For kids under 40" - Rate parks in order from best to worse

[Momarazzi]

Here's the deal. We will have 4 FULL days at Disney, and one "half" day (the day we get there - we land at noon).

I have a very short 5 year old who likely will not be able to ride the 40" rides, and also a baby who will be 24 months by that time.

I want to use the 1/2 day to do the park that is least kid-friendly. I know there is NO Disney park that isn't kid friendly, but you know...the one that has more big kid rides and is geared towards the older kid crowd. I'm pretty sure that's going to be Hollywood Studios or Epcot.

Also, if we were to do one park for 2 days with kids this age, which would should it be?

Thanks so much everyone!

 

[ThinkTink721]

If you decide to go to Epcot on your short day, I would recommend the following for the little ones:

Spaceship Earth

The Living Seas
Nemo & Friends ride
exhibits & aquariums
Turtle Talk w/ Crush

The Land
Living w/ the Land

Imagination
Journey Into Imagination w/ Figment

World Showcase
boat ride in Mexico
boat ride in Norway
a stroll around the countries would be nice in the evening before Illuminations

The 5 year old may enjoy some sections of Innoventions.

Both children may enjoy The Character Spot where you can meet some Disney characters.

You can also meet Disney characters at various times in the World Showcase.

*TIP: Don't miss Soarin' in The Land - do the parent hand off thing where one parent stays w/ the kids & when that parent exits the ride, the other parent can get on (get a FastPass early).


If you decide to go to Disney Hollywood Studios on your short day, I would recommend the following for the little ones:

Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Playhouse Disney Live
The Great Movie Ride
Muppet Vision 3-D
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Playground

The 5 year old may enjoy the stunt shows & Toy Story Mania (get a FastPass early).

There are lots of character greetings in the park.


If you do one park for 2 days, it definitely should be the Magic Kingdom!
You can probably do the Animal Kingdom in one day.


Hope this helps!
Have fun!
:wave:

 

[Momarazzi]

Thank you, Tink! That's a lot of info! I'm printing it out!! You rock!

 

[kangaand2roos]

I have a 5 year old boy and a 3 year old girl nd we have taken them to Disney for the past 2 years and heading back in Sept. I just asked my 5 year old which was his least favorite park is and he picked Epcot. He really enjoys the Lights, Camera, Action show as well as the Indian Jones show. He LOVES cars, trucks, motorcycles and anything with wheels, so it doesn't surprise me and he also loved the action in the Indy show. He said one of his favorite rides was the Toy Story Mania ride which is interactive and he had a blast. It's like being in a video game for kids. We saw the Playhouse Disney show which he liked since he is familiar with all the characters and loved the bubbles and leaves that fall etc during the show. He also enjoyed the Honey I Shrunk the kids playground to run around like a maniac, the Muppet movie and getting to meet Lightening McQueen and Mater, the Power Rangers as well as Buzz and Woody.
He enjoyed Epcot and seemed to really enjoyed Nemo, Spaceship Earth and Test Track the best. Both my kids could have cared less about the World Showcase and the couple of rides within it. Honestly from an adult point of view I would have said do a half day at Hollywood Studios but now that I think about it I can see why my son puts Epcot on the bottom of his list.

If you are going to do 2 days in any park, hands down choice with kids 2 and 5 is MK.

 

[luvlifeinfl]

i would go to the MK, since that park has toon town and is more geared for younger.

For your 1/2 day DHS, since it more geared to movies & rides. my youngest 9yo did not start to enjoy it until last yr. the 3 yr prior she was board.

Epcot & AK can be toss up for another day becasue there are areas that can be educational and the kids can have on hands experiance touching stuff.

 

[toystorymaniacs]

MK 2 days
Epcot 1 day (this really is a great park for kids even though some people don't think it is)
AK 1 day
Studios 1/2 day Toy Story mania, Playhouse Disney, Lights Motor action, Muppets, make sure you see the Playhouse Disney characters

 

[Disneygirl91395]

If you want a kids point of view i would say do mk for 2 days ak for 1 and dhs for 1 and epcot for the half day. i am in middle school and have younger siblings who are 3 and 7 and we all agree that epoct is our least favorite. dhs has a lot of show that are kid friendly and a lot a characters. epcot doesnt have as many characters and i didnt start liking epoct at all until about last year. and have alwyas like dhs along with my bro and sis. you have to be older to understand epcot and walking around worldshowcase can be hard on little legs(personal experiance) so i definetly choose epcot for the half day.:animwink:

 

[Beccone]

I have 4 kids ages 13, 6, 5 and 2. I was very surprised last year they all loved Epcot. Epcot has the kidcot stations throughout FW and WS and in WS we got them the passports where they had a blast going to each country to get their passport signed. They also really enjoyed DHS, the TSM ride was their favorite by far but they loved all of the shows as well. If I were you I would look into what the EMH's are for the day you'll be spending a half day at. If AK is having pm EMH I would go there, alot of people don't spend a full day there anyway and your 5 and 2 yr old may not be tall enough to ride many of the rides there. If MK has pm EMH that's also a good place to go because they are usually open alot later than the other parks, also it's always fun to start your vacation at the MK. Good luck on the planning and hope you have a great trip!