AK with 2 small/short children

I am looking at creating a touring plan for my family. DS will be 5, DD will be 2.5. I doubt that they will be over 38" by the time that we go. The way that I am seeing it, it looks like we should be able to do most of the attractions that are age/size appropriate before we leave the park for our afternoon rest. I doubt we will be able to do more than 1 of the safaris and keep the kids engaged. Any thoughts?

I should also note that DS is timid around a lot of new experiences.

My boys love the Affection Section at Rafiki’s Plant Watch. I am not a fan of petting zoos but these animals are well cared for and not aggressive at all. The cast members will tell as little or as much as you like about them down to their names and personalities.

If they like shows, The Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo are among my favorite shows in Disney.

There is so much to take in and look at AK. The WIlderness Explorers looks fun too. We just haven’t tried it. Slow down and take it all in. You can always visit characters too.

Have a great trip.

My kids were almost the same age, both boys, when we went to AK and it was the best park. I would describe my DS5 the same way, doesn’t like new experiences, gets sensory overload. We ended up just pushing nap time a little later, staying til 4-4:30 and not going back. The highlights (roughly in order of kids most to least favorite) were the Boneyard, Characters, Safari, and Petting Zoo. Lion King was good too, though we did it at the end of the day and one part scared my kids that were in need of a nap. I would say with a good plan you can hit the highlights and have it be a little more relaxing and easy day for your DS. It was for mine - and that’s what made it our best park day, we weren’t constantly trying to talk him in to things. Oh, and based on what I’ve heard/read, you’ll want to avoid ITTBAB and Dinosaur - though I can’t say from actual experience, because that’s what we did!

Thanks for the responses! I am hoping to do the hoo-dee-do review for dinner that night so we will def need some down time somewhere during the day. Lots to think about!

I agree with the previous poster, we arrive at RD and stay until about 4-5. It is the one park that we push through naps. Definitely plan plenty of time to play at The Boneyard. Other highlights for our family at that age were FTLK, Nemo, and Safari. We usually hit one of the trails. The drums in Africa are really fun and we’ve had great meet and greets at AK as well, although they’ve changed since then. If you need your little one to get a power nap, go to NEMO in the afternoon. It is a long, dark show and they may doze off during it. :slight_smile: