Park touring order for a very excited 6 year old.

[dancin Disney style]

This summer we will be taking our 6 year old for her first Disney trip. We will be going to all 4 parks and probably at least 1 water park. I am unsure about the order to tour the parks in so that places like Epcot won't be boring in comparison to MK. Could anyone suggest a touring plan? We will be staying on site and also want to enjoy the hotel (pool etc.) and do some shopping outside the property.

 

[JLTraveling]

Wow, six is such a magical age. She's going to have such an incredible time, and so are you.

Sit down with your daughter with guidebooks prior to the trip. Help her understand the descriptions of the various attractions, and together you can compile a must-do list for each park. However, I would not waste time at the park criscrossing back and forth to get to the must-do's. I prefer to pick a starting point and direction of travel, and do attractions as we pass them. The only exception is for FastPass rides...but even then, I would pick up the FastPass and do the other things in the immediate area while waiting for your FastPass time. Your must-do list will help you decide whether any given attraction is worth waiting for.

Of course the MK is most kids' favorite, and many adults too. But there are plenty of attractions in the other parks to keep her busy and happy as well. Depending on your daughter's temperament, she may not want to spend a lot of time in the World Showcase at Epcot. But there are KidCot stations all over Epcot, with fun activities to keep the kids entertained. Seek those out from time and time, and that should help break up her monotony as you tour the shops and grown-up attractions.
Depending on her interests and level of thrill-seeking, Future World should be fabulous for her, with Mission:Space, Soarin', Test Track...lots of fun.

If your daughter is a movie watcher at all, she will love Disney-MGM Studios. Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, the Great Movie Ride, not to mention Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster if she likes thrills.

Lots of people enjoy hitting the parks early in the morning then heading back to the hotel for a swim and a nap before going back in the evening. If that works for you, go for it. We always found it to be a waste of time though. We much prefer to go hard from open to close on the "park days," and sprinkle in some scheduled "break days" where you don't go into the parks at all. That way you don't waste park time driving around or waiting for the bus.

You didn't mention how many days you are staying. If at all possible, I would try to plan for MK as the first park you see, and also the last. That way, if your daughter does grow bored with the other parks, you can always remind her that MK will be coming up again on your last day. If you have the park hopping option on your tickets, you can also do partial days at each of the other parks, and finish up your days at the MK.

All of the parks are just wonderful for kids. Your daughter will have an absolutely fabulous time. Make sure you get lots of pics!!

 

[dancin Disney style]

Thanks so much JLTravelling your ideas sound great. We will be staying for 9 days but we have business to conduct on 3-4 of those days, possibly less. We won't have a firm business itinerary until we arrive, hopefully they will only involve a few hours a day. We did purchase hopper passes so that we could break up our touring days if we wanted to. I agree with you on not leaving the parks for an afternoon break. The last time I visited with my older child we stayed from morning to night every day and found some quiet, shady places to sit and have a rest when ever we felt like it. It worked well with her but my 6 year old is not as laid back and can develope a "teenage" type attitude. We might have to go back to the hotel for a rest or swim.

 

[lindsey]

At EPCOT, there are kids stations in all of the countries. They have a mask available to color and items are added at each station. Another option is to buy the passport at EPCOT and have it signed in all of the countries. The CM's write their name and usually something extra in their language.

 

[leebee]

Good idea to sit down with DD ahead of time. Make sure she knows that all the parks are magical and wonderful in their own way; each is a different type of terrific! If she's prepared, she won't be bummed that WDW isn't MK, over and over.

We have found that splitting days between MK and Epcot works well. On one day, we start at Epcot (for FW), ride the monorail over to MK (provides some much-needed down time), then spend the late afternoon/evening at MK. Vice versa the next day, start at MK and take the monorail over to Epcot for WS and Illuminations. The monorail will still run you back to MK, even if it's closed, so you can get your car (but doublecheck at the TTC in the morning!). Our kids are too old to be willing to nap at WDW anymore (5,7,11), so the ride in the airconditioned monorail is a great break, but never feels like we had to leave WDW!

 

[lmjacobs]

If you're planning on Animal Kingdom, go early. It is great fun! Don't forgot some rides have the fast pass where you can swipe your ticket and get a ticket for a return time to put you closer to the front of the line. Do this for the safari ride.

The masks at Epcot are fun but do get it first off. we found out after the fact and had to back track but it was fun and we have it hanging on the wall.

 

[SCOTTOHIOCPA]

I agree with leebee about splitting up the day. We took our DD twice when she was just 4 years old and we split several days with MK or MGM mornings and then EPCOT evenings. She was much happier taking in EPCOT countries in small doses.

Also, I would suggest going to AK or EPCOT before going to MK. For some kids, once they've been to MK, the others just don't compare. Although you can probably prevent this problem by sitting down with your DD and going over all the attractions at each park as someone suggested. Our DD didn't have a problem with this since we let her know about it in advance.