Best Parks for 4yr old and 2yr old

[cdotla]

I am sure this question has been asked before, but I am a newbie and don't feel like taking the time to sift thru the old posts.

My question: besides Magic Kingdom (which we are going to no matter what) what are the best parks for a 4yr old and a 2yr old?

Is Animal Kingdom appropriate for this age group? (Personally I attended AK within a couple months of it opening and found it a total yawn. Admittedly some of the attractions weren't even finished. My mom thinks we should give it another chance b/c she has heard rave reviews, plus now that I have kids I think I may like it more.)

Also, we are thinking of booking accomodation offsite at Wyndham Palms. Big plus, 2 bedrooms with full kitchen, but obviously less easy to travel back to hotel for naps, ect. Is this a complete mistake when traveling with a 2 and 4 yr old? Have others kept kids this age out all day without difficulty?

Any thoughts/suggestions greatly appreciated!

 

[RxforDisney]

Hi! I am also planning a trip with my 2yo (DS) and 4yo (DD) for October of this year. We are staying on property (mainly because my husband has always wanted to do so, but also for the convienence). We plan to go back to the room for a nap every day (at least for DS). If DD doesn't fall asleep (which I think she will) she can swim while DS naps. We took them both to Sea World last year, and this plan worked out really well. We stayed in a 2BR condo similar to what you are describing. DD wanted to swim in the pool the whole time anyway. We had to convince her that going to the park would be fun, but she loved it once she got there, and still talks about Shamu. But they were way to tired and hot to stay out all day!

This will be our first experience at WDW with children. Everything I have seen about taking small children to WDW says to go to Majic Kingdom (MK) last, otherwise they are bored and disapointed with everything else. I think my kids will like Animal Kingdom because they love Zoos. We plan on getting park hopper passes. We are going to try to do Animal Kingdom and Epcot (or MGM) in the same day and then the remaining park one morning because I don't think there will be enough there to interest them for a whole day. My kids favorite thing about Sea World last year was the fireworks show, so we will definitely try to see all of the nighttime shows like Fantasmic, Illuminations, Wishes, and Spectromagic. We are going to do 2 character dining experiences one with Princesses for DD, and the other at Chef Mickey's. I am going to try to leave a whole day free of plans in case we have to change something due to weather or cranky kids (or grownups). If we follow our plans we can use that day to swim at the pool or do extra things we had not thought of before hand.

I would love to hear what tricks you have thought of, as I am just beginning my planning as well. LOL

PS We are staying on site in a 2BR 2BA by renting DVC points (Disney's Timeshare) for ALOT less than it costs from Disney. (Check out the DVC Rental Forum).

 

[Miniefan]

I would pick Magic Kingdom first, then Animal Kingdom.....maybe some things at Epcot and some of the Playhouse Disney stuff at MGM but definitely Magic Kingdom for the little ones.

Kim

 

[deekaypee]

AK, as I've noticed the kids really get into the meet and greets with the animals and the play areas.

 

[golden1]

My 2 year old loves animals, especially monkeys, so we will definitely spend some time at AK. On our week long trip, we are spending 2.5-3 days at MK, one day at the beginning, middle and end of our trip, 1 day at EPCOT, 1 day at MGM and one day at AK.

 

[Leah and Emily's mom]

We have taken our girls as young as 13 months to visit all 4 parks. We never leave for naps. My daughter has always rested in the stroller and takes a nap while the older daughter gets some time with just her. I am not a fan of the idea of traveling all the way to Orlando and spend the amount of money to get in to run back to the hotel for a nap. My girls loved Epcot... so much to do at each of the parks even for the little ones. The good things with children of different ages is there is always a reason to go back.

 

[lovethattink]

I live close to Disney and have a 2 year old. His favorite park is Epcot. He could spend all day at the Living Seas. He loves the fish. When we spend weekends at Disney, we always stay on property. I've found it easiest to beat the crowds by taking advantage of the EMH. We usually don't spend a whole day in the park. 6 hours seems to be the most at one time he can handle. He really likes the shows too. The movies in the countries do not hold his attention, but they make great air conditioned nap spots. He has begun to like to make a mask for the countries.

