What movies to watch before visiting?

[disneyjes]

Hey there! What movies should you watch before going to WDW? I want to make sure we know who everyone is. Thank you!

 

[dwbrewster]

We did a mini-marathon of some of the classics to remind our DD of some of the movies and characters she may have forgotten. I'd recommend making sure you get in Snow White and Beauty and the Best at the very least!

 

[disneyjes]

We did a mini-marathon of some of the classics to remind our DD of some of the movies and characters she may have forgotten. I'd recommend making sure you get in Snow White and Beauty and the Best at the very least!

We sadly don't have BATB :'( I missed it last time it was available and I am SO bummed. We used to have it on the DVR and then our DVR went on the fritz and they had to replace it. Beast is one of our sons favorites too I'm afraid to buy from eBay because of all the fakes out there!

 

[dwbrewster]

I would recommend amazon normally but just checked there and I am appalled at how much people sell it while it is in the vault!

Another alternative is netflix (DVD delivery version) has it and it looks like all of the other classics, this could give you the fix you need and allow him to pick out some of the disney movies he want to see. You can cancel it once your trip is over and your DS is sporting his !

 

[Sam1Cohen]

We just picked up Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Sleeping Beauty since DD (4.5) hasn't seen those yet. We also watch a lot of Disney Jr shows and re-watched many of the classics.

 

[disneyjes]

I would recommend amazon normally but just checked there and I am appalled at how much people sell it while it is in the vault!

Another alternative is netflix (DVD delivery version) has it and it looks like all of the other classics, this could give you the fix you need and allow him to pick out some of the disney movies he want to see. You can cancel it once your trip is over and your DS is sporting his !

I agree! For awhile BATB was going for almost $60!! Now it's down to $40 but still that is quite a lot!

I haven't done Netflix in forever so I will have to check in to that. Thank you!

 

[disneyjes]

We just picked up Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Sleeping Beauty since DD (4.5) hasn't seen those yet. We also watch a lot of Disney Jr shows and re-watched many of the classics.

Love those 3 movies! I almost forgot Disney Jr sometimes plays the movies. I will have to check! It's been a few years since my son has been home to watch Disney Jr The little old man! <3

 

[puffkin]

I'd do for sure (would cover the bulk of the attractions/parades):
Beauty and the Beast
Cinderella
Sleeping Beauty
Snow White
Aladdin
Little Mermain
Lion King
Frozen
Toy Story

If you have a little more time, I'd throw in:
Peter Pan
Mary Poppins
Dumbo
Alice in Wonderland
Bug's Life

Funny story. This summer we watched Mary Poppins with DS8 for the first time. I never even thought about the fact that he had never seen it. When Mary wears her white dress in the Chalk painting, he looked at me and said "hey, its that lady you always make me get a picture with at Disney" I asked him who he had thought that lady was, and he said he never could figure it out but it never occurred to him to ask me

 

[disneyjes]

I'd do for sure (would cover the bulk of the attractions/parades):
Beauty and the Beast
Cinderella
Sleeping Beauty
Snow White
Aladdin
Little Mermain
Lion King
Frozen
Toy Story

If you have a little more time, I'd throw in:
Peter Pan
Mary Poppins
Dumbo
Alice in Wonderland
Bug's Life

Funny story. This summer we watched Mary Poppins with DS8 for the first time. I never even thought about the fact that he had never seen it. When Mary wears her white dress in the Chalk painting, he looked at me and said "hey, its that lady you always make me get a picture with at Disney" I asked him who he had thought that lady was, and he said he never could figure it out but it never occurred to him to ask me

Awesome! Kiddo has seen all of these except for Dumbo which we have so I can just pop that on in the dvd player. Thank you!

LOL that is too funny!!!

 

[Dawnlight]

Since we were staying at All Star Movies we watched 4 movies that my kids were less familiar with that are featured there:

101 Dalmations
Love Bug
Fantasia & Fantasia 2000
Mighty Ducks (and the second)

We also watched:

Beauty and the Beast (had FP for BOG)
Aladdin
A Bug's Life
Little Mermaid
A Nightmare Before Christmas
Swiss Family Robinson

I got all the movies from the library and we watched before our vacation.

 

[disneyjes]

Since we were staying at All Star Movies we watched 4 movies that my kids were less familiar with that are featured there:

101 Dalmations
Love Bug
Fantasia & Fantasia 2000
Mighty Ducks (and the second)

We also watched:

Beauty and the Beast (had FP for BOG)
Aladdin
A Bug's Life
Little Mermaid
A Nightmare Before Christmas
Swiss Family Robinson

I got all the movies from the library and we watched before our vacation.

Thank you!

