Ack! 10 yo girls! Which park?

[LadyShea]

We are going to WDW for my DS's 3rd birthday. My mom and dad will be with us and my 10 yo niece and her 10 yo soon to be step sister.

Due to a number of factors, we decided to do only two days. I want the second day, DS's birthday, to be at MK. So that leaves one park on New Year's Day.

I am happy with any of the parks, though DH would probably say AK. My mom and dad don't have a preference, so that leaves the girls, who are a different story.

I will ask them for their opinions, but 10 is such a weird age it seems to me (too old for dress up one minute, wearing tiaras the next, that kind of thing) and though the same age these girls are vastly different from each other. I know, for a fact, that they will choose different parks..possibly just to be contrary to each other. I feel I will need to simply make the decision. So, any suggestions as to park?

Also, we want to do one special meal or activity specifically for the girls. Is 10 a good age for the Wonderland Tea Party or the Mary Poppins breakfast at 1900 Park Fare? How much is the Pirate Adventure?

 

[Fantasmic23]

We are going to WDW for my DS's 3rd birthday. My mom and dad will be with us and my 10 yo niece and her 10 yo soon to be step sister.

Due to a number of factors, we decided to do only two days. I want the second day, DS's birthday, to be at MK. So that leaves one park on New Year's Day.

I am happy with any of the parks, though DH would probably say AK. My mom and dad don't have a preference, so that leaves the girls, who are a different story.

I will ask them for their opinions, but 10 is such a weird age it seems to me (too old for dress up one minute, wearing tiaras the next, that kind of thing) and though the same age these girls are vastly different from each other. I know, for a fact, that they will choose different parks..possibly just to be contrary to each other. I feel I will need to simply make the decision. So, any suggestions as to park?

Also, we want to do one special meal or activity specifically for the girls. Is 10 a good age for the Wonderland Tea Party or the Mary Poppins breakfast at 1900 Park Fare? How much is the Pirate Adventure?

My DD is 10 and she LOVED MK (so much we did the park a second day). She hated (and I mean really detested) Epcot (said she felt like she was on a school field trip). She liked HS. We didn't do AK (we'll do that in Feb. 2009).

I guess it really depends on the 10 year old girl. My DD has long outgrown the Disney Princess/dressing up stage (much to my disappointment). She also isn't into the whole "High School Musical" scene so there was much eye-rolling while at HS!

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[jboysen]

My guess, from my nine yr old niece last year is DHS. ToT and RnRC if they like more adventurous rides. They also do a HSM type thing there if they like HSM. AK if they like animals a lot.

 

[MommaSnowwhite]

My DDs LOVE MK. They love Space Mt., BTMR and of course Splash Mt. They also loved the Buzz ride (trying to beat each others score) and many of the lesser rides. Then at night they loved SpectroMagic and Wishes. Good luck in your decision!

 

[LadyShea]

Thanks for the suggestions. MK is a given. I am thinking HS for the second park.

Any reviews of the Wonderland Tea Party, Mary Poppins breakfast, or Pirate Adventure?

 

[Fantasmic23]

Thanks for the suggestions. MK is a given. I am thinking HS for the second park.

Any reviews of the Wonderland Tea Party, Mary Poppins breakfast, or Pirate Adventure?

My DD is absolutely obsessed with Alice in Wonderland yet when I mentioned the Wonderland Tea Party, she kind of made a face. In her opinion, it sounded a bit babyish. Actually, a AIW post that I made a few months ago turned into a Wonderland Tea Party discussion. I've heard rave reviews from other people.

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

I just asked my 10 going on 11 year old and her immediate answer was MK- we did all the parks so I asked her to list them and she said...

1- MK because it had loads of cool rides and characters and the show out front of the castle.

2- AK because it too had lots of cool rides and the safari meant seeing real animals she'd never seen anywhere else before

3- Typhoon lagoon- she's a total water baby though, I found this park quite a hard one to manage with all 4 kids though (10, 5, 4 and 20 months) as 2 adults went off with DD10 to do the slides which left me with all 3 littlies in ketchakidee creek which wasn't easy!

