Which WDW parks to choose for 3.5 day trip with 5 year old

[Burgermom]

DH and I are planning a trip with our 5 year old DS for the first week of February 2017.
I am trying to decide on a park schedule and would love some input for a boy this age.
DS is somewhat into Star Wars (my DH more so...) and DS LOVES animals.
DS has about average tolerance for "scary" rides. I have ruled out some rides such as DINOSAUR and Rocking Roller Coaster; some others (such as Star Tours) I am not as sure.
We will be at WDW on the afternoon of FEb 5 and all day FEb 6, 7 and 8.

I was thinking the following as a basic schedule:

Sun Feb 5th: afternoon at MK
Feb 6th: full day at either HS or Epcot (really don't know which is better for DS)...
Feb 7th: full day at MK (assuming fireworks are scheduled for this day...don't know how to find this out)
Feb 8th: full day at AK

Any thoughts? Part of me is wondering if I should just do an afternoon at HS on the first day and do 2 full days at MK instead.
Also not sure if I should go with HS or with Epcot as our 3rd park choice. I definitely want to take him to MK and AK because he loves animals and MK is the obvious classic choice but I can't decide between Epcot and HS.

Thanks!

 

[Crystal824]

I would go with HS especially since DS and DH like SW. There are some fun things to do at Epcot for kids, but I think most kids that age prefer DHS. I would probably do a half day at DHS and 2 full days at MK. Right now, there is just more to do at MK than DHS.

 

[Sdolores]

If your son and husband enjoy Star Wars even a little, you should do everything in your power to spend one evening at HS for the nighttime spectacular. Please check the schedule for this. Also, with the new River of Lights nighttime spectacular opening soon (maybe this weekend) you should do one night at AK and the other two nights at MK. You should do Epcot one morning. Do Soarin and maybe TestTack (if he will do that ride. My 6- year old daughter LOVED it. He will also enjoy Nemo, Turtle Talk and the aquarium. As of right now Wishes, illuminations and Fantasmic are the only nighttime shows that are scheduled, but as they get closer they will post the rest. You can check under "Things to Do" on the website. Just select your dates. As of now, the parks close at 7 (AK/HS), 8 (MK) and 9 (Ep), but with a 5 year old, that is perfect.
I would suggest:
Sun Feb 5th: afternoon at HS (If Star Wars firework is schedule, if not swap with 2/7)
Feb 6th: Full Day MK Including Wishes Fireworks at 8pm
Feb 7th: Start at Epcot, enjoy lunch at one of the Countries. Also, there are free activites at each country for the litte guy to do. Leave this night for AK
Feb 8th: full day at MK

 

[5stljayhawks]

I would check for closure of rides. Also if you have a good zoo at home, then we have found AK is just 1/2 day. Safari/everest for ps and older. I am a epcot fan. w/that said I think day time is best for the visual stuff and exploring the worlds, in and out of different areas of shops. Def have to hunt for characters at epcot and do alittle more planning off the map as you explore to see where char are located at.

 

[Blackadder337]

All great advice so I'll throw mine in too.

My daughter and I are big Star Wars fans so we spent a lot of time at Hollywood Studios, and we also made sure to stay one night for the Star Wars Galactic Fireworks show which was amazing!!

There are some good rides for all ages at HS. There's the Muppet Vision Movie, Star Tours, Toy Story Midway Mania and lots of characters to meet and greet too including Chewbacca, Kylo Ren, Olaf, Goofy, Donald & Daisy Duck.

For Dining there's Hollywood & Vine which offers character dining. We were there in mid october so it was all Halloween themed. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Daisy were all there. There's the 50's Prime Time diner as well which has great food, but its more about the experience. You (jokingly) get in trouble for elbows on the table, lack of manners, not clearing your plate etc... Its a lot of fun but if you dine there, you have to remember its all in good fun. Kids might not get it as much....

My daughter is 12 and she didn't get that much out of Epcot. She did Mission Space and Test track and liked those. But she was not as interested with all the different country areas so we didn't stay long. So your 5 yr old may not be as thrilled with Epcot, at least not at this age.

For rides your son will enjoy... probably Magic Kingdom will have the most bang for your buck. Too many to list, but lots of rides that everyone can enjoy. Lots of food there too.

Animal Kingdom has lots of the animals in there as well as the dinosaur area which is great fun for kids, some good family friendly rides there too. You might all want to try Kilimanjaro Safari too. As long as its not super hot and not raining, you should get to see lots of the animals.

When we arrived at our resort, they actually gave us info sheets for the parks, what times the shows/fireworks were at etc.. So if you're staying on site, your resort can help you with that. If you're not, while we were away I actually found this site had a lot of the park hours and show times that were easier to find than using the Disney app

I hope that helps a little too.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

If you only want to get base tickets, I would do a half day at HS, 2 days at MK and 1 day in AK.

If you are interested in park hopping, I would do 1 1/2 days in MK, split a day between DHS and EP and do one full day in AK.

 

[skuttle]

I would do the 1/2 day at DHS and two full days at MK. I know we are in the minority, but we LOVE AK and can easily spend two full days there. I never understand how people compare it to a zoo, but I know many do! My youngest kids (6 and 4) enjoy epcot, but they don't really "get it."