Must do's??

[sgrech]

Hi,
I am spending 2.5 days at the parks at the end of june. Given my limited time I would be grateful for people's must do's whilst I am there. I am travelling with wife and 2 young children (1 and 5).

Cheers
Simon

[NIK]

My recommendations would be
Pirates of the Caribbean - a must
The Indiana Jones ride if you like roller coasters
the Steam Boats if they are repaired and running when you go
Peter Pan's Flight - I didn't manage to get on this one last time but I'm told it's worth the wait!
a Small World
Nautilus - I really enjoyed the theming on that one.

I didn't go to Phantom Manor but I gather from all I've heard that it comes highly recommended.

In the Studios Park definitely the Tram Tour and the Stunt Show Spectacular

I'm sure others will have rides to recommend but these are the ones I would make a beeline for

[Renate_do]

Hi,

Fantasyland, Fantasyland, Fantasyland :rotfl: :rotfl:

Okay lets go:

Peter Pan,
Teacups
Its a Small World
Dumbo
Storybookland
Casey jr.
Caroussel de Lancelot
Pinochio
Snowwhite
Autopedia

at the WDS
Flying Carpets
Animagique


Greets Renate :wizard:

[Morveryn]

Renate,
Your website is really good! I loved looking at all the photos.

[BCT]

Rockin' Roller Coaster,
Indiana Jones is tame now it goes forwards
POTC
PM
Motor Stunt Show in Studios
Honey I shrunk the audience
Cinemagique

petr pan, pinoccio, snow white and Le pays du contes de fees for the little ones
A parade


Berwyn

[Bexx]

Is your 5 year old a boy or girl? A boy might like the dragon under Sleeping Beauty's Castle and a girl would probably like to see what's upstairs in the castle! :)

[Morveryn]

Is your 5 year old a boy or girl? A boy might like the dragon under Sleeping Beauty's Castle and a girl would probably like to see what's upstairs in the castle! :)

I've been showing my DD who is 3 & a half some of the pics in the gallery & she can't wait to see the dragon! I have explained to her that its a fierce dragon that blows smoke etc, but she still wants to see it. :rotfl:

[Bexx]

Good point Morveryn! I wasn't trying to be sexist - in fact my elder DD is fascinated by the dragon too!!

[raptor1982]

For the little ones: Animagique (it will get dark, but not scary dark) and the Flying Carpets at the Studios. Dumbo at the Disneyland park has always a very long queing line, unlike the carpets!

It's a Small World and Pays des contes de Fées (Storybookland) are always fun to do too.

Be sure to stroll behind the castle around 11 am / noon. Princess characters should come out by then.


Some visual help:

Animagique:
http://www.photosmagiques.com/wds/animationcourtyard/animagique.php

Flying Carpets over Agrabah:
http://www.photosmagiques.com/wds/animationcourtyard/carpets.php

Dumbo:
http://www.photosmagiques.com/dlp/fantasyland/dumbo.php

It's a Small World:
http://www.photosmagiques.com/dlp/fantasyland/smallworld.php

Storybookland:
http://www.photosmagiques.com/dlp/fantasyland/contesdefees.php

[Cyrano]

Hi Simon

given the age of your troop I'd agree with Renate Fantasyland is going to be your most popular land in the park. I'd think about hiring stroller for 5 year old (assuming you are taking your own for 1 year old) as you'll do a lot of walking.

Must dos - buy autograph book, take every opportunity to get photos with characters, get to the park early and walk on to Dumbo and Peter Pan (in the afternoon 45min/1hour is not unusual), go for character meal.

Have a wonderful time, you know you'll be back to do the bigger rides when they are more grown up :sunny:

Reid

[Miffy2003]

My children at that age loved the parade! I agree with everything else listed so far as well :)

[DisneyRGB]

Animagique (it will get dark, but not scary dark)



:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: Oh no, I can just hear the little kids saying that now as they introduce the show. Is it sad that I recognised that line from the show?! (Can I get extra points in the quiz or something?!)

I think Fantasyland is the best bets for kids of 1 & 5, a character meal would be great and I definitely agree you should watch a parade.

Rhiannon :wizard:

[Miffy2003]

:(Can I get extra points in the quiz or something?!)
:wizard:


Nice try ;)

[Dee8197]

Hi

Given the ages of your children I'd go with Renate on this one. Of course its all personal taste. My son was 23 months old on his first trip to WDW, he is now 8 and been to both WDW and DLP and he still HATES POTC, it scares the pants off him ! He loves the Casey Junior train at DLP and the Labrinth, he also loves Small World and Peter Pan. Fantasy land is a must, and the little kids I know all love the Parades. My DS also loves the shows but I don't know if he's typical. At 23months he loved the Characters and the character meals too ( still does, don't we all ?):scared1: :hyper:

[sgrech]

Thanks for all your comments - very helpfull. Out of the rides attractions would my 5 yr old daughter be able to go onto most of them? Or put another way which are adult only ones? I am certain that my daughter will adore fantasyland, how much of our 2.5 days (roughly) do you think I should allocate to this area.

Cheers
Simon

[sgrech]

oh one other thing, where is the best place online to see a map of the park.

Thanks

[Dee8197]

I forgot the Railroad - its a great place to have a rest from the pace of the park and see the different lands. We usually do the full circuit in one go. Sorry can't answer your question re maps although you will be able to get a map of each park as you enter with times of shows and parades ect listed

[BCT]

Try here,
http://homepages.which.net/~ian/home.html
click on the links on left of the page for park descriptions and maps

Berwyn

[DisneyRGB]

Hi

I think the only rides your daughter wouldn't be able to go on would be the ones with minimum height requirement - I guess this would just be the roller coasters. I've seen young kids on Big Thunder Mountain so it's probably just the upside down coasters (Indiana Jones, Space Mountain and Rock n Rollercoaster) which she wouldn't be able to go on. Obviously some rides may not be suitable for her (depending on how brave she is!) but I would guess the roller coasters are the only ones with restrictions.

