Best Parks for 4 Year Old?

[Shamrock927]

Okay... I have a feeling the easy answer will be "all of them"... but I think I need a little help prioritizing since Magic Kingdom and Epcot are the only parks I have been to in recent years.

Yes, I am planning to visit Disney this summer with my wife and our daughter, who will have just turned 4. We plan to stay at the Polynesian for between 4 and 7 nights, depending on if we do resort only or mix a short cruise in too.

For those who have gone with toddlers, what have been their favorite parks or attractions? We have done a Magic Kingdom day recently and know that is a must for us. We also liked Epcot and think she would enjoy it. We did Animal Kingdom when she was a baby. While my wife and I enjoyed the visit, my memory tells me there wasn't quite so much for the toddlers. We did a couple characters meetings and, yes, the animals are awesome, but we find her attention span is such that riding a flying elephant or spotting Elsa is still WAY more captivating than seeing a rhino. =)

In any case, the bottom line for us is that our exposure and experience with the theme parks and/or water parks of 2016/2017 is fairly limited. So, those of you who have been with children around that age, what parks did you find they enjoyed the most or offered the most amusement for them?? How would you rank them?

Thank you, in advance, for sharing your experiences, opinions, and advice!

 

[tsme]

At that age our DD loved MK, Typhoon Lagoon, and liked AK. EP and HS didn't hold much interest for her.

 

[DisneyRobin]

I would just do mk and Epcot. If you're there long enough, do hs and ak, too. I wouldn't want to go to disney and skip Epcot but I could easily skip hs and ak. Your 4 yr old would prob be happy with just mk but Epcot is a nice change of pace with fun things to do and see and nice places to eat and enjoy. I wouldn't bother with the waterparks - especially since they have such a great pool at the poly. Enjoy!!

 

[SureAsLiz]

Magic Kingdom and Studios seemed to be the favorites for my sisters.

Studios is a lot of shows, so that's something to consider. But we were able to see Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Disney Jr characters which they all enjoyed. They ended up making DHS a partial day, and spent the evening back at the resort pool. It was a good mid-week day since it wasn't quite as stimulating as MK is

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Magic Kingdom is clearly the best for a 4 year old. Not even close really. After that I'd say Animal Kingdom. A few rides that are good for a 4 year old and lots of animals -- the trails at AK are pretty awesome. Epcot would probably be my third choice. DHS doesn't have many rides that are kid friendly.

 

[Amelia :)]

I would 100% take a 4 year old to HS. There's great shows, great character meet and greets, Toy story mania, muppets, star tours is pretty tame. If she's brave (and tall) my daughter was 4 the first time I took her on TOT! (In Paris). Definitely don't rule it out.

 

[skuttle]

MK and AK for my kiddos (4 and 5.5yo) by far. MK because, well, it's MK. AK because they loved seeing all of the animals, especially on the Safari, and enjoyed running around the boneyard, plus the Nemo and Lion King shows are some of the best!

My 4yo loved Soarin at Epcot and Star Tours at DHS, but other than that he much preferred MK and AK.

 

[memo10]

My kids (2.5 and 5) love DHS! They're not big fans of AK and Epcot.

 

[Babs1975]

MK NO DOUBT!!!!! Fantasyland is magical for the little ones! And well, the whole park is pretty magical too!!!

 

[SaintsManiac]

HS is perfect for a Disney Jr loving 4 year old!

 

[Loco]

I think it depends on the kid. We took my son in October at 4 1/2, and he didn't want to do any shows so HS was a bust for us other than ToT. We allocated 6 hours there and ran out of things to do by hour 4 and had to kill time until Fantasmic. We did two days at MK, the equivalent of 1 at EP, and both of those were perfect. We only spent 1/2 day at AK and wished we had more time.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

It really depends on your child. At 4, my DS's favorite parks were EP and AK because he loved animals and the more interactive exhibits at EP. If you don't think AK will hold her attention, why not try DHS on this trip? Lots of Disney Jr. stuff to do, plus the muppets, Toy Story Midway Mania, shows, Frozen Sing-a-Long, etc.

