Which Parks are your toddler's favorite?

vpalmer

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 19, 2005
Messages
906
Which parks did your toddler enjoy the most? I was thinking it might be helpful to those of us planning our first trips with little one's if we could see which parks your toddler enjoyed from most favorite to least favorite. If you would like to list your child's favorites in each park (food, shows, rides, entertainment, etc) that would be great too!

1) Most Favorite
2)
3)
4) Least Favorite

Thanks!
 
We've taken Paul twice now - once at 12 months and once at 20 months.

Both times, Animal Kingdom was his hands-down favorite. He LOVED it so much!!

He also really enjoyed Epcot and the Magic Kingdom. In fact, if you asked me what single thing he enjoyed most on this last trip, I would have to say Iluminations.

There really wasn't a whole lot for him at MGM, but he did love the Playhouse Disney show on his second trip. So, I guess that would have been his least favorite.
 
My dd 2 has been twice, at 3 months I can't say she had a favorite, at 14 months it was hard to tell, but she LOVED the fountains at Epcot, that was probably her favorite thing anywhere (the ones you can run in)
There was quite a lot she could do at MK, so that was probably her 2nd choice.
Animal Kingdom was good for just walking around and looking at the animals - not sure there were any attractions that really worked for her.
and MGM is not a big hit with either of my kids, they like Playhouse Disney but not much else.

When DD1 was 3 1/2, Epcot was her favorite because there are lots of safe non-scary rides there (she was very very timid on her first trip), she loved tapestry of nations/dreams and Illuminations, the mexico ride, spaceship earth, the land, living seas, figment, loads of things

then Magic Kingdom - quite a few things worried her at MK, she loved Its a Small World, was ok with Pooh Bear and Peter Pan, and even Pirates towards the end of the trip, won't even walk past Snow White's Scary Adventure or the Haunted Mansion. Loves Goofy's Barnstormer (her all time favorite I think)
Also loved the parades and the fireworks.

Animal Kingdom -was happy enough here, but not much in the way of rides for her - she likes Pocahontas, so enjoyed her show, and the safari - we only spent about 1/2 day here that trip.

MGM - again not great for us, but we have to visit for Bear! We love Bear. She is ok in Who wants to be a millionaire, Hated the Little Mermaid 'cause Ursula scared her. Was not happy on the Great Movie Ride - all in all, not a great park for her.
 
We have been three times with our DS - at 13, 17, and 20 mos.
His first trip he was overwhelmed by a lot of things so it would be hard to say what his favorite was. At 17 & 20 months, his absolute favorite thing was the characters, so of course it didn't matter which park we were in, but I would have to say that we usually see the most characters just out and about at MK and AK, with MGM coming in third. We've seen them at Epcot too, but that seems to be more structured with the character caravan sightings.

As far as attractions go, MK comes in first. He loves Winnie the Pooh ride and on our last trip, he would actually cry when getting off the ride because he didn't want to leave! It really didn't matter what ride it was either. One time I made the mistake of putting him down because he was wiggling in my arms so much and he actually tried to run back to the ride, LOL. I'm hard pressed to think of an attraction he didn't enjoy here.

AK wins for shows. DS loves music and loves seeing the Lion King show there. He also really enjoyed the Jammin' Jungle parade. We got a primo spot right by the ropes and all the characters came by, which of course he loved. He also liked Mickey's Philharmagic at MK but of course wouldn't keep the glasses on. This was one of the shows he found to be too overwhelming at 13 months but it was amazing the difference a few months makes. He also loved Fantasmic, Illuminations, and Wishes - again, anything with music and of course the visual effects are phenomenal, even from an adult perspective.

I would also say that overall, MGM comes in last. He enjoyed Playhouse Disney and Little Mermaid, and didn't seem "enthralled" with the Great Movie ride, but has been on a few times now and never has had a problem with it (he did oved the part near the end where they were showing a Mickey cartoon though).
 

My son was 2 years 3 months for his first trip His Most favorite...MK..2nd..AK...then MGM and epcot. He LOVED the hot dogs at Casey's in the MK..but I think his all time fav was "Pizza Planet" at MGM. (he's a big buzz fan!)
 
For our youngest, three year old DS, I would rank the parks:

1. Magic Kingdom: most rides for younger set. Loved Pooh, Peter Pan, Tea Cups, Go carts, merry go round, jungle cruise, Alladin ride, loved the parades and the fireworks.

2. MGM/Epcot: Tie. Loved Playhouse Disney, loved the Little Mermaid show, loved Indiana Jones show, although parts of Fantasmic scared the #$%& out of him. At Epcot he loved the trains in Germany, Spaceship Earth, and Test Track (which he still talks about months later).

3. AK: loved the bone yard and Triceratops Spin, but that's about it. Birds of wonder was okay for him, but other shows were over his head. We thought the safari was lame, and he balked at the raft ride.

He also enjoyed the monorail and boat rides to the MK, which he considered rides.

Hope this helps! Tx5
 
We went last September with DS4 and DS2. It was my oldest's second time (although he was only 8 months the first time :teeth: )

They liked:
1)Epcot: they loved the Spaceship Earth ride the most. We probably did that 7 or 8 times! They liked the Universe of Energy(with Ellen) because of the cool dinosaurs that looked and sounded real to them! Imagination with Figment was cool ,but it broke down halfway through. We went to Epcot 3 times that trip!!

2)Magic Kingdom: My oldest loved the Thunder Mountain RR roller coaster, while my youngest loved POC and Buzz Lightyears SRS. We went to that park twice!

3)MGM: PH disney was a big hit along with The Great Movie Ride (except for the Alien part). Lunch was enjoyable for them at 50's PTC. One day was plenty there, as there is not much for toddlers.

4)AK: While enjoyable, there is not alot of shade and not alot for small children with Air Conditioning, but the Lion King show was FANTASTIC!! and we got some GReat Pictures of the kids with the characters there!

Hope that helps! :sunny:
 
We were in Disney back in November with our almost 4 yo DS and 1 1/2 yo DS. By far, the boys enjoyed MK the best. Coming in a close second was AK. MGM and Epcot were least liked, with MGM taking the lead simply b/c of the big playground.
 
Our first trip the kids were 2, 4 and 5.

the favorites were:

1. Magic Kingdom - everything in Fantasyland and ToonTown EXCEPT one dd was afraid of SNow WHite's Scary Adventure. THey also like the Jungle Cruise and even Pirates of the Carribean, Buzz Lightyear, TTA, and Haunted Mansion. Favorite places to eat in MK - CP, Plaza, LTT and Columbia Harbor House. Kids loved the parade (nighttime) and fireworks.

2. MGM - Muppets, Beauty and the Beast, Playhouse Disney, Little Mermaid Show, Great Movie Ride and Fantasmic. Favorite Places to eat - Sci-Fi.

3. Animal Kingdom - Lion King Show, Dinosaur Playground and Kilamajaro Safair. At this age they weren't into AK that much. Favorite Place to eat - RFC.

4. Epcot - Unfortunately my kids didn't really care for Epcot at all at this age. They tolerated Journed Into Imagination and the Land. Favorite place to eat - Princess Breakfast at Norway.

Favorite character meals - LTT, Chef Mickeys, Cinderella's Gala Feast, and Crystal Palace.

Kids also like O'Hana (both character breakfast and non-character meal)
 











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