2 and 4 yr old - do you go to ALL parks?

[Picabo]

Our girls will be 2 1/2 and almost 4 when we go (Early December). We'll be staying at the Poly and I imagine the majority of the time they will want to be at MK. Just wondering (with kids that age) do you tend to still do all 4 of the major parks or do you limit it down to a few? We plan to (most days) go back to the hotel for naps/down time. (Just recently went on a beach vacation and found that after a day or two of no naps, their temperment just went downhill fast!) I'd also like to cushion in a day or two with no parks, just to relax at the hotel and go to downtown disney. We'll be there 8 nts but keep in mind that I have no idea when we'll get back tehre. We're not the type to go yearly. So probably won't make it back for another 3-4 yrs, I'd guess.

How much time to allow for DHS and AK? What about EPCOT?
And, do you do many TS meals or try not to schedule too many with little kids being unpredictable? I want to do a good share of character meals but am hesitant to do it. My kids tend to just not eat when they are worn out or over stimulated so I'd hate to spend the money (on the 3 yr old) to just sit there and not even eat anything. Maybe better to do more bkfst than dinner?? Or just stick mostly to CS and save the TS meals for when they are older?

THANKS!

 

[kevschickee]

Well my kids will be 2 and 3 1/2 when we go. We are planning to do every park atleast once and we are doing 1 ts meal a day. MK will prob be done more than once though. We are going in Oct so I will let you know how it went

 

[amylevan]

We were there in 2006 with my extended family, including a 3 yr old and a 6 yr old. They did all of the parks, just less time at EP and DS. They actually loved AK since they got to see all of the animals. They took naps every afternoon back at the hotel, which should be easy if your at the Poly - just hop on the monorail from the MK.

We did a sit down meal every night since it was an extended family trip and we picked mostly kid friendly places - Chef Mickey's, Ohana, where they got a nice mix of food and entertainment. We also did a few less kid friendly meals to satisfy the adults (loved Jiko!) and the girls were tired enough from the full days that they just ate and relaxed.

 

[brymolmom]

I would say DEFINITELY to going to all 4 parks. And keep in mind that even on your 'off' days - going to a park for fireworks or a parade in the evening is a nice way to end an 'off' day. It is only a few dollars more to add park days to tickets after the first 5 days - so even going to a park for a couple of hours is 'worth it' since it's only a few bucks. I love doing this on off days with my kids - then I don't have to worry about having them in the park all day and also trying to stetch it to the evening parade.

A full day at AK and HS planned is good - although you might not use it all - we can do it all in about 3/4 of a day - but if you're going back to the room for naps - you might end up not having enough time in just a morning at either of them.

For meals - my kids love breakfast foods, we do some of those (usually character - Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey or Donald in AK). Sometimes we schedule them an hour before park opening as we're all early risers.

 

[Fall1]

We are taking 28 month old twins in October, so I'm excited to read the responses on this thread.

We are planning on doing the 4 parks, Epcot only at night since we can walk there from the Beach Club.

We are planning on 1 TS meal per day, but we aren't sure which meal of the day it should be yet....!

 

[kpipkin]

When my son was 3, we did all 4 parks. There is something in each of them that he enjoyed. I think you're definately there long enough to get to experience each of the parks. I think the key is to be up early enough for opening or EMH and you can get a lot done in the mornings before lunch. We might be the exception, but we've also done full days with our kids. When they were little, they napped in their stroller. We've typically gone during cooler months when it's comfortable for them to do that. Also during the cooler months, the parks close earlier and we'd call it an early night instead of taking the afternoon nap at the hotel. That might work for you a couple days.