 

[Shamrock927]

Wow. Thanks so much for all the quick replies! I definitely understand how different one 4 year old can be from another... being a teacher I see it every day! This is very helpful, though. Hollywood Studios is absolutely rising on our list since she is a big Disney Jr. fan... very obsessed with Sofia, Lion Guard, & Mickey Mouse Clubhouse now... along with Frozen and the princesses. After all, she keeps reminding me Anna and Elsa are her sisters and she has to be careful not freeze people with her powers while we are out. =)

I think she will like the shows, too. We took her to see Believe on the Fantasy cruise last summer to see how she would do and she LOVED it. A little bouncy and chatty during the show, but pretty good. =)

Thanks again!

 

[ktlm]

At that age, my daughter loved MK and EPCOT (those are still her favorites at age 10). She liked the shows (Beauty and the Beast; Little Mermaid and Disney Jr.), TSM, and the characters at HS, but it was not an all day park for her. She didn't get interested in Star Tours or Star Wars until she was 5. She was not an AK fan and typically begged to go back to MK or EPCOT after about 2 hours. She wanted to ride Safari and see some characters, and see the Lion King show and then she was done. Like your DD, she was far more interested in seeing Princesses, or Princess things or riding rides then seeing a Rhino that looked just like the one she could see at our zoo at home. We do have a good zoo at home though- I think it would be different for a kid that did not have that regularly available at home. She is better about AK now that she is older, but it is still her least favorite. At that age, EPCOT and MK were 2 days parks for us, DHS was one day or 3/4 of a day (unless we did nighttime entertainment) and AK was about a half day before I gave up and gave in and took her back to MK or EPCOT.

 

[bamaliving]

We took my daughter when she was 3 and did 2 days in Magic Kingdom. Even spending 2 days in the park we didn't see everything. At that age it's more important to let them enjoy whatever park you're at rather than trying to rush between parks to fit them all in. It really depends on how many days you'll be there. Ideally, I would plan for at least 2 at MK, 1 at Epcot, 1 at HS, and 1 at AK. If you had another day you could let her decide what she wants to go back to.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Wow. Thanks so much for all the quick replies! I definitely understand how different one 4 year old can be from another... being a teacher I see it every day! This is very helpful, though. Hollywood Studios is absolutely rising on our list since she is a big Disney Jr. fan... very obsessed with Sofia, Lion Guard, & Mickey Mouse Clubhouse now... along with Frozen and the princesses. After all, she keeps reminding me Anna and Elsa are her sisters and she has to be careful not freeze people with her powers while we are out. =)

I think she will like the shows, too. We took her to see Believe on the Fantasy cruise last summer to see how she would do and she LOVED it. A little bouncy and chatty during the show, but pretty good. =)

Thanks again!

My 5 year old daughter had an amazing time at HS and she sounds a lot like your daughter! We wanted to hop back to HS later in our trip JUST for Frozen Sing-A-Long, but we never found the time.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[Babsy]

On a scale of 1 - 10: I'm estimating that my grand daughters (at about that age) liked the Mk (10), AK (6), DHS (6), Epcot (3)

I would plan to spend a lot more time in the MK, then sample the other three to get preferences and adjust time at each as necessary. If I had seven days I would go with 3 days MK, 1 day DHS, 1 day AK, 1 day Epcot and 1 day water park.

If I had a park hopper, I would consider doing some as 1/2 days, mixed. This can be very valuable for adding additional time at a preferred theme park. we enjoy afternoon FP+ while allowing mornings to be early rope drop plans with shorter wait times. That gives mornings the ability to be "Where do we want to go this morning?" and allows a little spontaneity. Example: morning at AK, break at resort for lunch/swim/nap, afternoon/evening in Epcot, with FP+ and dinner at Epcot.

 

[jeepnjudy]

MK of course...need I say more?!