What can we pass on?

[dr28326]

Grandparents taking 8 yr old granddaughter to Disney World. What attractions, in your opinion can we pass on? Is Animal Kingdom and Epcot worth it and do they take a whole day to do? I was not going to get the park hopper option.

 

[imthatgirl]

well if youve never been, nothing is a pass. but you cant possibly do everything. every park is worth going to. especially with an 8yo because there isnt anything she cant ride.
now i have been many times and there are things i always pass like
(magic kingdom)
jungle cruise
swiss family tree house
tiki room
country bear jamboree
hall of presidents
liberty belle
winnie the pooh
snow white
stitchs escape
(epcot)
pretty much everything in the land except soarin, which i would skip but DH likes it. its good to take a nap
(hollywood studios)
beauty and the beast
little mermaid
playhouse disney
backlot tours
sounds dangerous
(animal kingdom)
i skip the safari and the trails, they bore me to tears. many people like them
planet watch
flights of wonder
primeval whirl
finding nemo
pochahontus


well thats what skip, but you may find some gems in there.

 

[dr28326]

Thanks for the suggestions......anyone else?

 

[TinaLala]

My DD is now 9, but she was 8 in April when we last went. The main things at each park are based on what you/she want to see. I'd start with buying a Disney for Kids book and have her look through it making marks on the things she wants to see. The check out allears.net or the disney website with her so she can see a glimpse. If it's a surprise here's the attractions that my DD9 says are must dos:

Epcot - we eat around the world - literaly. We start at Mexico and grab a small something from each country. At the same time they get to learn something about each country with the Kidcot locations - kinda too old for it, but DD9 liked coloring the mask and collecting the tags from the CMs. On the rides - Spaceship Earth, Test Track (a must), Soarin, Universe of Energy (if it's running). In Japan you can pick an oyster for $14 and they will take out a real cultured pearl that you get to keep. Watching Miyuki (a Japanese candy artist from Tokyo) is amazing and sometimes you get picked for the free candy. Turtle talk with Crush at the living seas, Journey into Imagination with Figment and there's some fun games at Innoventions. The Garden Grill at the Land is a nice place for dinner/lunch or Restaurant Marrakesh at Morocco (Moroccan cuisine and belly dancers)

Animal Kingdom - we don't spend a full day here. We do the Tough to be a bug at the Tree of Life, Festival of the Lion King (a must for our family) at Camp Minnie-Mickey, Kilimanjaro Safari at Africa, Kali River Rapids and Jungle Trek at Asia, the Boneyard and Finding Nemo-the Musical (a must for us) at Dinoland. I usually don't plan on having dinner there and honestly we've only made the Jammin Jungle Parade once or twice.


Studios - Beauty and the Beast show is like a broadway show and she'll love it. If she's adventureous and likes roller coaster rides (and you do too) there's Rock n Roller Coaster - DD9 hated it - she actually got sick on it so I'd pass it if you don't want to. Honey I shrunk the kids is fun, unless she's afraid of snakes or lions. Muppet Vision 3D is always fun. Make sure you get a temporary tattoo at the fountain - they're only $5 or so and they'll last the entire trip. If you allow those things. The toy story mania is new and suppose to be like a carnival game. Voyage of Little Mermaid is a nice sit down show to slow things down. Hollywood & Vine (buffet) or Prime Time Cafe (1950s home cook meal) are good places for dinner. Gertie the big green dinosaur has some yummie ice cream you should grab around 2:30 and then find a seat in front of the big hat for the 3pm parade. There's a High School Musical 2 parade the comes out - check your schedule.

Magic Kingdom - Honestly this depends on how much your little one is still a princess!! We always head back to Fantasyland - Cinderella's carosuel and I make sure she rides the one horse with the golden ribbon in it's tail - that's Cinderella's official horse. Then it's off to the small world, winnie the pooh, peter pan, snow white we see Ariel over at her Grotto and Storytime with Belle (check your schedule). You can book a special hair style - princess or diva style at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Cinderella's castle. Adventureland - Pirates of the caribbean and magic carpets. Frontierland - Big thunder mountain, splash mountain (if she is up for these types of rides) and country bear jamboree. Liberty Square - Haunted Mansion. Mickey's Toontown - Barnstormer (again only if she's up for it), Hall of Fame/Judge's Tent to see the princesses. Tomorrowland - buzz Lightyear, space mountain (only if she's up for it) Indy speedway, monster inc laugh floor, Carousel of Progress (my DD loves to see how people lived 'in the old days' )

So I hope this helps and isn't too long. If you have any questions PM me! We've gone to Disney a lot so at this time DD9 can give people directions - we never carry a map. She'll be honest about what she likes and doesn't like.

