What to do on 3rd day for boy and girl?

[angelia denise]

I am at minor brick wall with my planning process! My husband (38), daughter (4), and I will be vacationing at Orlando and Disney for 12 days (Sunday through to the following Thursday) in September! (Yay!) My husband will attend a conference for a few days while we are there and my brother (37) and his son, my nephew, (6) will join my daughter and I during that conference time from Thursday night through Monday morning, which gives them only 3 available park days to play, due to driving days. My daughter has been to Disney before as well as Disney Cruises. She is already an experienced Disney-er, but my nephew has NEVER been, and this will be his first time at Disney! We have 3 park days to play with for my brother and nephew, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday:

We are staying at AKL, no park hopper.
Friday = Magic Kingdom / MNSSHP
Saturday = Animal Kingdom / Back Yard Barbeque
Sunday = ?? Pool time at AKL, AND / OR Magic Kingdom 2nd day OR Hollywood Studios OR Epcot??

We are buying a 3 day park ticket because we are purchasing through AAA, and they don't do anything less than that, and you get AAA parking with it. Plus it's not that much more $ to do a 3 day than a 2. If you have a 6 year old boy that's never been to Disney before, what would you do? Thanks in advance for the advice!!

 

[MeanestMomEver]

I think DHS would be a bit more exciting for a six year old boy.

He would probably enjoy almost every attraction and show and I'd take him to SciFi dine in--Cars, cheesy monster movies and guy food!

And don't skip Beauty and the Beast because it has a princess. Remember there is a pretty cool fight scene and I always hear the cutest comments from little boys about that. So cute.

Also, Fantasmic is pretty exciting the first time you see it too! And what a great finale for his trip!

If not, the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Cruise looks really fun. Because of our recent CR room location and pool location, we saw it in action several times this spring and I was impressed.

Just a few thoughts. Whatever you decide, have fun! I think it will be wonderful for you to experience WDW through the eyes of your little nephew on his first trip.

 

[lam0037]

From a girl's perspective, I would do MK or HS. Personally, I love Epcot now but I was not a fan when I was 7 (TT was fun and the countries were neat but I liked other parks better). My 7 year old cousin just went in March and he loved HS. He enjoyed the shows, Fantasmic, TSM and loved the Jedi Training Academy. So, based on his experience I would do HS if you think you can get MK done in one day!

 

[Malibustyle23]

How long do expect the kids to last? Will they need to go back to the room and nap or sleep in in the morning? Do you think they will get to do alot of the rides during your MK/party day? Are meet and greets going to be important to them? Will you spend alot of time in line waiting for the characters? Will the party be spent riding rides or watching the parade, TorTing, character meet and greets, etc? I would personally do 2 days of MK. There is so much to do there unless you think you can get it all done in 1 day I would revisit there.

If I instead had to choose between Epcot and DHS. I would choose DHS.

 

[minnie mum]

Since your nephew has never been to WDW before, I'd recommend DHS on the third day as well. And I'd also recommend an afternoon rest on your first and third day, given the children's ages. They could go for a brief swim then, if they wanted to.

 

[angelia denise]

I think DHS would be a bit more exciting for a six year old boy.

He would probably enjoy almost every attraction and show and I'd take him to SciFi dine in--Cars, cheesy monster movies and guy food!

And don't skip Beauty and the Beast because it has a princess. Remember there is a pretty cool fight scene and I always hear the cutest comments from little boys about that. So cute.

Also, Fantasmic is pretty exciting the first time you see it too! And what a great finale for his trip!

If not, the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Cruise looks really fun. Because of our recent CR room location and pool location, we saw it in action several times this spring and I was impressed.

Just a few thoughts. Whatever you decide, have fun! I think it will be wonderful for you to experience WDW through the eyes of your little nephew on his first trip.

Ooh I love the idea of the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Cruise! But alas we are pushing the budget with MNSSHP tickets and Backyard Barbeque. I don't want to add more tickets! I have never heard of that before, thanks so much for the info! I WILL do that in the future!! My daughter will be doing DHS before my nephew arrives, so I don't want to repeat too much for her either. BUT for a boy, I definitely think DHS would be more of a treat than Epcot.

I almost think having the option of repeating MK on the third day will alleviate some pressure to make the day of MNSSHP so stressful to "get it all in". I can always just leave the day open with no reservations and play it by ear. But I like having those reservations!

 

[angelia denise]

How long do expect the kids to last? Will they need to go back to the room and nap or sleep in in the morning? Do you think they will get to do alot of the rides during your MK/party day? Are meet and greets going to be important to them? Will you spend alot of time in line waiting for the characters? Will the party be spent riding rides or watching the parade, TorTing, character meet and greets, etc? I would personally do 2 days of MK. There is so much to do there unless you think you can get it all done in 1 day I would revisit there.

