Which park is best to "skip" with preschoolers?

[Picabo]

Our girls will be 2 1/2 and almost 4 when we go in early December. It's the 1st trip for the girls and DH. I've been to DW numberous times (grew up near there) but haven't been back since 2000. In anycase I'm thinking of skipping DHS b/c there just doesn't seem to be much there to make it worth it with a 2 and 3 yr old. We'll be there at DW for 7nts but I want to cushion in plenty of 'down time' so they don't get overtired (ie cranky ) and would even like to take maybe 1/2 day to see the Christmas decorations at the Wilderness Lodge and Grand Floridian.

I've heard some dislike AK (and honestly, the ONE time I was there - 2000- I wasn't all that impressed, however I didn't have animal-lovin' kids back then!) But the shows at AK (and the safari ride) seem to be good ideas for the little ones. For whatever reason, DHS just doesn't seem to have enough there. My BIL and SIL took their 3 yr old last year and they said if we skipped a park, their vote would be DHS.

So just wondering what others think - especially those with young kids. Would I be making a mistake by skipping it?

 

[ktlm]

I would not skip any of the parks. We took DD for her 1st trip at 2 yrs 10 months and the order of her favorites were MK, Epcot, DHS, and AK. She actually absolutely hated AK at that age, and after a couple of hours, begged to leave and go back to MK. We went again this May when she was 3, her order of favorites that time were MK, Epcot, AK, and DHS. That time she loved AK. The only reason she was not crazy about DHS after a while is that it was really hot the day we were there. At DHS she loves the Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid shows, the Toy Story Mania Ride, meeting Woody and Buzz, Muppets 3 D, and Block Party Bash by the Toy Story float. If your girls like shows, I wouldn't skip DHS. She absolutely loved the Lion King show at AK at 3, in fact, she looked at me with big sad eyes when it ended and said "Is it really over? " There really is something in each of the parks for that age.

 

[*pixie*dust*]

I would skip DHS. There are a couple of shows that they might like and a playground but that is about all there. Don't skip AK-- there is a lot for kids.

 

[scard192]

we are doing 5 days at the parks: 1 ea at EPCOT, HS + AK, 2 at MK. Figured it might be more like 1/2 day at HS/AK with a 3 year old.

 

[MiniGirl]

I would skip DHS. There are a couple of shows that they might like and a playground but that is about all there. Don't skip AK-- there is a lot for kids.

See.... this just shows how differently people think. When my girls were that age, I thought they would LOVE AK. They loved our trips to the local zoo and I just thought AK would be a perfect fit. WRONG!!!! The only things they enjoyed were The Boneyard playground and the ride that is like Dumbo or Aladin's flying carpets. (Sorry I forget the name of it.) They didn't enjoy anything else. Now that they are a little older (9 and 7), we are enjoying AK a lot more.

DHS, OTOH, is a favorite. They love all the characters and the shows. It is their favorite parade and they even love watching the streetmosphere performers. We are about 90 minutes away from WDW and go fairly often and we almost never skip DHS.

 

[Macduffy]

My DS4 would be devastated if we didn't go to DHS! He would miss McQueen and all the Playhouse Disney Characters!!!! If it were us I would probaby skip Epcot I can't see my 4 year old enjoying it as much as DHS but we'll soon see We are doing MK x 2, Epcot, DHS, AK and have an extra day in case we want to go back to another park

 

[mousesweetie]

I wouldnt skip any of the parks, like another poster said. DHS has the muppets and toy story and lots of fun kid stuff.
My 4 year old nephew LOVED DHS. JUST IMHO!

 

[brymolmom]

I wouldn't skip any.

If going for 7 nights especially.

Keep in mind that after the first 4 - 5 days of park tickets - it is CHEAP to add extra days. So you can hit all the parks AND have down time for only a bit more money. You could just plan to do DHS for 2 - 3 hours in the morning, and still have all afternoon/evening at your hotel or visiting Xmas decorations elsewhere. Since it is so inexpensive - maybe $5 - $10 (depending how many days of tickets you were planning to buy to begin with) - it is worth it to even just go for 3 hours to a park.