 

[thegrimdwarf]

Epcot takes a day-plus to cover, and if I were in your situation, I'd probably tell the g-parents to skip it. That is, assuming the trip is all about the grand-daughter.

That said, I think Epcot is wonderful, and even though I know my boys aren't going to be thrilled, it's on our October agenda. Though I am prepared to have to bail after just a couple of rides - Test Track and Soarin' are high on my 4 YO's list. After those, I think his appreciation of science and culture will be shot, lol.

 

[EthansMom]

How long of a trip? My family usually spends 2 days at Magic Kingdom and 1 day at each of the other parks. If we chose a park to skip, it would be a toss-up between Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, with Animal Kingdom slightly in the lead for "skippability". Animal Kingdom is very spread out, seems to be hotter than the other parks for some reason, and other than the safari doesn't have many animals.

I have a SIL who would skip Epcot and go to Animal Kingdom, however. I'm going to disagree with skipping Epcot, though. My kids love The Living Seas where they could watch the fish for hours, if I let them. They love Soarin' and Test Track and Honey, I Shrunk the Audience.

Are Grandma and Grandpa and/or the 8 year-old interested in the more hair-raising rides? We've travelled to WDW with our kids and a few of their 4 sets of grandparents. In my experience, the grandparents aren't usually interested in rides like Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, etc... So, get an idea of what rides and shows will suit everyone going.

I agree with a lot of imthatgirl's list. At MK, we skip the Jungle Cruise, the Tike Room, and Swiss Family Treehouse. We only go to the Hall of Presidents every 3rd or 4th trip and haven't ever done the Liberty Belle or Stitch's Escape. Although my kids are young, we've never really done Mickey's Toontown.

The best thing to do, IMO, is to go to the library and check out any Disney World planning books they have. The books will have descriptions of the parks and rides which will give you a good idea of what things you are going to enjoy. Include the 8 year-old in the planning (picking what rides and shows to do) and you'll all have a great time.

Here are my recommendations for what parks to do, depending upon how many days you're at Disney World:

If at WDW only 1 day: Magic Kingdom
If at WDW 2 days: 1 day at Magic Kingdom and 1 day at Epcot or 2 days at Magic Kingdom
If at WDW 3 days: 1 day each at Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios
If at WDW 4 days: 1 day at each of the 4 parks
If at WDW 5 days: 1 day each at Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, and 2 days a Magic Kingdom

I hope this helps!

 

[dr28326]

You guys are GREAT! We will be there for a week but I do not want this to be a week of rush..rush..rush. I am sure she (and me) will enjoy traveling around the different resorts and maybe swimming (depending on the weather). We are going in January....how should the weather be? We are not coaster people and she is just starting on them and does not like anything that goes upside down....she takes after Grandma and likes the rides that SPIN. Yes, she is into Princesses.
Should we pay the extra to get the park hopper option or will 5-7 days reg. pass be ok?

 

[powellrj]

If you are going to be there a week, you should be fine without the parkhopper. Its nice to have, but it is expensive. I usually figure MK and Epcot are full day parks and AK and HS 1/2 day. We like to go early in the am and then go back an swim and hang out at the pool and then you can go back in the evening and do the fireworks or fantasmic.

 

[bzzymom]

We spend one day at AK. The park closes early, around 5 or so, and I think we have stayed to close only once.

We usually skip going to conservation station. There isn't much there, a petting zoo, and we have never been able to see an animal being worked on by a vet. We took the kids there back in 2005 and the "coolest" thing they did was touch a snake at the end of a presentation.

We like the trails. DS, 11, really likes animals, in Africa, heenjoys seeing the gorillas and meerkats and in Asia, the komodo dragon, the tigers, and yes, the bats too. There are some enclosed bird areas that you walk through, we just go through that.

The other skipable attraction for us is the bird show. We have seen it once and that was enough.