Rhiannon :wizard:

[BCT]

Perhaps PM might be too scary for little ones especially when the lights go out.

Berwyn

[tmp]

Are you staying onsite?
If so try to book a Fantasyland Breakfast as it means you can enter the park an hour before official opening,have your breakfast in the park and be first to ride the attractions in Fantasyland.
We just got back and having done the breakfast I would definitely recommend it.A lot of these rides have long queues by mid-morning especially Peter Pan, Dumbo and the Mad Hatter Tea Cups,but we did them within 5 minutes of each other.
Pirates of the Caribbean is very dimly lit and has a couple of small drops so it might be worth you going on first to see what you think.The same applies to Phantom Manor.My boys hated these rides when we first took them on about 3 years ago because of the dark,but now they love them both.
You could easily spend most of your day in Fantasyland alone,it really depends how busy the park is and how much time you spend queueing.
You won't need more than half a day at the Studios as there isn't as much to keep the little ones amused.The parade there is good and you don't have to stake out a viewing spot hours in advance.We entered the park just as it started and got a great view with no problem.
I'd avoid Armageddon as it is really not suitable for young kids.I chose to ignore the advise in Simon Veness's book and took my 8 and 6 year old boys on it and it frightened the life out of them.Never again!!

[sgrech]

Are you staying onsite?
If so try to book a Fantasyland Breakfast as it means you can enter the park an hour before official opening,have your breakfast in the park and be first to ride the attractions in Fantasyland.
We just got back and having done the breakfast I would definitely recommend it.A lot of these rides have long queues by mid-morning especially Peter Pan, Dumbo and the Mad Hatter Tea Cups,but we did them within 5 minutes of each other.
Pirates of the Caribbean is very dimly lit and has a couple of small drops so it might be worth you going on first to see what you think.The same applies to Phantom Manor.My boys hated these rides when we first took them on about 3 years ago because of the dark,but now they love them both.
You could easily spend most of your day in Fantasyland alone,it really depends how busy the park is and how much time you spend queueing.
You won't need more than half a day at the Studios as there isn't as much to keep the little ones amused.The parade there is good and you don't have to stake out a viewing spot hours in advance.We entered the park just as it started and got a great view with no problem.
I'd avoid Armageddon as it is really not suitable for young kids.I chose to ignore the advise in Simon Veness's book and took my 8 and 6 year old boys on it and it frightened the life out of them.Never again!!


Hi,
I am staying at the Holiday Inn, so I guess I won't be able to book a fantasyland breakfast?

Is Armageddon any good for adults?

Cheers
Simon

[Miffy2003]

Simon - unfortunately you can't book Fantasyland Breakfast if you are at the Holiday Inn.

I can't help with Armagaeddon as I've never done it, sorry!

[raptor1982]

Armageddon is a brief SFX show, with an intro how the effects were done in the movie. Then you enter the MIR Space Station as in the movie and you relive the scene when the astroids hit the station.

[Dee8197]

Simon
Armageddon didn't do much for me - again down to individual choice but having said that it is the only ride that we have ever had to take our child out of via the quick exit - he was scared to death so I guess I was somewhat distracted.

[NIK]

You are wise to warn your youngster. When I was last there some mad woman was forcing her son kicking and screaming and clearly terrified to go down into the dungeon. "You are missing the show" she kept saying but the poor kiddie was petrified. I thought about the miserable day she was now going to have with a distressed and frightened child. Doubtless he'd refuse to go on anything else in case it was scarey. What was the point of dragging him down there?

[Dee8197]

NiK

That mad woman wasn't me , honest !

DS has always been up for everything, but Armageddon got the better of him.

[MinnieYC]

I forgot the Railroad - its a great place to have a rest from the pace of the park and see the different lands. We usually do the full circuit in one go. Sorry can't answer your question re maps although you will be able to get a map of each park as you enter with times of shows and parades ect listed

Everyone has great suggestions so far. I also like the Railroad, but I do have one suggestion to add to it. Do not get the Railroad at the Frontierland station unless the train is already there. The farm at Frontierland is near the station, and many chickens go to the railroad station. Chickens do what chickens do, so the place tends to smell a bit...okay, that's not quite true- the place STINKS. :rotfl: Not a problem at the other railroad stations, of course. ::MinnieMo

[NIK]

NiK

That mad woman wasn't me , honest !

DS has always been up for everything, but Armageddon got the better of him.

Glad to hear that! Can you imagine what kind of a day that child was going to have, miserable and terrified that everything his Ma took him on was trying to get him. She should have let it be, IMHO and tried later when he wasn't so scared. This was at 9.30 so she would have had an entire day of a sniveling fed up youngster.

[jillrobinson]

Have to agree with all the comments on Armageddon I wouldn't do it again - the intro I found incredibly tedious and as with the others I had to comfort my normally very brave little boy, loves POTC, BTM, PM - he was scared witless by it. I wish I'd realised there was a quick exit.
Thought it worth mentioning that Snow White does get a little scary too, especially when you go through the forest, not enough to avoid the ride - she'll love the rest of it, but worth being prepared. :flower:

[Miffy2003]

Glad to hear that! Can you imagine what kind of a day that child was going to have, miserable and terrified that everything his Ma took him on was trying to get him. She should have let it be, IMHO and tried later when he wasn't so scared. This was at 9.30 so she would have had an entire day of a sniveling fed up youngster.

Quite agree Nik :)

[sgrech]

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions - very useful. I may be back with a few further questions a bit later.

Si