Tell me your one (or more!) Disney MUST see/do!

[acornell2]

We are getting so close to our trip (December) and we are all really excited! I have never been to Epcot or Animal Kingdom, haven't been to MK since I was 7 (LONG time ago!) and MGM & Universal were short trips about 8 years ago. DD & DS have never been to Disney.

What was your favorite or can't miss or wish you could do again thing at any of the parks? My DD is 6, and my DS will be 2 if that helps. My husband would be happy just walking in the gates and wandering all day (neanderthal!). I want to have some things in mind so that we aren't on the flight home kicking ourselves because of all the great stuff we missed! We are getting 4 or 5 day park hopper passes and we are staying offsite.

I hope this gets LOTS of replies...list one, list 'em all! I KNOW there are lots of favorites. Tell me about them! (I'll even take non-Disney florida can't miss things!)

Thanks very much!!!

 

[dzneelvr]

For great and age-appropriate character interactions, I would suggest one character meal at Chef Mickey's and one with the EPCOT Princesses. Neither of these have characters that could "scare" your kids and the EPCOT one is a hidden gem. DO NOT WORRY about kicking yourself on your way home about what you "missed". That would be a huge mistake. you will never do it all in one trip, let alone 15 years worth. Head into each park and work your way from the rear up to the front, using as many fastpasses as you can. AK has a wonderful children's area that was virtually empty when our kids were that age and visited it. If you're going around the holidays, the crowds will be intimidating so make sure you make all your dining ressies before you go. Take it easy and pay attention to your kids. When they get tired and fussy, it's time to head back for a nap and some quiet time. WDW is a lifetime journey...it is never a destination.

 

[tinkwannabe2]

Wishes! It is so beautiful!

 

[pixie dust 112]

With little kids (or big kids) don't miss Philarmagic in the MK!

Also I Love It's a small world!

 

[belle&beast]

We took our kids in January they were 2 and 4 at the time.
Don't miss: Playhouse Disney & Fantasmic in MGM, Turtle Talk with Crush & Test Track in Epcot, Storytime with Belle and all of Fantasyland in MK, Festival of the Lion King in AK. These are just a few of DD5's favorite memories. (except for Test Track, that's mine!)

 

[Camden'smom]

Magical Beginnings at Magic Kingdom. Offered Sunday, Wednesday and Friday mornings an hour before the park opens. Check with your travel agent to make sure they are still offering this in December. My 2 year old son had a ball. They open Fantasyland early and the characters are out interacting and playing games with the children. Sometimes the characters will even ride their rides with the kids. This is offered to those staying inside the parks with children 5 and under, however all family members may enter and participate. Have a great time!

 

[Desnik]

On every trip we take we cannot miss Illuminations. I can't even tell you how many times we have seen it and it never gets old for us! We love it. Also a new favorite has been Mickey's Philharmagic. It's just so great!!!
Also DD and I always go on Spaceship Earth another favorite of ours.
DD(8) always has to ride Goofy's Barnstormer, DS(3) loves the Buzz ride, and we all go on the Haunted Mansion ride at least 5 times during our visits!! The kids have never bben afraid of it.
We also just love people watching and just soaking in the atmosphere! Oh another favorite not to miss thing for us is the parade at MGM. Almost every character is there, including playhouse Disney, Muppets, Cars, etc...

 

[RIDisneyFan]

We just got back late Tuesday night. Our must sees would be:

Fantasmic
Mickey's Philharmagic
Wishes
Soarin'
Expedition Everest
Tower of Terror
Lion King show
Turle Talk with Crush

I also tried a Dole Whip for the first time at MK, it was delicious!

 

[agnes!]

Magical Beginnings at Magic Kingdom. Offered Sunday, Wednesday and Friday mornings an hour before the park opens. Check with your travel agent to make sure they are still offering this in December. My 2 year old son had a ball. They open Fantasyland early and the characters are out interacting and playing games with the children. Sometimes the characters will even ride their rides with the kids. This is offered to those staying inside the parks with children 5 and under, however all family members may enter and participate. Have a great time!

This newly-instituted program is only available from August 13 - September 30.

agnes!

 

[mama4]

We live near WDW but I STILL haven't seen everything I want to see. Granted, there was about an 8-10 year period where I didn't go at all. Now that I've started going again with my kids, we do things at a very leisurely pace because we know we'll be back. Some trips we only do 2 parks at a time so we can mosey. My must do's for each park (but not every trip) so far are:

Epcot- Illuminations (for myself, dh and ds-15) Truly breathtaking!
AK- Festival of LK (for all of us)
MK- Wishes (more for me and the little ones-dh and ds-15 don't seem overly impressed), POC (just a nostalgic thing for me)
MGM- I've only been here once but I will definitely want to eat at Sci Fi next time I return and my boys will definitely want to see the stunt shows again
Have fun!

 

[SaraMc]

Some of the things that I would say are must do's with little ones, Mickey's toon town fair. Visit the houses, Minnies Kitchen has lots of things to explore. Kidcot at Epcot in Each country they can make crafts ( A mask I believe) and get stamps from all the countries. My nephew loved that the first time he went ( around 6)
Buzz lightyear space ranger spin at MK is lots of fun for everyone.

