One Day Next Week

[VillainV]

We made the last-minute decision to go to Orlando to see family next week (it’s drivable for us) and are thinking of doing one day in a park with our 5-year old. Probably next Friday. We way overdid MK last year, so want to do a different park and are thinking about HS or AK.

Any strong recommendations either way? He’s tall so no height restrictions, but probably won’t be doing any of the “thrill” rides.

Also, he’s a big 5-y-o and doesn’t fit in our stroller anymore (too tall/heavy), but doesn’t have the stamina to walk around the park all day. Should we just rent a stroller there? He’s about 50 pounds and 50” tall with a long torso. My H is also a few months out from knee replacement so we are hoping for a good mix of walking and resting (hopefully in air conditioning).

Help!

[nicolewi]

Does he like Star Wars? If so, I vote HS for sure. Actually, I vote HS no matter what, I think. We've only been to Disney once, but my kids all really loved HS. AK is a lot more walking and seems more "hot". Pandora stuff is cool but you aren't going to get FP at this point, so that would be a long, hot wait. HS has all the Star Wars stuff, plus Toy Story, plus Incredibles party land (we didn't get over there). My kids really loved the Indiana Jones show, too--especially my 8 year old boy.

[VillainV]

Jun 29, 2019 9:54:46 GMT -5 nicolewi said:

Does he like Star Wars? If so, I vote HS for sure. Actually, I vote HS no matter what, I think. We've only been to Disney once, but my kids all really loved HS. AK is a lot more walking and seems more "hot". Pandora stuff is cool but you aren't going to get FP at this point, so that would be a long, hot wait. HS has all the Star Wars stuff, plus Toy Story, plus Incredibles party land (we didn't get over there). My kids really loved the Indiana Jones show, too--especially my 8 year old boy.

He hasn’t seen Star Wars, but he “likes” it! We were also thinking the Toy Story area would be cool.

[alleinesein]

While the studios is my least favorite park, it is a good 1 day park. It is small enough to not wear you out and you can always hop on the boat and hit up Boardwalk if you need a break. If you do visit the studios, be aware that Toy Story land has very little shade so plan accordingly.

EPCOT is good if it is really hot outside. Lots of stuff indoors and while it is the largest park, there are plenty of opportunities to sit down and get out of the heat.

[Deleted]

My kids preferred AK over HS. I’d do HS only if he’s a big fan of Star wars or Toy story. I feel like HS is lacking character and don’t really like the park for anything other than those 2 parts.

Any reason you’re not considering epcot? That’s our favorite park behind MK and is cooler feeling than either HS or AK (both parks seemed super hot to us).

[VillainV]

Jun 29, 2019 13:29:39 GMT -5 @lindy said:

My kids preferred AK over HS. I’d do HS only if he’s a big fan of Star wars or Toy story. I feel like HS is lacking character and don’t really like the park for anything other than those 2 parts.

Any reason you’re not considering epcot? That’s our favorite park behind MK and is cooler feeling than either HS or AK (both parks seemed super hot to us).

We did Epcot last year for a day and C was lukewarm on it. But a year is a lot to a 5-year-old so he may really like it now that he’s a little older.

[kershnic]

My 5 year olds liked AK next after MK when we were there earlier this month. We did not have the patience to stand in line for all three big Toy Story rides, because 45-60 mins is the absolute max ride wait my kids can tolerate and we can’t do two of those in a row. We had a FP for SDD and skipped the others.

[VillainV]

Update: We went to HS today and it was awesome!

We got there at opening and went straight to Slinky Dog but C didn’t want to ride it, so we walked into Toy Story Mania instead. C loved it!

From there we went to meet Buzz Lightyear (~10 min wait), then met Mike and Sully (~20 min wait), then used our FP for Alien Saucers (my favorite).

Then we went to meet Olaf (~10 min wait), saw the Incredibles area and met Edna, Mr Incredible, and Frozone, then walked up to Lightning McQueen’s Racing School (~10 min wait) which was really cool. Then used our FP for Star Tours — which we thought was cool, but C did NOT like!

We ate lunch at Mama Melrose Italian, which was pretty good and had large portions. Then went to Muppets 3D (~15 min wait) which was fun. Then we used our last FP at the Frozen For the First Time in Forever Singalong, which was really funny and entertaining.

We left at about 4:30 after meeting 7 characters, doing 6 attractions, and only waiting just over 60 minutes all day. It was HOT but there was some shade and lots of A/C. Thanks to alleinesein we hit Toy Story Land in the morning before it got too hot. Crowds were moderate but not horrible. All FPs and dining reservations were done in the 48 hours prior to our trip.

And we did end up taking the stroller. I always feel like he’s too big for it, but there’s no way he could have walked that far by himself, and of course there were lots of bigger kids in strollers and nobody really cares or judges.

[irishbride2]

My kids are indifferent to HS