 

[Mom2JPL]

Our girls will be 2 1/2 and almost 4 when we go (Early December). We'll be staying at the Poly and I imagine the majority of the time they will want to be at MK. Just wondering (with kids that age) do you tend to still do all 4 of the major parks or do you limit it down to a few? We plan to (most days) go back to the hotel for naps/down time. (Just recently went on a beach vacation and found that after a day or two of no naps, their temperment just went downhill fast!) I'd also like to cushion in a day or two with no parks, just to relax at the hotel and go to downtown disney. We'll be there 8 nts but keep in mind that I have no idea when we'll get back tehre. We're not the type to go yearly. So probably won't make it back for another 3-4 yrs, I'd guess.

How much time to allow for DHS and AK? What about EPCOT?
And, do you do many TS meals or try not to schedule too many with little kids being unpredictable? I want to do a good share of character meals but am hesitant to do it. My kids tend to just not eat when they are worn out or over stimulated so I'd hate to spend the money (on the 3 yr old) to just sit there and not even eat anything. Maybe better to do more bkfst than dinner?? Or just stick mostly to CS and save the TS meals for when they are older?

THANKS!

We do all the parks. We're up early and hit the parks around rope drop. We head back to the resort after lunch and nap/swim (baby still naps). Then back to the same park (we don't do park hoppers) or to a resort for an ADR. Here's our itinerary from last year to give you an idea of how we fit in our meals (we do mostly character ADR's for the kids, it kills two birds with one stone, they eat and you don't have to wait in line in the parks for characters):

arrival day - relaxed at pool all afternoon and then headed to 1900 Park Fare for a 6pm ADR with Cinderella and family

day 1 - ate breakfast at food court (cs) and then headed to MK for the day; dinner ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern at 4:00 (when it was still a character meal); we were back at the resort before 8:30 and kids were bathed and in bed soon after

day 2 - 8:30 ADR at Tusker House (AK); napped/swam at resort; dinner in DTD (cs)

day 3 - 10:10 ADR at Akershus (Princess Storybook Dining) in Epcot; 5:00 pm dinner ADR at Coral Reef (our anniversary dinner - kids loved looking at the fish tank!); didn't stay in park much longer after dinner (since we didn't take a break today) and relaxed at resort before putting kids down for the night

day 4 - hit HS right at rope drop and headed right the TSM for fast passes and a ride; did a quick CS breakfast afterwards; went to resort after lunch to nap/swim; back to HS for Fantasmic dinner package at Mama Melrose at 4:25 (TS)

day 5 - another MK day - Crystal Palace ADR 8:05 am, lunch in park, back to resort for nap/swim; 'Ohana ADR at 5:05 pm (no park that night...need some relaxing time!)

day 6 - daughter's 5th birthday! - BBB for daughter's b'day at 9:00 am, breakfast at CRT at 10:05 am (this was great!); we playing in park for a while then snacked for lunch and went back for a swim/nap at resort in afternoon. We went back to DTD (kids choice!) and had CS dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express

day 7 - 'Ohana character breakfast at 8:50 am (my sons LOVES stitch), then, since it was our last day we let the kids pick which park they wanted to go back to...they pick HS since Toy Story Mania is there new alltime favorite ride! spend the day here, hit resort for swim time/nap and then back to HS to finish the night

day 8 - home...boo hoo!

So, as you can see we hit all the parks at least once. We take our time and see all we can while still relaxing back in the pool - my kids need their down time or they're miserable later in the night. They were exhausted at the end of each day and all 3 passed out when their heads hit their pillows.

Have fun planning your trip!

 

[Manda]

We went in early December when my son was 2 and went to all 4 parks. The place is so empty that time, that it's not hard at all. We did spend a majority of our time at MK though. Personally, I wouldn't bother with Downtown Disney. It's only a few dollars more to buy a park ticket for every day of your stay and that buys you a lot of flexibility. We usually go early (he's up any way) and stay until nap time and come back and rest. If we don't feel like going back in the afternoon, we don't. We just hang out and relax. AK and HS are definitely doable in half days for the small set. Little ones seem to love AK and HS has the Playhouse Disney show that was a must-see for my son.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I was there the first week in May with my grandchildren who are 2, 4 and 7. We go usually a couple of times a year so we have a good sense of what they like and don't like. This time, we were there five days but we did MK twice and skipped the Studios. There is just not a lot that the little ones like at the Studios, other than Toy Story Mania, and the line-up for that was so long when we went on our previous trip that we decided to skip it.

