Disney for boys

[e2_erin]

what is a must do for a 3 yr old boy at Disney? We are going to MK, AK and DHS.

i'd love some suggestions for character dining for a boy. We have no girls (except me, the Mom) so we dont really care about seeing princesses.

 

[Macduffy]

I'm going with two boys too! a 3 year old (turning 4 on the trip) and a 20 month old. I don't find there is anything like CRT for boys so I'm focusing on Character Dinners with their favorite Characters (ie. Mickey Mouse). They both LOVE Playhouse Disney so we'll see the Playhouse Disney show at DHS (likely multiple times). There's also the "boneyard" at AK that I think my son would like and will let him burn of some energy. DH wants him to go to the Jedi Training Camp but he's shy so I think we'll pass that up this year.
At 3 I would make sure they see their favorite characters (DS3 is so excited to see McQueen and Mader at DHS!).
I'm going to check back to see what others suggest. Great post!

 

[NHdisneylover]

For meals for a 3 year old boy I would reccomend:
Chef Mickeys (Mickey, and other fab 5 members)--Contemporary Resort
Crystal Palace (Pooh Characters)--Magick Kingdom
Whispering Canyon Cafe (no characters-but wild and fun)--Wilderness Lodge

Every kid is so different about rides and shows I don't know what to recomend for those. My own DS loved the following at that age (DS is 10 now so some things which might appeal--like Nemo show--did not exist back then):
Magic Kingdom:
Peter Pan
TTA
Indy Speedway
Buzz Lightyear
Teacups
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
Alladin's Carpets
Donald's Boat in Toontown
The Train
Small World

Animal Kingdom:
Festival of the Lion King
Playground in Dinoland
Kilamanjaro Safari
Triceratops Spin

Hollywood Studios:
Little Mermaid Show
Indianna Jones stunt Show
Beauty and Beast Show
Playhouse Disney Show
Muppet Vision 4-D
Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground

 

[momto3cboys]

Hi! I just got back from Disney World with my 3 boys (ages 5, 3, and 1). Here are some of the things they liked best:

Magic Kingdom: Goofy's Barnstormer (kid-size roller coaster), Dumbo (a classic!), The Street Party Bash (like a parade but the kids get to dance in the street), and Donald's Boat play area in Toontown.

DHS: Playhouse Disney stage show, Toy Story Mania ride, and meeting Lightening McQueen and Tow Mater.

AK: The Dino Land area (more rides for little ones there) and carnival games. They also loved an area towards the back of the park where there were drums they could play.

As for character dining, we did Chef Mickeys (the 5 main characters are there) and Crystal Palace (with Pooh and Friends). My boys loved them both! I thought the food was better at Crystal Palace, but I know most people love Chef Mickeys. Hope this helps!

 

[asoko]

When we go the must dos for DS are Buzz Lightyear in MK,TSM, meeting Buzz and Woody, meeting power rangers, seeing Lightning and Mater, Digging for dinosaurs in Dinoland. He likes going through and seeing the fish and other animals on the AK trails.

I think they should have a meal with Buzz, Woody and the Power Rangers for boys. They have so many for girls, but nothing for boys especially those not interested in Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy.

 

[jana616]

We're going in September with our two boys, aged almost 5 and just turned 2. I decided on Crystal Palace (Pooh characters), Chef Mickeys, Tusker House, and 'Ohana breakfast for our character meals. I've heard boys tend to really like the 'Ohana breakfast since it's Lilo and Stitch, and Stitch acts wild and crazy. One that's not on the dining plan, but we're doing anyway, is T Rex at Downtown Disney. Look up pictures of that, it looks amazing, and my ODS, the future paleontologist, will die of happiness when he sees it!

I am still trying to decide between the Play and Dine breakfast at DHS, and 1900 Park Fare dinner for our last meal. I know, 1900 has princesses, and you wanted to stay away from them (so did I), but I keep hearing how fun the stepsisters are, and I've heard if you tell them your son is a rich, single prince they make a big fuss. That sounded fun!

