Help with planning which parks for Baby’s first trip

[FSU Girl]

We are taking our 17 month old baby for the first time into the parks and I’m trying to figure out which parks to do. We are staying at a Magic Kingdom resort and baby naps 3 hours in the middle of the day so figure we will either go back to same park or park hop, but not sure. Right now I have the following reserved:
Arrival day Friday: Magic Kingdom
Saturday: Epcot
Sunday: animal Kingdom
Monday: Magic Kingdom
Tuesday: Hollywood Studios (also day we leave)

I’m wondering if I should switch Magic Kingdom with Animal Kingdom because we’ll probably arrive late afternoon and have the baby nap on the drive there. So we won’t have much time and that park doesn’t seem to have too much to do for a little one. But not sure Magic Kingdom two days in a row would make sense? I can move all the days around except Monday at Magic Kingdom since I got cinderellas Royal table for lunch and the picture thing they’re doing in the parks forget what it’s called.

 

[CarolynFH]

MK by far has more for your baby to do than AK, so I would switch them even though it means spending two days in a row in MK. However, don't discount AK too much - the Safari, the train to Rafiki's, the animal trails, the Lion King show, Navi River Journey and Triceratop Spin could probably take up an afternoon pretty well.

 

[holden]

MK and AK will have the most things interesting to a baby. EP and DHS have less but still lots to look at.

We took our DD14 when she was 18 months old. She doesn’t remember it, but we do. It was a much slower paced trip which was nice. We just followed her cues. If she had enough, we left the park. She napped in the stroller or on transportation.

 

[nikem3]

We take our 16 month old quite a bit. I don't think you need to switch anything. I don't know if its worth doing magic kingdom two times in a row. As the poster above said, animal kingdom has a bunch of things for the baby to do. Our 16 month old loves to walk down the animal trails and see the different animals. Loves exploring in the petting zoo, the safari, doing the train ride, and watching the kite show. Plus he will play in the dinosaur play area a bit too.

 

[Marthasor]

We are taking our 17 month old baby for the first time into the parks and I’m trying to figure out which parks to do. We are staying at a Magic Kingdom resort and baby naps 3 hours in the middle of the day so figure we will either go back to same park or park hop, but not sure. Right now I have the following reserved:
Arrival day Friday: Magic Kingdom
Saturday: Epcot
Sunday: animal Kingdom
Monday: Magic Kingdom
Tuesday: Hollywood Studios (also day we leave)

I’m wondering if I should switch Magic Kingdom with Animal Kingdom because we’ll probably arrive late afternoon and have the baby nap on the drive there. So we won’t have much time and that park doesn’t seem to have too much to do for a little one. But not sure Magic Kingdom two days in a row would make sense? I can move all the days around except Monday at Magic Kingdom since I got cinderellas Royal table for lunch and the picture thing they’re doing in the parks forget what it’s called.

I would keep it as is. Since you are staying at a MK resort, it will be less stressful to simply go to MK, late afternoon, when you arrive. I think Animal Kingdom has quite a bit for a baby to do - Navi, Lion King, Safari, the animal trails, Rafiki's Planet Watch, Triceratop Spin, bird show, etc.

 

[philharmagic fan]

We just got back Sunday from a 6-day stay at Bay Lake Tower with an 18-month-old who napped from noon-1:30 every day. I reserved 3 days at MK and one each at the other parks, but if I had it to do over I would have booked all our park reservations at parks other than MK, gone to them in the morning, and hopped to MK after naptime, as it's much easier to get to MK from an MK resort than it is to get to another park (we generally walked but took the monorail a couple of times). We bought Genie+ four of the days and made a late afternoon LL reservation as we left our morning park. Worked pretty well except for the fact that you can't really choose your LL time and the available slot sometimes moved EARLIER as we were booking.

 

[MomOTwins]

MK and AK will have the most things interesting to a baby. EP and DHS have less but still lots to look at.

I dunno, our baby LOVED Epcot. The Seas pavilion. Living with the land. Spaceship earth. Frozen. Three Caballeros. The TRAINS near germany (spent hours there). The koi pond. The maze near the UK. And during festivals they sometimes have playgrounds or butterfly gardens.

 

[Aimeedyan]

AK has always been my toddler's favorite. Once he started toddling around (13 months or so), AK was where it was at for him. We often ride nothing (maybe Triceratops Spin and Safari, if the line is short) but instead do all the trails, train to Rafiki, and the Dig Site.

MK is challenging if lines are long + there are few places where it's safe for him to walk.

We love Epcot: aquarium, jumping fountains, never a line for Mickey, playspace at Figment, two playgrounds in future world, maze in UK, spaces in the countries to wander freely, trains (never wants to leave), plus 6 rides with no height restrictions.

HS is the biggest struggle for us; we don't visit it frequently right now.

 

[sponica]

I will never understand why people think there's nothing for the infant/toddler set in Epcot. That was the best park with a 20 month old when we went.

With a 17 month old, just go with the flow. I would keep MK on arrival day, as you'll be right there and it's easier to do once you arrive. AK I feel like you'd be rushing to get everything dropped off and then head to the buses.

 

[nikem3]

AK has always been my toddler's favorite. Once he started toddling around (13 months or so), AK was where it was at for him. We often ride nothing (maybe Triceratops Spin and Safari, if the line is short) but instead do all the trails, train to Rafiki, and the Dig Site.

MK is challenging if lines are long + there are few places where it's safe for him to walk.

We love Epcot: aquarium, jumping fountains, never a line for Mickey, playspace at Figment, two playgrounds in future world, maze in UK, spaces in the countries to wander freely, trains (never wants to leave), plus 6 rides with no height restrictions.

HS is the biggest struggle for us; we don't visit it frequently right now.

Whats funny is my child even loves HS. Cars is his favorite obsession right now. So the Cars area, he likes to run around and look at the different vehicles. Also, likes to watch the lightning mcqueen show. He loves meeting Minnie Mouse and now Mickey. He really enjoys the Disney Junior Dance party and the characters he can meet there. Every park has some fun things he can do I've found that is different than just the rides you can do.