[Question] Orlando day tripish

I'd say skip the theme parks until they're older and can appreciate them.

drawn_inward said:

My family will be in Orlando for about 4 days for a mini-vacation while I go to a science conference. We'd like to potentially go to a theme park, but we're not sure what the best value would be. I can skip one day of the conference for such a visit. We have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. I feel like Disney is way too much for the two year old, but I haven't been there since the early 90s. Also, I am not too keen in standing in line all day or spending ~400 bucks to stand in line all day. Is the Magic Kingdom more accessible for little ones or the animal safari disney park? I am a bit adverse to Seaworld's practices, but I think the girls might love it. I'm really torn.

Any suggestions? Should we skip Disney until they're both older? They don't even really know the Disney characters. They have seen Frozen and Cars. They know Mickey Mouse from somewhere, but we haven't shown them much of those characters.

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At least the 2 y.o. is free! But you still have to deal with the toddler all day...

I will be there in a few days with a 5-year-old. How soon do you need an answer?

We haven't been to Orlando since 2005, and I know some stuff has changed. We're planning on Disney and some other area attractions (though not Sea World). If you can wait a week, I can probably give an idea what might be worth it and what to skip.

The Animal Kingdon would certainly involve less lines overall and I think it would be a better plan for your two year old. There are a few rides there that you need to line up for, but you can enjoy the park without going on them.

There is also a really cute section where the kids can get pictures with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and all their buddies that is a lot less less busy than the Magic Kingdom.

When exactly are you going? You're getting into their less busy season where you won't need to worry about lines too much overall. We went in late September/early October and overall, the lines were pretty good.

You've got very young kids for it, but before Halloween, they sell wristbands to a Halloween party and they have trick or treating, special Halloween only characters and their regular characters in their costumes. We had a family on the bus ride home give us some advice, "Forget that! Skip the early parade too and just walk right on to all the rides. Then the late parade is almost deserted and you can have front row seating for it."

A 2 year old and a 4 year old will be enchanted by everything, and there's more than enough to fill their imagination all day long. Plenty of rides will allow you to go together, and for those rides where you cannot you can get a parent pass, where one parent waits in line, rides the ride, and then at the exit takes the kids while the other parent enters through the exit and rides immediately.

The cost is the bigger issue - for that money you can do a lot of other things the kids will enjoy.

Another issue is you essentially have to focus on the kids and make it about them. You won't be able to do a lot of things you might enjoy. You also have to plan breaks into the day, the kids just can't go for more than a few hours straight, so plan on leaving and returning at least once, or bringing strollers they can sleep in while you wander the park.

Take pictures, and between that and memories it'll be something they'll look back on very fondly.

Beyond that, I don't know. There are many attractions in that area, Disney is one of the few that is truly "all ages" in that you could spend days there at any age and still have left things undone and unseen.

stienman said:

Another issue is you essentially have to focus on the kids and make it about them.

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This

THIIIIIIIIIIIISS.

When you go to Disneypark SE, you are going because of the kids. Prepare to sacrifice your free time so that they can have a good time, because that's what the park actually expects.

--Patrick

PatrThom said:

This

THIIIIIIIIIIIISS.

When you go to Disneypark SE, you are going because of the kids. Prepare to sacrifice your free time so that they can have a good time, because that's what the park actually expects.

--Patrick

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Yep.

Then get a babysitter and sneak away for the evening to do all the stuff you wanted to do but the kids would be bored with.[DOUBLEPOST=1507661565,1507661475][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, pro-tip - if you go to a theme park that has halloween celebrations with lots of costumed individuals performing jump scares, you can successfully ward them off by pushing a stroller or carrying a small sleeping child around.

[DOUBLEPOST=1507662101][/DOUBLEPOST]Oh, and they don't call it a "parent pass" so here's the detail if you do decide to go there:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/rider-switch/

Assuming you're going to ASHG, it doesn't look like any rocket launches line up with the dates.

Possibly relevant : https://www.livestrong.com/article/229172-things-orlando-florida-toddler/

Also, I've heard that Legoland Florida skews a bit younger than the other attractions, though it is a little ways outside Orlando.

Disney parks let you "schedule" three rides in which you can skip the line and go in an express line. It comes with every single pass. It is the greatest thing ever created for amusement parks. But keep in mind as well that most of the rides with big lines are the rides your kids aren't going to go on anyways. For the most part, at that age, Animal Kingdom will just be a fancier zoo. That's fine though. I think Magic Kingdom is not that bad and will probably have more *rides* they can go on, but I'd hold off on EPCOT and Hollywood Studios if you only have one day.

Our kids hated Epcot and whined all day. I lost my cool because I had been walking around all week on a brutally sore foot to make sure that they had an excellent vacation and on our very last afternoon we went to Epcot and they whined the whole day and at one point, our son refused to walk.

We had done the Halloween party at the Magic Kingdom the night before and had a super early morning with the Bippity Boppity Boutique and the Pirate dress up place for the rest of us, so we slept in all morning and went to Epcot for a later day. Epcot was the one thing I wanted to see and their attitude was killing me after walking all week on what I later found out was a fractured foot.

My point may have been missed there lol. Young kids and Epcot don’t mix well.

EPCOT is excellent for late elementary and up kids who are interested in how things work and science. There are a few rides that are fun for everyone, but a lot of it is hands on exploration.