Unfortunately my son cries if you even mention 101 Dalmatians. He loves dogs so much! Granted he's only seen the one with Glen Close. Maybe I can convince him to see the cartoon version. I forgot all about Mighty Ducks! And I haven't even seen Swiss Family Robinson. Thanks for the suggestions!!

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

We sadly don't have BATB :'( I missed it last time it was available and I am SO bummed. We used to have it on the DVR and then our DVR went on the fritz and they had to replace it. Beast is one of our sons favorites too I'm afraid to buy from eBay because of all the fakes out there!

I had the same problem. So I put the word out to my facebook friends.

I had a few friends that had copies. So I simply borrowed it.

 

[disneyjes]

I had the same problem. So I put the word out to my facebook friends.

I had a few friends that had copies. So I simply borrowed it.

Good idea! Thank you!

 

[nighttowll]

For Magic Kingdom these are the movies associated with the attractions:

Aladdin – ride / meet n greet
Alice in Wonderland – ride / meet n greet
Beauty and the Beast – show / meet n greet / restaurant
Brave – meet n greet
Cinderella – restaurant / meet n greet
Country Bears - show
Dumbo – ride / water play area
Fantasia – referenced in show
Frozen – meet n greet
Haunted Mansion - ride
Incredibles – dance party
Lilo and Stitch - ride
Lion King – referenced in show
Little Mermaid – ride / meet n greet / referenced in show
Mickey Mouse / Fab 5 Cartoons – rides / shows / parades / meet n greets
Monsters Inc. - show
Peter Pan – ride / meet n greet
Pirates of the Caribbean - ride
Princess and the Frog – meet n greet
Snow White - ride
Song of the South - ride
Swiss Family Robinson – walk through exhibit
Tangled – meet n greet
Tinkerbelle movies – meet n greet
Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn – walk through exhibit
Toy Story – ride / meet n greet
Winnie the Pooh – restaurant / ride / meet n greet

I wouldn't worry about watching them all as you can enjoy most of the attractions at Disney without knowing the movie connection. I'd focus on the classics and the ones you think will most appeal to your child.

The two I did find helpful watching were Swiss Family Robinson and Song of the south. Swiss Family is such a fun movie that many kids today haven't been exposed to and walking the tree house is very magical after watching the movie. For Song of the South, it can be hard to find as I believe it has been banned, but this was the one ride that confused my kids because they weren’t familiar with the storyline and didn’t really understand what was happening until I filled them in. So even if you can’t find the movie, it might be useful to find a book about Briar Rabbit and share that story before going. But if your kids are really little, they won’t care about the storyline anyway.

 

[nighttowll]

And here are the rest of the parks:

Animal Kingdom
Bug’s Life – show
Finding Nemo – show
Jungle Book – meet n greet
*Land Before Time – playground / 3 rides / life size animatronic dino / carnival games
*This is not really Disney but with the whole dino section it would be a good one for kids.
Lion King – show / meet n greet
Mickey Mouse / Fab 5 Cartoons – meet n greet / opening show / restaurant
Pocahontas – meet n greet
Up – Wilderness Explorer’s badges / meet n greet

At AK, I suggest watching Up if you want to do the badges. You don't need to have seen the movie to understand the badge activities, but it definitely made it more fun if you had. I even got little soda pop pins made to hand out when the kids completed all their badges. It was cute.


Hollywood Studios
Beauty and the Beast - show
Cars – show / meet n greet
Disney Junior cartoons – dance party / show / restaurant / meet n greet
Fantasia – show
Frozen – show / misc
Honey I Shrunk the Kids – playground
Incredibles – meet n greet
Indiana Jones – show
Jim Hansen’s Muppets – show
Little Mermaid - show
Mickey Mouse / Fab 5 Cartoons – meet n greet / shows
Monsters Inc. – meet n greet
Phineas and Freb cartoon – meet n greet
Star Wars – ride / restaurant / Jedi academy / meet n greet
Tower of Terror – ride
Toy Story – ride / meet n greet

At Hollywood studios, the kids loved the Tower of Terror. When I explained there was a movie, they got so excited. Luckily the gift shop sells it. They watched it over and over the whole trip, and definately enjoyed the ride more after watching it than before. They kept pointing out all these little details from the movie when we back after watching it.

From the list, I'd also suggest watching Honey I Shrunk the Kids because it is another often overlooked movie, but kids really seem to enjoy it. It gives you a little break from princes and princesses and evil villains. Although, older kids may scoff at the "bad" special effects of the 80s/90s.

The other one that caused some confusion was the Muppets Show, somehow they had never really seen them and didn't know who they were. Between books, cartoons, and various movies and holiday specials, it is hard for me to believe that kids don't know who the Muppets are, but I guess they just aren't as popular anymore. They definitely didn't get the theater reference to the old variety show.


