Things I'll miss

[matt f]

Family's first trip to WDW in August. Planning coming together, but here is the list of things that we plan to NOT do or see. Ugh. This is hard to swallow. Only have 4 days...DDs will be 3 and 6, and scare easily. So, which of these can we not stand to miss (and won't scare DD6)?
1. All of MGM, including Fantasmic. (this one hurts but we're not planning a trip to MGM b/c of time)
2. At Epcot: maybe Mission Space, probably much of World Showcase - just no time.
3. At AK: Tough to be a Bug (scary), Dinosaur (scary), Expedition Everest (scary), Kali River Rapids (wet)
4. At MK: Haunted Mansion (closed), Snow White (scary), Stitch's Great Escape (scary), Splash Mtn (wet), and probably Space Mtn (scary), Dreams parade.

Also will NOT go to Cirque de Soliel or Pirates and Princesses Party. Tough choices, all.

Inputs welcome!!!

 

[mickey0624]

Family's first trip to WDW in August. Planning coming together, but here is the list of things that we plan to NOT do or see. Ugh. This is hard to swallow. Only have 4 days...DDs will be 3 and 6, and scare easily. So, which of these can we not stand to miss (and won't scare DD6)?
1. All of MGM, including Fantasmic. (this one hurts)
2. At Epcot: maybe Mission Space, probably much of World Showcase.
3. At AK: Tough to be a Bug, Dinosaur, Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids
4. At MK: Haunted Mansion, Snow White, Stitch's Great Escape, Splash Mtn, and probably Space Mtn, Dreams.

Also will NOT go to Cirque de Soliel or Pirates and Princesses Party. Tough choices, all.

Inputs welcome!!!

I wouldn't miss Fantasmic at MGM. IMO it is the best show in WDW
Also wouldn't miss Splah Mountain.

 

[jarrdisney]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I'm sure glad I don't have kids. I take it from your post that you have and like doing the things you have listed. Maybe there's a way to baby swap? IMO a trip to WDW without splash mt and fantasmic is not a trip at all. One day I'll have kids, and WDW will be a whole new experience. In the meantime, I am happy going to do whatever I want.

 

[karibritt01]

Snow White isn't scary, despite what the name says. It's a ride through different rooms, with story scenes to look at. IMO it is very similar to the Pooh ride. Haunted Mansion can be scary, but they might like it. My DD3 loved it last summer, and rode it 6 times! Maybe you could find the HM website (doombuggies.com, maybe?) and show them pictures, so they will have an idea what to expect.

 

[julsmom]

I think it will be easier than you think. You could do some of the rides by having DW watch the kids. My dh rides all the big ones while DD and I look in shops, etc.

If your kids think that there is something to fear, then they will. MGM and WS are generally not scary at all.

 

[cmwade77]

We will be going with Kids and do not intend on missing these items either. With Fastpass the wait wouldn't be that long for Splash, so why not get a Fastpass take the train around the park, come back and ride it?

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

My daughters are 5 and 7 and have been going every year to WDW since my oldest was 2 1/2. My children went on all the rides unless they were not tall enough. I never gave my opinion if it was scary or not because i didn't want to put that impression in their mind, I wanted them to decide for themselves. The only ride that they thought would be scary is the Haunted Mansion becasue my DH kept calling it that and the word haunted does make a child think it's scary. But, surprisingly the only ride my DD at 2 1/2 thought was scary and would not ride again until last year was the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. But each child is different and if you think they will scare easily then you need to make the best decision for your family.
Splash Mountain is a cute ride, not scary at all, but there is a hill. BTMRR is faster than Space Mountain. Space Mountain is just in the dark. Snow White is a quick ride and not scary at all. Nothing pops out at you.
There is nothing scary in World showcase.
Fantasmic is an awesome show. If anything, don't miss that.

DREAMS?? Did you mean WISHES??? That is also amazing. My daughter was freaked out by the Spectromen in Spectro Magic which also amazed me.

 

[ChrisAlli]

My kids were 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 when went last Oct. For Fantasmic just sit in the WAY back. You won't get wet and it's actually better viewing and may not seem so scary back there.

My kids love the WS, just have them make a mask and you stop at each country, while they color a little you can take turn looking in shops.

When you do Soarin, get FP and someone could take them to see Circle of Life and then switch other could get them a snack or something.

They have a lot of kid cot stations too. so while one rides say Test Track they could be adding to there passport thing, I think that's what it's called.

There's plenty to occupy while you and your wife do things. It's not the same, but really seeing it through your kids is amazing.

So try not to miss too much just have a plan.

 

[disneyfan2]

my DD3 was scared of Tough to be a Bug and any loud shows. Because she is frighten of dark/loud sounds, i would not take her to Snow White. Even thought it is not that scary to us, the dark and loud sounds may frighten her. she went on Splash Mountain and enjoyed it. EE with my DD7 was scary but after she convinced herself to go, she enjoyed it.
Good luck! We missed out on alot on our last trip that we thought would be the only time going, but now we are planning a return trip!
You don't want to chance a scary ride to find kids don't want to do anything else that day! Enjoy whatever you decide.

