EARLY DINNER

5:30 P.M. Eat early, when everyone else is still touring. The Epcot eateries are all suitable for kids (each has high chairs and kiddie menus, and accepts a certain noise level), but some are particularly child friendly. We like the oompah band in Germany's Biergarten, and the slice-and-dice fest at Mitsukoshi, in Japan. And we keep returning to the San Angel Inn in Mexico. The tables overlook El Rio del Tiempo, the boat ride that encircles a Mayan pyramid. It's so dark inside the pavilion that it feels like midnight even at noon. The service is fast and friendly, and the margaritas aren't bad either.

BACK TO FUTURE WORLD

6:30 P.M. While most of the crowd converges for dinner reservations in World Showcase, you can head for Future World pavilions you missed in the morning. Give yourselves extra time at The Land, which has a cute nutrition show called Food Rocks and a film on ecology (Circle of Life) starring The Lion King gang. And be sure to go next door and check out the enormous aquarium at The Living Seas. Then ride the upbeat Journey Into Imagination (in the pavilion of the same name), where a colorful little dragon named Figment serves as your tour guide.

GAME BOYS

7:30 P.M. Innoventions is the arcade of the future, and one of the dumbest things I've ever said is, "We'll stop in for just a minute." Once Nick and Jordan got a glimpse of these brand-new video games, they were hooked. Since the lines are much shorter at night, you can play the virtual-reality games more than once.

THE BIG BANG

8:30 P.M. To get a good view of Illuminations, Epcot's nightly laser, music and fireworks show, station some members of your party around the lagoon at least a half hour in advance. Everyone in the park converges here by 9 P.M., and there's an air of anticipation that can re-energize even the most exhausted kid.

TIP: Watch from a location near your exit. If you're leaving via the main gate, find a good spot near Mexico or Canada; if you're staying at an Epcot resort, the best viewing is on the bridge between France and the United Kingdom.

There's an in-joke that Epcot, an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, really stands for Every Person Comes Out Tired. Well, we have a word in our family: "tirappy," meaning "tired but happy." At day's end, wearing our glow-in-the-dark necklaces, dragging our hand-painted Eiffel Towers, dripping our last Mouseketeer ice-cream bars, we head toward the exits. "This is the best part," Nick says, referring to the miniature white lights that outline World Showcase while lasers transform Spaceship Earth into a huge, spinning globe. Epcot's big, overwhelming at times, but with the right planning, even families with young kids can ensure that everyone comes out tired but happy.

Click on the following links for essential Epcot touring tips and the best Epcot attractions by age.

DISNEY MAGAZINE contributing editor Kim Wright Wiley is the author of the annual guidebook WALT DISNEY WORLD WITH KIDS and is FamilyFun's new Theme Park Expert.

Please keep in mind that phone numbers, addresses, and prices are subject to change. Updated June 2005.