4- Epcot - she loved soaring and nemo/turtle talk and enjoyed the world showcase

5- Hollywood studios- she enjoyed what we got to do there but we found it the most crowded park with shows too closely scheduled to enable you to see them in one day, longest waits too. This was quite a limited day due to crowds, she didn't stay awake for fantasmic either.

 

[imthatgirl]

honestly the time you are going is going to be so ridicuoulsy busy, i would just do both days at MK. you wont be able to do it all in one day at that time, so this way youll get to see most of it.

 

[LadyShea]

Everything I have read indicates the crowd levels reduce dramtically after the 31st (we are going the 1st and 2nd). Have I been mislead?

If so, then I will wait for a different time of year completely...we thought low crowds plus DS free=good time. Since his birthday is the 2nd, we have to go into a park on the 1st for him to be free, otherwise I would wait until the 2nd and 3rd.

 

[imthatgirl]

well the problem with this year is the first is a thursday. everyone gets that day off from school. i can tell you my childrens school is not going back on friday, they are waiting till monday. i would assume the entire country will do that. makes for a great week to go to disney world. especially for the locals.

 

[LadyShea]

well the problem with this year is the first is a thursday. everyone gets that day off from school. i can tell you my childrens school is not going back on friday, they are waiting till monday. i would assume the entire country will do that. makes for a great week to go to disney world. especially for the locals.

I noted that too, our schools don't go back until Tuesday even. I was going by one of those pay sites with a crowd calendar, which I would have thought would consider the weekend etc. I wasn't expecting low, low, but moderate.

Darn

 

[imthatgirl]

I noted that too, our schools don't go back until Tuesday even. I was going by one of those pay sites with a crowd calendar, which I would have thought would consider the weekend etc. I wasn't expecting low, low, but moderate.

Darn

well im no expert, but it just makes sense people would stay through the weekend. i cant see it being really busy until wednesday and then everyone leaving in the middle of the week just because its the 1st. know what i mean?
i would go there expecting large crowds. especially because the weather is so good then. it brings out the locals.

 

[LadyShea]

I'll talk to my mom, maybe we can take the girls out of school the two days before the Christmas break starts (no testing in their grade those days), and go for MY birthday which is the 18th

We are within a one day drive, so no flight schedules etc. to deal with

 

[czycropper]

I have a 10 yo who is in the super TWEEN stage She still loves MK and Epcot. We were there this past June and she even said that she would rather be at MK or Epcot than Disney Studios or AK - only thing she liked at AK was Expedition Everest.

We've done the 1900 Park Faire and it's great for any age!!!

I don't know about the Pirate Party since when we were there they didn't do it but I'm sure that she would have like it - she's dressing up as a female pirate for Halloween this year.

 

[asmit4]

Due to crowds- I'd do both days at MK. It's gonna be CRAZY busy. Just divide up the lands and conquer!

 

[carmie3377]

My DD is 9 1/2. Her favorite is MK. Her second favorite is Epcot, then AK, and lastly, DHS.

In Jan, it was the first time we didn't go to MK first. She told me that this trip coming up, we MUST go to MK first because it was depressing last time not seeing MK until day 2.

 

[vpalmer]

Everything I have read indicates the crowd levels reduce dramtically after the 31st (we are going the 1st and 2nd). Have I been mislead?

If so, then I will wait for a different time of year completely...we thought low crowds plus DS free=good time. Since his birthday is the 2nd, we have to go into a park on the 1st for him to be free, otherwise I would wait until the 2nd and 3rd.

The crowds will be really high until school is back in session, which for most schools is January 5, 2009. If you have two days and your kids don't go back until Jan 6, then you might try Sunday, Jan 4 and Monday, Jan 5. I think a lot of people will go home that Satuday. Granted, it will not be really slow, but the crowds will probably lessen.

 

[LadyShea]

Well, we've decided to take our chances with the crowds, as we need to be in the parks on the 1st, but do 4 park days rather than 2 (I never wanted to do only 2 anyway). I think we'll be okay. We have been there when it's extremely busy (and oppressively hot) and managed to have a great time anyway, using fast passes and baby swaps and riding during parades. Without the heat, this should be even a better time.

Thanks all!