Which parks?

[felinosaurus]

We'll be in Orlando for five days in May. Which parks would you suggest as a must-do for our 4 and 6-year-old? I figure one of those days will be spent doing things outside of the parks, so that gives us four parks to visit... MK for sure. Universal sounds great. Islands of Adventure does too. My 6-year-old son would love SeaWorld. Any advice?

 

[eeyore0062]

Well, of course I am going to tell you Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, for sure. SeaWorld is very nice. They may enjoy Universal, but most of the attractions at IOA seem to be geared toward the preteen and teen set.

 

[ToyStory Fan]

In WDW, I'd recommend Magic Kingdom, MGM and Epcot (pretty much in that preference given ages of your kids). Animal Kingdom is not a favorite of ours, and would probably be a half day park (this trip we won't even visit it). Universal looks like it has more for the younger kids, and IOA for older - I'm torn here, because I've neer been, and the kids have never been, so I'd want to be at IOA for me, but I know we'd have to do Uni for the kids. SeaWorld was cool - but again this could be a half day park (what I mean by that is that you are back at WDW, or wherever you are staying for dinner)

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I love the Universal parks, but for that short of a trip I would stick to WDW. In 5 days there would be a lot in Disney that you wouldn't get to as it is. I would plan on one day for each of the parks, with the 5th day open to return to any park or parks you want to see more of.

T&B

 

[minmate]

I'm not sure of the details of your trip and if you're staying on WDW property or not, but my first suggestion would be to go to allearsnet.com and/or the official WDW, SeaWorld and Universal sites to see what really appeals to you in those separate parks.
While I don't know your children's or your specific interests, I have 4 kids ages 6, 5, 3 1/2 and 2 1/2. This is what I would probably suggest:

2-day MYW w/hop option tix for WDW, using them for:
DAY 1: Universal (or IOA) whichever you decide. My kids have never been, but from what I hear, their faves would definitely be Spiderman and superheroes, along with Dr. Seuss land and Shrek 4-D.
Day 2: Sea World (with a character dinner at Chef Mickey's to kick off the Disney part of the trip)
DAY 3: 1/2 day MK, 1/2 day MGM
DAY 4: 1/2 day MK, 1/2 day AK

I'd skip Epcot for now. I'm not saying it isn't worth it, because I do enjoy the ambiance there -- maybe even go there one evening with the kids in a stroller and just walk around... if you're trying to fit in a bit of everything, this is the one I'd leave out though for your kids.

You could also choose to go full day MK and split the 4th day only, btw. MGM and AK. But I found that there's something about hanging around MK a bit everyday if possible, is such a magical thing for the kids. Even though it's all Disney... they really love to be at MK most... this way they get a dose of it for two days instead of just one and done.

I also like the idea, of whatever you do end up doing, do the trip in chunks, meaning the days you spend at WDW, do them consecutively to provide more of an immersed Disney experience.

By the way, this is pretty much how I would rate the parks with kids in this age range: (JMHO)
MK
MGM
Universal/IOA
Sea World
AK
Epcot

Hope you have a blast whatever you decide to do!

 

[thotfulspot]

Four theme-park days can be pretty draining, particularly for small ones. You might want to think about making one of the days a water park day, to give a relaxing but just as fun interlude.

Magic Kingdom for sure, then I would rank the remaining Disney parks in this order: Animal Kingdom, Disney/MGM, then Epcot as a distant last.

My children have been to WDW several times now for brief trips, and loved Animal Kingdom. The Boneyard play area is a giant hit, and they had a total blast going through the various animal areas. We had to drag our then-2yo DD away from the tigers, and she talked about them for months.

Disney/MGM has a number of shows and attractions geared for the under-8 cohort, like the Muppet 3-D movie, the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, and the Playhouse Disney show.

Epcot just lacks charm for me. The distances are too great, and there isn't anything much fun to take in along the way. There certainly are fun things to see and do, but I would wait until the kids are older, especially with limited time on your trip.