Epcot
Aladdin – meet n greet
Alice in Wonderland – meet n greet
Beauty and the Beast – meet n greet
Lion King – show
Finding Nemo – ride / misc
Mary Poppins – meet n greet
Mickey Mouse / Fab 5 Cartoons – restaurant / ride / meet n greet
Mulan – meet n greet
Phineas and Ferb cartoon – interactive game
Sleeping Beauty – meet n greet
Snow White – meet n greet
Winnie the Pooh – meet n greet

 

[Feberin]

Check your local library you may be able to borrow a lot of movies for free or a small cost.

My son had a lot of movies he hadn't seen yet. I think Star Wars (all of them) and Cinderella were the only ones he'd seen. We watched these movies:

-Peter Pan
-Cinderella
-Beauty and the Beast
-Little Mermaid
-Monsters Inc
-Toy Story
-Lion King
-Cars
-Finding Nemo
-Frozen
-Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (not a movie but a good show to watch)

 

[disneyjes]

And here are the rest of the parks:

Animal Kingdom
Bug’s Life – show
Finding Nemo – show
Jungle Book – meet n greet
*Land Before Time – playground / 3 rides / life size animatronic dino / carnival games
*This is not really Disney but with the whole dino section it would be a good one for kids.
Lion King – show / meet n greet
Mickey Mouse / Fab 5 Cartoons – meet n greet / opening show / restaurant
Pocahontas – meet n greet
Up – Wilderness Explorer’s badges / meet n greet

At AK, I suggest watching Up if you want to do the badges. You don't need to have seen the movie to understand the badge activities, but it definitely made it more fun if you had. I even got little soda pop pins made to hand out when the kids completed all their badges. It was cute.


Hollywood Studios
Beauty and the Beast - show
Cars – show / meet n greet
Disney Junior cartoons – dance party / show / restaurant / meet n greet
Fantasia – show
Frozen – show / misc
Honey I Shrunk the Kids – playground
Incredibles – meet n greet
Indiana Jones – show
Jim Hansen’s Muppets – show
Little Mermaid - show
Mickey Mouse / Fab 5 Cartoons – meet n greet / shows
Monsters Inc. – meet n greet
Phineas and Freb cartoon – meet n greet
Star Wars – ride / restaurant / Jedi academy / meet n greet
Tower of Terror – ride
Toy Story – ride / meet n greet

At Hollywood studios, the kids loved the Tower of Terror. When I explained there was a movie, they got so excited. Luckily the gift shop sells it. They watched it over and over the whole trip, and definately enjoyed the ride more after watching it than before. They kept pointing out all these little details from the movie when we back after watching it.

From the list, I'd also suggest watching Honey I Shrunk the Kids because it is another often overlooked movie, but kids really seem to enjoy it. It gives you a little break from princes and princesses and evil villains. Although, older kids may scoff at the "bad" special effects of the 80s/90s.

The other one that caused some confusion was the Muppets Show, somehow they had never really seen them and didn't know who they were. Between books, cartoons, and various movies and holiday specials, it is hard for me to believe that kids don't know who the Muppets are, but I guess they just aren't as popular anymore. They definitely didn't get the theater reference to the old variety show.


Epcot
Aladdin – meet n greet
Alice in Wonderland – meet n greet
Beauty and the Beast – meet n greet
Lion King – show
Finding Nemo – ride / misc
Mary Poppins – meet n greet
Mickey Mouse / Fab 5 Cartoons – restaurant / ride / meet n greet
Mulan – meet n greet
Phineas and Ferb cartoon – interactive game
Sleeping Beauty – meet n greet
Snow White – meet n greet
Winnie the Pooh – meet n greet

Oh my goodness. Thank you so much for those lists! That's exactly what I was looking for. I would hate for him on our first trip to not know who/what something is. I appreciate your help!!

 

[disneyjes]

Check your local library you may be able to borrow a lot of movies for free or a small cost.

My son had a lot of movies he hadn't seen yet. I think Star Wars (all of them) and Cinderella were the only ones he'd seen. We watched these movies:

-Peter Pan
-Cinderella
-Beauty and the Beast
-Little Mermaid
-Monsters Inc
-Toy Story
-Lion King
-Cars
-Finding Nemo
-Frozen
-Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (not a movie but a good show to watch)

I almost forgot Star Wars! I don't think my son has ever seen an entire Star Wars movie yet...just bits and pieces. Thanks!!

 

[5stljayhawks]

Although not officially a movie travel channel has a 30 min - 1 hour show on disney that I watch and or pop the kids down in front. Its on netflixs or hulu

 

[disneyjes]

Although not officially a movie travel channel has a 30 min - 1 hour show on disney that I watch and or pop the kids down in front. Its on netflixs or hulu

Oh that would be so much fun! Thank you! I will have to see if it will be on soon since we don't have netflix and hulu. We just do amazon prime.