Should we just stick to Magic Kingdom??

[Cvones]

Our trip is booked for Jan 2016. The kids will be 4 and 2. Should we just stick to Magic Kingdom or should we spend a day visiting another park? We will have 5 full days in Disney. I opted for no park hopper as I figured we'd be at MK everyday.

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

That would be a lot of time at one park. My 3.5 year old loves them all

 

[Figgy1]

As much as I love the MK I'd do 2 or 3 days there and spend the rest of the time enjoying the other parks as there is so much to do at the other parks for kids of all ages. AK has many places to explore and enjoy the animals and there is a playground, FOLK, Finding Nemo the Musical, Flights of Wonder and Divine are great for kids. EPCOT has Turtle Talk with Crush, SSE, the Land, Soarin and the new ride in Norway will be open by then. There's also a short ride in Mexico not to mention the kid cot fun stops. DHS has A live show with Disney Jr characters, TGMR, street performers. Every park has M&G places. These are just a few of the highlights for kids in each park. Get the Unofficial Guide to Disney and see what you family will like and plan accordingly.

 

[Cvones]

That would be a lot of time at one park. My 3.5 year old loves them all

Very true. I just figured we'd take our time, go back to Resort in the afternoons, and just really enjoy the park instead of rushing through, but if there's enough for them to enjoy another park for a full day I wouldn't mind. Friends have told me their kids were bored at Hollywood Studios and Epcot after 2-3 hours.

 

[Cvones]

As much as I love the MK I'd do 2 or 3 days there and spend the rest of the time enjoying the other parks as there is so much to do at the other parks for kids of all ages. AK has many places to explore and enjoy the animals and there is a playground, FOLK, Finding Nemo the Musical, Flights of Wonder and Divine are great for kids. EPCOT has Turtle Talk with Crush, SSE, the Land, Soarin and the new ride in Norway will be open by then. There's also a short ride in Mexico not to mention the kid cot fun stops. DHS has A live show with Disney Jr characters, TGMR, street performers. Every park has M&G places. These are just a few of the highlights for kids in each park. Get the Unofficial Guide to Disney and see what you family will like and plan accordingly.

Thanks for the tips! I have the 2016 on pre order already

 

[Figgy1]

Start planning you ARDs now as they are filling up quickly

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

I think it's all dependent on the kid and how you as a parent approach them. Mine loved all of them. She loved AK And Epcot almost equally. She liked DHS almost as much.

We went back to the resort daily for down/nap time and would head back at night

 

[Cvones]

Start planning you ARDs now as they are filling up quickly

That's exactly what I'm doing. 180 days is this Sat!

 

[Weather_Lady]

I'd do your first two days at MK (covering half of the park each day -- perhaps Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Sqaure and part of Fantasyland on Day 1, and the rest of Fantasyland and Tomorrowland on Day 2). Then spend Day 3 at Animal Kingdom (the kids will love the safari, the Boneyard, Triceratop Spin, Finding Nemo, Festival of the Lion King, etc.), and Day 4 at your choice of either Epcot or Hollywood Studios (depending on your kids' preferences and interests -- Days 3 and 4 would also be a good time to block out some afternoon/evening hours to enjoy some leisurely pool time, or go to a special meal like the Hoop-de-Doo Revue at Fort Wilderness, dinner at 'Ohana at the Polynesian Resort, or the Chef Mickey's character meal at the Contemporary). On Day 5, return to the Magic Kingdom to revisit the kids' favorite attractions and see any characters they want to meet.

That's what I would do, anyway.

 

[Disney4family]

My kids have loved all 4 parks since they were 3. There's tons of things little ones can enjoy in each park that have become a "tradition" for mine.

Epcot -
a) Duffy - a new meet-and-greet with a fuzzy, warm friend. Both have their own Duffy and enjoy changing his outfits regularly.
b) Duffy to color - each country has Duffy on a stick and markers to color him. CMs will stamp the stick with a Mickey from each country. The CMs in Morocco, China and Japan will write your child's name in their language on the back.
c) Passports - buy the little kid kit at the front of the park. CMs will stamp them and write a little note inside. For example, in the UK they wrote " Welcome to the land of Mary Poppins and Pooh" for my daughter and "Welcome to the land of Peter Pan" for my son
d) Figment - although you'll read here that the ride isn't the same as it was in the past, my kids fell in love with Figment when they were toddlers.
e) Nemo & Crush - great attractions in The Seas

Studios -
a) Beauty and the Beast show - my daughter was chosen "princess of the day". We sat up front for the show. At the end of the show, she went up to the stage and the prince gave her a velvet red rose. She still has it displayed in her room ten years later.
b) Voyage of the Little Mermaid - my daughter was chosen "princess of the day" for the first show one year. She was asked to announce the opening of the show with the CMs's microphone.
c) Disney Junior - best show ever for the little ones
d) Muppets - cute and fun with familiar, friendly characters

Animal Kingdom -
a) Petting zoo
b) animal trails - gorillas, tigers, bats, etc
c) Kilimanjaro Safaris - always wonderful
d) Flights of Wonder - fun and beautiful
e) Triceratops Spin - like Dumbo

We brought our own umbrella strollers each year they needed them (with the stroller rain cover for "liquid sunshine"). We never went back to the resort for an afternoon nap or swim. It took too much time to head back to the front of the park, walk to the bus, wait for the bus, get back to the resort, walk to the room, nap, and do it all in reverse. If the kids fell asleep in their strollers, we would head for the a/c in the shops or find a bench (a la Dave) under a palm tree and take in the sights and relax. We also burn easily so swimming was done in the evening before baths and bed.

 

[ToTBellHop]

My 2 1/2 year olds find plenty to enjoy at Epcot and DAK. DHS is our issue, right now. It's difficult to find much to do for more than 3 hours. But, they aren't huge fans of shows and certainly won't sit through two shows back-to-back.

 

[Mickey5150]

DHS is usually the only park that can be hard for some young kids and by January who knows what will be open. The one park I wouldn't skip is Animal Kingdom. The atmosphere and theming blow away most Disney parks and as long as your kids don't hate animals, they will love it.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

When my daughter was little she loved all the parks but Animal Kingdom was her favorite.

 

[JIMINYCR]

You have 5 days.... plenty of time to do MK twice fully AND go to the other parks as well. Why deprive yourselves of enjoying them all? Even without park hoppers you can find enough enjoyment in touring the other 3 parks. Plenty of shows and kid stuff available.... but if you wanted to cull out one park , I might say toss DHs away for more MK time.

 

[SeanWM48]

over 5 days? i'd do MK twice, AK and Epcot once, and a day off to go downtown or do stuff at the resort. skip hollywood

 

[wish upon a star]

That's exactly what I'm doing. 180 days is this Sat!

We must be arriving the same day! Where are you staying?

 

[Cvones]

We must be arriving the same day! Where are you staying?

POFQ! You??

 

[mouse_luv]

I do a day or so in EPCOT and maybe one in AK as well.

 

[wish upon a star]

POFQ! You??

We are staying at Pop Century. We have a 4 year old also! We are only staying 2 nights though and only doing MK 1 day. This was an add on to our cruise trip already planned. (not Disney)

 

[Po'Rich]

At Disney Animal Kingdom, I recommend doing the Wilderness Explorers program. This gives a scavenger hunt for the kids and helps keep them engaged while exploring the park. My daughter loved it.