Epcot. Of course, every kid is different, but when it comes to DHS...there's not a lot in way of rides they can do. I can only stomach Star Tours 3x at most and TSMM usually has an insane line- so riding once is about all you get. They aren't as into shows, so that's about it for them. At Epcot, they have enough rides to make it past lunch time without repeating anything + they love playing in the WS shops.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

I'd say it's pretty close, but I'd choose Epcot. There's simply more rides. They're not the most popular, but my kids have always loved Universe of Energy, Gran Fiesta Tour, Imagination and Nemo (I like them all, too, even though it's unpopular!). I like having all of those rides (along with SSE if it's not the morning) that you can hop on without a huge wait. If your daughter is tall enough for Splash and BTMRR (based on your other thread), then she'll be tall enough for Test Track and Soarin'. They are both very very solid rides. Those two are also not that intimidating... Soarin' especially.

Here's my list for each park:

Epcot:
SSE
Soarin'
Test Track
Nemo
Imagination
UoE
Gran Fiesta Tour
Living With the Land

DHS:
TSMM
Star Tours
ToT (very intimidating from the outside, though)
GMR
Muppetvision
Disney Junior
VotLM
BatB

 

[Misterdcp]

for a half day, I would suggest DHS, especially with a 5 year old. Epcot has plenty too, but since everything is so spread out, it would be difficult to squeeze in a half a day without feeling like you were rushing. Also, DHS has a few attractions that are perfect for a 5 year old

 

[Gomer]

one more vote for Epcot from me. Its my 5 year old's favorite park. Prefers it even over MK. He doesn't really like much at DHS at all.

SSE, Land, Soarin, Nemo, Imagination, Fiesta Tour, Ellen are all pretty much perfect for a 5 year old and it would be pretty hard to fit those into a half day. So you'll have plenty to do. We're usually fed up with DHS after a couple hours.

 

[SAV]

Honestly, Why don't you ask your daughter which she would want to do? You can either explain the attractions in each park or show youtube videos of the attractions. Obviously pre-check the height requirements of each to make sure she can go on them.

It would make her feel like a big kid being able to help plan a day.

 

[BigRedDad]

We do a half day at most parks and back early evening. DHS is a half day park now. Timed right, you can do almost everything by 1PM. Epcot is a bit different. We do the left side up front and then WS, the other day we do the right side. This gets us done around 1PM or so. Back to the resort, pool, rest, explore, maybe DtD. Then back to the park for the evening shows.

 

[KordovaJD]

I gotta go with DHS here. my 3 you daughter loved DHS, was not interested in Epcot, except fireworks.

 

[MaryJaneP]

We think it depends on what you want. Do you want her to do what she would prefer? We think she would probably prefer DHS in sum over Epcot. However, if you are trying to introduce her to expand her mind, we think Epcot is better. We really prefer Epcot over DHS, rides and all. Just a different atmosphere to us.

 

[Scott10]

My 6 year old daughter just voted for DHS. She loves the character interaction, especially Woody, Buzz, Mike and Sulley, Jake, Sofia, etc.... She also loved going to Pizza Planet and riding TSMM.

 

[Sudcaro- Sudcaro]

HS. It's much more kid friendly than Epcot IMHO. Our daughter (4) loved HS but hated Epcot.

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

My 3 year old couldn't care less about DHS, but would ride the Grand Fiesta Tour all day long if I let him!

Classic! One my daughter's favorites too!

 

[Weather_Lady]

It depends on what genres, characters and experiences your daughter is "into." Here are my children's favorites in each park (for my daughter during visits at age 4 and 6, and my son at ages 6 and 8). As you can see, they have a similar number of favorites in each park, although my daughter tends to favor Epcot in her choices, partially because her shorter attention span makes HS's many live shows less interesting to her:

Hollywood Studios:
Star Tours (interests everyone but my daughter)
Muppets 4D (whole family loves it)
Disney, Jr.! (interests only my daughter)
Little Mermaid (interests only my daughter)
Toy Story Midway Mania (whole family loves it)

Epcot:
The Seas With Nemo (both kids love)
Turtle Talk with Crush (both kids love)
Spaceship Earth (whole family loves it)
Mission:Space, the "gentle" version (both kids love)
Soarin' (whole family loves)
Club Cool (whole family enjoys - not exactly an attraction, but a place we all look forward to stopping by)
Journey into Imagination (and the exploration area afterward) (both kids love)

 

[pug]

Epcot

 

[popcenturylover]

My DD6 is sitting here & I asked her which one she likes better & she said Epcot. When asked why? she replied: because of Soarin', Kidcot fun stations, trading pins,& the aquarium.(living seas)