trip advise for 2&5 yr old

monymeier

Earning My Ears
Joined
Mar 10, 2004
Messages
25
Interested in the experts opinions on planning a trip to WDW for 4 nights/5 days. It will be Sept. 25-29th with my DH, DS(almost 5yrs)and DD(2yrs) We are staying at the BCV studio and plan on a 4 day park hopper. One day will be a non-park day and I can't decide if it should be the arrival day(Sat.) or the departure day(Wed.)?? Also, all those with children the same age, what restaurants did they like best, theme attractions and other tips?

Thanks!!!!
 
Hi and welcome to the DIS.

I wanted to give you some great links, first one is the All ears website. I'll link you to the tips for taking preschoolers page, to the right are many many links to lots of great info- one of the best things on the site are the menus to every place that sells food in WDW, except not all the carts are listed (or maybe they are, I'm not sure)

http://allearsnet.com/pl/kids.htm

The second is a staple around here. It is a site with money saving tips and info.

www.mousesavers.com

I would either pick which ever day you will have more time as the park day. I don't think crowds will be an issue that time of year. Epcot is open late so it is a good late in the day place. Or if your departure day has more time in it then it might be best. It is sort of a toss up if time is equal because travel may tire them and you out, but so will 3 days in a row in the parks...

Another option would be to save the last day on the hopper for your next trip! It is addiciting for most people...
 
While I agree with the first response about using the park day for whichever you have more time in the parks, if it doesn't matter, I'd use the last day. We went to DTD our first day of our first trip (and just hung out and relaxed at the hotel as well) and found it the perfect way to get into the vacation spirit.
 
We have a DS(8) and DD(3). We try to go to DTD the first day we get there but it is hard to tell your kids that they don't get to go to a park when that is what they have been looking forward to.
So sometimes we have to make some deals with them.
 

I have 3ds. We went when the older 2 were 2 and 4. They will love MK, hate Epcot, AK was ok and DS were ok. We always do MK the first day even if we park hop to one of their not so favorite parks. We take a day off in the middle of our trip to recoup and try to hit mk at the end of the last day. That way they got what they were looking most forward to first and they have it as their last memories. They also loved ( and still do) chef mickey's. It has the most familiar characters and it is lively with song and dance. Good luck.
 
So hard to say what attractions they will like, as all kids are a bit different. My girls have always loved the shows and attractions with strong character appeal (i.e. Little Mermaid), the classics at Fantasyland, street shows in Epcot, making masks at world showcase, and character meals. Oh, can't forget AK. Of the evening attractions Fantasmic is their all time favorite. As soon as it finished my youngest daughter always wants to watch it again!

It is best to have realistic expectations as very common for children your age to prefer the hotel and pool over the parks. We find it best to head out early in the morning and then back to hotel/pool for a break once the girls get a bit tired.

Your children are a great age so you will have lots of fun if you take it easy and go with the flow. There's so much you will want to do, that it's hard to just let them guide you, but this will give you great memories. A few years ago when our girls were that age we hit MK on arrival day. After eating hotdogs at Casey's it took almost 45 min just to walk the short distance to Adventure Land. We had to stop, listen and talk to the piano player, then stop each and every time there was a bird or other living creature. Let me tell you, that has become one of our favorite all time memories. At the time we joked that at that pace we would barely get through one park by the end of the week.
 
My kids were the same exact age our last trip. We did Chef Mickeys and a lot of character meals (Hey the 2 year old was free at all of them!!!!) My kids loved the Hoop Dee Doo and Ohana's for dinner. I wouldnt have thought that Ohana would have interested them but they had a blast.

As far as which day to avoid the park I would say that I wouldnt go to the park on Saturday but rather go on Weds. The parks are less crowded on Weds. I would go to Disney Downtown or explore the resort and pool. My kids spend a long time at Lego. It was fun.

As far as the parks the kids enjoyed the MK, MGM and Epcot. They loved the whole KidCot thing in Epcot and it was wonderful for my son to be excited to find each station himself while exploring each country.

As far as the AK they didnt go on many rides or my 5 year old was just a little to short. I didnt want them to go on Its a Bugs Life because I had heard that it is a little scary for them. They enjoyed the Safari ride and Lion King but that was about it. We will go back to AK in a few years when they can really enjoy it to the fullest.
 
When we went last August my DD were 4 and 5 and my DD was almost 3. I was a little nervous if it would be too overwhelming for the 3 year old but he loved it even more than his sisters (if possible). The restaurants the kids liked best were Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Fare, Sci-Fi, and CRT. The best advice I learned and followed was to always take a break in the afternoon, swim and nap (if you can get them down), and then head back to the parks around dinner time. That way you can stay for the parade and fireworks/light shows. Also make sure you bring a stroller for both kids. We only brought and umbrella stroller for my son and rented the double for the girls. BIG MISTAKE! I'm now going to buy a double umbrella stroller because once you turn the rented stroller in they still have to walk to the monorail/ferry or bus and at the end of the night they have had it. By the way the one thing the kids still talk about is swimming at night. We have an inground pool at home, but it doesn't seem to compare to swimming in hotel pool at night. Go figure.
 

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