While we’ve gone many times, this will be our first time with our 4.5 year old. This was my tentative plan: EP (arrival day/half day), MK, AK, EP, MK, AK, MK.
How many days do you think we should spend at each park?
Should we go to HS? I didn’t plan on going at all, because he is too young to go on the best rides there, and it’s our least favorite park anyway.
Is 1 day at AK enough, or is there enough to do for 2 days for a 4.5 yr old?
Is 1.5 days at EP enough? I love EP, but not sure if it will engage the little one??
Is your 4.5 year old into shows at all? On our trip DD3 absolutely loved Disney Jr, Frozen Singalong, and Beauty and the Beast. We also enjoyed our character M&G there too.
For me, we like 2 days each for sure at MK and AK. EP we’ve always done 1 day til this last time and 2 days there was great! 1 day usually is plenty for us at HS at this time. In fact we use our HS day as a late start and still finish in time for dinner by 7p.
When are you traveling? Will HS be worth it to you to see TSL, assuming it’s open during your dates? If not, skipping is fine - it’s your trip and you should do what you like! We skipped HS this time and instead did a second EP day because of the construction at HS/minimal attractions and it was a great decision for our family. Now we’ll have to stay longer so we can always do 2 EP days AND see HS
I think people underestimate all that AK can be, and I think 2 days is great for everyone. With a 4.5yo you’ll definitely want to get out to Rafiki’s Planet Watch and that tends to take a good chunk of time. Add in a TS and both FOTLK and Nemo and that’s a big portion of one day alone. The animal trails are not to be missed, and the kiddo will probably love that Dino play area for a good 30-60 minutes. You’ll find plenty to do there.
I think you’ll be fine with 1.5 days at EP. As I said until this trip we’ve kept it to 1 day. My kids are older now so they enjoyed doing the Agent P thing at a few locations over the 2 days and we enjoyed some short little “dates” A 4.5 yo will need you to do those things with him so that won’t work the same for you, but he may still enjoy Agent P as a fun way to explore the WS pavillions.
Oh we LOVE Agent P — now that we can sit it out LOL
Here is a pic of me trying desperately not to lose my “schtuff” when we were still needing to do it with them (and before you could use your own phone, which was part of the frustration as their hand held devices were wonky):
First country we did was Mexico, so we did it as a family. Next country was China, which my wife and I used as a mini date together, eating some Chinese food while my kids did the Agent P adventure together. (It was cool to glance out the window and see them roaming about China to find the clues while we enjoyed about 30 minutes together alone! But when we came to France, I was back in the game! Actually, I might have accidentally taken OVER the game at one point, which my kids started to feel a little frustrated by.
Thanks for the tips! I was kinda figuring that the shows, trails, and other non-ride stuff could occupy a whole day at AK. And I had no idea about the Agent P stuff!
A 4.5 yo will need you to do those things with him so that won’t work the same for you, but he may still enjoy Agent P as a fun way to explore the WS pavillions.
