Itinerary Help for Family with 3 and 5 year old

[Broncho52]

I am hoping for some help with figuring out our last day of tickets. Family of 4 with a 3 (boy) and 5 (girl) year old

Current Itinerary.

Day 1-Half Day TBD
Day 2-MK
Day 3-Late Arrival Epcot Day
Day 4-MK
Day 5-HS

Here is my Dilemma. For the first day do we do a half day at AK or HS. Kids are obsessed with Toy Story so want to hit every thing there. But also will want to hit the Beauty and the beast and Frozen show for sure. The new Mickey and Minnie ride will be open. My first thought is to do HS a second day but also feel like we would be missing out on AK. We will not have hoppers.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

I would do half day at epcot for your arrival day and a full AK day on your 3rd day. I had kids your age and they really didn't enjoy Epcot that much. At AK they spent soo much time at the Dinoland play area! I think you will be able to do all the HS attraction of interest to you in a day if you go there early.

 

[saraheliz]

I would do half day at epcot for your arrival day and a full AK day on your 3rd day. I had kids your age and they really didn't enjoy Epcot that much. At AK they spent soo much time at the Dinoland play area! I think you will be able to do all the HS attraction of interest to you in a day if you go there early.

I would either do this or just do one day at HS. We took my girls at that age and while they loved Future World, they could have cared less about World Showcase. I personally wouldn't skip Animal Kingdom, my kids love that park- they aren't that big on HS but we haven't been since TSL and SWGE opened so that might change their opinion.

 

[YesterDark]

Sounds like my trip 2 years ago with a 4 and 2 year old. We skipped AK as well.

We did:
Arrival Day
MK
HS
Resort Day/Disney Springs
MK
Depart

I don't like doing a park on your arrival day. I like the first day to ease in to the Disney Bubble and explore and relax from the flight. But that is my opinion obviously. I have always started and ended my trip with MK days. Filled in the middle with whatever. My trip in March is going to be something like:

Arrive
MK
HS
Day Off
HS
1/2 Epcot
MK

Is your Day 1 the day you arrive? What time do you get in?
I would not do more than two full days in a row. You're gonna get run into the ground especially if this is over the summer.

 

[aac2407]

I have 2 boys age 4.5 and 2. When we went last May (4 and 19 months) they honestly could have cared less for anything in Epcot except Test Track for my 4 year old (he is a thrill seeker). On the other hand one of their favorite parts of the trip was the Dino play land in Animal Kingdom-digging and riding the slides- and seeing all the animals in that park. My older son also loved the Dinosaur ride (might be scary to some) and Kali River Rapids and my younger son loved the dinosaur hub and spoke ride. Pandora is also amazing to see for the adults and has one of the best quick service places to eat on property. I would not miss Animal Kingdom, it's a great park! Epcot is also under a ton of construction now. Just my two cents!

 

[2019TripIdeas]

I also have a 3 year old boy and 5 year old girl (and a 2 year old boy as well!). We're fortunate in that we're able to go for a long trip this time because of how scheduling/room discounts worked out, so we do plan to likely do two days (one being a partial day) at Hollywood Studios. If we didn't have the flexibility, we'd have been doing it in one day for sure.

One day, we plan to go early to try to get ROTR Boarding Groups, and we have fastpasses for Toy Story Mania- Couldn't get Slinky Dog and a few other things. Then, we plan to head out by about 1:00, hang at the resort and potentially go back that night for Fantasmic and maybe attempt to wait in standy line for Slinky Dog at night. I've been keeping an eye on it on the app lately and it seems like on some weekdays it gets to the 30min mark sometimes at night. With kids this age, plus a little brother who can't ride, I can't seem to justify much more of a wait than that.

Our last day, we plan to do Hollywood Studios to spend a little more time exploring ToyStory Land and Galaxy's Edge without so much of a rush. I imagine we'll try to get in the TSL Meet and Greets on this day.

We're doing just one day at Animal Kingdom as of our current plan. I didn't really plan on doing Rivers of Light because the reviews didn't seem that amazing?

 

[Laura@Wanderkeep]

I would include AK for sure. Plenty of things for young kids, like the Dino digging area and play area, shoes like Nemo and Lion King, and the safari ride.

 

[Broncho52]

I would include AK for sure. Plenty of things for young kids, like the Dino digging area and play area, shoes like Nemo and Lion King, and the safari ride.

Thanks. We have decided to do this.

 

[BobbyDukes]

Ya do not miss AK, I would say miss EPCOT all together now or just do a half day there. My kids love everything at AK

 

[tinkerjo]

Ya do not miss AK, I would say miss EPCOT all together now or just do a half day there. My kids love everything at AK

I second this, make Epcot (my kid’s least favorite park)your 1/2 day and hit frozen!! AK has so much to offer for that age group. This has always been my kid’s favorite park!!! Rivers of light is pretty and I’m glad I saw it, but I don’t think the little ones will be impressed. The shows at AK are top notch and they will love the safari ride, dig site, Kali river ( if tall enough) I feel the character meet and greets are easier at this park as well, and I love the safari outfits!!!

 

[ClapYourHands]

The only way I would prioritize Epcot with a full day is if you have kids who have their hearts set on all the character meets. Since they are scattered through the various pavilions and do not have FP, it might take a full day to meet those characters and do FW rides.

Otherwise, move Epcot to a half day and add AK. There’s not much for a 3-year-old to ride, but there’s so much to do and see.