 

[cosmicdaisy]

While I personally do not think Snow White is scary, I can see it being scary from a child's eye with how many times you see the witch. But it does end on a happy note. The rides are totally different to a kid, they seem so real. When we went last DD was 3.75. She actually did fine on Snow White, but it also was not the first dark ride we rode either. She was most scared on Haunted Mansion and POTC the first time we rode it. She had just developed a fear of skeletons. I had completely forgotten about the skeletons at the beginning of POTC. We had watched videos of HM for weeks leading up to the trip. Yes, we were one of *those* families you saw with a crying child entering a doom buggie. I know people were annoyed with us. But I have to say, I was so glad we rode it because I knew she would love it and she did and it was one she kept requesting to ride. But that's my child. I say this to illustrate that you definitely know your child's limits better than anyone. ITA that you need to not make it out like it is something scary..it might be spooky, but not scary. And honestly, in 4 days to tour, there will still be plenty to see and do and these rides will more than likely still be here on a subsequent trip.

We purposefully skipped Fantasmic when we last went, because of the scare factor.

All that said, from your list, if it were me, I'd not skip Splash Mountain. My Dd still talks about Splash almost 1.5 years later.

 

[Deb in IA]

I wouldn't write off the World Showcase. Your DD's will probably like the KidCot stations.

 

[hollyb]

I look at this differently. Yes we will miss stuff because of the kids. I really do not care. To me my childrens happiness is more important then what I want to see or do. They are only young once and deserve to do what they want. DH and I would never put our needs first, thats not what good parents do. So what we miss it this year, who's to say we won't see it next year?

 

[mousebit]

I'd spend a lot of my time in FantasyLand and ToonTown if I were you. Animal Kingdom can be great for little ones too. I will say tho that even at 10 my DGD was at ITTBAB! She did not appreciate that little special effect toward the end! Loved TOT, RnR, etc., but said ITTBAB just "creeped her out."

I wouldn't miss Wishes unless DDs are actually traumatized by loud noises. You can always watch from farther away - even from the ferry or the Poly.

The good thing about having young kids is that you can slow down and appreciate all the little things. Make ADRs for a lot of character meals. You might consider making arrangements for the kids one evening so just the grown-ups can have a nice dinner and maybe catch some of these attractions you like. Have a great trip!

 

[cmwade77]

I look at this differently. Yes we will miss stuff because of the kids. I really do not care. To me my childrens happiness is more important then what I want to see or do. They are only young once and deserve to do what they want. DH and I would never put our needs first, thats not what good parents do. So what we miss it this year, who's to say we won't see it next year?

I am not saying to not do what they want, but get them to understand that there are things that you may want to do and this should be explained to them and get them a little used to the idea that other people have opinions too and sometimes we need to let them do what they want, that it's not always about us, they will thank you for it later on in life.

 

[cmwade77]

Sorry, I just wanted to add that that is just my opinion, but this board won't let me edit my posts for some reason it says it does and then it doesn't edit it.

 

[Ub_Iwerks]

I agree with Deb, don't miss World Showcase. My kids (ages 4 and 6) LOVE it, and so do I. Now, we don't do a lot of the films and everyone fell asleep during the American Adventure, but the street entertainment and just exploring are great. The KIDCOT stations are fun too.

Our kids have been to WDW 4 times. They're scare levels vary depending on mood, age, hunger, etc. Here has been our experience:

-Fantasmic: too loud, might be able to use ear plugs;
-Mission Space we avoided because of motion sickness, but Test Track is fun and so is the play area at the end of Mission Space;
- Kali Rapids, okay but other AK rides you mentioned were too scary; Tough to be a Bug might be okay, but definitely avoid Epcot's Honey I Shrunk the Audience;
-At MK: only Snow White is too scary as we discovered the hard way; Haunted Mansion is okay if you prep them that they are funny ghosts. We also avoided Stitch after warnings from others. There's a new Monsters Inc Laugh Room that will probably be good for you.

Keep in mind that once a child is scared on a ride, it's hard to get them to go on anything that is at all dark or loud. Work your way up to the scarier rides, and if a child doesn't want to go on a ride, don't make them.

 

[matt f]

Wow thanks for all the quick replies. I was trying to be brief in my OP but more explanation is required. I'll edit the original as well as explain here:

I forgot about Honey I shrunk the Audience - we won't be going there either.
I think we'll miss a lot of World Showcase because we simply won't have time in one day to do all of Epcot.
Haunted Mansion will be closed.
We're skipping Kali River and Splash Mountain because DW and I don't like to stay wet all day, not b/c they're scary.
We're not missing Wishes but we will miss Dreams, the 3PM parade at MK.
I want to go take the family to Fantasmic but it would require a separate trip to MGM, and I don't think we have time.

 

[matt f]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I'm sure glad I don't have kids. I take it from your post that you have and like doing the things you have listed. Maybe there's a way to baby swap? IMO a trip to WDW without splash mt and fantasmic is not a trip at all. One day I'll have kids, and WDW will be a whole new experience. In the meantime, I am happy going to do whatever I want.

No offense taken. I personally don't want to go on Splash Mountain because it's wet, and don't think we have time to go to MGM at all. Yes, baby swap is available, and our normal plan is "divide and conquer", where one parent will take DD6 on BTMRR, while other parent takes DD3 to Tom Sawyer Island, or something like that. That's the way we'll work Soarin, BTMRR, and a few others. What's left is what's on my list of "things we'll miss".

 

[disneyfan2]

another strategy i heard worked is watch some of the videos on utube and let your kids watch along, then see if they find it scary or not. We did that with Peter Pan as it is dark and the pirates kind of freaked my DD3 out. But after we watched and we were on the ride, i could tell her what came next, like-here come the mermaids, or there is wendy etc.
There are tonnes of video clips to watch and although it won't be the same, you might be able to judge better.