Magic Kingdom for 3.75 year old

[DisneyDillyDally]

Heading to WDW in Sept. with my spouse and our 3 (will be almost 4) year anniversary old.

I’m trying to get a sense of what I should plan to do. Realistically I think he will be too young for fireworks. Tentatively planning one day in Adventureland and Frontierland and one day in fantasy land. Any itinerary suggestions? We will be more concerned with avoiding melt downs, than with doing all the rides.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Heading to WDW in Sept. with my spouse and our 3 (will be almost 4) year anniversary old.

I’m trying to get a sense of what I should plan to do. Realistically I think he will be too young for fireworks. Tentatively planning one day in Adventureland and Frontierland and one day in fantasy land. Any itinerary suggestions? We will be more concerned with avoiding melt downs, than with doing all the rides.

my grandkids would all be disappointed not to see the fireworks at almost 4 years old so yes we do fireworks. biggest problem we have had with that age was length of lines which are a lot longer than our small local park.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

I don't know how long you plan on being in the parks, but I doubt that you could make a full day out of either Frontierland or Adventureland. What is he tall enough to ride and what are your must-dos? I'd start there. Touring Plans has different itineraries and also allows you to plug in what you'd like to do and create your own.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

This does not seem like a very well thought out plan.

I don't know your child like you do so maybe your child is very different than the average.

But honestly most small children do enjoy fireworks.

Also the way you're trying to split the park into only a couple of lands each day and skipping other lands all together doesn't seem effective.

My suggestion is to look at ALL the attractions and decide what ones are must do's, what ones are you'd like to be able to get to but if you can't you can't, and what you would like to just skip altogether.
Then check off your must do's and move on to your you'd like to do's and just see how much you can accomplish and try to avoid melt downs by taking some time to rest when needed.

 

[DisneyDillyDally]

Perhaps my question wasn’t very clear - I think what I am wondering is what rides and experiences in Magic Mingdom do almost four year old boys really enjoy? I know what I enjoy as an adult, but less clear on kids.

With the time change between our home and WDW, late night attractions like fireworks are likely not going to happen.

 

[katyjeka]

I would read up on the height restrictions and have an idea of what rides your child will be permitted to ride. Maybe start with "easy" rides and work your way up to the more challenging. Of course we tried this with our 2nd and started with It's a Small World and she was terrified!! She rode and loved Thunder Mountain a little later, go figure..

 

[Spunky946]

I’d start with any ride without height requirements. Buzz, Pooh, Peter Pan, little mermaid, small world and dumbo. He also probably be tall enough for the barnstormer and maybe seven dwarfs.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Perhaps my question wasn’t very clear - I think what I am wondering is what rides and experiences in Magic Mingdom do almost four year old boys really enjoy? I know what I enjoy as an adult, but less clear on kids.

With the time change between our home and WDW, late night attractions like fireworks are likely not going to happen.

Read the ride descriptions and decide for yourself what your almost 4 year old would be interested in.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

MK is geared towards kids/families, so he will probably enjoy anything he is tall enough for. At that age my boys loved Pirates of the Caribbean, Barnstormer, Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan, Dumbo, and Small World. Haunted Mansion can be scary for some kids, but mine were always ok with it.

 

[TwinkleKS]

My children have always liked all of the rides, unless it was something they were scared of. What they are scared of changes in my house from kid to kid, day to day. At the age of four there was nothing my son wouldn't ride that he was tall enough to ride, and he was probably tall enough for almost every ride in MK by that age ... maybe not Space Mountain, but that's about it.

I personally don't feel like there is enough in each individual land to warrant a full day to just stay in Tomorrowland for instance. Plus you will want to use FP+ for what you can.

 

[DisneyDillyDally]

My children have always liked all of the rides, unless it was something they were scared of. What they are scared of changes in my house from kid to kid, day to day. At the age of four there was nothing my son wouldn't ride that he was tall enough to ride, and he was probably tall enough for almost every ride in MK by that age ... maybe not Space Mountain, but that's about it.

I personally don't feel like there is enough in each individual land to warrant a full day to just stay in Tomorrowland for instance. Plus you will want to use FP+ for what you can.

Thanks - could see us just going to MK for 3 or 4 hours in a morning, and then going to hotel to swim, and possibly not returning in the evenings. Is 3 or 4 hours in a park what you would call a full day?

 

[sponica]

Thanks - could see us just going to MK for 3 or 4 hours in a morning, and then going to hotel to swim, and possibly not returning in the evenings. Is 3 or 4 hours in a park what you would call a full day?

3-4 hours is not generally considered a full day in MK. For a first time visit, I would plan on spending 6 to 8 hours on one side of the park one day then spend 6 to 8 hours on the other side of the park the next day.

 

[TwinkleKS]

Thanks - could see us just going to MK for 3 or 4 hours in a morning, and then going to hotel to swim, and possibly not returning in the evenings. Is 3 or 4 hours in a park what you would call a full day?

