Now I need Disney help!

[KKD]

We are going to WDW very soon but still haven't finalized our plans.

We will have our two girls (ages 5 and 3) and our friends will have their young daughter (age 2 1/2). We have three days to spend in the parks: one afternoon (after 3pm), one full day, and one morning (until 2pm).

I definitely want to spend the full day at Magic Kingdom, and the morning at Animal Kingdom. I had originally planned to spend the first afternoon at Epcot because that was always the second place to go when I was a kid, but now I am thinking that Hollywood Studios may be a better bet for the girls in terms of the attractions. Meanwhile H thinks we should use that day to get more time at MK; he thinks that we'd be better off staying for the fireworks the first night rather than risk the girls being zonked after a full day. (We are staying off property so we are hoping the younger girls will manage to nap in the stroller.) But I think one day is more than enough at MK for young kids, and I'd rather see as much as we can of the other parks. (Emily has only been to MK at 18 months, Kate and their little friend have never been, and it will probably be two or three years before we go back, when this baby is older.)

We do not have any dining reservations because all the good ones were booked by the time I looked, although I plan to keep checking for cancellations. I know there is still availability for the character lunch at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom.

So, first afternoon at MK, HS, or Epcot, what do the experts think?


Also, we will be traveling with our double BOB stroller. Should we plan on taking that to the park, or renting one instead?


Finally, does anyone have an itinerary to share? I found these which I thought were useful:

Magic Kingdom 1 Day Touring Plan for Little Ones

Animal Kingdom Touring Plan for Little Ones

Epcot Touring Plan for Little Ones

Hollywood Studios Touring Plan for Little Ones

We were planning on getting to MK early the full day to see the opening ceremonies. I thought our first stop should be to check the lines and/or get a FastPass to the Town Square Theater to meet the characters, or should we follow the above plan and go directly to Fantasyland which is what the girls are most excited about?

For AK, I thought we should go directly to the Kilimanjaro Safari. I was thinking we'd skip the Kali River Rapids because we are planning on leaving for the airport from the park (and it's not recommended for pregnant women anyway).

For Epcot, I think our girls would be too scared for Soarin' and Test Track, I can't do Test Track pregnant anyway, and the little friend is too short for both. I do think they'd all like The Seas with Nemo, Turtle Talk with Crush, and I have a soft spot for Figment. And if we could see some characters at the Epcot Character Spot it may save us some time at MK the next day. Plus we are taking the girls to Germany this summer so seeing it in the World Showcase could get them excited for it.

For HS, the girls would love Beauty and the Beast, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and Disney Junior Live -- although is that too much "show" time if we only have an afternoon? I think they'd also love Toy Story Mania, although will the little one be too young for it? I'm pretty sure she's never seen any of the movies. I think Honey, I Shrunk the Kids would be great for all of them too.

Okay, all of that is making me lean more towards HS over Epcot. Epcot may have to wait until we take a full week when all the kids are older.


If you made it through all that, or even if you didn't, thanks for any help!

[jgb]

I would not try to do all day at MK and stay for fireworks. 12+ hours is too long for that age. If you absolutely want to see the fireworks and electrical parade, I recommend you do MK on day 1 too.

Do the kids like the shows and characters on Disney Jr? If so, they may like HS on day 1. We're going there this year.

I agree with your MK on Day 2 and AK on Day 3.

[cleo29]

I think AK for day 3. Get there in the morning and hit the animal safari ride thing first. The animals are far more active in the morning and the line is short and moves quickly. I have heard the live show they do there is really, really good and there is an area where you can meet and take pictures with the characters.

C loved Epcot, so I would think about going there on day 1 plus the food at the World Showcase is pretty darn good.

Do you have rooms already?

[KKD]

cleo29, yes, we're staying off property in a resort with townhomes. Did you do both Epcot and HS with C?

Loco Coco, I still think of it as MGM too!

I really liked Epcot as a kid too, but I don't think we went to MGM until I was a preteen. I think our girls would enjoy Epcot too, but if given the choice of Nemo vs. Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid, I think they'd choose HS. Then again, I'd really like to be able to see the MK fireworks and would hate to miss it because of cranky kids, but I don't know if that's reason enough to do MK twice.

I will probably just put the decision up to H and our friends because I am so indecisive, gah!

[cleo29]

May 6, 2013 12:50:24 GMT -5 KKD said:

cleo29, yes, we're staying off property in a resort with townhomes. Did you do both Epcot and HS with C?

Loco Coco, I still think of it as MGM too!

I really liked Epcot as a kid too, but I don't think we went to MGM until I was a preteen. I think our girls would enjoy Epcot too, but if given the choice of Nemo vs. Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid, I think they'd choose HS. Then again, I'd really like to be able to see the MK fireworks and would hate to miss it because of cranky kids, but I don't know if that's reason enough to do MK twice.

I will probably just put the decision up to H and our friends because I am so indecisive, gah!

