rides in MGM and Epcot for young ones

[crzy4mk]

Will be going to WDW in February with small children. What are the good things to do and ride at Epcot and MGM? I've been to Epcot before (but not with kids), but never to MGM. I've looked at some guidebooks, but would love some "expert" opinions from Disney veterans. Help!

 

[Planogirl]

I'll list those attractions that DS enjoyed when he was little.

At Epcot: Spaceship Earth, Food Rocks, Journey Into Imagination (it's different now though), Cranium Command, the Living Seas, El Rio del Tiempo, Food Rocks, running around in the Wonders of Life, musical acts in World Showcase, the mini trains in Germany, the Viking boat play area in Norway, shaking marracas in Mexico

MGM: Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular (some explosions), Muppets, the Little Mermaid (Ursula could be scary), Beauty & the Beast, the Great Movie Ride (I hid his eyes from the Alien in the ceiling and the witch was a bit of a problem for a while; he took the gun battles in stride but this ride is being refurbished right now), Animation Tour (from about the age of 4), Fantasmic.

I know that he would have loved the current Playhouse Disney show and the parade at MGM.

 

[crisi]

We didn't find much to do at MGM.

They liked Playhouse Disney and loved the parade.

They weren't impressed with Little Mermaid (no one in the party liked it - its one of those that I understand is very popular, but we all left going "huh?") or MuppetVision 3D (they didn't really understand the glasses).

We didn't do much else. My son can be sensitive to loud noise, so we skipped Indiana Jones and Fantasmic was right out (we are trying it next time - he will be five).

Epcot was better, but we didn't spend too much time there. They enjoyed "Energy" with the dinosaurs (which was a little scary) and Spaceship Earth. Maelstrom was a little scary, but do-able. They LOVED that darn boat ride in Mexico - six times! We were waiting for dinner at San Angel anyway and there wasn't a line. We loved the fountains - especially the jumpers in front of Imagination, and loved the lights in the sidewalk at night. We had dinner in both Mexico and Morrocco, and my two year old danced with the belly dancer, charming the entire room. Oh, and the Viking boat. My son was the captian of that boat for near onto an hour. He had such a good time. In short, they enjoyed everything they tried, but we didn't do too much. We will really miss the Tapastry of Dreams parade next time.

We spent the vast majority of our time with a 2 and 3 year old in Fantasyland in the MK. They enjoyed everything there so much more than they enjoyed the other parks - we didn't see any reason to skip our fifth and sixth ride on Peter Pan just so the kids could be bored by The Land. Their second favorite park was AK, but they are both zoo kids.

 

[mommystieg]

We also didn't find much for our 2 y/o dd at MGM. She enjoyed Playhouse Disney and the parade. We rode the Backlot Tour and she slept through Fantasmic. She was a litte nervous at MuppetVision 3-D and the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground was hot and crowded and you can't let small ones down for fear they will be trampled by the bigger kids and the other parents.
On the other hand, she loved Epcot although UoE was too LOUD!!! She enjoyed the boat ride in Mexico, watching the fish at the Living Seas, playing in the fountains, the Living with the Land ride, Food Rocks and Cranium Command just to name a few. The nice thing about Epcot was the fact that there were so many places, such as Innoventions, where she could get out of the stroller and walk around. I highly recommend Epcot--it is so much calmer there and doesn't seem to get so congested. We too will miss the Tapestry of Dreams parade this year

 

[married2grumpy]

MGM doesn't have much that appeals to small children. When we went this trip we did Playhouse Disney & the Little Mermaid show. The Great Movie Ride was closed so MGM has no rides for small children. We stayed to have lunch at Sci-Fi(which the kids loved) and we left. Unless your little ones like to sit for shows, this park is not much fun for them.

My kids did enjoy Epcot though. There is more to do there for them. As Mentioned, Mexico is harmless and the kids love it. My kids also liked making cookies at Nestles junior chef in The Land.

 

[sha_lyn]

at 2 1/2 DD loved Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Muppets 3D, the great movie ride, the Beauty and the beast show, the animation tour, the back lot tour the parade and the HISTK playground. At 4 1/2 she loved all those (minus HISTK we didn't make it over there) and ToT, Star Tours and the Indiana Jones show (is was closed for rehab the first trip).

At Epcot she loves everything. If given a choice she would probably pick MGM over Epcot, but right now she insist the only park she likes is Blizzard beach.

 

[jaysue]

My DS (3 1/2) has a big thumbs down for MGM - not much for him to do there and it feels more crowded as well. We went to playhouse disney and we came out and he annouced "I don't like shows" . So that statement pretty much sunk MGM for us - he did however like the Backlot Tour - especially the PT Boat/Water scene ....

As for Epcot, he loves it there:

Living Seas - loves it
Spaceship Earth - thought it was neat
The Land - Boat Cruise/Food Rocks
Norway - Maelstorm
Germay - Model Train Set
France - flowers and mini-maze garden
The Dancing Fountain in Future World

Thanks
jaysue

 

[BevS97]

my dd loves Epcot, she can do most things there, we skip Universe of Energy, the 3-d movies (actually all the movies) , Star Tours and Test Track, but I think that's all. She LOVES Spaceship Earth and the Imagination Ridea and is quite happy in the Land and Living Seas. I don't particularly like the Innovations pavilions myself, so we don't spend a lot of time there.

Her favorite thing though (apart from the water fountains) was World Showcase, we just really enjoy walking around, looking at everything, discovering things in hidden corners, she likes doing her mask, and we just have a really nice relaxed day there.

MGM on the other hand is harder. She likes Bear in the Big Blue House/Playhouse Disney, and Who wants to be a Millionaire.
She enjoyed Beauty and the Beast as well. That was about it. The Little Mermaid has a scary scene with Ursula that she doesn't like. I haven't tried her on the Great Movie Ride because I don't think she would like the car being hijacked. We did do the backlot tour and she was ok, but I wouldn't say she enjoyed it.
She did like the parade.
We normally visit MGM once, and the other parks many times, but I wouldn't miss it altogether.

Bev

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Honestly I can't really remember what my youngest (barely 2yrs old) COULD ride at these parks. I know she did the shows and some scared her- but most rides we had to do the parent swap with her.
My son -who was barely turned 5yrs old and kinda on the short side- only couldn't ride TOT & RnR that I remember at MGM- and RnR really upset him that he couldn't ride.
At Epcot- Test track really upset him because he couldn't ride it.

Other than that I really can't tell you more than what everyone else has already said. But I will say that at her young age she still had a good time even though we did a lot of parent swapping. Ofcourse MK & AK was her favorite parks (MK because she could ride more things- AK because of the shows and animals thrilled her). Now this next trip might be more of a challenge- because she'll be a little older yet not much taller and not able to do anymore than she did last year. *sigh*
But she might also be less scared in some of the shows. We'll see.... LOL

 

[the4moores]

Originally posted by BevS97
I haven't tried her on the Great Movie Ride because I don't think she would like the car being hijacked.
Bev

We tried it, didn't know about hijacking. We sat right behind driver and dd4 was terrified! DD2 was fine though. It is amazing how different two kids from the same parents can be!

We also didn't find much to do at MGM