MVMCP with 4 yr. old?

[mbaker1277]

My daughter is 4 years old and we will be at Disney December 7-14. There are 2 nights we can go, on a Tuesday or Thursday. My question is; is it worth almost a $100 to go if we can only stay until about 10:00? I've never been before but from what I have read people start claiming a place for the 9:00 parade at 7:00. We just can't do that.
She wants to see the parade soooooooo bad! We taped the Christmas morning parade and she watches it almost every day. Would we get to see any other shows while we were there? I know 3 hours is a short time to allot. Thanks for any info you can share! Have a great day!

 

[Shannon_Yensid]

well, if you can get your daughter to take a nap the day of mickey's xmas party, and she sleeps until like 6pm, then i don't think staying awake would be THAT difficult....but u do NOT need to sit for a nine oclock parade at 7...the only time that is necessary is when the park is crowded, only so many people are allowed int MVMCP, but not so many that it will be imposible to find seats at 8:30 (unless it's a friday night...then there are a lot of local people and it's crowded) also there are two parades..
....even if your family can't get front seats for the parade, it's not too hard to find a family that will be glad to sqish together so that your daughter can sit in front to see the parade better and you and your family can stand behind her.

my mom and my nine year old sister went last year to MVMCP and that had a blast...their reports include that friday is very busy but otherwise, it's not very crowded and very enjoyable

my family and i will all be there december 3-7th and we will be going to MCMCP too....

i hope you have a wonderful trip and enjoy the special christmas shows (don't miss the Osborn Family Lights at the studios!)

 

[1000th_Guest]

My wife and I took our (just turned) 4-year old to last year's MVMCP. He LOVED it. In fact, we closed the park [note: we live in the same timezone as WDW]. We tried to sleep late that morning -- he had stopped taking naps by then -- and were prepared for a very tired and cranky boy the next day. We allocated the next day as a "quiet" day. We have annual passes, so we had no problem going into the parks for a fairly short time the next day. Spending the next day at the resort is a pretty good idea.

When we attended the party, the park wasn't too crowded, so we held our seats for about 1/2 hour.

Don't be in a rush to get your picture taken. The lines are much shorter later in the evening.

Don't miss the fireworks. They are very special.

 

[wdwguru]

Our first time of attending MVMCP, my girls were 3 and 5. We flew in the day of the party, took a nap before the party and closed the park down. Of course on the bus ride back to the hotel we were all struggling to keep our eyes open, but it was worth it. My memories of their enjoyment are priceless. We went last year (girls were 5 and 7) as well and left about a half hour before the park closed. That worked a little better.

When they have the second parade after the fireworks, that's the best one to catch. Its less crowded and we enjoyed rides and shows while the first one was going on.

Is it worth the money to take young children? Definitely!
:sohappy:

 

[dreamer]

The parades are better than any ride at Disney World.