which would it be? We are travelling in May (10-19) with two preschoolers and were thinking of maybe leaving out Epcot from some of what we read regarding age appropriateness, but figured I should ask the experts-what do you think? If you were going to leave out a park this trip, which one would you chose? We did DL and CA in January. We are going to do the Princess and Pirate Party, but otherwise no concrete plans yet-thanks!!

Why are you considering skipping a park, when you have that long of a trip?

Good question, Cathy.

Epcot does have a lot for younger children. Most of Future World is appropriate for kids. The only things that aren't would be Mission:Space and Test Track. At the countries, there are the Kidcot stations for your kids to make a mask and have fun with the Cast Member. The entertainment is great and you can come and go as you like to those performances. It's always nice to be able to taste different foods from the countries. The American Adventure is not to be missed. And Illuminations is my favorite nighttime show.

I'd give Epoct at least a half day. You never know. This is my tween granddaughter's favorite park and it has been that way since she was five.

There are still cool things to do at Epcot for little ones. They have all the Kidcot fun stops, you can build your own plastic robot at Innoventions, they can ride the Mexico boat ride, Figment, Nemo and Friends and see Turtle Talk with Crush. Plus, the Flower and Garden Festival will be going on, and there are lots of neat kid-friendly areas to see, like the Fairy Tale Garden and the Butterfly Garden and special kids' activities and play areas. I definitely would NOT skip Epcot! Oh and there's Miyuki the candy lady in Japan! As Drince said, you have plenty of time, you can do every park! There's great stuff for preschoolers at every park.

To answer the original question, if I HAD to skip one park, it'd be Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney/MGM Studios). But I'm with others here - with that much time for this trip, I don't see any reason to skip anything!

Im with Dan on this one. While Studios has some things for little ones, its not all that much. If they were really into the whole Playhouse Disney stuff, then it may be a "requirement" but I would still eject Studios over Epcot if I were just focusing on a preschoolers preferences.

The thing is ... with that long of a trip you should not worry about focusing only on what the little ones will be interested in. If you did that, you would be done in half the time. I would think the best thing to do would be to do some reasonable park hopping and somehow alternating between "adult" attractions and "kids" attractions. That way everyone is satisfied.

We were thinking of skipping one park just b/c we didn't want to overwelm the kids and figured it would be easier to stick to three. we were also going to do SeaWorld and a water park, plus have a day or two for pool time and just chilin' out. I thought I had read somewhere that Epcot wasn't as preschooler friendly, but sounds like I have that wrong. My husband is doing two days of a golf school while we were there and I wasn't sure if I should brave the parks on my own-though might try. I had thought I would just get regular 7 day park ticket rather than park hopper as I didn't know how much 'hopping' we would do with the kids-what do others think? We did Disneyland with hoppers, but they are basically connected. last time we were at WDW we stayed at a Value resort and the bus trips took so much time we didn't do much 'hopping' with a baby. This time we are off site and have a car, so what do you think, worth hopping and worth all parks, or skip one?

I would probably skip Hollywood Studios, and also, probably, the water parks. The children are too young to do the slides, and it may not be worth the expense and time for them to only do the little kids' area. Your resort hotel pool will, likely, be enough for them. There is a lot for little kids to do at Epcot, and, I think it is a must-see for the adults. As far as hopping, we always stay on-site, and almost always hop, daily. Our typical day is, get to the park early, stay no more than 4-5 hours, return to the hotel, rest and swim, then hop to another park for a few hours in the evening. We take advantage of Early Morning extra hours (only available if you stay on-site), because we notice most people don't hit the parks till at least 10AM, and we get a lot accomplished, with minimal waits, by going earlier. I found out the hard way last week that pushing a longer stretch in the park, even on a slightly older child, risks a meltdown. Last week, we tried one day of skipping a mid-afternoon break, planning to leave right after an early dinner, and my six-year old had a difficult time, mostly because of the increased crowds. In addition, at crowded times of the year (like last week), the smaller parks, like Magic Kingdom, will get very crowded, starting around lunchtime, but Epcot is much larger and spreads out the crowds a lot more.

mom, you park storm exactly like I do! You can do so much in that first couple of hours of park opening. And that afternoon nap back in the air conditioned room is SOOO nice!

I think I would rather have 2 preschoolers at a Disney Park by myself, than in a pool, assuming that's what you'd be doing while your DH was doing the golf thing.

I agree with skipping the water park over skipping one of the 4 theme parks - but if I had to skip a theme park with pre-schoolers, it would also be the Studios. Some of the shows are aimed right to them, but since some kids don't like the dark effects in the Little Mermaid, or the 3-D effects of Muppets, that cuts it down even more, if your two can't handle them.

With the explanation of everything, I would advise getting hopper passes. Since you are offsite. Otherwise, you would be stuck at one park all day long. So if you get there and Magic Kingdom is crowded or the kids get antsy (yes, that does happen even at Magic Kingdom), you will either have to continue on and hope things improve or go back to your hotel offsite. With a hopper, you can go to another park and see if that helps.

And I agree with the others about skipping Hollywood Studios. A lot of the attractions are shows so you would have to really plan out your day. The two big attractions - Rock and Roller Coaster and Twilight Zone - wouldn't be available for your kids. However, there is enough for maybe a half day. Muppets, The Great Movie Ride, either one of the stunt shows, Little Mermaid and maybe Playhouse Disney.

You can easily get from the Studios to Epcot. There's a boat that goes in between the two. Why not think about a half day at the Studios and then moving over to Epcot for the other half?

I wouldn't skip one. We are going with a 5 year old May 10-17 and plan to do all parks. But, from what I was reading I would skip Disney's Hollywood Studios. I plan to spend a few hours there anyway.

