Homeschoolers: Mix Fun & Education At Disney World

Back in November, we took a trip to Disney and I was on a mini-mission to find and share education at Disney opportunities! There are definitely some educational spots for homeschooling mommas who want to mix fun and education on your trip. There are so many opportunities to learn at Disney, especially in Epcot and Animal Kingdom. These are my favorite parks and if we only have two days for Disney, these are the ones we spend our time in. There’s just so much to do even when it’s super busy and the lines are long. Don’t forget to check out the honorable mentions at the bottom!

Epcot

• Spaceship Earth

I’ve been going on this ride since I was a kid and I have always thought it was AWESOME. I was pleasantly surprised when we went on it on our last trip because it has been updated! And when I say “pleasantly surprised” I mean I was fricken ECSTATIC! I was like a kid in a candy shop starring at all the new details of the ride.

This is one of the best education at Disney opportunities if your child is interested in history. It takes you through some of the big things that have happened since humans started drawing pictures on the cave walls.

• Soarin’

What a fun way to see all the different big attractions while feeling like you’re actually hang gliding! You’ll see all sorts of things like the Great Wall of China, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, and MORE! Not only is this a fun ride but you can add to it by doing a little research project about these places. It is more fun when you recognize the places that you are visiting, don’t you think?

• World Showcase

This is an obvious one for education at Disney! The World Showcase is made up of different countries. You walk into the World Showcase and you are steps away from different places from all over the world. It is AMAZING! You can walk into stores, try new foods, see some famous attractions, and talk to people from that country.

There’s also a passport program just for kids called Kidscot where kids can go into the different countries and find a special pavilion with something for them to do. I haven’t actually done this with my daughter but I did it when I was still a kid and I believe it is still around! Maybe next time we’ll add it to our list of things to do at Epcot.

Animal Kingdom

• Animal, animals, animals

HELLO animal research opportunities All OVER THE PARK. There are literally animals walking around everywhere! There are so many opportunities for your kids to observe and read facts about the animals. Plus, you can usually find a cast member walking around that will talk about the animals and answer questions too.

The Kilimanjaro Safari ride just adds to this! Animal Kingdom is the biggest Disney park, by a lot, because of all the land that is given to these animals. It’s such a cool experience and a definite MUST DO every time we go. The animals are so free in this space and I love how much the safari guide knows about them. A bonus is that Disney+ has a show under the National Geographics section. They invite you to dive behind the scenes with these animals. It’s called “Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.” We watched all the episodes of this show in a couple of days. The really cool thing is that we have seen all of the animals on the show IN PERSON multiple times. It makes us feel closer to them and know they are so loved and taken care of.

• Wilderness Explorers

I’ve always seen the Wilderness Explorers signs around Animal Kingdom but we’ve never taken the time to do it until our most recent visit. I am so glad we did it! It was so fun and I saw things in the park I’d never seen before! That’s saying a lot considering I’ve been there 2-3 times a year for the last ten-ish years (plus a few times when I was a kid). My daughter and I learned a TON! We had the opportunity to learn more about map reading too trying to locate all the badge sights. It was a challenge.

The badges were about different things relating to botany, zoology, ecology, and more! The cast members found super fun ways to talk about each subject and there were always visuals. Olivia could ask questions and they were very knowledgeable about their topics. I loved that the little book that comes with the badges kept her busy during some of the lines we waited in. Collecting the sticker badges was an incentive too. I’m not going to lie, it bothered me a little bit that we didn’t get them all, but there’s always next trip, right?

Education at Disney – Honorable Mentions

I hope my overview of some of the ways to find educational opportunities at Disney has been helpful and inspiring to you! These two parks may not be your first choices but they are usually our top two favs. There are so many available activities. Dare I say that it’s not all about the characters and fancy princesses for us! Two honorable mentions that I can’t forget to throw in here are the aquarium at Epcot & all the different theatrical performances you can see at all the different parks! My favorites are The Lion King (Animal Kingdom) & The Beauty and the Beast (Hollywood Studios).

Are there any big parts of Disney that I’m missing? Comment below and let me know what you think!

Are you a homeschooler too? Check out some of my favorite Montessori homeschool resources in this post!