Tips for 4 year old's first trip to WDW

[dunangst]

My title says it all. First trip to WDW with my 4 year old son! I've booked a bunch of character meals (Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's and Cindy's Castle - which is more for me!), but looking for ideas from other parents who took first timers at that age. Fireworks? too much or too fun? Nightime parades? Pirates of the Caribbean? Certain characters too scary? He is generally a thrill seeker kind of kid (got right up on a pony the first time without flinching and rode a ferris wheel last week and was THRILLED), who loves music and dancing but insists on changing as soon as he gets even a little wet!!!! Any things your kids loved or hated? thanks.

 

[nateryan]

Wow. Where to start? The Character meals sound like good choices. My DS was always asleep before the fireworks and nighttime parade. We had the stroller so we let him sleep while we watched or we left if we were tired as well. Pirates isn't scary in my opinion. Thrill rides - maybe start slow? Do Barnstormer before Thunder for example. He still hates Space Mountain - he rode it twice too! He also didn't like Mission Space (Mild Version) and ToT!! He loved Soarin', Safari, Everest (the second time), and Thunder Mountain.
You will have fun! Nothing better than experiencing WDW through your child's eyes!

 

[jagafen]

He is generally a thrill seeker kind of kid (got right up on a pony the first time without flinching and rode a ferris wheel last week and was THRILLED), who loves music and dancing but insists on changing as soon as he gets even a little wet!!!! Any things your kids loved or hated? thanks.

Are you taking MY kid with you?? LOL...one thought....my son is really into pressed pennies...they make a cheapish souvie for your little one. Mine likes to carry stuff in his pockets and listen to change jingle.....we also made him a T shirt that has a rebus at the top "Eye +M/ H+ear/ II /Sea and then check boxes with all/most of the characters we expect him to be able to find. There are enough for the front a back of a small (4-6) child's tshirt. PM me if you want the file, you just print it out on iron on paper and viola, cute personalized shirt. I also made him one of the characters in a Mickey Icon with "Look Out, I'm Going to Disney" for the airport/plane ride. Also willing to share that one too.

 

[sunlover13]

DD's first trip was when she was 4 yrs old. She stayed awake for all the fireworks, parades, etc. We were glad we had the stroller though b/c she fell asleep on the bus ride back to the resort just about every night. She didn't use a stroller at home, but we bought one for the trip.

She went on everything she was tall enough for. The only ride that scared her was TOT. Everything else she was fine.

One thing I bet your son would love is a day or night at downtown Disney. They have a huge lego store and play area. They also have build your own light sabre at one of the stores down there.

Have a great time!

 

[chasemi]

We went last Dec. with DD4 and DS2. The one thing that scared BOTH of them was Fantasmic. It is really loud, and the dragon is very scary. We ended up leaving half way though. We did stay for fireworks in MK during MVMCP, after we had all taken naps at the condo mid-day.

 

[irene_dsc]

Let's see...two attractions that I hear are unexpectedly scary and to avoid (which we did, avoid that is) are It's Tough to be a Bug at Animal Kingdom, and Snow White's Scary Adventures at MK.

Fireworks - has he seen any before? What did he think? My ds hated them when he was little, and started getting used to them when he was 4. My dd liked them pretty much right off the bat - so I got to take them to 4th of July fireworks together the same year, lol. They both loved Wishes and Illuminations (dd3.75 and ds6.5). But, they are also both night owls, relatively, so that is a consideration as to whether or not your ds will still be awake. (We didn't do Fantasmic or any parades - I was worried that Fantasmic would be too scary, and dh isn't into parades much)

Pirates wasn't very scary for either kid - dd was a little nervous, but it was really not a problem.

As for characters - dd was very nervous around most of them, but I was prepared for that, since she tends to be timid about new people, much less characters. You might want to mention that the characters where you can't see their faces don't talk (but they communicate very well with gestures). And, they are BIG! Cinderella was the only one that dd actually hugged (at 1900 Park Fare, not the castle)

 

[sohappy]

My sons were slightly older and slightly younger (and they have opposite personalities). I found that if they were prepared for a ride- "it will be dark, and the witch might try to jump out and scare us, but we can yell witch (like swiper) and she can't get us. remember nothing bad happens at disney and the good guys always win" they did much better on the ride. I totally forgot about hopper coming out at Tough to be a Bug and it freaked my oldest out. For us, ear plugs were a must for parades and fireworks. My kids don't like loud noises (unless they are creating them). The earplugs were a lifesaver!!