And, also from what I have been reading, Epcot has some Nemo stuff. I feel like Epcot wasn't a big deal when I was younger, but reading up on it now, I am really excited to go there.

thanks-good advice, maybe the park hopper is the way to go and then we can chose like was suggested depending on how packed it is. We usually do the afternoon break (even when we didn't have kids) and maybe it would be good to do half day at the studios. I never thought of having the kids all day at the pool-good point, I would be better at a park! My husband is wild for the waterparks so we are going to do one (but maybe aquatica). If you were going to do a park by yourself with two preschoolers is there one that would be better than the others?

EPCOT is one of our favorite parks. It has a laid back atmosphere with plenty going on around you at all time. The KidCot fun stops are one thing my son (4 years) can not miss. He loves those. The Turtle Talk with Crush is still one he talks about. We like it because it combines plenty for adults and children. We actually go at least twice in our trips. I would have to agree with the talk about Hollywood Studios (MGM as I still call it :) As far as preschoolers go there isnt a whole Lot, there is the playhouse Disney, Muppets, honey I shrunk the kids play area but overall it is some what more limited. That is usually the only park we discuss skipping if we HAVE to skip a park; and usually we dont end up skipping any :) We just cant bring ourselves to do it. We have been brining our son since he was 18 months old and we do all the parks over a week an still have time to relax at the hotel. Little ones can be flexible, nap in the stroller and my son's ready to go again!

If I had to skip a park it would be MGM too.

I can't wait to see what Aquatica is like. I have never done a non-Disney water park in Orlando, but this one sounds awesome.

Chris

Just went in January for 3 days. We decided to skip MGM. I think this park has the least to offer. I love TOT and Rock n Roller but overall its the one that I can pass up first.

I can't wait to see what Aquatica is like. I have never done a non-Disney water park in Orlando, but this one sounds awesome.

Chris


I agree. We are hoping to get there summer 09. :)

I wouldn't want to skip the Studios with preschoolers. My daughter loved playhouse Disney live on stage, the Little Mermaid, and the Beauty and the Beast show. The High School musical show was one of her favorites. The animation building usually has some interesting character meet and greets. We usually aren't there all day, but it is worth a visit.
Epcot has the great new Nemo ride, which is worth a visit. It is a great place to park hop to and from.
From our experiences, I would skip the Animal Kingdom. It always seems so crowded and hot there. It just seems like a ton of hiking as well. We have good experiences with our local zoos, so the AK doesn't seem to be as special. I know it's not a zoo, but.....
If I hadn't visited it once, I would want to visit, but not repeatedly.
Bottom line- get a park hopper ticket!

If you do go to HS with your preschoolers, I would sugguest that you not go for the early EMH. We did when my son was almost 5 and there were basically no attractions open early for him. We stood around waiting for the Little Mermaid show. You can walk around and take in the sights, but we just felt like we hurried to get there early for nothing. We enjoyed what we saw at the studios, but at that age there wasn't a lot for him to do. I would definitely do a half day if I were you.

I wouldn't want to skip the Studios with preschoolers. My daughter loved playhouse Disney live on stage, the Little Mermaid, and the Beauty and the Beast show. The High School musical show was one of her favorites. The animation building usually has some interesting character meet and greets. We usually aren't there all day, but it is worth a visit.
Epcot has the great new Nemo ride, which is worth a visit. It is a great place to park hop to and from.
From our experiences, I would skip the Animal Kingdom. It always seems so crowded and hot there. It just seems like a ton of hiking as well. We have good experiences with our local zoos, so the AK doesn't seem to be as special. I know it's not a zoo, but.....
If I hadn't visited it once, I would want to visit, but not repeatedly.
Bottom line- get a park hopper ticket!


I've been researching and planning a lot lately for our trip with a 5 year old in May and I agree. There are a lot of shows and they aren't that long that I think a smaller child would be interested in, plus The Block Party Bash parade.

I would cry.

They are equal parts of the WDW experience. If you get to EPCOT or DHS and your kids are done halfway through, then go back and enjoy the pool for the rest of the day. I would plan on a day for each, and leave early if the kiddos hate it. You may be surprised at what the enjoy, and there are definitely portions to all the parts that are very kid oriented, even EPCOT.

I'd skip the Studios.

Animal Kingdom does make for a nice break in routine because the feel of the park is so different than anything else Disney has done.

OK, I'm a little biased but Epcot is my favorite- and of course, the Magic Kingdom is a must see with kids! (Or even without them!)

I know that sounds crazy, but you're obviously not going to skip the MK and Epcot, as everyone has pointed out, has some really fun stuff for littler kids. A lot of the AK attractions are scary to little people! AK's Kilamanjaro Safari includes fictitious animal poachers out to kill innocent animals which scared my son when he was little, the Dinosaur attraction is frankly terrifying if you're small, and Expedition Everest is clearly aimed at older kids (you have to be 44' tall). Kali River Rapids might be fun if they are big enough (38' tall) and don't mind getting wet. Other than that, you're really just going to the a great zoo plus "Festival of the Lion King," "Finding Nemo," "It's Tough to be A Bug," and "Pochantas and her Forest Friends", the last of which is a bit of a bore. ("Festival" is way cool, however.) In comparison, DHS has Playhouse Disney Live, the new Toy Story attraction, the Muppet Vision 3D, the High School Musical 2 show, Beauty and the Beast Live, and of course the new Block Party Bash parade. Plus, my son still loves eating at Pizza Planet and photos with Woody and Jessie.

Anyway, I agree with Wiggler. Also, kymom is right that there is no real rush to get to the Studios.

Rather then skip a park, maybe think in terms of skipping areas of parks. The front side of Epcot is great for little ones, but you could skip world showcase. Same with AK, kids loves the shows, but not sure safari is worth the time investment it takes.