@drawn_inward : back, and ready with my info!

We did Universal Islands of Adventure, Epcot, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. Li'l Z loved Islands of Adventure, but giving your girls ages and (I assume) interests, you're better saving Universal for when they're older. Having said that, I'll break down the other three this way:

Epcot- Li'l Z liked a lot of Future Land and meeting Baymax, and would have spent the entire day on Test Track if he could. He is also over 44" tall, so he can go on almost any ride at all the parks. There are a number of shows for all ages, and plenty to see that doesn't require heights. If your little girls are into the princesses, especially Frozen, this is a good spot to take pictures. The Frozen cast are in Norway, Jasmine is in Morocco, Mulan's in China, Belle's in France, Joy and Sadness from Inside Out are there, and I swear I saw Princess Elena somewhere, in addition to the usual Mickey gang. The adults in your group will like Epcot because the Food and Wine Festival is happening right now, and you can drink and eat your way around the world. It was yummy! Otherwise, I think your best bet is Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom.

Here's the main thing: how long do you have at the park? If you have all day, go to the Magic Kingdom. If you have less time, go to the Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom is a smaller park, and we did the whole park in 4- 4 1/2 hours. There are a lot of shows at AK, which might be good for the little ones, a gentile train ride to a petting zoo, several walk-through animal exhibits (yes, all stroller friendly) and a dinosaur park. The adults might like the Pandora/Avatar land, and Expedition Everest. Li'l Z isn't really a sit-and-watch-a-show kid, he likes more interactive stuff, so I can't tell you much about those, but he really got excited about seeing all the animals, lizards, bugs, and fish. There are character meet-and-greets, but no princesses. Now, Magic Kingdom has a TON of stuff going on, and lots of stroller parking. There are a number of gentle rides you can take the girls on, a ton of meet-and-greets, lots of parades and shows throughout the day is they need to sit. Magic Kingdom is far more ride heavy than AK, but it does have more little kid rides (Cinderella's carousel, It's a Small World, Winnie the Pooh, the train around the park, etc).

One thing I can tell you that you need to do if you're going to any Disney park: download the My Disney Experience app. (It's free.) This will be your best friend on the trip. It gives you a map of the park, shows you the wait times for rides or character meets (and it updates frequently), gives you gps and walking directions, shows you nearest restrooms, guest services, EVERYTHING. If you get FastPass (and I highly recommend it, ours was free because we stayed with Disney), you can book your Fast Pass reservations for rides or meeting characters through it. If you're doing meet and greets, I can't recommend booking ahead of time enough. The app also linked up to our wrist bands, which provides our park passes, and if you take any photos, you can see them through the MyDisneyExperience app and buy them (or not) at any time. No matter which park you go to, the app will save you so much time and headaches. We got to do soooo many things at the Magic Kingdom thanks to that app.[DOUBLEPOST=1508520025,1508519481][/DOUBLEPOST]Almost forgot! Princess Sophia is around, but I can't remember if she was at Epcot or Magic Kingdom. But Doc McStuffins and her toy hospital is in Animal Kingdom.

I have no children so I probably just don't think have the right mindset, but that writeup made a trip to Disney world sound like the most stressful experience imaginable.

You don't need a Disney hotel reservation to use FastPass, anyone can. Just FYI.

Celt Z said:

There are a lot of shows at AK, which might be good for the little ones, a gentile train ride to a petting zoo, several walk-through animal exhibits (yes, all stroller friendly) and a dinosaur park.

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Do you ride piggy back or is there a seat strapped to them?

drifter said:

Do you ride piggy back or is there a seat strapped to them?

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I'm just glad it's gentile-only. Jews have had bad experiences with train rides.

blotsfan said:

I'm just glad it's gentile-only. Jews have had bad experiences with train rides.

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...and Disney in general.

--Patrick

blotsfan said:

I have no children so I probably just don't think have the right mindset, but that writeup made a trip to Disney world sound like the most stressful experience imaginable.

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Life with kids is stressful. This trip was incredibly easy.

Or rather, with kids it's usually a good idea to have a game plan based on the personality of said kid/s. Li'l Z has a lot of energy but is very easy going, so having the app to know where to go and not running back and forth across a park made things pretty easy. There was no tears or grumpy moments.

I should also add, we brought snacks, fruit, and water with us to each park, not just to save money, but it meant we could stop and snack or have lunch wherever we were, even in line.

Staying at a Disney resort makes Disney vacations so easy. My husband hates amusement parks but he liked going to Disney because we didn't have to worry about shit like parking, or dealing with luggage at the airport, and it was so easy to take things at our own pace. And yeah, it's so easy to schedule out your day, right down to what time to go on rides, because you can plan to skip lines.

blotsfan said:

I have no children so I probably just don't think have the right mindset, but that writeup made a trip to Disney world sound like the most stressful experience imaginable.

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Disney without kids is arguably better. Wife and I have been twice in the last couple of years and being able to walk right past characters and shows we weren't interested in was great. Being able to go and eat whenever we wanted was also super great. @Celt Z's writeup sounds stressful, but it really is not that bad. The app is super easy to use.

We went to both Disney and Universal on one trip and Universal was waaaaay more crowded due to Harry Potter world. Plus ride seats were so small, wifey could not fit on them and so we had a bad time. No such problems with any ride at Disney.