If I instead had to choose between Epcot and DHS. I would choose DHS.

All very good questions! I think I should plan on the side of assuming the greatest need for rest! I don't think my nephew is into the characters like my daughter, and she will have time to do the characters / princess stuff without him. So I kind of want to focus on him. The MNSSHP will be costumes, candy, scary characters, taking it all in! We will do what we can as far as rides and attractions, but my guess is we will do a lot of "piddling" and "wandering". I want to do the dance party because the daughter LOVES those dance parties, but haven't "planned" out the MNSSHP events really. This will be our very first MNSSHP ever, and will just kind of take it all in! I think revisiting MK is probably the best option, but I don't want the nephew to miss out on another park! So much to see and do!

 

[angelia denise]

Since your nephew has never been to WDW before, I'd recommend DHS on the third day as well. And I'd also recommend an afternoon rest on your first and third day, given the children's ages. They could go for a brief swim then, if they wanted to.

Yes! I want to take advantage of the AKL pool / water play area too! I guess we will have to see what we don't get to do at MK and decide if we want to do DHS on the third day or MK. But I really want to "know before I go" what I'm doing! lol

 

[MeanestMomEver]

I wanted to add something. With a 4 and 6 year old, I think the number one thing you can do is to not have the "get as much done as possible" mentality. Instead, move at a comfortable pace. If that means naps and pool time, that's fine. Hopefully, the kids will have many more trips to see anything that's missed.

Go with an easy pace and flexibility.

 

[angelia denise]

Thanks MeanestMomEver for the reminder! It's easy to get caught up in the "do it all" mentality while I'm comfortably sitting in my air conditioned room with my computer thinking how to have the best time and do all the cool things Disney has to offer.

Planning for Disney is a "trip" in and of itself! I must stay firmly planted in reality!

 

[suffieldhockeymom]

Since you don't have hoppers, I would not go to MK on the 1st day if you are going to MNSSHP. I would go to Epcot and then get to MK around 4 with your party tickets. Most party nights you can do the whole park. I would go finish MK on the 3rd day if you need/want or go to HS.

 

[MCO mama]

Definitely make some time for AKL pool and Kidani water play area (and take the van, it is a long walk). September is HOT here and those are 2 really fun water/pool experiences

 

[LadyBeBop]

Since you don't have hoppers, I would not go to MK on the 1st day if you are going to MNSSHP. I would go to Epcot and then get to MK around 4 with your party tickets. Most party nights you can do the whole park. I would go finish MK on the 3rd day if you need/want or go to HS.

I was going to suggest something similar. Maybe something like:

Day 1: AK/MNSSHP
Day 2: DHS
Day 3: MK.

I wouldn't do Epcot. Last year, our five-year old DGD wasn't enthused. She loved AK and MK and liked DHS. You could actually substitute a second AK day for DHS. DGD loved the Wilderness Explorers. We spent two days at AK and still couldn't get all the stickers. But we tried.

 

[angelia denise]

I was going to suggest something similar. Maybe something like:

Day 1: AK/MNSSHP
Day 2: DHS
Day 3: MK.

I wouldn't do Epcot. Last year, our five-year old DGD wasn't enthused. She loved AK and MK and liked DHS. You could actually substitute a second AK day for DHS. DGD loved the Wilderness Explorers. We spent two days at AK and still couldn't get all the stickers. But we tried.

Well, one reason we are doing AK on Sat., day 2 is because we have tickets to Mickey's Backyard Barbecue at 6:30 on Saturday (day 2), and AK closes earlier than the other parks. So I thought that was a good time fit. I'm not wanting to do DHS on Friday (day 1 for nephew) because DH and DD and I are doing it the day before. DH is limited on days he can go because of the conference and he is adamant about doing the Star Wars Jedi training for DD, plus we have reservations at the Brown Derby that day. I don't want to do DHS 2 days in a row for DD and me. I chose AKL Kidani partly for the water play area so I want to use it. I think I'm leaning towards doing DHS and AKL pool that third day or MK and pool day. Plus, there is just something "magical" about visiting MK first thing for my nephew! By the way, what's the Wilderness Explorers?

 

[GWhitten98]

Since you don't have hoppers, I would not go to MK on the 1st day if you are going to MNSSHP. I would go to Epcot and then get to MK around 4 with your party tickets. Most party nights you can do the whole park. I would go finish MK on the 3rd day if you need/want or go to HS.

I was thinking the same thing, I would do Rope drop @ HS, then have a casual afternoon at the resort pool; as long as you get to MK b/t 4 and 5 you should be great for MNSSHP