Must-Do activities with 4 year olds?

[neunertrip]

We've just booked our trip for November at POFQ for 7 nights -yeah!!!! While we've been to Disney many times by ourselves, we've never taken the kids. We have 4 year old triplet girls and are wondering...what are the absolute must-do activities with kids this age?
Thanks!

 

[princess lovers mom]

breakfast with Cinderella at the castle
all of the rides in fantasy land (except Snow White..it is scary)
Tom Sawyer's Island in the afternoon can be fun to walk in the shade and let the run around a bit
beauty and the beast show at DIsney Studios
boat ride from POFQ to downtown disney
Wishes, Spectromagic parade, Illuminations, Fantasmic

play in the pool

 

[ksoehrlein]

ITA with the above poster, plus:

Playhouse Disney Live on Stage, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Muppet Vision 4D, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground at Disney MGM Studios.

The Boneyard playground at Animal Kingdom. They may also like Affection Station.

Journey into Imagination with Figment, Spaceship Earth (if they are not afraid of the dark), and El Rio del Tempo at Epcot.

At the Magic Kingdom, Aladdin's Flying Carpets and Philharmagic. Plus my 4-yo DD LOVED the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, but I don't know if she's the rule or the exception.

Have a blast with your princesses!

 

[tink2]

If you don't get CRT breakfast, try the princess breakfast at Epcot- a pretty good substitute. Also, find the princesses! Jasmine is sometimes close to the Magic Carpets at MK, Belle is in France at Epcot, Snow White is in Germany in Epcot, there is a princess meet and greet most days at MGM in the afternoon- this is very short though so ask a cm or you will miss it (we missed it in Dec. b/c the year before it was in front of the hat and this past year it was at the beginning of the park).
Visit Tinkerbell's shop- DD5 LOVES this- but get out your wallet! Look for 'Tink' in there. Watch Wishes and look for Tink to fly- she flies MOST nights, but beware, weather conditions like a slight wind and she doesn't fly. Don't guarantee your girls she will fly.
But them a crown to wear when you get there- DD5 loved this!
Most of all- enjoy every minute! Four year olds at WDW are so wonderful! It is so magical for them! DD5 was so into WDW at 4 and 5- but 4 was wonderful! She 'believed' every minute! Definitely skip Snow WHite ride in Fantasyland- very scary to my DD at 3 and she still says she will never ride it again! It ruined our morning that year! Also, be aware that they may be scared of 'bad' characters- Captain Hook, Cruella, Prince John (DD busted out crying when she saw him this year).
Watch the parades- a lot of fun for 4 year olds!
Also, relax and realize not everything will be 'perfect'. Things will go awary and the trip will go on. Just enjoy the moments with your children! WDW is so magical at 4 and your family will have such magical memories to keep for a liftime!

 

[ksoehrlein]

Also, be aware that they may be scared of 'bad' characters- Captain Hook, Cruella, Prince John (DD busted out crying when she saw him this year).

My DD still thinks the characters are real, despite her preschool teachers telling her otherwise (see my ranting post from a couple weeks ago). Anyway, it is part of her imaginitive play, so she has come up with the theory that all the characters live at WDW. Mickey, of course, is the boss.

I told her that the villains will be silly and pretend to be mean but that they will never actually hurt anyone because Mickey said not to, and if they don't listen, Mickey won't let them live at WDW anymore! It's worked for her. She still won't seek out the villains, but a surprise sighting doesn't freak her out the way it used to.

 

[tink2]

Thanks ksoehrlein! Have you posted that before? I've used that word for word with my DD- I must have read it here!!! Anyway, even though I tell her they are just being silly and can't hurt her- she still has not been brave enough to go see one. She even asked one night 'what if they sneak out of WDW and come to our house'. I said they can't, Mickey and his helpers -the cms- watch them. Then she proceeded to ask when Mickey went to sleep what happened? I told her the cms took turns making sure the mean guys behaved. Talk about a worry wort!!!