 

[Lily & Giny's Mom]

I am the mom of a 3 & 6 year old. On our fisrt visit the eldest was 4. We scheduled a day to be at the pool (at the Poly) did dinner and then went into the magic kingdom just for the night time parade and fireworks. We visit MK again in the day (maybe 2) to do everything else. We plan to do this again when we visit in Sept. A day in the park w/ nap and then back in would not work for us. Our four year old would never have taken a nap at WDW to save her life, she was too excited. Incidentally we also had the almost 2 year old w/ us and she was able to see the night time stuff w/o falling asleep or melting down due to exhaustion. We get the magic your way plan so the additional cost for us to go into the park for this was slim -$10-$15 and well worth it. Also I like to visit MK last as I feel my little ones would be dissapointed with any other park after seeing MK. We also plan dinner on the way-chef Mickey or Cinderalla's Galla Feast at Contemporary or Grand Floridian respectively (both character meals). We also stayed at the Poly when they were very little due to the convenience of the transportation to MK. We are going to try Animal Kingdom Lodge this visit. I hope it works out as well for us. Good luck!

 

[dspads]

We went in Dec when my boys were just over 3 and 5. The older one is a thrill seeker, very outgoing and adventurous. The younger one is a little more shy & fearful. Both are high energy and have always loved carnival rides.

Fireworks - DS5 loved. DS3 was asleep. We didn't do Illuminations or Fantasmic
Spectromagic - a huge hit for both
Splash Mtn & BTM - a huge hit for DS5, DS3 was too small
5yo MK faves were Splash, BTMRR, Haunted Mansion, Pirates
3yo MK faves were WDW RR, Goofys Barnstormer, Haunted Mansion & Pirates & Indy Speedway
(neither really ever found anything too scary, except maybe in a fun way -Haunted House included)

Both boys loved meeting the Pixar characters at DHS (older DS loved all characters whereas DS generally avoided or was happy to watch big bro get his autograph). The car stunt show & Backlot Tours were faves here.

We didn't do much at EPCOT (due to lack of time) but the older one loved collecting his mask charms for the KidCOT funstops. The little guy was not interested. Nemo ride was a hit. We missed alot of the good ones

AT AK the kids loved the safari & the Nemo show. My younger son FREAKED when he got soaked on Kali Rapids and he got SOAKED. And he generally doesn't mind getting wet but had never really been on a water ride. Keep in mind there are a few sprinkler type areas in each park (like Donalds boat in Toon Town) so you may want to either avoid or be prepared. I had changes of clothes for the boys (which they didn't really need) and had watershoes to slip on before they ventured in.

Other things--the boys seemed to think any mode of transport was a ride. The buses, monorail, ferry's. So it was easy to keep them happy. --Don't forget the little things. My kids were thrilled to eat a mickey bar or get a new hat or balloon. --The pool was a huge hit

Have a great time.
Wish we were going again soon

 

[hippiechick72]

My 4 year old couldn't get enough of the tower of terror, but it scared my 10 yr old my 4 r old loved everything. she loved the parades, the shows, the fireworks, the character meals, standing in line to meet the characters, and most importantly she was very impatient about getting to the next ride, especially if it was a roller coaster! there was nothing that she didn't like.

i guess you should use your best judgement on what type of personality your kid has.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

My 2 tips are:

Take time to meet the characters ( this was my DS's favorite thing about our trip when he was 3 and was really upset when we went back when he was 4.5 and didn't do any character greetings)

Bring a stroller for him to ride in. We still brought one for DS this year and he just turned 6. It turned out that him and his brother who is 8.5 fought over it the whole trip.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

My son was 4 when we went last year. I had no idea what to expect. He was a total thrill seeker. Loved BTMRR, ToT, TT he rode anything and everything he was tall enough for. That being said we did have a few melt downs and he did sleep through out TS dinners. I say that a stroller is the number 1 thing to have. My son took catnaps in it during the day, great when we were at AK and Epcot. About the characters, they are great at knowing when to interact and when to back off (unlike our local sports mascots that get their fun from terrorizing little kids). And unless you are doing a character meal, they do not just walk around so if your son is scared they are easy to avoid.