At DHS my kids at that age loved Playhouse Disney Live, Little Mermaid (actually dd at 2 didn't like it much - kind of dark in there), Muppets, And one of our family's TOP 5 that is a MUST SEE is Beauty and the Beast show. Also like the HSM3 show and the parade. Also like the Play N Dine at Hollywood & Vine at those ages.

 

[tinkmom2]

Personally if I had a choice of a park to skip it would be Hollywood Studios. My daughter was 2 the last time we went and did like the Playhouse Disney but wouldn't stay still long enough for Beauty and the Beast nor Indiana Jones. We did do two days at MK last time though. Even though we have been there 3 times we still haven't seen everything that has to be seen. Epcot has amazing fireworks and it's neat to see the different countries, and we loved AK because of all the animals although my 10 year old still til this day refuses to go in the Bugs Life movie. My then two year old was terrified.

This November we are only doing two parks. MK which we have MVMCP tickets for and Epcot. We are fine with that because we are also going on a bounceback cruise on the Wonder that week. This is our first time seeing WDW at XMas time. I am so excited!

 

[mdsouth]

My DS4 would be devastated if we didn't go to DHS! He would miss McQueen and all the Playhouse Disney Characters!!!! If it were us I would probaby skip Epcot I can't see my 4 year old enjoying it as much as DHS but we'll soon see We are doing MK x 2, Epcot, DHS, AK and have an extra day in case we want to go back to another park

My DD 6 loved MK the most followed by DHS! She too loved, loved Playhouse Disney. The shows begins with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - all the characters are there and the songs! The show is very entertaining for the little kids. They can stand up and dance. There are also bubbles that rain down on the audience. The show includes a segment with the characters of Little Einstein and Pooh and Friends.

My DD also liked the Voyage to the Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast shows. She especially liked going to the Animation Building and meeting Mickey, Handy Mandy, the UP characters and one of the Little Einsteins. As the person quoted above stated, Lightning McQueen and Mater. You can also meet Sully.

My DD did not get much out of AK. She just wasn't into it. Due to the heat the animals were pretty much none existent. Our local zoo is much better.

You could skip both AK and DHS and spend the day at your resort. Your kids and you too would probably benefit from a down day - relaxing at the resort, possibly checking out other resorts or just riding the monorail. If you do a down day, try to do it in the middle of your trip.

 

[Binnie]

We always struggle to find enough for DD3 to do at Epcot. I'll admit, we haven't tried too hard, but although we've visited each of our two visits this year, it's been only for a couple of hours--including the princess breakfast!

DHS, Epcot, and AK are all short-time parks for us. We go in the AM, and then go back to the hotel for rest and end the day at MK. DD is obsessed with MK--and so are her parents, so we all work well together.

I really like our strategy. It keeps us from feeling pushed, and we can still feel like we've seen all 4 parks.

 

[Mrsdennison]

DHS has toy story ride, playhouse disney, cars characters, and muppets, and ariel show. Forgot Monsters Inc.

If it was me and I was going to skip one. I just went last week with a six year old and three and half year old I would skip Epcot.

Not saying it is bad, my dh and I enjoyed it. But it was not a fav. among the kids. They did enjoy the characters and getting stamps in the countries. My older dd liked the fireworks. But it was last on the list of parks they liked.

Mrsdennison

 

[brymolmom]

WOW - surprised at the votes for EPCOT. My ds7 and dd5 have always loved EPCOT.

When they were 2 and 3, I would say they loved: Journey into Imagination with Figment, Play area in let-out area of Figmant, Nemo ride, Turtle Talk, Looking at the Aquarium in The Seas, playing in 'tunnels' in let-out area of Mission SPace, the acrobats, Maelstrom, Boat ride in Mexico, Living with the land Boat Ride, Voices of Liberty at the American Pavilion followed by the show after and the stamps at each country.