The kids love animals, so AK is a favourite. They love the Safari ride, the two walking trails, Planet Watch (can easily spend a lot of time here!), the Lion King Show, the Nemo show, the Birds show and the Triceratops ride in Dinoland. (They HATE It's Tough to be a Bug!). The biggest hit is probably the Boneyard. They can play there for hours. They also enjoy just walking through the Oasis and seeing all the birds and small animals there.

At Epcot, we mainly stay in Future World. They like the Nemo Ride (and spend a lot of time visiting the fish after), the bigger ones like Soarin' and Test Track and Ellen's Energy Adventure, Spaceship Earth, and various things in the Innoventions buildings. There is a great waterplay area near Test Track that can amuse them for an hour on hot days. We do sometimes venture up to Canada or Mexico but rarely farther than that.

We find the little ones will usually nap in the stroller or sling. Our secret to success is this: we don't make them stay up late. After supper, it's back to the room and off to bed. It makes for a much more enjoyable trip for all of us.

As for character meals - these kids don't eat much of the things they tend to sell as kid's meals (chicken nuggets, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese) at the CS places. So it helps us to have at least one meal each day where they can get the foods they are used to, and we've had good luck with some of the buffets where they get to see the characters too.

Teresa

 

[LWatson]

We are also going early Dec and ours will be almost 4 and turning 2 while we are there. We plan on hitting every park. Our kids werent interested in AK as much back in Feb, so that will probably be on a day that the rest of the parks are busy (Like sunday...since saturday is our down day). But my oldest (who had just turned 3 when we went in Feb) loved DHS (not as much as MK, but still loved it). He met Handy Manny, June, & Quincy from Playhouse Disney, and was invited to participate in the Pixar parade. At Epcot he liked seeing each diff "country" and we rode Malestrom over and over and over because he really thought it was cool. Oh and cant forget the Seas w/ Nemo or "Spaceship Golf" (thats what he calls it).

I'm planning on doing a TS a day since we got the Disney Dining Plan. Trying to get as many character meals in so we dont have to wait in long lines of Character M&Gs.

 

[PatricenPete]

We go to all the parks, but spend most of our time in MK. My second favorite with kids is actually Epcot! They have the fun Kidcot stations and lots of little places for kids to explore. My kids love Turtle Talk with Crush - my son still says "Whoa! Look at all the humans in the human tank"

We are going again in September with our 4 year old, 3 year old, and 7 month old! Can't wait!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Our girls will be 2 1/2 and almost 4 when we go (Early December). We'll be staying at the Poly and I imagine the majority of the time they will want to be at MK. Just wondering (with kids that age) do you tend to still do all 4 of the major parks or do you limit it down to a few? We plan to (most days) go back to the hotel for naps/down time. (Just recently went on a beach vacation and found that after a day or two of no naps, their temperment just went downhill fast!) I'd also like to cushion in a day or two with no parks, just to relax at the hotel and go to downtown disney. We'll be there 8 nts but keep in mind that I have no idea when we'll get back tehre. We're not the type to go yearly. So probably won't make it back for another 3-4 yrs, I'd guess.

How much time to allow for DHS and AK? What about EPCOT?
And, do you do many TS meals or try not to schedule too many with little kids being unpredictable? I want to do a good share of character meals but am hesitant to do it. My kids tend to just not eat when they are worn out or over stimulated so I'd hate to spend the money (on the 3 yr old) to just sit there and not even eat anything. Maybe better to do more bkfst than dinner?? Or just stick mostly to CS and save the TS meals for when they are older?

THANKS!

