Which Disney Parks Will My Kids Enjoy Most?

[Jeremy B.]

We will be staying for a week at Cypress Pointe Resort the end of April, and plan on attending two Disney parks. It will be myself (26), wife (26), Daughter (turns 5 first day there), and our son who will be 16 months at the time we are there. We plan on spending a day at Magic Kingdom for our daughter's birthday. We are also planning to spend the next day at Animal Kingdom. With our kids age is there a park other than Animal Kingdom they would have more fun at? I've heard Epcot probably wouldn't be enjoyed all that much at their age, is this true? Any other tips on what parks might be more enjoyable for them? TIA!

 

[d96j97]

Magic Kingdom...without a doubt! Although we love every park in Disney, our absolute favorite is MK. We began taking our boys when they were 3 and 5 and now going back for their third trip and they are 7 & 8. There is soooooo many things to do in MK even for your little one. Some suggest a stroller for your 5yr old as well as your littlest one, but when we went we didn't bother with the stroller and they both did great. We just took small breaks. I do remember one day at Epcot (our 3rd day) that my 5 year old fell asleep at lunch. We left there and headed back to the resort. We all napped a couple hours and were refreshed for the rest of the day. No matter what...seeing Disney through the eyes of your little ones is the greatest feeling you can imagine. Have a magical trip!!!!

Also...if it is your daughters birthday...it would be so magical to have her wake Tinkerbell that morning at MK. You have to be the first family into Tinkerbell's Treasurers and ask to do so. She will get a photo, certificate, and feel really special!!!!

 

[Hillbeans]

Jeremy,

Welcome to the DIS.

I think that MK is a must do with the children at that age. My second choice is Animal Kingdom. There is a lot there visually for children and it's such a beautiful park.

You may even want to think about Typhoon Lagoon - the water park.

We didn't like MGM because there wasn't a lot for our 4 YO. My DH and I babyswapped to go on Tower of Terror and Rock-n-roller coaster, however we left the park at 2 and went to Epcot for the evening.

 

[kilee]

Many kids LOVE epcot. There is so many hands-on activities that they enjoy. Also, the Living Seas is usually a hit, especially w/ the younger crowd. Also the World Showcase has the Kidcot stations in each country. These are hands-on activites for the kids. Also, getting the Passport stamped in each country is really fun, it gives the kids some interaction w/ the CM's in those country pavillions. There's also 2 character meals at Epcot. One being the Garden Grill, as well as the ice cream social there. Then there is the Princess breakfast (and soon dinner) in Norway.

Now for MGM, the shows are usually a true hit here. Playhouse Disney, Beauty and the Beast, and Little Mermaid. Personally, they're all no miss in my book. Also, things like the muppets are really fun for kids too. Some kids really enjoy Pizza Planet from the Toy Story movie here as well.

I really think each park has it's own things that draws everyone in. I do have a favorite park, but I LOVE them all when it comes down to it. So does my son, and my neice seemed to really enjoy them all too.

 

[vicb]

You will get lots of debate on the topic of is Epcot good for young kids or not. Personally it is my fav park but in all honesty when my kids were 3 and 6 they were not into it at all. I remember spending about 3 hours there then taking the monorail back to MK where they were very happy. In hindsight, on that trip I had wished instead we had gone to MGM instead for 3 hours. Great things there for young kids are: Muppetvision 3D movie, Little Mermaid show, Honey I shrunk the Playground (awesome) and I think there is a Playhouse Disney thing but I've not done that myself.

At that young age my kids loved MK, swimming at the resort or TL, riding the monorail, meeting characters, watching fireworks. AK is not among our favs although we have gone twice, it is a nice park though.

Your kids are young and hopefully you will return to WDW more times as they grow older, try not to stress about "doing it all" on this trip. Take your cues from them. I was a bit distressed that year when all they wanted to do was MK and swim but when I let go of my expectations we had a fun trip. Now we go everyother year and even though swimming is still important to them, they like lots more stuff!