 

[PollyannaMom]

It really depends on your individual kids. If they're big into the Playhouse Disney shows, I might do DHS, but otherwise - we've skipped that one too.

 

[princessmom29]

My 5 year old had much more fun at HS than AK. We are skipping AK altogether this trip. We really didn't find a lot that appealed to us that we couldn't get at the zoo.

 

[ktlm]

We always struggle to find enough for DD3 to do at Epcot. I'll admit, we haven't tried too hard, but although we've visited each of our two visits this year, it's been only for a couple of hours--including the princess breakfast!

.

Wow, on DDs 1st trip we were at Epcot from open to close and didn't feel like we had enough time. For her, Epcot is more about exploring at her own pace and less about rushing from attraction to attraction. She could spend a ton of time in the areas after the Nemo and Imagination Rides alone. She could spend all day in WS just visiting the characters, watching the street entertainers, banging on the drums at the outpost, going to the Kidcot stations and exploring the different countries. You just never know what a kid is going to like.

Minigirl, DD loved the zoo, so I thought she would love AK when she was 2 too, boy was I wrong! I was pretty surprised when she started demanding to leave. Then when she was 3, I warned her GPs that I didn't think she would stay there long, and of course she loved it then.

 

[crisi]

This is one of those where the only answer you WON'T get is "skip MK."

For our family, it would have been DHS - which we've never really liked with small kids - and like more now with kids who will do thrill rides. We aren't show people though.

Our kids have always love AK and Epcot. Moreover, our trips to Disney aren't all about our children - granted they play a central role - but Mom and Dad get a vote - and my favorite is AK and my husband's is Epcot.

You know your kids - no one else on this board does. If you HAVE to skip a park, go to a site like All Ears Net or get a guidebook that lists and describes all the attractions. List the attractions appropriate for your kids ages and score them on how much your kids would like them (I'd use a 1-5 scale - 5 being 'I think my kids would really like this') - add it up and you'll have an answer. You may find in the end like other people that your kids don't like the zoo part of AK as much as you thought they might, or that although Epcot scored slightly higher than DHS, you chose DHS anyway and can't imagine Epcot would have been better.

 

[DISNEYNV]

If you MUST skip a park I would go with DHS. There is not much to do there for the little ones. My kids had a fantastic time at AK and they were one and four at the time of our last trip in May, but they also love animals. There is a great play area for them to enjoy when they are getting bored. The shows are great and there is the Safari, Picnic in the Park, the Educational trails, Rafikis Planet Watch (with Character Meet and Greets) as well as a petting zoo area. Great architechture, theming and detail throughout the park.

Have fun with the kiddos with whatever you decide. I think it is doable to give all the parks a shot. AK and DHS can take as little as half a day each if you want to give them a taste of each

 

[ilandrazdsw]

When we visited WDW DS(5) and DD(3) were least impressed with EPCOT. There is a lot to look at, but a lot went over their heads...especially when all they wanted to do was rides. They did enjoy Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush, TT, Soarin', and Figment.

 

[sonnesolsun]

This just goes to show you about varying tastes and what your kids and you like.

We just returned from Disney and I saw that my sister posted she and her family would skip Epcot, while my family and I spent 2 days there!!! DD6 and DS4 (turned 4 on the trip) had a great time at Epcot! It wasn't crowded the 2nd day we went and we saw ALL the princesses at their countries in less than an hour (didn't wait more than 5-10mins for any of them!!!). It was low key and lots of fun compared to our other days. They loved Figment ride and play stuff afterwards and Nemo ride, aquarium and Turtle Talk w/Crush...DD6 even got to ask him a question.

We also enjoyed DHS because of all the fun shows (Ariel, Playhouse Disney, missed Beauty & the Beast...but hear it is awesome, Muppet 3D movie, etc). The characters were fun as well and my kids loved Toy Story Mania!!!

My kids are a little older than yours of course, so good luck deciding!!! And have a magical trip!!!