We took DS 2.5 in April and did all 4 parks. IMHO DHS wasn't really worth the stop. There were less than 5 things that were age appropriate. We did Playhouse Disney and the parade. There's alo Muppets and a couple other things. We were there less than a half day.

DS LOVED AK!!! He was able to walk around the "trails" on a harness with freedom and he wasn't being rushed around by the crowds. We could take our time without affecting others. Dinoland was a huge hit and he is still talking about Kilimanjaro Safari. We did our character greets there too (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald) as the lines were WAY shorter than Toontown. You can also hit up the Gathering Place. They have storytime with Pocohontas and occasionally you can catch Chip and Dale there too.

If your girls are into Princesses they are sometimes tucked away in the World Showcase at EPCOT. It depends on how much walking the kiddos want to do, but it may be worth exploring. If you don't want to mess with it, spend an extra day at MK.

As for the food thing, you'd be able to get away with the girls sharing 1 kids meal. Shoot, you could eat kids meals while you're there, I did. We did 2 TS meals total. 1 character meal (breakfast) and lunch at T-Rex in DTD. The rest of the time it was CS.

Best of luck with your planning!

 

[ktlm]

We took DD at 2 years 10 months for her 1st trip last December and at 3 in May (one trip with my Mom, the other with DHs parents). We went to all 4 parks both times. There is definitely something at each park for the little ones. I wouldn't skip any. Both trips after MK, DDs absolute favorite was Epcot, especially the World Showcase side. In the afternoons, there are Princesses to meet all over World Showcase- Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle (sometimes with Beast), and Jasmine (sometimes with Aladdin or Genie) all have regular meet and greets. (For the person who said they were only going at night- be aware that the Princesses are primarily there in the afternoon and clear out in the early evening) There is also a Princess meal at Akershus. Pooh and Tigger can be found in England most days, and sometimes Mary Poppins. DD loved watching the live entertainment, wandering around the countries, and going around to the Kidcot stations. On our 2nd trip, she wanted to ride the boat ride in Mexico over and over. On the Future World side, she loved the Nemo and Imagination rides and the areas at the ends of the rides. Her 1st trip at 2, we were at Epcot a full day and did not have enough time. Our 2nd trip, we spent 2 days at Epcot. I think we probably could have done everything in a day and a half, still giving her time to play in the different areas. Biergarten is one of her favorite WDW restaurants- she loved the food, band, and dance floor. I don't think I have ever seen her eat that much food at any meal ever. Epcot is just a great place for little girls.

At DHS, she loved the Toy Story Mania ride, Little Mermaid show, Beauty and the Beast show and the Muppets 3-D. She loved meeting Buzz and Woody. The Block Party Bash was fun too as we were right where the Toy Story Float stops and a great CM took DD and danced with her the whole time. If your kids like shows, they will like DHS and you can probably spend a full day there. If they won't sit through shows, then you might not spend a full day. You want to get there at rope drop for TSM as the fast passes are gone very quickly and the line can be 2 hours.

At 2, she hated Animal Kingdom and begged to go back to MK after a couple of hours. At 3, she really liked Animal Kingdom and we spent most of the day there, so you just never know.

As far as table meals, DD is a restaurant kid at home. She loves eating out. We did one table meal every day which worked out great for us. She does naps in her stroller in the park (for us, any effort to leave was met with extreme resistance and an angry stubborn child who refused to go to sleep at the resort), so the best for us was lunch because it calmed her down to where she would either get in her stroller after eating to take a nap, or get refreshed to go longer before breaking. We found out on the 1st trip that breakfast was not good for us. DD is NOT a morning person and we had a one hour time change to which she did not adjust. I actually scrambled to move what I thought would be the perfect pre-park 8:30 Tusker House time, to a later time when I discovered on our trip that there was no way we could get her there in any kind of a decent mood by then (you have to leave your resort an hour before the ADR to be sure you get there in time). Luckily, they had a spot at 9:30. DD loved the character meals. Dinners were good too, but sometimes the little ones can be pretty tired and restless by then. DD ate much better at the TS meals than the CS. The CS kids options aren't the greatest, and we found them to be pretty much the same at every place. Actually, most of the CS meals, we pretty much just wasted money because she would take one bite and pretty much stick her nose up at anything but the french fries. Really, the only places we could get her to eat much of anything were the TS meals.
We really liked having the park hopper option with her at that age. It made it easy for us to hop over to parks for certain things like parades or shows, that she might have missed on our park day because she was asleep in the stroller, or just because it worked with our schedule (or because she suddenly wanted to leave AK and go to MK or absoultely had to ride the Peter Pan ride again on any given day). I think the main thing at that age is just to be flexible and follow their cues. DD actually had much fewer meltdowns at WDW than she would have had at home.