We usually spend longer than that in the parks and always have. The first big trip we did was when the twins turned 4 and DS was 2. I'm guessing most days we spent 6+ hours in the park. Some days maybe less, some more, some we may have left and come back later. If the kids were exhausted they would fall asleep in their strollers for a quick nap. I swear my son slept through most meals until he was 5 or 6 when we were at the parks.

Play it by ear and see how your son does.

 

[DisneyDillyDally]

We usually spend longer than that in the parks and always have. The first big trip we did was when the twins turned 4 and DS was 2. I'm guessing most days we spent 6+ hours in the park. Some days maybe less, some more, some we may have left and come back later. If the kids were exhausted they would fall asleep in their strollers for a quick nap. I swear my son slept through most meals until he was 5 or 6 when we were at the parks.

Play it by ear and see how your son does.

3-4 hours is not generally considered a full day in MK. For a first time visit, I would plan on spending 6 to 8 hours on one side of the park one day then spend 6 to 8 hours on the other side of the park the next day.

Thanks for the input. I’ve been to MK before, and knowing my family I think 3-4 hours in MK is probably all we are good for before tempers might fray (thinking primarily of my husband and son - I would stay all day if it was just me).

Doing one side one day and then the other side the next day is a good idea - would minimize time spent retracing ground already covered.

 

[rdaky]

To be honest, you are not going to do much at all if you're only there for 3-4 hours. Even when we have cut our day short, gone back to the hotel and not returned, we have still already spent at least 5-6 hours in the park. That's a short day. A long day for us would be 12 hours.

There are a lot of family friendly rides and all of them will have lines, even during off-season. That is something to consider. I would make a list of the rides or activities that interest him the most (show him the website, youtube videos, etc) and see what he likes and go to those first.

Adding that the fireworks at Magic Kingdom are spectacular and worth returning at night. It was my 3 year old's absolute favorite part of our trip a few months ago.

 

[sponica]

Thanks for the input. I’ve been to MK before, and knowing my family I think 3-4 hours in MK is probably all we are good for before tempers might fray (thinking primarily of my husband and son - I would stay all day if it was just me).

Doing one side one day and then the other side the next day is a good idea - would minimize time spent retracing ground already covered.

Honestly I've been to WDW 7 times, and I find MK overwhelming, the upside is I know what I want and just make a strategic entry for those parts....but my next trip my kiddo will be 4 and want to do more stuff there....I'm already overwhelmed thinking about it.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Thanks - could see us just going to MK for 3 or 4 hours in a morning, and then going to hotel to swim, and possibly not returning in the evenings. Is 3 or 4 hours in a park what you would call a full day?

No way is that a full day by anyone's standards with or without a small child.
There is so much dto do in MK that you really need 2 full days to get it all in.
A full day would be open to close and about 12-15 hours.
If you only went from say 9am to noon you can get a number of things done but that's not enough to see THAT much and most kids find an attraction they want to do a second or even third time.
I'd either get there at rope drop and stay until you have had enough for the day or go at rope drop and then leave for a few hours and go back in the late afternoon.
In a way it seems like you are thinking of Disney World like "just another local amusement park" and its not.

 

[NJlauren]

We took my daughter at this age in March She loved it’s a small world, the carousel, barnstormer, mine train, buzz, people mover (ok maybe more me and hubby), Aladdin’s flying carpet, Pooh, speedway, meeting the characters was a huge hit.

She could take or leave Peter Pan, won’t go on pirates.

We usually lasted between 6-8 hours in a park. Some days less but I think 8ish was the most. I would plan for the longer hour and when he gets cranky head out. Easier to just hope on another ride then head back later. Just my opinion.

They sometimes surprise you, and sometimes they fall asleep in the stroller.

Also our last park day was added the day before due to weather, we ended up going to HS to meet woody and buzz then went to MK we did FP and just kept getting more it was an awesome day! So always try and grab more FP if you can! Be flexible and have a great time!

 

[TreeFalls]

We went when my daughter was that age, and her favorites were seven dwarfs mine train, splash mountain, and the tomorrowland speedway, but she also loved several rides I never really think about (astro orbiter, carousel, tea cups). We did not do fireworks because we were more concerned about getting enough sleep (and we had an infant along). The parade in the afternoon was also a big hit.

And any and all characters! I have a very cute video of her meeting Mary Poppins- she had no idea who MP was, but had a long detailed conversation with her.

I don't think there is a big need to divide up by land. It's not too far to walk between the lands.

(And my favorite MK tip- get the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards. Even if you don't do anything with them there, my kids still play with them at home, they are cute and a nice free souvenir.)

 

[DisneyDillyDally]

We took my daughter at this age in March She loved it’s a small world, the carousel, barnstormer, mine train, buzz, people mover (ok maybe more me and hubby), Aladdin’s flying carpet, Pooh, speedway, meeting the characters was a huge hit.

Thanks! This is helpful - I haven’t been on half of these and have never met characters when I have gone in the past.