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Disney World with my 5 year old daughter
This will be the first trip for us there. I was thinking we will do 2 or 3 parks. Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. But what else would you recommend? What is also a must thing to do with a 5 yo girl at Disney. I am thinking of going at the end of September to mid October. Dates are not set in stone and we will be there during a week as I read somewhere to avoid weekends.
thanks in advance,
Re: Disney World with my 5 year old daughter
I would consider doing Epcot as well...they have some neat kids activities around World Showcase and some good kid-geared exhibits in Future World.
If you are going this year you could try and get a time for a character meal....I know some of them book up quickly, but you might be able to get one soon. Also, if you are looking for a splurge there is the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique (again not sure how quickly it books up).
If you haven't already gotten it I would highly recommend getting The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World (from the Unofficial Guide series by touring plans). You will be better able to plan your trip after reading it.
The character breakfast is fun for kids to do at least once in their life. I still remember the couple I did when I was young. She will get a big kick out of seeing the characters up close and personal without the crazy crowds.
Magic Kingdom is a must with Fantasy Land and Mickey's Toontown Fair. This a full day (plus a little) visit normally.
MGM studios has shows that she would really enjoy (Beauty and teh Beat, Little Mermaid, etc). Plus MGM has spectro-magic (think thats the name) that the entire family will love. It's a water and laser light show with the Characters once it gets dark on a special stage. This could be a half to a full day visit.
Animal Kingdom is my least favorite place but I have not been there with a child so that could be why. It is a very nice place and has activities/ attractions that little kids would enjoy. This can be a half to full day visit
Epcot is a 2 day minimum park if you want to experience it properly. It is just that big. There is Future world east and west that can take a day to see. Then there is the world showcase (different countries) and my personal favorite since I was young. Both have things she may like but I bet she would like Future world a bit better.
If you are staying on property take advantage of the hotel experience. Kick back and relax at the pool and enjoy any activities that the hotel/resort may have.
ETA: There are also better days to go to certain parks (less crowded). It has been so long I can't recall what days are best for which ones. Im sure it is in the book.
I agree with getting the unofficial guide...that was a huge help for DH and I.
Some corrections to PP info...Mickey's Toontown Fair doesn't exist anymore...Fantasyland has been expanded and is opening in phases.
MGM is now called Hollywood Studios. The show is called Fantasmic and my only warning would be if your LO gets scared easily (especially of the dark) you might want to avoid the show....it is an awesome show, but it is very dark throughout the performance and is very villain based. I have a friend who is going to Disney in a week and she has two girls (5 and 8) and opted to skip Hollywood Studios because it is not as child friendly as the others (more thrill rides, etc).
Also, I didn't think of this in my original post, but I also found allears.net and disboards.com super helpful when I was researching/planning stuff.
Obviously it's been awhile since I have gone and even though I have been in the last decade I still accidentally refer to places as older names and get names of shows confused. I think I need to plan another trip and see what is new.
Get the book because it will be the most help to you.
I feel like I need to plan a new trip and it's only been like 10 months!!
Magic Kingdom is a definite must with a younger one. I think the rest of it depends on what she is into. If she really likes animals, there are some great opportunities at Animal Kingdom (Tiger trek, Safari). If she would be more into characters, Epcot or MGM may be a better choice. Epcot has some sort of "scavenger hunt" type thing where you get stamps at the different countries (or at least they used to.)
Fantasmic is the Hollywood Studios fireworks show and it could possibly be scary for some younger kids. Magic Kingdom's fireworks and light parade are great and I'm sure she would really enjoy that. If you do the Fantasmic show, I would HIGHLY recommend doing the dining package with it. You can choose from a couple of restaurants in Hollywood Studios to eat and then you get to go in a back door for the show. It's much better than waiting in that awful line and trying to get a seat.
It's been about 12 years since I've done a character breakfast (when I was a kid), but Chef Mickey's was AMAZING! I'm not sure if it's changed, but it was so cool to see Mickey and Minnie and all of them. Their food was great too. I'm not sure about any other character meals because the other one we did when I was a kid is no longer there. There is apparently a good buffet in Magic Kingdom that has one though.
Jumping in to save post. DS will be the same age when we go in the spring so I am interested to see what others suggest. Our plan is to visit MK, Animal Kingdom and Epcot. Possibly doing a half day at Universal for the super hero and cat in the hat areas. I figure we'll go back when he is older and do the other theme parks.
Baby Boy loved for 15 weeks, 5/31/11
Baby Girl loved for 16.5 weeks. 3/1/12
We are taking our DD for her 5th birthday, the last week in September. We will also have our toddler. My plan right now is AK, Epcot, and 2.5 days in MK (although this is making me wonder if that's enough time in Epcot). The toddler will force us to a slower pace for naps, etc, which is fine. We do have breakfast at Cinderella's castle booked which I think she will really like. It's pretty hard to get in so you may not be able to at this point. I also have her booked a BBB which was pretty full on Friday when I called two weeks ago but I was able to get her on a Sat. surprisingly.
I can't wait to see her little face:)
I think for a second park, it just depends on the interests of your child. When we were kids, we never liked Epcot. If she likes Nemo, there's a cute aquarium/Nemo ride and Turtle Talk with Crush. The countries are interesting for adults and they now include characters to entertain kids. Norway has a character meal with some princesses which she might like.
Hollywood Studios has a Toy Story ride (go FIRST thing as the line will be extremly long), a Little Mermaid show, Beauty & the Beast show, and Muppets 3D.
Animal Kingdom is good if she likes animals. She can probably do the safari, the Lion King Show, Finding Nemo show. The character breakfast at Tusker House is good and the characters are dressed in safari gear which is cute.
If you're thinking of getting a park hopper, you could probably combine two of these parks into one day but keep in mind Animal Kingdom usually closes fairly early (dusk).
As pp mentioned, the Unofficial Guide is really helpful and gives great descriptions about rides/activities so you know which would be appropriate for your child.
We went last month and Chef Mickeys is still awesome. We also did the one in MK at Crystal Palace which is with Pooh and Friends and that was great too. It's a great way to see some major characters without lines and giving you that extra time in the park for other things
The Cyrstal Palace! I couldn't think of the name of it. Glad to know Chef Mickey's is still great! Will have to check them out again!
Does your 5 year old like shows? then consider going to hollywood studios. there is ariel and a couple other nice shows. I liked Epcot for kids with the different worlds too. And we recently did legoland which was great.
i have a 5 yr old little boy, not girl, but we love disney and he's been there 3 times. i would do all the dis parks. it's not much more as you add days, it's the first inital day that is expensive.
i would definitely do lunch or dinner at the castle if you can get ressies. even my son, who is not into girly things, loved it. it's a must do on my list at least once for every kid.
also i know they have the bippity bop boutique for little girls. my son did the pirate one and loved it.
chef mickeys...again if you can get ressies. they are probably booked up for sept - oct. reservations start at 6 months out I think.
not sure if your daugther is into star wars, but at hollywood studios they have the jedi in training show, which is awesome and was definitely one of the highlights of all our trips actually, my son still talks about it. girls did it too and were dressed as princess leah. you have to get there early though, first thing as gates open and go right to the sign up desk...it books quick. so so glad we did that last time, my son was really into star wars (we did the same type of thing for his bday party) & was over the moon that he fought darth vadar. look it up on youtube if you don't know what it is.
have a ball!
oh a few more of my faves as i'm thinking about it:
pirates and pals cruise. so fun
mickeys back yard bbq.