 

[cmusschoot]

I have 2 kids 2 and 4...they have been to disney a few times and I take them to all of the parks.

We do one park AM and the back for naps and one park PM. (depending on the length of our stay, we take an evening for "play" at the resort or DTD)

The first days we visited all for 1/2 day and the I let the kids determine where they wanted to go again.

We do spend most of our time at MK and EPCOT. Playhouse Disney at the Studios is a lot of fun...Nemo at AK is great too!!!

We will be going in Sep. staying at Boardwalk.
Have Fun!!

 

[RahRah573]

Our girls will be 2 1/2 and almost 4 when we go (Early December). We'll be staying at the Poly and I imagine the majority of the time they will want to be at MK. Just wondering (with kids that age) do you tend to still do all 4 of the major parks or do you limit it down to a few? We plan to (most days) go back to the hotel for naps/down time. (Just recently went on a beach vacation and found that after a day or two of no naps, their temperment just went downhill fast!) I'd also like to cushion in a day or two with no parks, just to relax at the hotel and go to downtown disney. We'll be there 8 nts but keep in mind that I have no idea when we'll get back tehre. We're not the type to go yearly. So probably won't make it back for another 3-4 yrs, I'd guess.

Last year DS had just turned 4 - it was me, him and my parents, whom are in their 70's....we were there for almost two weeks, so we didn't feel like we needed to comando the parks or go to everything quickly.....we also realized early into the trip that we'd be back, making DS's birthday trip a tradition for as many years to come as we can.....that made taking our time even easier to do.

We spent the longest time in Epcot - mostly because more dinners and lunches were planned there....each time we headed over there, we'd do something there....like the day we had lunch reseerved at Coral Reef - we arrived in that area a couple of hours before our reservation so we had time to enjoy the Seas first - that gave us "play time" and then "down time" at a TS restaurant to relax, unwind and enjoy a nice meal.

This approach worked really well for DS - he wasn't tuckered out by mid-day and, while we did take breaks in the afternoon, it wasn't because he'd reached meltdown stage yet.....the frist few days we were there he didn't take a nap - by day 4, he'd rest late afternoon - sometimes taking a nap for an hour or so, other days just lying around not doing anything active, but really resting. He did well lasting well into late at night, including TS dinners, including dinners at signature restaurants without fuss.

The one thing on our original plan - the morning breakfast ADR's - we changed most of them after our first day since we realized we weren't going to be happy getting up every morning to get out the door and to somewhere for breakfast by 8:00.....it was a quick fix and made the trip a lot more enjoyable and gave my parents and DS sleep-in time if they needed it. We still did breakfasts, but not that early!

We also spent a lot of time in MK and a good amount in DHS...we skipped AK last trip to keep it as something "new" when we go this year in September. In each park, there are also entire sections DS never saw last trip - again to keep our upcoming trip fresh with some new things to do for him.....for example in MK, we didn't venture into Frontier Land or Adventure Land (crazy, huh?) and we limited how much we did in Liberty Square & Tomorrow Land too, doing some things, but not others, concentrating most of the time we did spend there in Fantasy Land, Toontown and Main Steet....don't get me wrong, we did some things in two other areas, but not as much!

