help me pick a park

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-10-2003
help me pick a park
10
Thu, 04-27-2006 - 10:36am
Ofcourse we decided on MK and then we also picked AK (being from Tampa our girls like busch gardens so I figured theyd like the animals here too) but the third park would you pick Epcot or MGM for little girls ages 3-6?
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-11-2003
Thu, 04-27-2006 - 10:41am
Well, I guess I'll be in the minority but my girls loved MGM at that age and were quite bored with Epcot.

 

Avatar for shelb31
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Registered: 08-12-2006
Thu, 04-27-2006 - 11:07am

I would definitely choose Epcot. My kids are now ds (8) and dd (5-1/2). They have been every year since 2002, so that's 4 years in a row. We went to MGM when ds turned 4 and dd wasn't quite 2. We left after an hour. There are no rides there for that age-group, except maybe the Great Movie Ride and the Backlot tour (not sure about this); doesn't really matter because they wouldn't have liked it then. We did Playhouse Disney and the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. They also didn't want to sit through show after show; they needed more action than that.

We went last year when they were almost 7 and almost 5, and they enjoyed it then. We're going this year, too.

However, they LOVE Epcot. They particularly like watching the performers in each of the countries. It's laid back in that you're not in an auditorium, so the kids can move around outside. My ds' favorite ride of all parks is Test Track. They like the 3D show, too. Actually, there isn't much that they don't like there. Germany has a neat miniature train "village" outside that you can watch; very entertaining. Norway has a Viking ship that they can climb on. Mexico has a boat ride, and Norway, too. This is a favorite park of the whole family!

HTH!

M'Shel

Disney 2010
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-28-2004
Thu, 04-27-2006 - 11:15am
I would say Epcot.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 04-27-2006 - 11:52am
Another vote for MGM here. If your girls love the princesses this is the place to be. There are so many photo ops too with every character imaginable. The shows are great too.

Trish

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 04-27-2006 - 12:42pm

As much as I love Epcot (and my boys, ages 6 and 10 love it too!), I'd have to pick MGM for your little ones. Aside from the Playhouse Disney show, there is also the Little Mermaid show and the Beauty and the Beast show. They may also like the new stunt show that they have there (my boys loved it, but (as a girl!) I also found it very cool!). There is also the Muppets 3D movie which is fun, and the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground (which can be a bit chaotic and not really my favorite place, but the kids love it!) and then of course, at night, Fantasmic is AWESOME!!

It's so hard for me to pick and choose parks! We really spend alot of time at all of them...with Animal Kingdom being our least favorite.

Marcy

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Avatar for cl_ktbugsmom
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 04-27-2006 - 1:49pm

Another vote for EPCOT. It's a family favorite of everyone here including the little ones. We tend to break it up into 3-4 half day visits though becuase there's so much to do, but we could easily spend a whole day there and not feel like we did everything we wanted. I'm not sure your littlest one would be tall enough for Soarin, but if she is grab a fast pass for that one first thing, then there's loads of cool stuff to do in the Land pavillion and if you catch it right you can do the Nestle Cookie Class, and they've put Kid Cot stations in Future World also (Val---- where are they all at? you said 5?). I can't remember when your trip is but the ride through in the Living Seas is supposed to be opening this 'fall', but Turtle Talk with Crush is a must do and if your girls like animals they should love seeing the aquariums there. I'm less than thrilled with the revamp of Journey Into Your Imagination with Figment, but if you've never seen the original then the current one does just fine. Innoventions East and West have a ton of cool stuff to play with and try out (check out the smart house- wow would I like some of those gadets!) There's a playground at the exit of Mission:Space that the kids not riding can play on while the adult riding does his thing, there's also an arcade there so it can be loud.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 04-27-2006 - 6:43pm

I can't imagine a trip without Epcot. It's always been my favorite and it's always been Aly's favorite too.

The only thing that would stump me is if your girls love princesses. If you're not park-hopping, there's sooooo much more to do at Epcot, and there are princesses at Epcot including 3 princess meals at Norway. But the 2 princess shows are at MGM (Little Mermaid & Beauty & the Beast) and for your little one, there's Playhouse Disney. At almost 6, we only went to MGM to see the snow on New York Street (it was Christmas time) one evening and to see Playhouse Disney one morning since they had added Stanley (Aly loved Stanley). We had already seen the show before and we had seen the 2 princess shows before and since it was raining horribly all week, it wasn't worth fighting the rain to wait for the other shows when she wasn't interested at the time.

But, I probably have the only child in the world who actually CRIED at MK because all she wanted to do was go to Epcot. Our "plan" for our last day was to watch Playhouse Disney at MGM, then go to MK which closed at 6 and do the favorites, THEN go to Epcot. She did NOT want to be at MK..she cried to go to Epcot.

Alysha


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Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 04-27-2006 - 7:31pm
I'd do a half day at AK and spend the evening of that day at Epcot, at least. MGM is about a half day park for us, but it is hard to fit all the shows in because of the way they're scheduled. My kids like both parks, but Epcot is their favorite of all 4.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2004
Sat, 04-29-2006 - 10:38am

If the kids are really young, they probably would prefer two days at Magic Kingdom rather than a day at MGM or Epcot. However, they may not retain what they see (talking about long term), so questions like "are you planning on returning to Disney in the future" come to my mind.

Epcot made an effort to keep the little ones busy with crafty/artsy projects along the route - it was nice. We got to learns things while we were at Epcot and at the same time the little one seemed to be okay with what was going on in "her world".

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-15-2005
Sun, 04-30-2006 - 12:01am

Ok, I answered this earlier today but I guess I forgot to hit post! LOL


There are actually 3 Kidcot Stops in Epcot's Future World. They are found in The Living Seas, Test Track and The Land.

Val, Co-CL Disney Vacations