Itenirary for 3 & 5 year old?

[rennegtl]

We are going to WDW in May with 3 & 5 y/o sons. Fly in on Saturday and planning on doing Downtown Disney that night. Sunday Magic Kindom, Monday Animal Kingdom, and Tuesday Magic Kingdom again. Our flight back on Wednesday is not until evening so thought about doing Hollywood Studios for a short period of Wed morning before we have to go to airport in late afternoon. We were thinking of doing character meal at Tusker House on Tuesday or Hollywood & Vine in HS in the morning before we leave for airport. Any opinions on these ideas? My sons love pirates so thought they would enjoy HS meal but not sure if 1 or 2 meals would be good. Thanks!

 

[bdklein]

Not sure where you are staying, but I think Epcot offers more for the boys.

 

[beckster2001]

Our boys are the same age as yours and we are doing a day at each of the three parks you mentioned. We are also doing Chef Mickey's for breakfast on MK day and Hollywood and Vine for lunch on HS day. Do your boys enjoy Toy Story? There are a lot of Toy Story attractions in HS and a really cool "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground...assuming it's still there.

 

[Kristian]

I think that overall your itinerary looks fine.

Our dd turned 4 in November, but she was 3 on our last trip and personally, she liked AK the least of all four parks. However, HS was a big hit for her and it is our second favorite park, MK being our favorite of all. Dh and I don't really care for AK that much either. Don't get me wrong, all parks are nice and worth trying, it just isn't our favorite.

We loved H&V play & Dine breakfast. The food was pretty good and dd loves the characters. We did do the Tusker House character lunch and I was not a big fan. The food was ok. However, it was very disorganized and hectic. We all felt rushed and lots of people were complaining. Maybe it was an off day because many have raved about how great it is, which I guess disappointed me even more because we were looking forward to it. I don't think that you can go wrong with doing 2 character meals in one trip, its mainly just about what you prefer. For some, the more character meals the better, while others can only tolerate 1-2. Since your ds loves pirates, your might want to check out the Pirates League at the MK...just a suggestion.

 

[purpledisneyprncess]

Your itinerary looks good- it depends on your children & your preferences though BUT last year my children at the time were 6 and 3, and aside from Magic Kingdom, their next favorite park was Hollywood Studios. It had everything they wanted. The Toy Story Mania ride (If you don't get there very early to ride and/or grab your fast passes, that ride typically runs out of fast passes early- extremely popular ride). There is the car stunt show, Beauty and Beast live show, and other rides that my kids enjoyed. They also liked the Sci-Fi Dine in Theater. You sit in cars and eat/watch old movies on big screen. Animal Kingdom was ok but we didn't spend a full day there; nor did we spend all day in Epcot. Good luck with whatever you decide! I think heading over to Hollywood Studios on your last day is nice. If you have the park hopper option, on the day you are at Animal Kingdom, since they close early, you can always hop to another park too.

 

[jlsmith376]

Your itinerary looks good. Two character meals are probably enough. When my son was 3 he loved Chef Mickey's and he's always loved Ohana - both for breakfast. DHS is great for boys. At 3 he liked Toy Story and the Stunt Show, by 5 he still liked those attractions but loved the Star Tours attraction too. Don't miss the Bugs Life play area at DHS!

We went to AK when he was 5 and it was okay, but IMO, there was more to do at DHS. EP has some great attractions. My 5 year old could ride Soarin and loved it. When he was 3 he loved Nemo. Are you getting a Park Hopper? DHS, AK and EP are usually 1/2 day destinations for us. We usually start there in the morning and end the day at MK. We found the park hopper to be worth the extra money.

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

As others have stated, park hoppers are great for short trips like this. We just returned last month and my dd was 3 1/2. She really loved AK a lot! Now she really loves nature and animals and just liked walking around AK. Hollywood Studios was another big hit with her as well. Really, you can't go wrong.

 

[rizzo0904]

My boys will be the same ages when we go in September.

We are doing 1 character breakfast at TH since it has their favorite characters. And my boys love animals so we will do AK. We're doing that the first full day since it's a smaller park and they may be tired from travel the night before.

We are doing 1 day at Epcot and our last day at MK.

As for downtown disney, I'd skip it. Just let them hang at the pool and relax that night. Have a pizza party. Kids love the pool and it's usually their favorite part of the trip.

 

[rookie78]

Only thing I would say, we did not enjoy Tusker House and we don't like Downtown Disney at night. We tried Disney Quest last time we went and just did not enjoy it. My kids prefer to be at Magic Kingdom rather than DTD.

 

[msmama]

I would say don't discount Epcot. It's always been my son's favorite. AK is definitely our least favorite - barely make it 'til lunch time at AK.

He loves Downtown Disney though. There's water features for them to play in and my son could spend HOURS in some of the stores, lol.

 

[samacita]

This is a useful thread! We'll have a 7 yo & 3 yo and thinking of 3 full days in parks: MK, AK, and back to MK. Maybe a half day at HS, depending on how our flight times shake out. AK has always been a favorite of mine!!! Our kids haven't been to Disney yet but they love zoos and I think it will be a hit for them too.