Please list your "can't miss" things for a 3 and 5 year old

[PortieOwner]

All of the playgrounds are very popular with mine:

MK: Pooh's Playful Spot, Donald's Boat, Tom Sawyer Island.
AK: Dig Site/Boneyard
EC: Imagination play area, Living Seas play area, garden in UK, toy train near Germany, Viking ship in Norway (now closed)
MGM: Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground

Of all of them, the MGM and AK playgrounds are the hardest to drag them away from.

 

[Minnie824]

I have 5yo and 3yo DDs..here are some of their favorites:
5yo:
Expedition Everest
Haunted Mansion
Splash Mountain
Soarin
3yo:
Pirates
Aladdin ride
The Land boat ride
both:
at GF they have those fountains you run thru by the pool
sitting down to have Mickey bars
Caseys hot dogs

 

[vicki845]

My trip is not until January.
That's the one thing I'm that bothers me with.
With a 2 yr old, I'm afraid to make reservations we might not be able to keep
because my son will need to nap, etc...

You could do breakfast or brunch. I have been to Chef Mickey's, Donald's at AK, Cinderella Round Table and Princess Storybook for breakfast and lunch. I really liked the food at Princess Strorybook the best, Donald's was descent. The rest I didn't care for. If you and your family aren't picky eaters than anyone would be nice. My family including myself are very picky when it comes to food so we really didn't care for the food at the places we went to. However seeing the characters while you dine is pretty exciting. Which ever one you chose, have fun and enjoy!

 

[ProudMommyof2]

My trip is not until January.
That's the one thing I'm that bothers me with.
With a 2 yr old, I'm afraid to make reservations we might not be able to keep
because my son will need to nap, etc...

AllEars.net has a whole section on character meals, that includes menus and characters you can expect to see at each!

 

[bopper]

Always always keep in mind that at that age they are more interested in what they are doing now than in any "great thing" that may be coming next. So don't rush them through one thing to get to another. They won't know what they are missing unless you tell them, so don't tell them until it is time! So dont' keep saying there is a parade later....if you can see it, show it to them, but if you miss it, they will never know.

 

[vickiea]

Subscribing and Bumping!

 

[tommygunn]

El bumpo....

 

[KathADisneyFan]

My kids age 2 & 6 loved breakfast at the Cystal Palace with the Winnie the Pooh characters! They also loved dinner at Chef Mickeys!! Made an early breakfast reservation and 5:30 dinners, did not interfere w/ naps. They loved all the fantasy land rides. Its A Small World. The loved seeing the animals on the safari in Animal Kingdom. Never saw a daytime parade...always nap time (3pm), they never minded! Sooooo much else to do and see.

 

[MomWith2Cinderellas]

I'm a disney fanatic, have been many times. But would be interested in seeing what everyone thinks are the absolutely must do's for my 3 year old boy and 5 year old girl. Please don't be shy! This can be any attraction or even a little thing like a certain shop in a hotel or a certain restaurant. What's your fave????

Thanks,

Tommy

Here are the things my 3 and 5 year olds must do when we go to WDW...
- Test Track (DD 5 loves and I mean loves this ride!)
- Buzz Light Year (both girls love going on this ride over and over again)
- Big Thunder Mountain (DD 5 enjoys this one)
- Both girls like going to Norway for dinner with the princesses
- BBB is also a must for my girls. They love to become a princess and than have dinner with them.
- My girls also like riding the monorail. This was thrill last January when they got to ride upfront with the conductor.
- Kali Rapids at AK is also a favorite of DD.
- MGM the girls love the Little Mermaid show. They requested that we do that at 3 times!

 

[Freyja]

Playhouse Disney
Dumbo
Peter Pan
Winnie the Pooh
Toontown (everything there)
Character Meals: Chrystal Palace is our favorite with Chef Mickey´s as a close second.

 

[KathADisneyFan]

My daughter also got a kick out of waking Tinkerbelle at Tinkerbelle's Treasures. She felt really special knowing that she did something that not every kid gets a chance to do. If you are around the store very early in the morning, walk in and ask if she is up yet!

 

[tommygunn]

Bumparino!!!!!

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

My kids are 5 and 3 and we leave in 44 days - woo hoo!!!! Everyone has made some great suggestions here!

 

[CanadaKim]

My kids are almost 4 1/2 and 2 1/2 and we leave in 52 days, but who's counting?!?!?!

Our last visit DD was almost 3 (just before she had to pay!) and DS was 10 months. DD absolutely loved the Dumbo ride at MK. We also picked her up an autograph book and it was amazing. I thought she'd be too young but the first night Fairy Godmother gave her some 'fairy dust' and asked if she could sign her book and after that she was hooked. Every time she saw characters she had book in hand. A little explaining was required during the parade as to why they can't stop and sign.

We did Crystal Palace in MK early so we were in the park before it opened. Great tip I picked up here. We did the princess lunch in Epcot - Norway and every princess what there with the exception of Jasmine. On our last day we did Mickey's breakfast at Contemporary.

In AK she loved the 'it's tough to be a bug' and Kilimanjaro safari. Turtle Talk with Crush was also great at Epcot and the kidcot stops. MGM - Little Mermaid and the Disney's Playhouse and then just running around and playing at the Honey I Shrunk the kids play area. She was really too little to do much at the water park and we were in bed early pretty much every night so we missed the fireworks/parades.

Relax. Have fun. We found that when we went (early January) it wasn't that busy and in fact changed a lot of our dining reservations when we got there no problem. I'm hoping it isn't busy in mid December either. We'll see soon enough!