Flower and Garden with 5 year olds

[brightfamily]

We are heading for our 1st and possibly only trip to WDW over Spring Break.

We will only have 1 day per park except MK so I'm trying to make decisions about how to spend time. So, in your opinion/experience, would F&G festival make Epcot more intrested in Epcot or really make no difference?

With their particular age, I feel like HS will be a hit. They love the pixar characters. One park is going to get the shaft by getting a shorter, later day visit. So, should that be HS or Epcot. I'm going for the kids and not so much for DH and I to be the focus of the fun. (we'll have 1 night out alone, but besides that it's all about them.

 

[merbobear]

My dd is 5 and she likes Epcot better than DHS and has since she was 3 She loves Test Track, Soarin, The Seas, Figment...Our time at DHS is never as fun as Epcot.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Two boys....one prefered Epcot at that age, one preferred HS. Neither were huge fans of WS at that age. Might want to consider which rides are more important. With a late day start TSM might not happen at HS and with a late day start, Soaring and TT might be hard to get on without a long wait. Is there a reason you are starting later one day? To us rope drop is so important with little kids, even if it means a mid-day break or an earlier night.

 

[brightfamily]

Is there a reason you are starting later one day? To us rope drop is so important with little kids, even if it means a mid-day break or an earlier night.

The late start day will be the day we fly in. Otherwise, we're planning to be rd every day.

So, we can't change the flight and I don't want to not do a park. It's a dilemma.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Maybe since you have another whole day at MK, do that first day there? If not, that is really hard to choose between the two. If the kids can do a later night, maybe the one that stays open later? My guys loved fantasmic but not really illuminations at that age.

 

[ktlm]

I don't know if you have girls or boys, but my DD(6) by far prefers EPCOT to DHS, and has since she was 2. EPCOT is huge and it is a 2 day park for us. I can't imagine getting a late day start there and that being our only day in that park.

But, if your kids want to ride Toy Story Mania, which is sounds like they will since they are Pixar fans, I don't think you will want to risk a late day start at DHS. During spring break the Toy Story Mania line will be huge. It won't be something they can ride over and over. If they want to ride TSM, I would say you definitely want to get to DHS at opening. During spring break the fast passes for TSM will be gone really quickly. I've seen them completely gone by 10:30 a.m. before. If you have a late day start there, and you want to ride TSM, then you are looking at standby lines which will probably be over an hour. It isn't unusual for TSM to have a 90 minute line either during busy days. As far as Pixar in general, other than TSM, I think the only Pixar things at DHS are the 3:00 parade and some character meet and greets. If you don't mind meeting Buzz and Woody separately and you want to see Jessie, then you can see the Toy Story characters with much shorter lines at MK. If you want Buzz and Woody's together (no Jessie) their line at DHS is more often than not about an hour. The other Pixar character lines (Cars, Monster's Inc.; Incredibles) aren't usually that bad. Another thing to consider for DHS, is the show schedule. DHS is a pretty show heavy park, so you might want to check the times for the shows you want to see before planning a late day arrival there.

For Epcot, the F&G won't make that much difference to the kids. They do usually have a special playground or two set up during F&G, but with the limited amount of time you have, I wouldn't spend that much time playing in playgrounds when there is so much else to do!

I don't know. I'm kind of with the other poster that says to maybe do MK that late start day since you have another full day there. It is a hard choice though.

 

[jillianjigs7]

My 3 year old DD prefers Epcot over HS and she LOVES the flower show. They create so many characters and have so many neat things.

 

[msmama]

This will be my third F&G fest in a row. I don't think they will like EPCOT more or less because of it. That said, Epcot is my son's favorite park and always has been.

AK and HS are our shorter park days.

And we've never found enough to do to spend 2 full days at MK. If we have the time we do 1 1/2 days each at MK and Epcot (with park hoppers).

Still, without hoppers, I guess I'd say HS so you can make sure to get on Toy Story Mania. You'll probably miss Soarin at Epcot, as a trade off though (and maybe Test Track, too). Still, I think there's plenty of other fun stuff at Epcot. Missing TSM at HS would leave a lot less to do.

 

[DCbride]

We go often and have rarely stayed at DHS past lunch. TSM is great no doubt about it. Here is our day...

DHS:
TSM, Disney Jr., sometimes Mermaid, HISK playground, Muppets, Star Tours (several times) DD5 does not ride TT or RRC

Epcot:
Soarin (FP and ride it), TT, Innoventions (she loves the piggy thing and the firehouse), Characters, Journey into I, Mexican boat ride (max times we rode it in a row was 6), Norway, then all the kidcot stations, plus playing in the fountains and for some reason the maze in England entertains her for a long time. During F & G - she loves the butterfly house, the playgrounds and seeing the flowers. If you start around 4 in England and walk counter clockwise you can basically see every princess from every country in the evening.

 

[tigger51276]

I have to agree with the PP's. EPCOT is by far my kids and mine favorite park. We spend several days there. DHS is a 1/2 day park to me. Honestly if you can catch that one on a night where there are extra night hours you can do all the rides no problem, although Playhouse Disney would be closed by then and most of the characters don't stay out that late.
I've done F&G on several occassions and while it makes the parks beautiful it won't add or take away anything for the kids really. Although I do think they have a butterfly exhibit during F&G which is nice.

 

[tinkermom23]

My twins were 5 last spring when we went during F&G festival. They loved Epcot for many reasons. There are playgrounds/climbing equipment areas that they can safely play, butterfly tent, Fairy trail, cool topiaries... Besides, Epcot has a lot of Princesses if you want to meet them. We end up doing 2 days at Epcot!

 

[Ginny Favers]

My twins were 5 last spring when we went during F&G festival. They loved Epcot for many reasons. There are playgrounds/climbing equipment areas that they can safely play, butterfly tent, Fairy trail, cool topiaries... Besides, Epcot has a lot of Princesses if you want to meet them. We end up doing 2 days at Epcot!

Basically, this. There were so many neat things for the F&G festival at Epcot that it easily became my kids favorite park of the trip. The playgrounds and climbing equipment-- I thought they'd be bored in two seconds because they've been to so many playgrounds, but I couldn't tear them away. They loved the butterfly garden and the fairy trail, too. Not sure if they'll do them again, but I'm sure they'll do something... and add to that Soarin and Test Track... my kids were in heaven!