Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Tiny Twourists - Favorite Rides/Shows for preschoolers

What are the can't miss rides/shows for your Tiny Twourists?

My daughter will be 4 in January. Her first trip to Walt Disney World was at 18 months old. At 23 months, we visited Disneyland. We returned to Walt Disney World 2 months before her third birthday (for Halloween) and 2 months after her third birthday.

Currently, my daughter's park preference is Magic Kingdom, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Disney's Animal Kingdom.

At Magic Kingdom, her favorite rides are: "it's a small world" and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. At 18 months, Cinderella's Golden Carousel was her favorite. She asked to go on it repeatedly. She also enjoys Dumbo, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Peter Pan's Flight, Jungle Cruise, Mad Tea Party, and Tomorrowland Speedway (also known as Speed Racer to my daughter), and the Walt Disney World Railway. We have taken her on Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and Tomorrowland Transit Authority which she will ride, but all have parts that she does not like (she is not a fan of the dark). The first time we took her to the Tiki Room she enjoyed it, but the last time we took her she did not like it. She really did not like Snow White's Scary Adventure. We tried Mickey's PhilharMagic with her, but the initial scene with the swirling wind spooked her and she did not watch the rest of the show. On Goofy's Barnstormer, we made the mistake of sitting in the first car at just shy of 3. The ride was a bit too much for her, and she would not ride it 4 months later. I think she would like it now since she rode a roller coaster over the summer and had a great time. On our last trip, she was still under the 40" height requirement, so was not able to enjoy rides like Space Mountain and Splash Mountain.

At Disney's Hollywood Studio, she likes Playhouse Disney: Live on Stage and Toy Story Mania!. She also enjoyed the Great Movie Ride especially the Wizard of Oz section. My husband is a huge Star Wars fan, so while she is too short for Star Tours, she does enjoy watching the Jedi Training Academy. We have had mixed success with taking her through the line and bypassing the ride with Grandma. Our first trip when she was 18 months old was between Star Wars weekends so she was able to meet a Storm Trooper in the queue. Other times, we have been told that she could not even enter the line because she was too short to ride. We did not even try the Sounds Dangerous attraction due to the darkness. For some reason, she really did not enjoy the Voyage of the Little Mermaid Show. She refused to see it on our most recent trip. I think it was due to the darkness in a few scenes.

At Epcot, she likes The Seas with Nemo and Friends. She loves running around the aquarium after the ride. There is a KidCot Fun Stop inside. She also enjoys The Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros in the Mexico Pavilion. Journey into Imagination has always been one of my favorites and she likes it too. The newly renovated Spaceship Earth is worth a ride, and she enjoys riding it. We have done the Maelstrom ride in Norway, but there are a few areas that are dark that she does not like but she will ride it. There is lots of interactive fun for little ones at Epcot with Innoventions and the ImageWorks lab in the Imagination Pavilion and all of the KidCot fun stops. We did the Honey I Shrunk the Audience show and she was okay for the beginning of the show however when the theater moves towards the end, she was not happy.

At Animal Kingdom, she likes the Kilimanjaro Safari, and we are starting to time it better. The first two times we took her on it, she fell asleep from the motion because it was near nap time. We saw Finding Nemo: The Musical on our last trip and she really enjoyed that. She enjoyed the Wildlife Express Train ride to Conservation Station, but we found many of the activities there were a bit over her head. We rode the TriceraTop Spin on our daughter's first trip but have not been on since. On our last trip, my daughter spent about an hour in the playground which ate into our time to do other activities.

What are your Tiny Twourists Favorite Rides/Shows in the parks?

2 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you posted this. Our son will only be 9 months when we go so it is good to hear about your experience with a preschooler.

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  2. This is just a great post for suggesting attractions in Disney fit for preschoolers. We're actually staying at Holiday Inn near Disney World so we can start our son's stimulating Disney adventure from our hotel.

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