Today I want to focus on the two parks that we chose to go to. This part, for me, was a little difficult before we left. I had only ever been to Epcot and MGM (which is now called Disney Hollywood Studios - DHS for my blogging purposes). I went when I was a teenager - and I enjoyed it, so I went in thinking that those places probably weren't the best places to take the little ones. So I was thinking we would head to the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. They seemed the most little kid friendly. However, I then did some research and discovered that there really is alot for the little ones to do at each park. Magic Kingdom, though, was on the top of the list. It is just the quintessential Disney Park. I didn't want to miss out on that. So that was staying on the list. At this point (the planning stage), I really wasn't sure about what Noah was going to be able to do, so I was still leaning towards the Animal Kingdom, because I knew that he would LOVE to see animals. And that is what we ended up doing.
Magic Kingdom
This place was great. I suggest getting there first thing in the morning when the open. The ride times are the lowest then. And if there are rides you absolutely want the kids to ride - go to those first. Especially those without a FastPass option. Notably the flying Dumbo ride. We never made it to this ride. The wait time was always over 35 minutes when we were there, and it really didn't seem like a great idea to wait that long in the heat with fidgety little ones. The first ride we went on was a Buzz Lightyear ride. It can be ridden by all ages! I was so impressed by all the rides that were accessible to Noah. They really do cater to all kids. This ride was great. There was place to sit and in front of you was a laser gun. In the middle of the console was a lever that would spin the car. There were targets to shoot at and it kept track of all the points you got. Ohlen loved it - and to be honest so did the rest of us. Noah loved making the car spin. :) We had about a 5 minute wait when we first got there. We came back later and it was up to about 25 minutes, so we grabbed a FastPass. The FastPass gives you an hour time slot to come back and get in a quicker line. I think the longest we waited in the Fast lines was about 10-15 minutes. We rode several other rides. Another that stuck out to me as really great was the 3D show we saw there. I think it was called Philharmagic. It had lots of the favorite Disney characters and music in it. You did have to wear the 3D glasses, which Noah refused to wear - so I'm not sure how much he really got out of it - but Ohlen LOVED it. Well, except for the occasional blast of air or spritz of water they added for some realism. It was hilarious watching him try to reach out and grab the 3D objects. It was really well done - appreciated by us adults as well.
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| We are ON a Choo-choo!! |
Once it hit about 11 it got really crowded. There were so many people. By that point we were pretty much only riding FastPass rides. Ohlen and I did wait in line for one ride for about 25 minutes, and I think that was about his limit.
Some other highlights from Magic Kingdom were seeing some Toy Story characters in a random parade we stumbled on. (They do post times for those, but we didn't really pay much attention to it.) A train ride that takes you around the whole park, Noah was especially fond of this one. Ohlen's first roller coaster ride.(He loved it! I'm foreseeing a Cedar Point trip in our future - a few years yet - but I can not wait.) There were a few rides there that Ohlen was not tall enough for, but there was plenty to do.
We left the park to rest and swim. Jonathan, the boys, and I headed back to the park around 7 to catch the big fireworks show. Again, there were so many people. But the show was good. I was amused by all the people attempting to take flash pictures of the fireworks. I imagine they didn't turn out so well.
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| Waiting for the fireworks. |
We were pretty exhausted after our day there.
Animal Kingdom
The next morning we headed out to Animal Kingdom. Here we mostly walked and looked at the animals. There weren't as many rides here. It was a nice change of pace from the day before. And I was really glad that we went to the parks in this order. The first thing we did was head to another 3D show, It's Tough to be a Bug. It was hosted by Flick, from A Bug's Life. The signs on the way in warned that it might frighten small kids, but I really didn't think much of it. But then as they announced before hand that if it got too intense we could leave through the side, I got a little nervous. And yeah, we didn't last too long. There were lots of air blasts - which Ohlen hadn't really liked the day before either. And this time the subject was bugs... And they also did some stinky air for a stink bug... yeah, we had to get out of there. Not the best start to the day, but the rest was pretty good. We got to see lots of animals. They also have a place designated to meet a few Disney characters, which was nice. Ohlen met Goofy. He was a little shy. :)
I think our 2 favorite things at this park that we did were the Safari ride and the Finding Nemo show. The safari ride was one that I was really looking forward to. I was a little bummed though because the map said that pregnant women should not ride. I did a little research before hand and really, everything I read said that they were just a little overcautious. So, I decided to ride it anyways. Really, there were a few bumps, but it really wasn't bad at all. Certainly not enough to cause any concern. It was a really neat ride. They loaded up a huge open truck and drove around (like a safari) and we got to see a bunch of African animals. Very fun. The Finding Nemo show was just great. It was a Broadway type show. The costumes/props were amazing. The show wasn't all that long - I'm thinking about 30-40 minutes. The boys seemed to like it too.
I was a little disappointed with the petting zoo part of the park. When reading it, it made it seem like there would be lots of animals that the kids would get to interact with and touch. It ended up being mostly just sheep and goats. They've had more animal interaction here at home at the Truck Patch... Overall, though, we enjoyed this park. However, it was much more like a zoo than I thought. There weren't as many rides as I was expecting. Or at least we didn't find them. We also didn't venture into the Dinosaur section, which I think is where the rides were.
I do sort of wish we would have been able to go to DHS simply because they have a big Pixar section and apparently you can meet the Cars characters - and I know that Ohlen would have loved it. However, I'm not sure how another day full of rides would have went. It will definitely be on our list for next time. I'm sure Epcot would have been fun too, but I also think that it has a whole lot of walking. At this point I don't think the boys would be old enough to appreciate all the different cultures that are represented there.
Has anyone taken little ones to DHS or Epcot? I would love to know how it went.
I have to say - it was a really fun trip. I wasn't sure how it would go. How the boys would like it. They had so much fun. I think seeing them enjoy everything was best part.
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