Have a great trip!

 

[e2_erin]

thank you all for your responses! I can use all the help i can get.

One question, I noticed some of the restaurants with character dining are in certain parks. Can you dine at that restaurant without actually having admission to that park that day?

I saw one that said it was in Epcot, and we dont plan to go to Epcot at all, can we still go to the restaurant there?

 

[worm761]

No. If you are eating in a restaurant in a park you must have admission to that park.

As for the meals....We love Donald's Breakfast Safari at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom.

 

[mitsybella]

Last time we went my son was almost 3 and he loved chrystal palace because Pooh is one of his favorite bears, but all of the Mickey character meals were great too, they just wear different costumes depending where it is

 

[ehrn]

My ds is 4 and goes through phases of what he likes and doesn't like. Now he's very into Buzz, TSM, Barnstormer, POTC...also loves Mickey's Philharmagic--really he likes any 3D including It's Tough to Be a Bug which some kids hate. He also loves the resort pool now which he didn't in the past. Loves the fountains outside of Once Upon a Toy @ DTD and the spitting Stitch on top of WoD store. And the Lego store!!!!! He has always loved character meals but doesn't always like to stand on line to see any characters in the park. He loves Pizza Planet, loves the video games even though he has no idea what he's doing.
He also likes any little play area we come across, esp Honey I Shrunk the Kids in DHS but don't go if it's really crowded, it's very easy to lose track of the kids in there and I am a nervous nelly...
We have a lot of park music that we listen to in the car and it's a fun way to keep the magic alive between trips.
Oh, he really loved watching the Jedi Training Academy so last trip we dressed him up in his Jedi costume from last Halloween, we got there early--just as they started picking the kids he wanted NO part of it...it's fun to watch though.
A Buzz/Woody character meal would be AWESOME, I love that idea.

 

[Grendalynn]

Coming from a mom of 3 Prince Charmings, there is loads and loads of stuff to do for Boys!! Our almost 2 year old loved Crystal Palace, Chef Mickeys and Whispering Canyon....

You think of all the Princess things and feel that the boys might be left out a bit at WDW. Well, they are slightly, but Disneyhas doen a great job of incorportaing the Boy Stuff over the years... You have all the Vilans, the Heros, the Princes, Power Rangers and Star Wars figures, you name it - not to mention the rides and themes...

There are so many rides to list: Buzz Light Year, Peter Pan, Fantasmic and so many more!! Toon Town is right there for that age and so many other things it would take FOREVER to list - each park is different and your son will have a blast no matter where you go!! We went for a week and still could have spent another week back tracking and hitting all the little things we missed!!

The Pirate and Princess party was great!! My boys are so into Pirates, (even my then 9 y/o) they loved dressing up in all the garb and the role playing!

I think no matter what you do - you will find lots of thinsg to do and you and your son will have the time of your life!! Have fun, take lots of pictures and mkae it MAGICAL!!

 

[Mom2SamandJames]

We went last August when our oldest son was 3, and here are his favorites:

Magic Kingdom: Goofy's Barnstormer, Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear ride, Dumbo, Small World

Epcot: Soarin', Nemo Ride, Talking with Crush

DHS: Toy Story Mania, Star Tours, The Little Mermaid Show

Animal Kingdom: The Lion King show!!!, Kilimanjaro Safari Ride

Character Dining: O'Hana breakfast with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, and Pluto
Crystal Palace with Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and Piglet
Hollywood & Vine with Jojo, Goliath, Leo, and June

Other Dining: Tony's Town Square in Magic Kingdom, Hoop de Doo at Fort Wilderness

My son's absolute favorite meal was Hoop De Doo. He still sings songs from it almost a year later.

You are going to have a blast with your boys. As a mom of 2 princes, I wish there were a couple boy oriented character meals like the Cinderella ones, but maybe there are some in the works.