As for AK, he likes it. He enjoys looking at the animals and the Lion King show. However, he definately likes Epcot better. In fact, he often asks if we can go in the car to Epcot.

 

[kldmom2000]

We took our girls for their first time when they were 2 and 4. Of course MK was their favorite... but they also loved MGM for Fantasmic! It suprised me that it was the favorite attraction/show of the whole week for my 4 yr old-she kept begging to go see it again! They liked the Honey I shrunk the kids playground and the Playhouse Disney show-but we didn't do much else with them there. They did like Epcot-for some reason they LOVED Journey into Imagination (I was utterly depressed at how much it sucked compared to the original ) They wanted to do Turtle Talk with Crush, but we didn't have enough time. They did enjoy the Princess breakfast in Norway and the Ice Cool? station where they could test different flavored soda. Animal Kingdom was a hit for them-they liked the Festival of the Lion King, Kilamanjaro Safaris, Camp Minnie-Mickey, the Triceratops Spin in Dinoland, the playground in Dinoland, etc....

Don't forget too about the squirting water at Downtown Disney. It was right up there with Fantasmic for my girls' favorite part of the trip! They also have them at Toontown in MK near Donald's Boat..... bring a swimsuit!!

 

[scoolover]

I think that AK is good for the little ones. My DS3 loved it. MGM had some disney channel themed stuff and they are sure to like that if they watch the disney channel. I would say that Epcot might be a little tough for the kids.

 

[Scot-n-Michelle]

On our trip last year the first park we went to was Epcot. My DD4 thought it was a total bore. From the start she thought that Disney was very boring. Once we got to the other parks she enjoyed herself. She really liked MGM with playhouse disney and beauty and the beast. We were only at AK for a short period of time but after reading posts here and watching programs on tv I am really excited to go back there. We spend all day at each of the parks. We do not go back to our room for a nap. If the kids want to nap they take turns in the stroller.

 

[amylovesdisney]

We've stayed onsite and off with small children. I definitely prefer onsite since the transportation has a more frequent pattern to it. (When we stayed off-site, the bus only came 1/hour. If you missed it, you were sunk for quite some time vs. 20 min/Disney bus)

As long as you have someone with you to help with the little ones getting on and off the bus/tram etc., you should be fine. Strollers are always difficult to manage so I just budgeted to get doubles at the parks. We used strollers until our DS was 6 & DD was 4. They napped @ the parks while we walked and waited in lines. (Great little cat-nappers by nature so were ready to go whenever we woke them up. I've seen really cranky kiddos being carried onto rides and that looks like no fun at all!)

It might seem silly to have them play so much at the playground @ MGM but you are making memories and happy kids make the best memories!

 

[TwoMonkeys]

We've been taking my dd9 and ds5 since they were babies and have found that staying onsite is soooo much easier. Especially at the end of the day when everyone is tired and cranky, being able to just hop on that Disney resort bus and head straight to the hotel was heaven. It also makes it much easier to go back to the hotel for naps although we always took our stroller and let them nap in it rather than heading back to the hotel. My children were never "lay down and take a nap" kids though. They only slept in the car or the stroller. It also just seems to continue the magic when you stay at a Disney resort. If your children will fall asleep in the stroller, I think staying in the park all day works well. I usually sat somewhere air conditioned with them while they slept and dh went to ride something that I didn't want to ride or he took dd to ride something that we knew ds wouldn't go on. It was a nice break for me to sit for awhile plus I ended up seeing someone famous twice while on nap duty in Tomorrowland (Davy Jones and Joe Montana)

Park wise, I would say AK (the animals, dino land, the shows) for sure besides MK. There are some fun things for them at MGM such as the kids shows and the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground (my kids love that) but we never felt like there was enough to spend a whole day there with them once they passed the baby stage. When we go in a week or so , we're going to spend all day at MK, all day at AK (or most of the day) and then split a day between MGM and EPCOT (the kids love The Sea and the boat rides in Mexico and Norway).

Whatever you decide to do, have a great time!!

 

[mill4023]

Our 8 and 11 yr olds love Epcot, but for your kids ages, there's not as much to do. AK is great if they like the animals and MGM is great for all the shows (Playhouse Live, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Muppets 3D)