WWYD on the first night with a 4.5 and 2.5 yr old?

[golden1]

I am looking for ideas on what to do with two young kids on the first day. Our flight arrives at MCO at 10:15am so I figure we will make it to ASM Suites by 12. I don't know whether we will be able to check in or not but I will assume for worst case scenario purposes that we won't. It will be December so it might not be warm enough for swimming. My gut instinct says to go to MK but I've heard it is better to do the other parks first before MK with little ones or else they won't want to go anywhere else for the whole week. Give me your good ideas please!

Thanks!

 

[all4fun]

I would personally go ahead and do MK first, then pick another park for Saturday since that is a busy day at MK, then do MK again on Sunday which is typically not a very busy day. Of course you're going at a great time of year...We'll be there too, at BWV!

 

[dbarker]

Do you have "Hoppers"? We tried doing Epcot the first day. DS (5 then) looked around and asked "Where are the rides?" We briefly explained Epcot to him. He still insisted on the "rides". So, we hopped on over to MK. He got to ride the rides and was very happy the rest of the time. (We went to Epcot the next day and he loved it).

My point: every child is different. I followed the standard advice and started out w/ Epcot, but it just didn't work that way with us. What works for some does not always work for others. The "Hopper" passes sure come in handy when you have to change your game plan. Be very flexible w/ your plans. I always have a very general plan of what we are going to do, then just go w/ the flow.

When you go to Epcot be sure and have all the kids do the masks and visit all the kidcot stations in each land. DS found it very interesting and was thrilled to speak to all the different CMs from all the different countries. We got a passport and the CMs each wrote something w/ his name in their own language. DS thought that was the coolest thing ever.

Have fun on your trip.

 

[Disneyfriend]

When my kids were that young, I would always start off with an immediate character breakfast. I would suggest relaxing at your hotel and then going for the earliest dinner possible at Chef Mickey's. Or if you don't want to wait that long, find a character lunch to attend.

This is the perfect way to ease little guys into the "Magic", in my opinion. Lots of fun and lots of immediate character interaction.

HTH,

Disneyfriend

 

[lady_hlh]

For my 3 yr old DD's first trip last year we arrived in the same time that you will be coming in. We checked in at the POP but we couldn't go to our room yet so we just got our tickets, had a quick bite at the food court and got on the bus to MK. We did some rides and then we had a 4:30 ADR for dinner at LTT. After dinner we were tired so we headed back to the POP to get settled in and to sleep early because we had been up since 5 AM for our flight. I think my DD would have been dissapointed by seeing any of the other parks first and she had no problem visiting all the other parks during the rest of the week.

 

[Disneyfriend]

Lady HLH has a good idea, too. Liberty Tree is fun and not overwhelming. Maybe you could just wander through the MK, do a few no-stress rides, and then do an early dinner at LTT or Chef Mickeys. I don't think you can go too wrong either way . . .

 

[tw1nsmom]

I would probably plan a character dinner. In the afternoon you could go to Downtown Disney, grocery shop, let the kids play at the hotel playground, tour the monorailresorts/look at decorations, and/or explore the larger than life icons at all-star. Get a good nights sleep and start touring fresh in the morning. If you don't want to do MK first, I would start at Animal Kingdom or MGM.

 

[xbatman]

I was thinking of going to MK the first afternoon with DD who will be 4 and just get our bearings for the days at Mk later in the week. We'll probably get an autograph book and go to Toontown to do our waiting in the character greeting lines then instead of a day when we want to ride.

 

[mom2isaac&ella]

We are planning to do Downtown Disney our first day. They have the Leggo store, which my DS 4.5 can't wait to see. My DD 2 will love the My Little Pony dress up. We have ADRs for Rainforest Cafe, not too impressed by the food, but I know my kids will love the atmosphere. I thought it would be good to ease into the vacation, go to the grocery & get the kids to bed early before we hit the parks.

 

[MomPlanner22]

Golden1,

If you arrive at 10:15 am from Massachusetts, you are likely going to have been up VERY early to catch your flight.

I would agree with those that suggested the resort Character meals and resting/getting your bearings. It also gives you more flexibility in the event your flight is late/delayed, etc. or someone needs a nap!

We are also going with a 4.5 and 2.5 year old in December and are planning on DTD and riding the monorail around our first day. They aren't time sensitive so we can do them whenever. We may do dinner at Chef Mickey's.

Either way, we are keeping our first day as flexible as possible, just in case!

 

[golden1]

Thanks for your replies everyone!

Yes we are taking the 7 am flight out of Logan so we will be up at 4:30-5am. I am definitely planning on being as flexible as possible and we will probably have an early night. We will have park hoppers. I thought of Chef Mickeys but my kids do not sit well in restaurants and since we will be at ASM, it would mean a bus ride and then a monorail ride which might be a bit much. I am leaning towards maybe going to a park for just a few hours, perhaps Epcot or AK.

 

[Tam1067]

Our flight lands at noon at MCO. I have three kids: 9, 7, and 4. We'll be going to Crystal Palace for dinner at 5:00. Depending on time and energy level, we might do rides, or we might see Spectromagic, or we might go to bed. Last time, we didn't get to a park until our second day, but this time, I really want to walk in and see Main Street.

 

[belle&beast]

When we went in January with 4yo DD and DS who turned 2 on our trip, we arrived in time for a quick bite at the hotel and then headed to MK for Spectromagic and Wishes. In the winter the times are earlier and I think Spectromagic was at 7:00. It was a perfect way to start our vacation. We arrived on a Saturday and DD got to see the castle at night. We did Epcot on Sunday, MGM on Monday, MK on Tuesday and Wednesday, AK on Thursday and MK and Epcot on Friday. My kids were nervous about characters, so it was great for them to see them in the parade first that first night. THen the next day at Epcot's character connection they were ready to go! That was a low-key way to introduce them to characters- no lines and they could take the time they needed to warm up.

 

[lisaross]

This is our 1st family trip as well, we have two boys 4 & 6. I'm planning on arrival day - have lunch at hotel - swim play and head dtd for dinner and walk around - i like to start Fresh the next morning!

I'm planning on doing Epcot - my kids are a bit older, so i'm planning on spending the morning in FW doing the rides and having a lunch at Garden Grill for them to see the characters! Then on Tuesday will be our Magica day at MK! - next day MGM then MK again then AK then MK then our last day Epcot and maybe MK for evening hours. We do have hoppers so we'll see how it goes.

lisa