help me pick parks with young kids!

[moesy4]

Currently we have five day base tickets with one bonus feature. We are going from February 20-27 but are driving the bulk of the day the Saturday we arrive (unless we happen to get cheap flights) and will be leaving mid afternoon the last Saturday. As of now, our plan is to rest Sunday at the cabin, do hs Monday, Mk Tuesday, Epcot Wednesday, Mk Thursday, ak Friday, and then maybe Disney springs on Saturday. We are staying one night at pop century Saturday before moving off site Sunday.
Our kids are 6, 2, and 1. Our two year old can be awful without sleeping, so we are taking it fairly low key.
So questions..should we skip a certain park with such young kids or hit them all? We could possibly add a sixth day and do a partial day on Sunday, but dh really wants a low key trip and I am worried it might be pushing it. He is doing me a favor going lol
Any park recommendations or schedule recommendations?

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We put our day of rest in the middle of the week (kids were 6, 5, and 2) which ended up being really helpful. We skipped HS just because the kids never got into Toy Story despite us having the movie and apps and books and there isn't really much Cars there and no one was into Star Wars yet. This year we're going to give it a try. It probably just depends on what your kids are into. Ours liked Nemo better so Epcot made more sense. Our middle daughter really loves animals so that allowed AK to make the cut.

 

[kohlby]

I'd hit them all. It's hard to know what your kids will like best unless you try them. As for the 2nd day at MK, my kids actually preferred Epcot - all three of them preferred it even at 3 years old. Many prefer MK. So, you never know! (Though I do think EP or MK for the second day makes the most sense due to how big those parks are).

Another thing I'd consider is to move your Disney Springs day to the middle of your trip as a rest day. When our kids were young, we found we really needed that rest day. I wouldn't add a 6th park day in your case.

 

[Paigesmom2013]

I think you should hit all the parks and definitely do two days at MK. You'll be more relaxed, I think. You could hang out Sunday and hit Disney Springs Sunday night. The kids might be ready for a little diversion by then. Our first night we're eating at Chef Mickey's and maybe riding the resort monorail for a bit.

 

[ptlohmysoul]

Currently we have five day base tickets with one bonus feature. We are going from February 20-27 but are driving the bulk of the day the Saturday we arrive (unless we happen to get cheap flights) and will be leaving mid afternoon the last Saturday. As of now, our plan is to rest Sunday at the cabin, do hs Monday, Mk Tuesday, Epcot Wednesday, Mk Thursday, ak Friday, and then maybe Disney springs on Saturday. We are staying one night at pop century Saturday before moving off site Sunday.
Our kids are 6, 2, and 1. Our two year old can be awful without sleeping, so we are taking it fairly low key.
So questions..should we skip a certain park with such young kids or hit them all? We could possibly add a sixth day and do a partial day on Sunday, but dh really wants a low key trip and I am worried it might be pushing it. He is doing me a favor going lol
Any park recommendations or schedule recommendations?

It really depends on whether your kids will sleep in a stroller. If not, you can see if they might sleep at the baby care centers. Otherwise, some people leave the parks for naps. We never did, as they slept in the stroller at that age.

To get the advantage of staying on-site and booking FP+ 60 days out, you might need to go on a day you are at pop century (I'm not positive about this.) If you want FP+ at 7DMT, Anna & Elsa, or the parade or Wishes, you might need the advantage.

We skipped Hollywood Studios until our kids were older, so I would advise skipping that park unless your 6 yo (or a parent) is very interested in something there. I never thought to take my little ones to the shows there until they were at least 3. MK will be the main park where you can ride rides with your little ones. Make sure you bring plenty of snacks and help them get there naps, so no melt downs.

 

[quagmire0]

I find MK and EP to be the most little kid friendly parks. Lots of indoor rides to keep them busy and out of the heat. AK and DHS are better for older kids and adults - at least until they do some expansion. Both can get pretty crowded, IMO, and there aren't enough rides (especially for younger kids) to keep them happy. So, my advice would be to have at least two MK days - that way you can take your time and not feel like you're in a rush. If I had to choose between DHS and AK, I'd go DHS.

We normally do offsite and take a break mid-day for lunch and naps. Not sure how successful that will be at Pop Century. But you can at least take a 'break' and let the kids wind down and cool off. Ditto on the snacks and drinks. You can get free refills of water around the parks, just bring cups for the kids (and reuseable water bottles for the adults).

Keep them cool, keep them fed and watered, and get them rest.

 

[ABCastillo]

We usually skip DHS (5, 2 and 1). Although they LOVE Sofia, Jake and the whole Disney Jr. gang, they love MK so much more. So we do 2 to 3 days at MK instead.

 

[disneypolybride2008]

plan days to do nothing!! our DD 2 was great at disney, but when we took her back at 4 and also had the baby DD 1, all she did was whine about wanting to be at the pool. She LOVED meeting the characters though... it was whine whine whine.. SMILES! lol, that is how the whole trip felt. We are going again in April and we are not planning on the parks at all. I may take DD 1 off while DD4 plays in the pool with DH. Plan pool time, it is apparently more fun than the parks.

 

[Rosey_Rosetta]

I think the park that would be the least engaging for young ones is probably Animal Kingdom, but even the things there would make them happy, I'm sure.

I'd consider taking time out of the middle of the day in order to take naps, and not just for the kids!