What is the best park for a two year old?

[mumom95]

I have a friend who is taking her two year old (just turned two) to WDW in June. It will just be the two parents and their dd (my friend will be 7 months pregnant at the time)

She's been to WDW a few times before, but always as an adult and never with children. She is only going to be there for two days. She knows they are going to go to the Magic Kingdom one day, but she's trying to figure out what will be the best park for the second day.

I never took my kids at that young of an age, so I'm not sure what to tell her. I said I really doubted at two she would like Epcot, but I wasn't sure between Animal Kingdom and Disney studios.

So, any advice from people who have taken 2 year olds, on which park to go to would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

My 2.5 yr old LOVED Animal Kingdom. He was able to walk around AND see animals. He did the Safari plus he went crazy in Dinoland. It was nice w/o him having to stand in line all day. We also did our character greets there and the lines were so much shorter than Toontown.

 

[DisneyWorldbuff]

My son is 2 also and needless to say, he Loves Magic Kingdom! But, he enjoyed the Playhouse Disney show at HS and the Nemo ride at Epcot. He also enjoyed the animals and Triceratop spin at AK. I don't think there's a "right" answer here.... at 2 years old it is all pretty exciting. Hope they have a wonderful trip!

 

[katied]

DS (now 2) has done it all. The reviews below are based on DS at age 20 months...

DHS - Playhouse Disney show is nice, the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playgroud also, but overall, we hit the highlights for DS here in 1/2 day or less.

AK is very good, esp. if kids like the animals - plus there is the playground, which is essentially for toddlers to have a chance to run around. This can fill up a day for DS.

Epcot is actually DS's 2nd favorite to MK. There are a lot of toddler friendly rides, Nemo, Norway, Mexico, the Figment Imagination ride, the shows/boat ride in The Land, etc. ... there are the water areas to play in (so swimsuit/swim diaper is necessary). Plus great pictures where you can stand in 1 line and get Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald and maybe 1 other (takes about 30 min generally for us start to finish).

As DS is getting bigger, I think AK will win out over Epcot, because he is now crazy about the animals and Dinos.

 

[ktlm]

With that age, she could easily spend 2 full days at the Magic Kingdom. When we took my 2 yr 10 mth old on her first trip last December, her 2nd favorite park was Epcot. The main reason was that there are a lot of Princesses out in World Showcase to meet and take pictures with. She also loved the Nemo Ride, Imagination Ride, the play areas after those rides, watching the entertainers in World Showcase and going to the Kidcot stations. We also ate lunch at Akershus and she went nuts over the Princesses. As for the other parks, my 2 year old also really liked shows, so she really liked DHS. She loved the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Muppet shows. Other than shows, there is not a lot for them to do at that age at DHS. Toy Story Mania is a great ride, but because of the long lines, the most we could do it was once or twice in a day. The lines are usually an hour or more, unless you get really lucky. You either had to get there the minute the park opened to grab a fast pass for later and then get in line before the line got too long, or if the line was already too long, just grab a fast pass for later. My DD did not like AK at all which surprised me. After a little while there, she begged to leave and go back to MK. We just got back from her 2nd trip 2 weeks ago, and this time (she's 3 now), she did like AK, so you just never know what they will like.

 

[mumom95]

Thanks for all the replies, I'll pass the info onto my friend.

Feel free to add more.

 

[chicagoshannon]

we were just there with our 2 year old. I'd honestly just do 2 days at the Magic Kingdom.

Madeline did enjoy Mermaid, Playhouse Disney, and Beauty and the Beast at HS. But I'd still do 2 days at the magic kingdom.

 

[PrincessTaylorsMom]

The last time we were at the World, my girls had just turned 3. We spent most of our time at MK, and I don't regret it for a moment. There is just so much there for that age group, and many things that their DD may want to do again and again (we rode on Dumbo 6 times that trip).