Is MGM Studio fun for 3 year old?

[JeanetteR]

Question for everyone:
Is MGM a fun park for a 3 year old child?
She loves everything Disney, but we don't know whether to take her to MGM or Animal Kingdom (she also loves animals).
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[DisneyTarheel]

I would opt for AK over MGM for a 3yo. While MGM has the Playhouse Disney show, I don't think my DS3 found much else there he enjoyed. He had a blast at AK.

 

[bear74]

MGM has playhouse Disney, Honey I shrunk the kids playground, beauty and the beast show and the little mermaid show.
AK has all the animals and the boneyard.

 

[staci]

DS loved the Little Mermaid in MGM. But he also loved the Lion King in AK, and seeing all the animals. If your kids watch cable they will love the playhouse disney show in MGM!

I would probably do AK though but it would really be a tossup for us.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

MGM all the way! It is easier on the kids and my kids loved it! When we went in June DS was 3 and DD was 1.5 (and I was preggo with DS 3months!) AK is nice but after a few animals the kids could care less. It is also easier to see the characters in MGM as they have specified times and places and the wait is minimal. The wait is also usually in the shade as well which is a nice perk! I didn't think the kids or I would enjoy MGM as much as we did. It is our favorite next to MK. I hope this helps.

 

[princessjv]

If you have Park Hoppers, I would do AK in the A.M. (A.M. EMH if staying onsight), then hit MGM in the late afternoon/evening. We can get the 'big' attractions of AK done by 3, with only seeing The Lion King Show (don't get me wrong, when possible we can spend hours just looking at animals).

From AK, take the bus to MGM and hit as many preschool headliners as you can (muppets, Disney playhouse, little mermaid, Beauty and the beast) before Fantasmic. Just my suggestion...

 

[JeanetteR]

Thanks so much for all the input and ideas!
We're so excited about our upcoming Disney World trip (taking our 3 year old grand-daughter) and just want to make sure we make the right decisions about the parks.
Magic Kingdom is the main reason we're going, and anything else will just be icing on the cake.
Thaks again to everyone!

 

[paigevz]

Just to throw in my 2 cents.................don't do EMH mornings at MGM.............the kid stuff isn't open, and my ds and I just hung around in RnRC courtyard waiting for the big boys to do the big rides.

My son was 2, and loved Playhouse Disney and Little Mermaid. Knowing him as I do, he will love this time at 4, Indiana Jones, Star Tours and the HISTK playground as well (wasn't impressed with it last time).

However, he was CRAZY about Animal Kingdom. Just nuts about it. Loved the Safari, the dinosaur statues near the boneyard and the boneyard, LOVED the animal trails, the happy meal he got at Restaurantosaurus, the ducks he watched at Flame Tree barbecue. It was his favorite park of the entire trip, even above Magic Kingdom. And now, we'll be going at his 4th birthday, and it's where he wants to spend his birthday. We didn't even go to Conservation Station that trip, and our 6 year old son had loved that on a previous trip, so it's going to be a surprise for him this time (they have educational exhibits and a petting zoo).

I love the suggestion of EMH at AK, and then hopping to MGM for Playhouse Disney and the Mermaid..............we also love Fantasmic, though it's scary for some young kids.........we had ours "help" Mickey by "punching" the bad guys (just throwing punches in the air when bad guys showed up), and he was fine.

 

[momofbgtwins]

Our 3 year old twins LOVE LOVE LOVE AK. It's their favorite park also. They really don't care for the characters on Playhouse Disney on TV, so I don't think MGM would be worth our time yet. Everything else there (MGM) seems a bit too old for them.

 

[lilostitch]

I bet you would have a great time, no matter which one you choose, they are both great! When my DD was 3, she loved MGM for Playhouse Disney and the shows. She also loved AK for the safari, seeing the animals, and the petting zoo (her favorite!).

I agree with the other poster who mentioned that AK closes early, so if you have Park Hoppers, do AK early and MGM late. We have done that in the past, and it worked out great.

 

[heart4dis]

But with a three year old, the slower you go, the better. That's why AK might be the better choice. MGM isn't a bad choice in that you can see it in a day as well, especially since you'd be skipping some of the attractions due to your child's age.

