What to do at MGM with 4yo dd?

[showar]

I've been reading through my unofficial guide and it looks like there isn't much for my 4yo dd to do there. Of course she will see the shows including Fantasmic and also play in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids area. Are there any rides that she would enjoy? It sounds like there are various things my dh would enjoy so maybe we will see the shows while he does that. Any tips?

 

[littlelaura]

its been a few years since i've been, and it will be our ds4 first trip. there is the muppet 3d show, indy stunt show, new car stunt show, tower of terror (102cm height req, if you're comfortable with him riding this), beuty and the beast show, hunchback of notradam show, lots of meet and greet, the stars and motor cars parade, and of course fantasmic. a couple of the shows may get a little loud but i think your child will be amazed by them (you could always get some earplugs to muffle the noise)

 

[staci]

I know that I am for sure taking ds to the little mermaid show. He LOVES ariel!

This will be our first trip with children as well, but I think there is still a playhouse disney show there?

edit: we missed beauty and the beast last time but we are planning on it this time

 

[BamaGirl]

You must do Playhouse Disney! When we went in 2004 we had a blast, even my 9mo ds loved it! The parade there is really neat to, we sat at the restaurant next to Star Wars and waited for the parade to begin. Sitting there also let us ride Star Wars my 4yo ds loved riding it. He was a little scared at first but that was from it getting dark in the beginning.

 

[KristiKelly]

My kids DS8 & DD5 have always enjoyed MGM. We do the Little Mermaid (this does scare some kids when Ursula comes out), Playhouse Disney, Star Wars, The Great Movie Ride, Beauty & the Beast, The Muppets 3D show. My kids like eating @ 50's Prime Time (Dh had to sing "I'm a Little TeaPot" once, one time he had to stand in the corner, and one time they fed me my green beans) the kids get a big kick out of the grown ups getting picked on. DS also likes the Indiana Jones show. All of these things can easily take a day. My kids have been going since they were 2-1/2 and have always enjoyed MGM.

 

[candmforever]

There's quite a bit to do..LIttle Mermaid Show, Playhouse Disney LIve on Stage, The Beauty and the Beast Show, Star Wars, ...there are others..we stayed busy ALL DAY until closing w/ DD. The character hunting took up quite a bit of time and there were lots there, so we had no down time to speak of at all. You should have no problem keeping busy.

 

[isla bonita]

My son is a little scary he road Tower of Terror. Strange child but I have to say he also loved Play House Disney and Muppets. I would be very surprised if she dosen't love MGM.

 

[Colinsmom]

DS also loved all of the characters at MGM, and the lines were much shorter than at MK!

 

[NCombs]

Definitely Playhouse Disney. It's great for this age.

Little Mermaid
Indiana Jones
Beauty and the Beast
Muppets 3-D
Backlot Tour (my 4 year old liked it)
Stars and Motor Cars Parade

We found Mickey the morning we were there just waiting for someone to come get a picture with him. We were the only ones there.

I read recently about the Power Rangers hanging around.

 

[mjh8955]

Be very careful there. We lost our 4-year-old daughter in this place. She went in and didn't come out where she was supposed to. The CM assured me that there was only one way in and one way out. My son came out but DD didn't. She has a horrible sense of direction. Sure enough she had gotten turned around and had come back out the entrance. I was hysterical and in tears. The place was wall to wall people. I finally stood up on something and spotted her clear across the playground. A big man (who from the back looked just like a pervert with a police record) had her by the hand taking her out of the area and she was sobbing. I shoved a lot of people out of my way to get to her. He was actually a dad (a physician) who noticed she was lost and was taking her straight to a CM. I was a mess the rest of the day. We will not go in there every again.

 

[MommytoPayton&Max]

My DD, just 3 at the time, really liked TOT. It was quite funny, because she barely made the cutoff. Everyone in line was pretty surprised that she was excited to try it, so they all cheered when she barely passed the height requirement.

When we were there this last Feb., time did not permit a ride. She will try it again in a few weeks. It will be interesting to see how she does knowing now what to expect. If your DD4 is daring, she just might like it!

Have fun!

 

[pooh4evr]

Our 2 and 4 DDs loved MGM- we did Ariel, Playhouse Disney, Beauty and the Beast, Indiana Jones and Muppets. DD4 also rode Star Tours with with DH and liked it - the re are also alot of characters to see and we liked the parade there the best!!

 

[Cam2Mike]

I hate to say anything negative about Disney because it is the best place on earth!! BUT my 4 year old twins and their 4 year old friend left MGM in an emotional wreck...we started with 3D muppets thinking that would be safe. It was their first experince with 3D and it confused them and it was also very loud. We then headed for Little Mermaid..they were still recovering from the muppets but did ok for the first part of the show, then the gigantic & screaming Ursula came out and scared them quite a bit..they ended up crying and sitting on the floor to hide so we left that early. It was also extremely dark and very loud. Keep in my mind my DS's loved the movie and saw it numerous times so they knew exactly who Ursula was and how it turns out in the end.