 

[crisi]

Kids are very different.

My kids (last trip at 4 and 5, previous trip at 2 and 3) enjoyed MK most, then AK. We like Epcot as a family - they enjoy some of the rides (Spaceship Earth, Imagination, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Living Seas, Maelstrom) and a lot of the entertainment around the World Showcase. We are less impressed with MGM.

Other people love taking their kids to MGM for Playhouse Disney and the Muppets and the Little Mermaid show, as well as a lot of other things there. Some families don't enjoy AK at all.

 

[lovethattink]

Magic Kingdom and Epcot. There is so much to do at each park. If you have the new vacation planning DVD, watch the special section about things to do with small children. It might give you an idea of what which parks you'd like the best. To get to the special section of the DVD click on Special Features, then More, then Fun For Little Ones. (That's my favorite section, because my family is in that part!)

 

[the4moores]

When we went to Walt Disney World my children were 2 and 4. We ended up doing 3 park days. A full day at MK, a half day at MGM and then back to MK (my 4 year old daughter was terrified of the shows even Little Mermaid), a half day at AK and them back to MK. If I had only 2 days I might spend both of them at the MK. There is so much to do. If you do MK first and your kids loved it you may want to go back again the 2nd day. Or I would do AK first and then MK. I just found that once we had been to MK we felt like we were wasting our park time at AK and just wanted to go to MK.

 

[siennacrew]

Hi! We just got back from our first trip to Disney with a DD 6 and DS 2. We loved MK especially Dumbo, Peter Pan, Pooh, Buzz lightyear, and the best of all was Mickey Philharmagic! You can use the fastpass & save alot of time in line. Crystal Palace meal w/ Pooh is very nice at MK and you get to see all of the characters...pooh, tigger, eeyore & piglet. The show in front of the castle is very nice too!

We did not like AK that much. We liked Lion King and Pocahantas the best. I wouldn't recommend Tarzan Rocks no one in our family liked it. Eat the Flame Tree BBQ it is really good!

The other park we loved was MGM. We loved Playhouse Disney, Little mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, Fantasmic. Don't sit to close at Playhouse Disney and Little Mermaid...you'll miss some of the cool things.

If you go to Epcot go see the Living Seas and the talk w/ Crush. We didn't do anything else at that park.

Have fun!

 

[bigbabyblues]

My boys were almost 4 and 15 months when we went last fall, and they enjoyed all the parks. They liked Epcot, we went there twice. Each park has something different for them. At MGM there's Playhouse Disney on stage, The Little Mermaid, characters to see, and several other things. At Epcot they loved the fountains the best, the Living Seas (Nemo exhibit was the favorite here), The Land ride, breakfast with the princesses in Norway, making the masks in the World Showcase, 4-yo rode Test Track with DH and loved it, Spaceship Earth, the characters on holiday bus, the boat ride in Mexico, and Journey into Imagination. We only spent about 1/2 day at AK because it was so darn hot, but they liked it too.

You might split a day between AK and either Epcot or MGM?

 

[mickeyluv'r]

It depends a little on what your kids are into. We love all the parks, but we like documentaries and learning new things. If your kids are into animals, they'll love AK. If they like learning about places and history/science they will like Epcot. If they are more into movies, then MGM will be a big hit. If you park hop, you could hit the highlights of both parks. The boat ride from the WS in Epcot to MGM is a great break.

 

[eeyore0062]

I would suggest the Kingdoms.. both Magic and Animal!!!!

 

[ncbyrne]

My DGD's favorite park is MGM - they like it even better than MK. They like Epcot and AK too, but not as much as MGM.

 

[DissyLove]

Of course do MGM, but if your kids like things like the muppets, beauty and the beast, playhouse disney, and the Little Mermaid, I would say give MGM a try. Less rides, more shows, but good shows for the ages of your kids......Just get a times guide when you get to the park and plan your day around the shows you think your kids would like....