10 days in WDW with a 5yo and 21mo - our tips

[Momof3Labs]

Thanks for tips, we leave Jan 9th for a 7 day trip. DD is almost 4. I'm a little worried about the dining situation b/c DD is a really picky eater. How long did it take to tour Epcot and MGM? DD is really out of the nap stage, she rarely naps and even if she does its late in the afternoon, usually only if we happen to be in the car. I know she will be tired staying at the parks all day so if we need to we plan to go back to the hotel for a break even if she doesn't sleep. I know the days we go to MK we will probably need a break. But I'm thinking we could make it thru MGM and Epcot without a break, maybe AK as well.
What were your kids faves at AK? DD loves animals esp. lions, jaguars, etc, so I really want to make the most of this park.

We did MGM in less than a day, but skipped an awful lot too. But we've been there before and it isn't our favorite park, so we knew what we wanted to do and what we didn't care about. If you want to do absolutely everything there, it would probably take more than one day just due to coordination of show times and such.

I could spend days in Epcot. Actually, I like to spend half-days there. We often end up there in the evening for dinner and wandering after hitting another park in the morning. Epcot is really a 2-3 day park if you want to hit most things, especially if you plan to do some of the kids' activities like Kidcot and Innoventions. Epcot would be tough to do without a break because it is a ton of walking - much more spread out than MK or MGM.

AK wasn't such a hit with my kids this time around. DS2 liked Triceratop Spin (like Dumbo but shorter lines). DS1 liked Primeval Whirl. We like the Kilimanjaro Safari (it's not to be missed). The trails with the animals are nice but we tend not to do them since we're spoiled with pretty nice zoos in our area. The Lion King show is great, but DS2 doesn't have the patience to sit through shows for whatever reason.

[Momof3Labs]

Thanks for the interesting read! I do not know if we will do Disney, it sounds great, but it also sounds overwhelming. I'm shocked you spent 10 days there, wow! Very interesting tips!

It helped a lot that we had taken several trips before kids, so we knew what we were getting into. It would have been very overwhelming if this was our first trip!! 10 days was nice because we could move at a much slower pace without feeling like we'd miss too much. We still missed quite a bit, but at least got to see what we really wanted to see and then some!

[klwa]

Oh, and thanks for telling about the costumes. I got DS a Edmund Pevensie (basically a knight) costume for Halloween, with the idea that he could wear it to Akershus & maybe get a bit of extra attention from the Princesses. Thought it would be great since his cousins are all girls & can easiyl wear a costume. Glad to hear that my thought s on the matter made sense.

[colleenfs]

We did MGM in less than a day, but skipped an awful lot too. But we've been there before and it isn't our favorite park, so we knew what we wanted to do and what we didn't care about. If you want to do absolutely everything there, it would probably take more than one day just due to coordination of show times and such.

I could spend days in Epcot. Actually, I like to spend half-days there. We often end up there in the evening for dinner and wandering after hitting another park in the morning. Epcot is really a 2-3 day park if you want to hit most things, especially if you plan to do some of the kids' activities like Kidcot and Innoventions. Epcot would be tough to do without a break because it is a ton of walking - much more spread out than MK or MGM.

AK wasn't such a hit with my kids this time around. DS2 liked Triceratop Spin (like Dumbo but shorter lines). DS1 liked Primeval Whirl. We like the Kilimanjaro Safari (it's not to be missed). The trails with the animals are nice but we tend not to do them since we're spoiled with pretty nice zoos in our area. The Lion King show is great, but DS2 doesn't have the patience to sit through shows for whatever reason.

I agree with all of this! We were there last January. Julia turned 5 on our trip, and Emma was 1.5.

MGM was our 1/2 day, and we could have really done without to be honest. To be fair, it was our last day, and we were really DONE, but I could have done without it. We did enjoy seeing the Little Einsteins, Playhouse Disney breakfast, and the Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast shows, but other than that, it wasn't really worth it.

I loved Epcot! We ended up spening 12 straight hours there, which was too much. If we go again, I'd do 1/2 day at the World Showcase and another 1/2 day for the rest of the park. But we all really enjoyed Epcot.

Animal Kingdom did not go over well with the girls at all. Guess they were spoiled by the princesses at MK! We ended up doing 3 full days at MK, and it was by far their favorite place.

[Rainbows&Roses]

bumping

thanks for the tips!

[sophiesmom]

Thanks for the tips! We're heading to Disney w/ the 3 kids again (last time the baby was only 8 mos.. that was exhausting!) in July, so you're suggestions are helpful! We're staying at the Boardwalk Villas, so it will be a bit easier for us to get around last time. Last time we had to use our car, which was a lot of work w/ 3 in car seats! I was dreaming of a monorail resort the whole time that trip. LOL!

Did you do the meal plan? My parents want to do it, but we're not sure.

Glad you reminded me to bring costumes for the kids!