How much time to allow for DHS and AK? What about EPCOT?

We visited DHS three times while there last year.....first was a mid-afternoon forway over, we walked around, had lunch at 50's Primetime, rode a few rides and then back to the room - total time in park, about 4-hours; second and third were evening visits, one with dinner, one after dinner on an EMH night....both of those were about 4-hours too.

As I said, we skipped AK.

Epcot - we'd go for 3 to 5 hours at a time, depending on the time of day and the crowds.....I think we were in Epcot six times last trip? We did some pavilions, but not all, in World Showcase....and did some sections of Future World, but saved others for this trip in September when DS will be 5 and, I think, more interested in some of the stuff in Future World than I think he would have been last year.

And, do you do many TS meals or try not to schedule too many with little kids being unpredictable? I want to do a good share of character meals but am hesitant to do it. My kids tend to just not eat when they are worn out or over stimulated so I'd hate to spend the money (on the 3 yr old) to just sit there and not even eat anything. Maybe better to do more bkfst than dinner?? Or just stick mostly to CS and save the TS meals for when they are older?

THANKS!

You know your kids best and you know what they can and can't handle.....we did all TS meals last trip and will do the same again this year - but those TS did and do include some buffet and/or family-style restaurants too.

 

[monorailsilver]

The 3 times I have gone with my kids we have gone to all the parks. Well not last August, I opted to skip AK. I only wanted to go there to ride Everest but my oldest (then 7 1/2) was a bit freaked out over Space Mountain.

So we skipped AK just for the fact that we knew it is the hottest park there (meaning steamy sweaty hot) & my kids can see animals elsewhere & my oldest did not want to ride Everest.

My kids love Epcot or I think they do so I wouldn't miss it. We watched Illuminations 4 of the 5 park days & then watched Wishes from the beach at the Poly (where we stayed).

The previous 2 trip we did go to AK with the kids (I had one kid one trip & 2 the next, this past trip we had 3 kids).

In August we did 5 park days, 2 off days & 2 travel days.

How much time to allow for DHS and AK?

For us we do DHS & AK each one am (we take advantage of the early entry park of the day). And that is it. The only thing we did there last year was Toy Storia Mania & they wanted to do it again but not with that long wait (we got fast passes). We ate at Pizza Planet (previous trip we ate at the 50's Prime time), we saw Play House Disney & I think that was it.

Previous trips we have taken the boat to Epcot, ate lunch there & took the monorail back home for our mid day break.

What about EPCOT?

We love Epcot so we see Illuminations at least 3 times (last year we saw it 4 times) that is our night time park. And we go there 2-3 am's too.

And, do you do many TS meals or try not to schedule too many with little kids being unpredictable?

I try not to scheduale more then 3 a trip. We always do Chef Mickey's on our arrival day for dinner since we don't to a park that day. I try not to do a TS meal on a park day since my kids tend to eat slow if there is entertainment around.

Good Luck & remember to have fun. It is a vacation after all, a tiring one. We do take rest breaks every day. My then 7 year odl even napped.

 

[Piglet121794]

Yes definately MK!!! But i would also bring them to AK. They would probably love to see all of the animals! As for DHS and Epcot..... there isnt much I could say that they would enjoy there. You could also try one of the water parks...

 

[sherylcin]

We have taken Disney trips ever since my kids were little and now as the grandchildren have started coming along, we take an extended family Disney Trip every two years. Last May there were 11 of us including 5 children ranging in age from 1 to 9. We do all the parks twice since we have now extended our trip to two weeks and the kids love all of them. We find something at each park that we really enjoy. Such as:

MK - BBB - my 3 granddaughters did this just before lunch at CRT and the
smiles and pictures were worth every penny! We pretty much love
everything about this park and, obviously, Fantasyland and Toontown
are aimed right at the shorter statured visitors. My 3-year-old
grandson was thrilled by Pirates of the Caribbean (probably egged on
by his father).

