To me, DCA is worth it. For sure, TOT is better at WDW, TSMM is apparently exactly the same. But the feel of DCA is very unique. Bugs Land is very neat, and you have kids in that 4-6 age range. You cannot get those rides at WDW. Animations at DCA is wonderful. Lots of hands on activities that the Animations at DHS doesn't have. And again, one of the best things DCA has going for is the crowds, or lack therof. I agree with Hound, the food options over there are very good, always less crowded and a wonderful place to escape the crowds at DL. In essence, as far as theming and crowds, there is no place at WDW that is like DCA.
I'll also add that while Screamin isn't themed per se, it is a tribute the old wooden style coasters we all grew up with. Its a lengthy ride as far as coasters go, outdoors (at night the views are incredible although short since you are mostly moving) and its very smooth. RNRC is incredible, but to me, being on an outdoor coaster that lasts longer than a minute is worth some tradeoff in the theming department. Heck, I did Manta, Kracken, all the Universal coasters plus RNRC and EE last month, and I still like Screamin as well or even better than some of those because it just takes me back to my childhood and its not over so fast! But that's just me, and hey, I'm weird.
But its around 2.5 minutes long and I love the fact you are launched very fast up the first hill, as opposed to the slow climb most coasters make up the first hill.
The Redwood Creek Challenge Trail is also something your kids would enjoy. Again, not all of these things at either DCA or DL can be experienced in a day or even day and a half. Its basically $25 to get the hopper. To me its worth it, of course for the OP it may not. But I know I'd pay that gladly at WDW if it would get me into a park, walking distance from another, that has very low crowds, even during the peak seasons. Bugs Land has Fantasyland style attractions with very little waits. Kids love that area, at least mine did at that age. So for me, if it cost me $25 a head but I could go over there with my kids, have lunch, let them explore Bugs Land, ride Monster's Inc and maybe run around the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, all away from the crowds of DL, it would be money well spent. But I'll die broke for sure!
I will add that one of the reasons I keep talking about crowds is that DL walkways clog up like nothing I have ever seen at WDW. Its an older park and whenever I go there, now that I am more used to WDW, I do feel more of a sardine type feeling. So I love going over to DCA and just being able to walk around easier. There's not much shade and of course there's construction going on now, but I just love to go over there for a bit and feel almost like I got a break, but yet still got some park time in. And I am not at all saying WDW doesn't get human traffic jams, but to me, DL is much worse in that regard, especially on a summer day, so being able to go over to DCA to escape some of that is a must do for me. And the fact that you can hold fastpasses at DCA and DL at the same time is so nice. Like Hound mentioned, you can fastpass yourself into a tizzy at DL/DCA if you know how to do that (which you do since you're a WDW vet) and ride so much, without the lines. If I was going to WDW for one day I'd never hop. Because there is no way to hop anywhere in WDW without investing some serious time. At DL that's not true. You can hop back and forth with a short walk and no extra bag check (Bags are checked outside the Espanlande area. So once you get inside that, as long as you don't leave that area to go to a hotel or DTD, you don't have to go through that process again). The sheer size of WDW parks make hopping even between Epcot and DHS pretty time consuming, at DL and DCA its not.
And again, if you can, make sure you do see the Electrical Parade if you have two nights. That alone is well worth the upgrade on a ticket.
So while I can't promise DCA will deliver $25 worth of thrills and theming, I do think that given the amount a total vacation costs, its peanuts and might very well offer you some much needed escape from crowds with some neat theming and rides thrown in. I just know that I visit both WDW and DL regularly (in that I go to each at least once and usually more than once per year since 2003). I love DCA. My family always has, I never understood the bad rap it got(gets) and even though the changes are exciting, to me the old way was great and I'll miss a lot of that once its gone. And Sherry is right, that park will be packed crowded all too soon. I know that most of the friends I have who are WDW vets and think they don't want to visit DCA based on "its just like MGM" come back and thank me for telling them to go over there, even if only for a couple of hours.
P.S. The $25 is for the upgrade to a one day hopper from a base ticket. If you go with a two day, its more I suppose, although I don't even think they sell a single park ticket beyond the one day but I could be wrong. I think if you get a two day, its automatically a hopper.
Okay, that got really long winded! Sorry bout that. You can't make a bad choice in the end. You'll either stay at DL and really concentrate on that, or you'll upgrade and have more to experience!
) and neither is Dumbo. The absolute requirements are (in order of importance):
