Parks with Young Boys

[AKA Jane Random]

We haven't been to Disney in several years so I'm super excited to say that we are leaving Friday! I told the boys that they have dentist appts that morning but instead of taking them to the dentist I'm taking them to the airport. Woo Hoo! Since we haven't been in several years what do we need to know? What's new? What would a 6 and 8 year old boy like to do?

Also, has anyone been to Lego Land? We were thinking of using one of our days to go there.

 

[g-dad66]

Some of the favorite things of my grandsons who are in that age group are:

Test Track in Epcot
Club Cool in Epcot
Tom Sawyer's Island in Magic Kingdom
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Magic Kingdom
Haunted Mansion in Magic Kingdom
Toy Story Mania in Hollywood Studios
Star Tours in Hollywood Studios
Indiana Jones Stunt Show in Hollywood Studios
Kali River Rapids in Animal Kingdom
swimming at the resort pool

and their favorite attraction of all.............



catching lizards wherever they can find them...

 

[MickeyMaz]

Better yet, use a half day and go to downtown disney and let them play at the Lego store there.

 

[sharonabe]

Couple more "boy" things:

Lights, Motors, Action at HS
the minature train layout in Germany in Epcot
the "jumping" fountains outside Imagination at Epcot
driving their own car at the Speedway in MK

 

[ascwilson]

I will add Buzz Lightyear in MK, and the Tea Cups in MK if they like to spin themselves crazy! Have a great trip.

 

[Camno's Mama]

My boys are the same age as yours...in addition to the ones mentioned:

EPCOT:
Soarin'
Living on the Land (they LOVE this)
Turtle Talk with Crush
Innoventions exhibits...they loved the recycling one where you push the recycling truck around and sort the garbage and such.
Spaceship Earth (they ride this several times, usually)

AK:
The safari ride...we usually go on this and get a fast pass for later, as well.
The gorillas (I think they're on the Pagani Trail)
The parade

MK:
-Splash Mountain (if they like water rides...they WILL get wet. I have one that really loves this ride and one that hates it.)
-A second mention for the Tomorrowland Speedway. They LOVE this.
-Tea cups
-One of mine had always wanted to ride the horse pulled carriage down Main Street, so we did that last time. They thought it was really fun. It meets in front of the train depot.

HS:
-the stunt shows are huge hits
-A second for Toy Story Mania...head over there first thing in the morning though. If you get on right away, make sure that you grab fp's for later. They will love this ride.

DTD:
-the Lego store is a lot of fun...they have a building area outside. And they have some amazing and enormous creations.
-there is a car building store somewhere down there if they/you are into that thing. It's kind of like Build a Bear for cars. Avoid it if you don't want to spend the cash though. I don't think it's in the Marketplace, so it's easy to avoid. We've actually never been there for that reason, but I've seen lots of little boys carrying the boxes around. They were really excited about them.
-World of Disney...has pirate stuff and lots of souveneirs. They love going there and picking something out.
-Pin Traders (I think that's what it's called.) My eight-year-old really got into the pin thing this year...the six-year-old thought they were fun, too. They didn't trade, but they like using their money to pick them out as souveneirs. This store has a really good selection.

Have a great trip!

 

[MusicMouse]

Be sure to sign up for the Jedi Training Academy at DHS. It's the one activity my DS7 ad DS 4 are begging to do when we go next spring. Signups are near the Sounds Dangerous building right after rope drop!

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

It's probably too late to get in, but worth checking...but my 8-year-old son LOVES the Pirate's League (so does my middle daughter now, too ).

It's one of the best experiences at WDW IMO, so I suggest looking into that if they are into pirates at all.

And no one mentioned Tower of Terror! My kids love ToT!

 

[labdogs42]

Better yet, use a half day and go to downtown disney and let them play at the Lego store there.

Yeah, and if you don't spend the $75 a person to go to Legoland, you can buy them some Legos instead! I know my kid would much rather have that option!

My 6.5 year old loves all the things mentioned plus the Kim Possible adventure thing, pin trading, and collecting autographs.

 

[larryz]

I told the boys that they have dentist appts that morning but instead of taking them to the dentist I'm taking them to the airport.

Be careful with this -- you might cause long-term psychological damage the next time you actually have to take them to the dentist!

 

[AKA Jane Random]

Wow! So many great ideas!!!

I would never have thought about things like the Innoventions exhibit or Club Cool.

And good call on Jedi Training. That is something they would love.

We are staying at Pop Century. We've never been there before but are hoping that it will be a good experience.

Is it better to use the bus system or drive your car to the Ticket Center and jump on the monorail?

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Wow! So many great ideas!!!

I would never have thought about things like the Innoventions exhibit or Club Cool.

And good call on Jedi Training. That is something they would love.

We are staying at Pop Century. We've never been there before but are hoping that it will be a good experience.

Is it better to use the bus system or drive your car to the Ticket Center and jump on the monorail?

We prefer to use the Disney transportation, especially to MK, because the buses drop you off right by the entrance whereas if you drive you still have to take a tram from the parking lot to the monorail/ferry loading and take the monorail and ferry. You can drive to the other parks if you want, but we almost always use the buses. You won't have to pay a parking fee since you're staying on-site.

I have a 9-yr-old and his absolute favorite is Test Track. He likes pretty much everything, though!

 

[kohlby]

My oldest son was 6.5 years old on our last trip. The biggest highlight of the trip was the Fantasmic! show for him. The second best thing was the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. His third favorite was Ellen's Energy Adventure, but I'm pretty sure that one isn't typical! My kids absolutely love the Innovention buildings. Test Track and Star Tours are two of the favorite rides.

In the past three trips, we've only had one day at Epcot, so we've only had time for future world. We're looking forward to visiting World Showcase as well this year because I know my older two will love Kim Possible.

I couldn't rationalize the cost of LegoLand, so we're not doing it this trip. I did score some one day US/IOA tickets with my credit card points so I'm doing IOA. If you have some extra money for tickets and they're Harry Potter fans, I'd consider IOA over Legoland.

 

[Bnearing]

We just got back from WDW and my son's favorite activities were:

The Laugh Floor in Tomorrowland (he made us go back twice).

Buzz Lightyear's Spaceranger Spin (his absolute favorite thing in all the parks)

The gift shop at the end of Pirates of the Carribean. We couldn't get him out of there!

The people mover in Tomorrowland. 7 times. 7 TIMES we rode this!

Toy Story Mania. Need I say more?

Meeting Phineas and Ferb in DHS.

Going to the T-Rex cafe, the Lego Store and Once Upon a Toy in DTD (you can made your own light saber there!)

 

[AKA Jane Random]

Thank you so much everyone who posted! We had an amazing trip and there are lots of things we wouldn't have known to do without first looking at this. Yeah! Cant wait to go back!

 

[HowdyHeidi]

DS7 just went and he loved every single ride, thrill ride, kiddie ride, pressed pennies, characters, etc etc etc except Dinosaur. Your boys are going to have a blast.

Someone gave me some advice that if you try the ride once and want to know for sure if they liked it, ask them if they want to go again. They will say no if they didn't like it...