 

[AKADrea]

My title says it all. First trip to WDW with my 4 year old son! I've booked a bunch of character meals (Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's and Cindy's Castle - which is more for me!), but looking for ideas from other parents who took first timers at that age. Fireworks? too much or too fun? Nightime parades? Pirates of the Caribbean? Certain characters too scary? He is generally a thrill seeker kind of kid (got right up on a pony the first time without flinching and rode a ferris wheel last week and was THRILLED), who loves music and dancing but insists on changing as soon as he gets even a little wet!!!! Any things your kids loved or hated? thanks.

is your son my DD's long lost twin, LOL!!! Especially the part about being wet

I don't have any ideas for you, since our first trip will be in September, but just remember to have fun! that's what I have to keep telling myself, since I'm obsessing a bit over here, LOL!

 

[Keara'sMom]

First, congrats on your 4-yr-old's first trip--HOW EXCITING!

My dd was 5 when we first took her, and I can't speak about rides, since she was afraid of everything (she NOT a thrill seeker by any stretch of the imagination--more of a "thrill avoider"). One thing I will saythat I think could be common to all with small kids is to relax and go with the flow. We had tried to plan a bit too much, and our dd was overwhelmed. When we went back 2 1/2 years later, we made some ADRs but pretty much went with the flow, and it was GREAT.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[momtomatthew]

My son- also 4- LOVED Test Track. We went in Feb. and he stills talks about it almost everyday! We did Fantasmic, but he didn't like it. He spent half the show covering his eyes and ears. At the beginning of the trip he was a little unsure about some of the rides, but by the end of the week, he was into it all! He also loved Chef Mickey's

 

[VanessasMom]

We took our little thrill-seeking 3.5 yr old dd last Sept. She LOVED everything she could do. Splash Mountain was the favorite (kind of got lucky to do that one time-she was 39" tall). Loved Pirates, fireworks, barnstormer, Snow White's ride, Haunted Mansion, characters, everything! Stroller is a must. We took a 2 hour break in the middle of the day for lunch/swimming at the hotel. Our dd doesn't nap, but WE needed a break! ha ha ha

This Sept we are going back because we couldn't think of anywhere else our dd would enjoy more. She will be big enough to ride alot more. She is 42" now. She cannot wait to go on Tower of Terror. Order the Disney Vacation Planning DVD--it is free. It has video clips of some of the bigger rides and your ds can get a good idea of what to expect. My dd watches the tower of terror over and over again and cannot wait to go back again. She has no idea we are going in September!!! Can you imagine if she did?

Have Fun & join a photopass group!

 

[Jakesmom504]

It's DS first trip to Disney also and he is also 4! I can't wait to come back and really read through all of these to see what everyone posts!!!

 

[juliana_sd]

You can read my TR (link in sig) if you want details but stroller was a must. If you're planning to do a park from opening to closing you need at LEAST a 4 hour break, and don't expect to do much the next day. If he likes to swim, you will be in the pool every single day (which I didn't mind, it felt goood) and either budget some money for the arcade or don't let him see it

I'm glad we didn't do Fantasmic after reading these other posts! He was nervous about the fireworks because of the noise; I wish I'd had earplugs for him. But he was amazed at the fireworks (I don't think he's ever seen "up high" ones before, now that I think about it.) He looooved Spectro. He wasn't that into the characters... he didn't ever want to wait in lines to meet them (except Buzz) so the character meal worked well for us. We did breakfast at Ohana and we really liked it.

 

[tinkermom2008]

OM, I've got such a long time before our DS4 & DD2 (they will be 5 and 3 on when we leave) will experience WDW. I can't wait to use all the great tips posted here. Thanks alot, I look forward to reading more.

 

[Kae]

We took DS on his first trip when he was 4. Ear plugs saved the trip he used them on almost everything invcluding fireworks. Let see we left tought o be a bug when Hopper came out of the wall-DS was on my head. He also did not like the Little Mermaid at DHS. Loved pretty much everything else.

Sone of his favorites on that trip were Cape May for breakfast-we did this one as a late breakfast & had the place to ourselves, Goofy, Chip & Dale how can you go wrong. Flights of Wonder bird show at AK DS was speechless when the eagle came out. He loved all of the nighttime shows. The trains in Germnay. Neverland club at Poly was his favorite nite go figure. We did a little less that trip then we had thought, DS really just kinda wanted to stop & smell the flowers. He really just soaked in all he could.


Kae