AK - We all love the safari ride and our 1-year-old was entranced with the
Nemo show as well. The Lion King show also has enough going on to
hold their interest. I have to give a plug for the new Tusker House
character meal. We've done breakfast and lunch there and either one
is a big thumbs up. Both food and characters were awesome.

HS - Toy Story Mania - did this ride as many times as we could. All the 5
and unders also loved the Playhouse Disney show and Little Mermaid
is also a must do for them. We, of course, love Fantasmic! and the
kids are good about other rides there. Obviously, TOT and such are
not choices we can make with them but there are enough of us that
if someone wants to go, others can stay with those that are too young.

Epcot - probably our favorite (after MK). Our kids love doing the Kidcots and
the new Kim Possible game was fun even for the little ones. There are
characters throughout the park if you do a little research - usually
it's listed in the Times Guide where they'll be. The Nemo ride is fun for
the little ones too. We truly enjoy World Showcase and always spend
more time there than "up front" but our kids enjoy the Innoventions
exhibits and also really like The Land boat ride. They look forward to
eating in Germany too. They love the food and the music.

We are not for the most part early morning people so we chose to arrive at the parks somewhere around 11:00 and stayed later into the evening. I think this has to be adjusted for each family. Some kids will get up at 7:00 no matter what time they go to bed and that can make for an unpleasant day to say the least! My grandchildren have always been good about napping in their strollers so it hasn't been a big problem for us.

We've done pretty much all the character meals (except O'Hana) and they've all done very well. Again, I think lunch or dinner depends on your kids and how tired they'll be by dinnertime. I do think earlier dinner times are better for sure with young kids.

I'm already planning our next trip and can't wait!!

 

[sherylcin]

Forgot to say that we usually take a "resort day" after 3 straight days of going to parks. That revives everyone. Just hanging out, swimming, etc. Oftentimes, we end up going to DTD for the evening. We definitely find a couple of evenings or a whole day to spend at DTD. We enjoy it almost as much as a park!

 

[Kallista]

Parks

I took my kids to all of the parks when they were that age.

Their favorites in order were: 1) Animal Kingdom; 2) Epcot; 3) Blizzard Beach; 4) Disney Studios; 5) Magic Kingdom.

Animal Kingdom was a great experience. They love the animals. They love the shows. They love the street performances. They love the parade. They like the kids' rides. It's all good. We usually spend one whole day and one half day here.

Epcot has a lot of gentle rides which are suitable for kids (The Seas with Nemo, Journey into Imagination, Soarin', Living with the Land, the Mexico ride, Maelstrom, Spaceship Earth). It also has a lot of street shows and live performances that my kids really loved. The love the dolphins. They love Crush. The fountains were a big hit, too. We usually spend two days here.

Blizzard Beach has a wonderful kids' area and tween area. We spent the day here before flying home. (We showered in the park and put on clean clothes. We were clean and fresh for our evening flight.)

We could have skipped DS, except for Playhouse Disney Live! (which they saw 3 or 4 times that trip. They like the animation tour and the character meet-n-greet, too. We haven't been on Toy Story Mania, yet, and they're boys so they really didn't care about the Little Mermaid. They love Fantasmic, though. One day here is plenty.


MK was very over-whelming to them. They liked the slower parks much more. (It's not that MK was bad. The problem was that we started with Fantasyland as suggested by most people, and they weren't that into it. We could live without putting a foot in Fantasyland, ever again. (Forget Dumbo. Magic Carpets of Aladdin is the same ride, with 10% of the line.) They really like Adventureland and Tomorrowland, though. One day in MK was plenty.

Meals
We schedule breakfast buffets in the morning to get fueled up. Then we can eat as we go. Cape May Cafe has a lovely character buffet that isn't too loud, and Boma has wonderful breakfasts.

TS lunch works with my kids, sometimes, but they're tired by dinner. Asking them to sit still for TS is just too much.