Some trip questions: 3 year old twins

[rrsafety]

Hey folks,

My wife and I are bringing our 8 year old daughter (she's been to Disney twice) and our 3 yr, 8 month old twins (first time for them) to Disney at the end of January.

We are renting a pool home (Sunset Lakes) and will take a day or two off from the parks during the week just to relax.

At almost four years old, are the twins ready for the 3D movies (Bug's life, etc.)?

One of the twins is sensitive to loud noises. Should we bring ear plugs just in case?

As for the 8 year old, what are your thoughts on Expedition Everest and Tower of Terror?

Thanks for any hints (We did the park when my oldest was 4, but I forget everything we learned ... lol !)

 

[Disneylush]

bugs life is not for 4 year olds

 

[lighttech]

Have a great trip, what a fun age to take the kiddies!

I can't answer all your questions, but I think the break in the middle to rest and get away from all the stimulation is a fantastic idea.

We went in Nov w/ our 2 1/2 yr old DS. He really liked the 3D movies, but it took some getting used to. He sat on my lap for the first one (We started w/ PhilHarmagic) and I would periodically take the glasses off of him and remind him it wasn't real. Depending on your children, I'd say just explain it up front in a way they will understand. Point out the little blowers that blow air and water in their face so they know what to expect.

We skipped Bug's Life and Honey I Shrunk the Audience b/c I had heard they could be tough on little ones, but DS is quite a bit younger than your girls (BIG difference btw 2 1/2 and almost 4... I'm sure you know.) But Philharmagic and the Muppet 3D movie at MGM were big hits.

I've also heard that the Snow White ride can be a bit much for little ones. We skipped that too.

DS can be a bit sensitive about sounds too, but not in the extreme. He got so into the movie, he didn't even seem to notice. However, some of the fireworks displays were a little loud for him. You might want to bring the earplugs for those. They are such a small item, it wouldn't hurt to have them just in case.

Also - A great tip I read. Pick up a pack of glow sticks at a dollar store before you leave. (I got 15 for a buck.) Way less expensive than buying a $10 glowing necklace at the parks, and it helped DS a little if it was late and he got a little cranky about it being dark.

 

[4thgeermama]

We went on our first trip for all of our kids this past September. Our kiddos (ages 7,5,4 and 2) had a ball. They still talk about our wonderful trip daily. The whole experience was wonderful. You are wise to take swim breaks. Ours had almost as much fun just being in the pool.

Rides we chose to skip: all of the 3-d movies (sorry can't help you there - none of us have ever seen them, so we just decided to play it safe for the littles), snow white, haunted mansion.

Rides we wish we had skipped: The Great Movie Ride - way too scary for our crew and just a waste of time for the rest of us. Norway's Maelstrum - my 4 year old was so freaked out by the trolls! He still makes us promise not to take him on that ride again! And he was also the only one that was a little bothered by Splash Mountain, not the drop but the animated characters )

Everything else we loved! If I can help with anything else, let me know!

 

[disprincessatheart]

my 3 yr old niece was very scared by Tough to be a Bug. I'd imagine she would be by Honey I Shrunk the Audience too. I agree with pp that philharmagic is much more tame - the water squirts but it's not scary like bugs or lions attacking I would also skip HM.

Snow White is a judgement call by you on how scary the wicked witch might be. If they're scared of total darkness, I'd skip stitch too.

I think TOT and Everest depend on the kid - at 8 I would have loved them both, but it depends on how adventerous your DD is. I would say - it might be scary and let her decide.

 

[dairyqueenmom]

Our twins are 5years 10months, we have taken them the past two years to Disney and they have had an amazing time. They did not like Bugs Life, for that matter our 9 and 10 year olds did not like it either. One of our twins loved Big Thunder Mountain, the other hated it. We learned quickly that we had to be flexible. Go with the flow, and you will have a great time. Our 9 year old loves coasters and her favorite ride the last 4 years running is Tower of Terror. Our 10 year olds favorite ride the last 3 years running is Rockin-Roller Coaster. We never pressed anybody to ride a ride that scared them. We did lots of baby swaps. One idea we found that worked well was getting fast passes for all of us and if someone didn't want to go we used their fast passes for one of the kids who did like to ride for a second ride. I would go on with the girls, and my DH would wait with the boys. Then when we would get done, my DH would go and the girls would use the boys fast passes and go on with their Dad. The girls loved it they always got to ride twice. They will be bummed when the boys start to like going on all the rides. We are not in favor of taking breaks, we always go in the value season and the parks close early. So taking breaks takes too much of our valuable touring time. You will be off site so it will take even more time to leave the parks and take a break. It sound like you have two down days planned, I wouldn't stress too much about leaving the parks on our park days. Just plan breaks where the kids can run around and play, like Tom Sawyer Island, Dinosaur Dig, and Honey I Shrunk the kids playground. Have a great time!

 

[TJA]

At almost four years old, are the twins ready for the 3D movies (Bug's life, etc.)?

One of the twins is sensitive to loud noises. Should we bring ear plugs just in case?

We have twins and we took them to Disney at age 3, 3-1/2, and 4. My twins are both sensitive so we hesitated about the 3D movies, but we did end up going to the Mickey one at MK (PhilHarmagic) and one twin watched it and enjoyed it, while the other twin sat in my lap and covered her face for most of it. However, she did watch parts of it and enjoyed what she saw. We did not have ear plugs, but I did see other people with them. We went to Honey I Shrunk the Audience and the twins watched bits and pieces and didn't like that one as much as PhilHarmagic. We also tried Bugs Life and the twins didn't care for it -- they didn't watch much -- they took their 3D glasses off and sat on our laps.

 

[rrsafety]

Thanks for the great responses... we won't be taking break during the days, just taking two days off while we are there...

I'd really like to take the twins to PhilharMagic... it's one of my faves and if they watch it, they'll probably like it too... as for Bugs and Shrunk, I can do without them....