I took my nephew when he was 4. AK wasn't in existence yet. My sister and I took him to see Indiana Jones thinking he'd love it. He was terrified--but my sister said that for months after the trip it was the thing he talked about the most. He even wanted to borrow the movie to see it. He became a big fan. Funny how kids act.

 

[prestonsmomma]

My DS liked MGM better than MK I believe. There were tons of characters around and that was his "thing" when we went in November.

 

[IwannaseeMickey]

We enjoyed MGM so much more...DD was barely 3 and DS was 5 1/2...we stayed from 8:30-5:30 and had a great time. We didn't ride many rides (we did do the Great Movie Ride), but saw lots of shows and had a great time there.

 

[budbeerlady]

DD (5) loved MGM. It was very uncrowded the day we went ( a monday) and she had the characters to herself with NO WAIT!!!! She ran up to Donald and JOJO at their trailers. The pink Power Ranger, All the toy story characters (I think 1 kid was at buzz when she worked over to him) Monsters inc, etc. Donald took her by the hand and walked with her on the street. It was priceless.
She loved little mermaid (playhouse Disney had problems that day so we never saw it ) beauty and the beast, she just loved it all. And for some reason this was her favorite parade too! She liked AK but it is a totally diff kind of park from MGM, maybe if you have park hoppers do both on one day?

 

[LegoMom3]

Our last trip youngest DS was 2 1/2; he had a great time at MGM! We saw more characters out and about there (including the King of Characters! ) than anywhere else. He loved MuppetVision 3D as well.

 

[dman11]

My DD will be 3 this weekend (Happy B day honey!!) and she absolutely loved MGM when we were there over Thanksgiving. She loved Playhouse Disney and wanted to go in every time we walked by. She loved the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Fantasmic. We sat in the front row for Fantasmic and she couldn't believe what was going on and was scared at parts but talked about it for days after we got back. That was the first thing she told everyone about. We didn't make it to the HISTK playground but I know she would have loved that too.

She also liked AK but she definitely preferred MGM to AK. Hope this helps. BTW if you do go to MGM make sure you go to Sci Fi Dine in for lunch or dinner. She loved that place too.

 

[lilostitch]

Everyone is making a great point about there being SO MANY characters at MGM. I forgot about that. We even saw Mary Poppins last time, along with all the princesses, and there were no more than 3 people in any of the lines. It was great and my DD LOVED it!!

 

[pospisil]

My DS had his 4th birthday at WDW last year, and he loved MGM. MK was his favorite, with Epcot a close second, then MGM, and last AK. We are big animal lovers in my family, and expected to really love AK, but none of us were too enthusiastic about it. The characters were pretty rushed in Donald's Breakfastosaurus, Kali River Rapids was way too short, the trails were too long, DS was looking forward to Dinosaur but it scared him, and he fell asleep in Lion King. He did like Bug's Life, the boneyard and Triceratop Spin. The animals bored him after awhile, I think, though he did like the safari. He just didn't want to do it again. We'll try again when he's older, I guess. On the other hand, Star Tours in MGM was one of his favorites, he loved the stunt show thing (the one thing in all of WDW that I hated), and Fantasmic is just fantastic!

 

[Em&Bec'sMom]

OK, my two cents worth...We LOVED AK. We did an evening at MGM (dinner at Prime Time Cafe, Little Mermaid, Muppets, walked around). Kids (DD4 & DD8) were given choice of returning to MGM next day or going back to AK (after already being at AK for 6 hours) and they chose AK without a second's thought. They (and their mom) are big animal and zoo kids, so I wasn't surprised. They liked doing the Kid Cot stops at AK and wanted to complete the loop, so we went back for a few hours the second day. The Boneyard was such a big hit as well for them. It's really just a huge playground with climbs and slides, but sometimes a kid just needs a playground break in the midst of all the other "special" excitement.

 

[Steph H]

My DS 3 1/2 son liked both, but there are things to know about each.

He went on the Safari ride at AK, but the falling bridge scared him. Other than that, he LOVED the animals. Based on advice from friends, we didn't do the Bugs Life show because of the 3-D aspect.

He loved the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground and the B&B show at MGM (and the Star Wars ride--he is a Star Wars addict thanks to his daddy), but he did NOT like the Indiana Jones show because of the loud noises and fire.

You'll have fun no matter where you go!!