After buying the boys a toy and getting them a drink to calm them down we headed for the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground while the dads went to rocking roller coaster. The playground should be safe right? No, as a mom of twins I was at my total wits end trying to keep my eye on the boys. There are so many ways in and out . My friend was also freaking out and she was only trying to keep an eye on one kid. It really surprises me that Disney isn't concerned about the kids security. They need to have some type of wristband ID system so kids can't get out with their parent or visa versa.

The moms and kids left there by noon and headed back to the safety and serenity of MK. Personally, if I got free tickets I still wouldn't go to MGM with a 4 year olds again. It was a waste of time, money and was very traumatic. For the rest of the trip the boys really didn't want to go into anything that looked like an auditorium. On a brighter note my friend went back on a different day just to go to playhouse disney and her son enjoyed.

Now that my boys are 6 I am sure they would do fine on all things mentioned above and I wouldn't freak out in the playground since they now have better judgement skills and could probably figure out how to get back to where they started.

If your children don't mind complete darkeness, extreme loudness they may be ok.

 

[Bugsmom73]

MGM is a great place for character meet and greets. we have also done Playhouse Disney and DD just enjoyed walking around. We have seen the parade. You know your child best, if they are frightened of loud noises then skip those attractions. DD and DS (3.5 and 13mos at our last trip) loved wishes, hated Fantasmic.

 

[sPaRkLeSpAz]

The Little Mermaid, The Playhouse Disney show, Muppets 3D.... Just any of the shows.

 

[showar]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. As I mentioned we will be going to all the shows. My dd is a Princess Freak so I know she will enjoy those. She probably will not enjoy the rides that were suggested because she doesn't like "boy" things to much. I guess there aren't too many rides at MGM and none for the preschool population. I just wanted something to fill in the time.

Oh, as far as characters, we have 6 ADR for different character meals so we won't be spending too much time searching for characters unless there are some that we won't be seeing at character meals.

Thanks again!

 

[madge]

Oh, as far as characters, we have 6 ADR for different character meals so we won't be spending too much time searching for characters unless there are some that we won't be seeing at character meals.

SOme of the characters we have seen at MGM, that are not at any character meals:

Mike & Sulley
Jo Jo & Goliath
The Incredibles (not sure if they are still at the Studios...)
Chicken Little
Toy Story characters at Al's Toy Barn

We always have excellent luck seeing Mickey Mouse at MGM, with little to no wait. In air conditioning

 

[tjmw2727]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. As I mentioned we will be going to all the shows. My dd is a Princess Freak so I know she will enjoy those. She probably will not enjoy the rides that were suggested because she doesn't like "boy" things to much. I guess there aren't too many rides at MGM and none for the preschool population. I just wanted something to fill in the time.

Oh, as far as characters, we have 6 ADR for different character meals so we won't be spending too much time searching for characters unless there are some that we won't be seeing at character meals.

Thanks again!

Get in to the "movie, tv mood" for mgm, relax and remember its not MK and you will have a blast with your dd. Don't assume that if it isn't girly or princess she won't like it. My youngest it a complete girly girl but still loves the muppets and star tours - she thinks c3po is awesome and she hasn't seen any of the movies. The great movie ride is wonderful but some kids are scared by the ganster/western scened or the ailien but my neice's 3&4 loved that in February. The obvious must do's are VOTLM and Playhouse Disney in addition the parade is my girls absolute favorite in WDW. They love the streetmosphere players and any type of live entertainment.

You can also meet any/every character especially some of the rare ones here at MGM. Mary Poppins, Burt and the Penguins were a surprise last trip as was Jessie from toy story. You can find Jojo circus, as well as the monsters. We also found the incredible characters here and nowhere else (may have changed from Feb). My dd's spent lots of time with Tarzan and Jane as well as Alladin and Jasmine. My 10yo LOVES the sorcer mickey so a stop at Mickey Ave is a must do, its cool and usually a very short line.

Don't be fooled by what seems like a small number of things as this is the park where time slips away from us the most. We took my neice and nephew 3 and 4 yo here along with my kids 8 and 10 in February with the thought of just seeing a couple shows. Next thing you know we were looking at the parade and still hadn't done what we planned?

Sorry so long but MGM is becoming one of our favorite parks.

TJ

 

[showar]

SOme of the characters we have seen at MGM, that are not at any character meals:

Mike & Sulley
Jo Jo & Goliath
The Incredibles (not sure if they are still at the Studios...)
Chicken Little
Toy Story characters at Al's Toy Barn

We always have excellent luck seeing Mickey Mouse at MGM, with little to no wait. In air conditioning

She will definately want to see Jo Jo & Goliath as well as Alladin & Jasmin but forget about the others. She will have nothing to do with The Incredibles, Toy Story or even Mulan (she is too boyish). We went to Disneyland last year and spent a lot of time with the characters. The only "boy" type characters she liked were those from Lion King and Bugs Life.

Thanks again!