We did. HS was a half day affair for this age. There is a neat, live action Little Mermaid show and there is a puppet type show with the Disney Junior characters (Princess Sofia, Doc McStuffins, Jake, etc).

At Epcot, C loved the Nemo stuff at the Living Seas. Talking with Crush is really neat and funny. She loved Spaceship Earth and went on at least five times. lol  There are also craft things they can do at each country in the World Showcase. There is a boat that takes you from HS to the hotels that connect to Epcot, so you can hop between the two places that way too.

I think we might try to take C on Soaring when we go next February. If your girls are into the Princesses, the breakfast in Norway was a lot of fun. C loved it and since she is not into the big, furry characters, it worked out well for her.

[wannabe]

do you have/are you getting park hopper passes? we went to animal kingdom one morning and were bored to death, so we hopped on a bus and headed to a different park for the rest of the day.

[cleo29]

May 6, 2013 13:21:40 GMT -5 wannabe said:

do you have/are you getting park hopper passes? we went to animal kingdom one morning and were bored to death, so we hopped on a bus and headed to a different park for the rest of the day.

AK does not need too much time, at least not for us either. My daughter loves the animal stuff and I like the Bug Story 3-D show, but overall for us it is never more than a half day deal.

[wannabe]

haha! i don't think we even lasted a half day at AK. we did the safari ride and found the petting zoo and bounced.

[cleo29]

Oh and there are apps you can get on your phone that tell you the wait times of the different rides. Our only strategy ever is hitting the most popular rides first so we can either get right on or get the fast past.

If you go to HS, go immediately to the Toy Story ride and get a fast pass.

[cleo29]

May 6, 2013 13:24:54 GMT -5 wannabe said:

haha! i don't think we even lasted a half day at AK. we did the safari ride and found the petting zoo and bounced.

I like the raft ride there too, but didn't get to do it last time. Once, on a rainy day, they let us ride two times in a row due to no line. lol

[lizard]

We took our 2.5 year old and 9 month old to Disney for a week in March and I would say Hollywood Studios is more fun for little ones than Epcot. They have a ton of different shows--the Cars stunt show was everyone's favorite for sure. The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Muppets--all really entertaining. Then at night they have the Fantasia show which is cool, too.

I would spend a whole day and night at Magic Kingdom. Morning at Animal Kingdom and afternoon/evening at Hollywood Studios.

[KKD]

lizard, that is what I am thinking now that I actually typed out all my thoughts.

wannabe, we are not getting park hopper passes. We have an early evening flight on our last day so we won't have time to switch parks.

I thought our kids were good ages for AK, or should we consider HS/Epcot (whichever we don't do our first day) on that day instead?

cleo29, I am surprised that C loved Spaceship Earth so much! I was thinking the girls wouldn't be interested. So you did a full day at Epcot and half days at AK and HS?

I really wanted to try the princess breakfast in Norway after reading your previous recommendation, but we weren't planning on doing Epcot in the morning, the dinner menu wouldn't work for our picky eaters, and now it's all booked up anyway.

[lizard]

I can't stand Norway! The smell of that perfume, ugh.

[revolution]

We could've done Epcot in half a day. My kids got bored. They enjoyed Soarin (well, the 5 y/o) and Nemo but that was about it.

HS was fun, but again, we were done in a little over half a day.

AK was another half day affair.

We did a full 2 days at MK and it was well worth it. No one got cranky they were so excited all day.

[cleo29]

May 6, 2013 13:48:36 GMT -5 KKD said:

lizard, that is what I am thinking now that I actually typed out all my thoughts.

wannabe, we are not getting park hopper passes. We have an early evening flight on our last day so we won't have time to switch parks.

I thought our kids were good ages for AK, or should we consider HS/Epcot (whichever we don't do our first day) on that day instead?

cleo29, I am surprised that C loved Spaceship Earth so much! I was thinking the girls wouldn't be interested. So you did a full day at Epcot and half days at AK and HS?

I really wanted to try the princess breakfast in Norway after reading your previous recommendation, but we weren't planning on doing Epcot in the morning, the dinner menu wouldn't work for our picky eaters, and now it's all booked up anyway.

Yeah, knowing it was in Norway, we figured breakfast was the safest bet, meal wise.  I don't know why she loved SE so much, but she did. I think her favorite part was the very top where the night sky is and you see all the "stars". We stayed that Boardwalk, so being right next to Epcot we went there a lot.

C is not great with loud noises, so we ended up missing pretty much every firework show, but we did watch the Electric Parade which is always great.

Fantasmic at HS, is great, but they do warn it can be scary for young kids. If you do decide to see that show, go early to make sure you can get seats.

I think you are safe keeping AK a short day and since the park closes at 5, you would have to do it in the morning.  You might have time to fit in one more park that day, just depending on if you get to everything you want to see there. So yes, we did half days at AK and HS. I think this time we might stay a bit longer at HS since there are more shows that will interest C and K.