Epcot for kids

by Magic Maker® Jennifer Lennox

In September, our family had the opportunity to save the World.  World Showcase, that is! This was our first experience with Disney’s Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure at Epcot®, and we had been looking forward to it for weeks.  We were excited to be traveling with two other families, and since all ages are invited to fight evil, our whole group answered the call.  We had five little girls, ages 3,4,5,7 and 9.  This activity played right into my nine-year-old daughter’s plans to be a spy when she is grown up!  It was a lot more productive than hiding behind the sofa at home, hoping to hear classified information in her parents’ conversations.

To begin the adventure, we located a kiosk and were given a ticket with a return time, much like a FASTPASS®.  The recruitment center was located near the bridge connecting World Showcase and Future World and there is one in each of the Innoventions buildings.  A Cast Member would be happy to direct you.  If this is a must-do with your family, I suggest picking up your ticket as soon as possible.  It is not related to your other FASTPASS® tickets so it will not disrupt your planning for other attractions.  The first mission each day begins at 11:00, but you can start at any point after your posted assignment time.

When it was time to embark on our adventure, we approached a kiosk located in the Norway Pavilion, near the Mexico Pavilion.  There are two others throughout the World Showcase, one in the Italy Pavilion and another in the United Kingdom Pavilion.  We were given a choice of starting points, and because there were so many in our party, we received more than one “Kimmunicator”.  The Kimmunicator, works much like a cell phone.  The tiniest in our group would have been satisfied with just that!  We were given visual cues as well as verbal instructions.  When we arrived at our destinations, we were treated to surprises and rewarded with hidden displays.   To be controlling happenings within a Walt Disney World® Theme Park?  What power we had!  With cutting edge technology and characteristic imagination, this project was a hit!

There are missions to be completed in seven of the World Showcase Pavilions.  Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Japan, France and United Kingdom are each in need of help, but you can choose to complete one mission, or make a day of it and save them all!  If your dining reservations or another attraction is calling you, you can take a break, and return to your mission at a later time.  In fact, you can stop and re-start as you like!  There are several different missions in each country, so you may find yourself returning to a previously visited pavilion to discover new surprises!  When you are finished, you return your Kimmunicator to one of the kiosks as you pass or drop it in a secret location at the end of one of the missions.

I don’t want to spoil the fun, so I am keeping the secret discoveries to myself.  This attraction would be appreciated by those who have explored the World Showcase in the past, and are interested in discovering new hidden delights there.  If you are new to the World Showcase, you might find it more challenging, but it is a fun way to see more of what Epcot® has to offer.

 Are you up for the challenge?