Originally Posted By markymouse We are thinking of a short visit to WDW while visiting family in Florida. Our boys are too young and timid for a lot of the attractions. So we might do a short visit this summer and then really do WDW in a few years. I take as a given that the Magic Kingdom would be one day of the two. I wonder what ideas people have for THE best or second best thing to do. If it were just the two of us, the answer would be Epcot, hands down. If Animal Kingdom lived up to its potential, that would be the obvious choice given our kids' love of animals. But I'm not sure what's the best choice. EPCOT - my first impression was "Epcot with kids? No way." But when I look at the park map, there really are a lot of attractions that are good for kids. Lots of really fun things like Turtle Talk and Test Track to less fun but okay things like the Land attraction or the China movie. Studios - We're both conditioned to think of this as our least favorite park. But on second glance, there are a lot of attractions that sound really appealing - Fantasmic, Beauty and the Beast, the Little Mermaid show, the Indiana Jones stunt show, the cars stunt show, and the new Midway Mania. Animal Kingdom - This should be our kids' top choice. But our boys won't do Expedition Everest, and two of them won't do Dinosaur. The animal attractions will be great, but worth missing Fantasmic and Indy or as fun as Turtle Talk or Midway Mania? Maybe not. I'd appreciate anyone's advice, whether you have young kids or just opinions. Also, specifically, how intimidating are certain rides? I know our kids won't handle Dinosaur. But I don't remember if there is anything intense about Maelstrom, for example. And is the Nemo ride less intense than the sub ride in Disneyland? Our younger two didn't like it, more because its dark and enclosed than because of what was out the window. How scary is Bruce in Florida? Is there anything scary about Philharmagic? It sounds like a dumb question. But after too many times assuring a five year old that there's nothing scary, only to realize too late that there is (Muppet 3D), I've learned to ask.
Originally Posted By alexbook You guys are DLR regulars, right? If time is that limited, have you considered skipping MK?
Originally Posted By Disney and beyond Philharmagic includes "Be Our Guest" "Part of Your World" "I Just Can't Wait to be King" and "A Whole New World." I don't know if your kids would be scared by any of your images. Nemo at EPCOT is nothing like Nemo at DL
Originally Posted By markymouse Good point, alex. But I think we want to do MK because its the most Disney part of WDW and because it has some really cool stuff (PhilharMagic), some interesting stuff (Tomorrowland Transit Authority), and some sentimental favorites (Country Bear Jamboree and REAL Small World and Swiss Family Treehouse).
Originally Posted By Disney and beyond I am a WDW expert, if you have anymore specifics. What scared your kids on Muppet*Vision?
Originally Posted By markymouse I just wasn't sure if PhilharMagic includes scary elements - Maleficent as the dragon, full screen 3D Ursula, that kind of thing. You just never know with Disney.
Originally Posted By Disney and beyond No, Nothing like that. In fact, there are no villains in the show at all (Unless you count Donald, The Brooms from Fantasia, and Iago as Villains.)
Originally Posted By markymouse Muppet Vision? Stuff coming at them. Explosions. The fireworks. Mostly the 3D intensity of it. Our boys aren't very brave about attractions, though they aren't that wimpy about real things - trying new sports, climbing up rock faces, that kind of thing. DS7 happens to dislike 3D and DS5 doesn't like things that are too loud. Sister in law took DS10 to Tough to be a Bug. Guess what his pet phobia is? Bugs. One reason I'm leaning toward the Studios is that our kids tend to like shows. And Epcot because the dark rides there are less, well, dark. Living with the Land and the Rio de Tiempo aren't out to scare you. How intense, dark, or scary are The Epcot Nemo ride Maelstrom The watered down version of Mission Space Voyage of the Little Mermaid Midway Mania I expect Fantasia to be intense. But intense and far away are very different than intense and coming at you.
Originally Posted By Disney and beyond The Epcot Nemo ride- Not at all. You basically go though the characters from the movie swimming with fish. Maelstrom- Trolls and a Backwards section are the most intense. The watered down version of Mission Space Voyage of the Little Mermaid-Haven't seen it in the longest time. I assume that it is as intense as the movie Midway Mania- Not at all. Very whimsical and very fun I know you are not leaning towards AK, But I think Nemo the Musical would be something to check out if you go.
Originally Posted By Disney and beyond Oh, And Mission Space has some "IF YOU DON'T DO THIS, WE FAIL" Type Moments.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb Primeval Whirl, the Safari, animal trails and shows are all things at Animal Kingdom your boys should enjoy.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 At 3, my grandson hated the 3D attractions, he refused to wear the glasses. At 5, he loved them. Big help huh?
Originally Posted By A Happy Haunt My kids LOVE EPCOT! The enjoy making masks in every country. In Japan they learned how thier names were spelt in Japanese..They really enjoyed it.
Originally Posted By FenwayGirl Totally agree with you HH. My kids and now my grandkids love EPCOT. They love the entertainment and talking to the CM about their countries. I am spending 4 days in May (just me and my sister) and we will probably spend 2.5 days there
Originally Posted By Mr X ***I take as a given that the Magic Kingdom would be one day of the two. I wonder what ideas people have for THE best or second best thing to do.*** I don't think this is a given at all. If I had two days and really wanted to do the parks with kids (and no hopping), it would definitely be Epcot and Animal Kingdom. If you can park hop, then largely Epcot and Animal Kingdom with an evening in the Magic Kingdom. Epcot is fine for kids. It was my daughters favorite park in fact (age 3).
Originally Posted By markymouse Man, are we experiencing sticker shock. We thought of this as a little two day add on. But Disney has really made an effort to make 7 days seem reasonable and 2 days completely mindbogglingly expensive. The two of us, one older kid, two younger kids, and my parents comes to not far from $1000 ($988) for two days. No room. No dining plan. Just two days of tickets.
Originally Posted By Mr X Are those parkhoppers? It would be slightly cheaper if you just pick two parks and pay single day prices, I think. (but I agree on the sticker shock, we bought a single one day parkhopper last year for a THREE year old and it was $105 including an employee discount!)
Originally Posted By markymouse X, those aren't even park hoppers. Just a one park ticket, $988 for five adults (though one of those adults is ten years old) and two children, for two days. As far as I can tell, Disney has decided they aren't interested in short visits at WDW. If they make a one or two day visit incredibly expensive, 1/3 will pay the big bucks (and Disney likes that), 1/3 will choose to stay longer to get the better daily rates (and Disney likes that), and only 1/3 says "the heck with it" and goes to the beach or Universal Studios. I'm not yet sure which third we'll end up in.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***X, those aren't even park hoppers. Just a one park ticket, $988 for five adults (though one of those adults is ten years old) and two children, for two days.*** *gulp* Gotta love the fact that ten is "adult". lol. Didn't that used to be different way back when?
