First afternoon for preschooler

[Nala83]

We're arriving mid-day on a Friday in March- I anticipate it will be pretty crowded that day. Most of our group has been before, but it is the first trip for the 3-year-old in our group (under 40").

What would you do that afternoon/early evening? (I expect we'll turn in early after the early am plane ride!) It seems like seeing the castle should happen first thing, but I'm worried about lines. I also don't want to scare her right off the bat!

Suggestions? Thanks!

 

[cpster]

It's a Small World is a fun ride and not scary for most little ones and the lines move quickly. I wouldn't do any dark rides.

 

[coaches24]

Tiki room is fun for kids that age ( my DD loved it at both 2 and 3 and talks about seeing it again now that she's 4). The carousel even if it has a line goes quickly and is one of my daughters favorites. Storybook canal boats, Casey Jr train, Small world, Dumbo ( if she isn't scared of heights), tea cups, or better yet the DL train that takes you around the park to all the different lands is a great first ride that you can often get on pretty quickly. Those are all good choices as a first ride. Some have longer lines than others but I have also seen all of them with shorter lines in the evening.

Take the time to show the child rides on YouTube. We did that with DD and she knew what rides she wanted to see and what ones she didn't. I would tell her what we were about to do and she would say "I saw that on the puter" and would agree to go on it or say she didn't want to. We were lucky she didn't have many rides she didn't want to try. She even loved POC when she was 2. I think she would have been a lot more scared to ride if she hasn't seen it on the computer.

 

[BusyB15]

In the afternoon you can often find characters in the hub. Wait in lines for princesses, tinkerbell, watch a parade. This is assuming you aren't doing a character meal.

 

[smiles33]

Great advice from all the PP. I would add a caution that if you have a sensitive child, there is a dinosaur scene in the DLR RR that scared my then 5 year old DD. It's pretty harmless, and my then 2 year old seemed fine with it, but she's not as sensitive as my 5 year old was at that same age.

We did the open-air Fantasyland rides (Dumbo, Casey Jr, Mad Tea Cups) that first afternoon, the Tinkerbell meet-and-greet, the carousel, and then watched the Soundsational parade.