Have a great time.

 

[Tess'smom]

We love all the fireworks in each of the three park,. Epcot - Soarin, Figament and Test Track MGM - TOT, RRA, Animal Kingdom - Everest, Festival of the Lion King, Safari, MK - Philharmagic, Spectromagic Parade, we love all of the rides there.

Have a great trip.

 

[ObsessedwithWDW]

There is so much stuff I can't miss its hard to say....

WISHES for sure do not miss
CHEESE FRIES at Casey's on Main Street

Renting Mouseboats at the Polynesian is a must for my crew
Le Cellier is a must FOOD IS FABULOUS


Bottom line take it all in, have fun, look around DON'T MISS THE DETAILS! Disney does detail better than any EMPIRE in the world!

 

[dman11]

Definitely Mickey's Philharmagic. Just an awesome show and my DD (2 at the time) loved it.

Get a picture with everyone in front of the castle! Its seems like a duhh item but we still don't have one and I wish we did!

Since you are going in Dec there are a few things you must see that are only there during this time of the year: Osborne lights in MGM, the tree lighting in Epcot (another big fav of my DD2) be sure to get up front with the little one! and DO NOT miss Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. There is an additional cost for this but it is worth every penny. We watched the parade on Main Street USA then went back into Fantasyland where they have a dance party for the kids where the characters come out and dance with the kids. My DD2 loved every minute of it and smiled the entire time. Getting the characters' autographs is nice but they actually spend plenty of time with the kids here and alone is worth the price of admission for the little ones. There's plenty more to do and see during this that normally isn't going on. We spent the entire evening there doing everything but riding rides. It was an awsome night and is one of the reasons we are going back during holiday season next time.

 

[TDS373X]

The attractions in Fantasyland and Toontown for sure...Buzz Lightyear. Little Mermaid , Playhouse Disney, and Muppets at Mgm...Lion King Show and the Safari at AK...And since you are going in Dec really take advantage of the special holiday things like jump on the monorail and take a ride over to the Grand Floridian to see the GIANT gingerbread house and the tree there. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party definatly...Osborne Lights at MGM and get there to see them turn them on. The holiday storytellers in EPCOT around the World Showcase.This makes a good homework project if DD is missing school. It is a beautiful place in December we took our first December trip last year when dd was 6. You WILL NOT get everything seen and done so don't expect to. do expect to have a magical time and you do need to at least do some homework before you get there especially in Dec. Have an awesome time wish we were going again this Dec.

 

[ReadingMama]

My kids are the same ages. We only went to MGM and MK Our favorites were:

- Character meals! We did Crystal Palace, CRT and Chef Mickeys. Great way to see characters with no lines (you have to eat anyway!)
- 3D shows, a surpise favorite of my 2 year old. Muppet 3D is a good intro as Mickey's Philharmagic is darker/louder/ a little scarier
- MGM - Playhouse Disney, Beauty and the Beast and the Parade. Neither really liked Little Mermaid (very surprising for DD).
- MK - All of Fantasyland, Magic Carpets, Train Ride around Park, Parade, Belle's Storytime (very small space, quite nice) and Cindelebration (or whatever new show replaces it). Also the parade and meeting characters.

Would highly recommend break in middle of day back at hotel for naps and pool!

 

[AB&Me]

MK -
Mickey's Philharmagic, Buzz, & all the Parade's. I love a Parade! Storytime with Belle was really sweet.
AK -
Safari, Festival of the Lion King & Camp Minnie Mickey
Epcot -
It's just so beautiful! I loved strolling through the countries just taking it all in.
MGM -
Fantasmic

I also love the shopping. It's so fun walking through the stores! Even when you start to think everything looks alike, it is still fun to keep looking at it.

We love meeting characters. We do whatever we can to get autographs - like I'd jump in one line and my dh would get in another one and our dd would run back & forth to get with whichever one of us got to the character first and then run to the other one! It worked great the year my parents went with us - dad got good at standing in line so the kids didn't have to!

And I don't miss a parade - did I mention that?

 

[flortlebap]

We do 14 days at Disney so for us everything is a must do.

We visit all 4 parks, DTD several times (must eat at Portabello!) must go to PI for adventurers and Comedy Warehouse, must do TL and BB at least once

 

[momamy]

Mickey's Philharmagic ( we do it atleast 3 timnes a day)
and
Wishes

Amy

 

[susykt4]

My kids were 3 and 5 1/2 our last trip. They absolutely loved taking the monorail from MK to Epcot- about a 10 minute ride. They also loved the jumping fountain outside of the Imagination building. They could have played there for hours and chose to go back to Epcot on our last day to play by the fountain some more. They both loved the dinosaur dig area at Animal Kingdom.

This was all stuff that could have been easily skipped over, but totally made their trip. Oh, DD5 liked trying all the Coke flavors at Epcot- she still talks about that.