Help Please! I need quick MGM touring advice for traveling with toddlers!

[ZerasPride]

Okay, guys. I'm in trouble. I've been planning this trip for months and now 2 days out my sister tells me she thinks my niece wants to see the "shows" with characters. I think she's talking about MGM. I've crossed off MGM for this visit because I didn't think it had much for kids. My 5 year old niece is never going to ride RnR or ToT so I didn't plan for it.

Any touring advice? I think there's a Bear in the Big Blue House show (or is that gone?), also isn't there a Beauty and the Beast show and Voyage of the Little Mermaid? Would little ones be frightened of Fantasmic? Where would eat with little kiddos? I was thinking Pizza Planet or maybe 50's Prime Time if I can get a ps. I've never toured this park with small ones so I am totally clueless. Again, any advice is appreciated!

 

[turnlisa]

Hopefully this helps you somewhat.

There is the Bear in the Big Blue House show -- I think they call it Playhouse Disney. Definitely a good show for little ones and a lot of fun for adults, too! You sit on the floor in this one.

There is also Voyage of the Little Mermaid. This one seems to fill up quick so you may want to consider FP this one. Saw it for the first time last year and loved the effects.

Beauty and the Beast is also there. I haven't done this one due to lines but heard that it is wonderful.

Another thing to hit would be Muppets 3D. My DSs (2 and 6) love this one and we usually hit it a couple of times. We have done FP on this but usually the line moves pretty fast. I think the show is like 20 minutes long.

As for rides, she may like the Great Movie Ride. There is a couple of scary parts but my older DS just loves this ride for some reason. We have also done the Backlot ride -- don't remember the name offhand. My DS seemed to find this really neat and loved the water slamming down the cliff. I don't have girls so she might find this a little intense.

For dining, Pizza Planet is pretty good. There are places to sit outside and the pizza isn't bad. We have also done Sci Fi Dine In. The boys liked sitting in the cars and watching the corny movies. It's too bad that they discontinued the Hollywood & Vine character breakfast. My kids loved this last year.

I would be interested in what your niece thinks about Fantasmic. Every year we swear that we are going to do it but then change our minds. This year we are going for 7 days and swear that one of them is going to end with this show. Also the parade that goes through here each afternoon is really packed with characters if she likes that type of thing. My DSs were really impressed that they go to see Monsters, Inc.

Hope that this has been some help. Would love to hear how everything went when you get back. We will be hitting this in November with my best friend's 3 year old daughter so I would be interested to see how other little girls view it. Have a great time!

 

[crisi]

Our kids enjoyed the Playhouse Disney show.

We all hated the Little Mermaid (4 adults and 2 kids 2 1/2 and 3 1/2). And they were too young for Muppet Vision. If I had to go again with kids that age, we'd skip MGM entirely.

Maybe your sister is talking about the show they have at the MK in front of the castle every day? If you see that, and see the Festival of the Lion King and Tarzan Rocks at AK, you may have enough shows in. I'd put MGM to the back of your touring schedule and take a wait and see approach.

 

[ZerasPride]

Your advice helps me so much. My niece has already told me that she does NOT like fireworks but I noticed in the description of Fantasmic it mentions a "laser and light" show. I don't remember seeing fireworks go off so as long as there aren't fireworks (or too many) I think she'll be okay with the earplugs. I'll let her mother decide if she can handle it or not.

I'll definitely report back. The VOLM, BB and Bear shows sound great. I also think they will get a kick out of the Honey I Shrunk . . . Play area. I do plan on the GMR (my favorite) and possibly Muppets. My niece was afraid of the 3D effects of Spy Kids, she was afraid they would reach out and grab her, when that didn't happen, she enjoyed the movie so hopefully she'll like Muppets too. I think I read a post somewhere that said if the kids take their glasses off, the effects are not as intense so that may work for her.

For food, I was thinking Pizza Planet or to leave the park for a bit and walk around the Boardwalk area. I absolutely love the atmosphere at ESPN and I was thinking we could have lunch there.

Anyway, thanks again for your suggestions! I will report back when we return home.

 

[BevS97]

This my dd least favorite park, which is not to say we don't have a nice day, but at both 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 there weren't a lot of rides she could do.

Playhosue Disney is superb, and the main reason we visit the park.
Beauty and the Beast was also very very good,

Who wants to be a Millionaire went down quite well, I think because we have watched it on the TV, so she was quite familiar with it and felt like we were 'in the tv'

at 4 1/2 we did the backlot tour and she was ok with that, a little wary but managed it.

I wouldn't take her on the Great Movie Ride = apart from the fact that she would be scared (the idea of our ride car being kidnapped would completely freak her out), the line is always massive!

My dd HATED little Mermaid, it has quite a scary scene in it with Ursula in it.
She sat through Muppet 3-D with the glasses in her hands, and was ok, but I'm not sure she really enjoyed it.
We have never seen Fantasmic with her (she went to a kids club last year, so we could see it), she is terrified at the thought of that Dragon.

We have eaten at Hollywood and Vine, Sci Fi Cafe, and 50's Prime Time Cafe, I think Sci Fi was our favorite, but you will need a PS as it gets very busy, especially if you want a car table.

The parade is superb! We all loved that.

Hope that helps a little,

Bev

 

[QueenTriton]

We did MGM with my 5 year old daughter and 2/12 year old son. We really enjoyed it. There were so many opportunities for character photos and autographs, without extensive lines (except for the Toy Story characters, but there were several all at once and the line moved quickly). He favorites were Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Playhouse Disney, the Parade, collecting smashed pennies and the HISTK playground. We also did the backlot tour, which bored her, but was short. We did not do Fantasmic, but she has seen it at Disneyland and likes it. We ate at Sci-Fi, which was great. It was dark, cool, and the kids were entertained by the cartoons, etc., so we could enjoy our meal. We didn't do 50s Prime Time because she is shy and would have really been embarassed by the attention. We used FP for Mermaid and TofT (along with stroller swap). We spent a total of about 8-9 hours there and were satisfied that we did enough. This was in the first part of May. I imagine the crowds are similar. Enjoy!

 

[swilphil]

My son just turned 3 and loved MGM. He was quite captivated by Little Mermaid, and still talks about Disney Playhouse. He also really liked Muppetvision and the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Play area. My 5 yo niece liked Fantasmic, but it was too loud for my son and we left. It may depend on the child. You could watch the first part and then leave when the big fireworks start.

He also loved the parade and seeing characters. We didn't have to wait in line for the Toy Story characters because we got there right when it stopped raining. The characters can't come out in the rain, so when the rain stops they all show up at once.

 

[michelem]

We absolutely loved MGM. DD's 7, 4 1/2 and 2 1/2

First thing we went and got FP for Voyage of Little MErmaids first show, then went right next store to first show of Playhouse Disney and left 5 minutes early to make Mermaid.

2 year old a little afraid of Ursula, but no biggie. Try to get a seat in the back if that is a concern.

Had to hang around a bit to first showing of Beauty and the Beast which my kids loved. I saw the show on Broadway and this is an abbreviated version of it. This one's a not to miss attraction.

To kill time bring kids to HOney I shrunk the kids playground.

Also my husband took 2 little ones to Muppets 3D show while I took 7 year old on Great Movie ride (she was afraid in the Alien section)

Fantasmic was the BEST show. Little ones definitely were afraid of dragon and fire, but again, we sat up high so that we weren't in the front.

They even have a great parade with all the characters.

Great meal for a PS with kids is Sci Fi - you all sit in covertable cars.

 

[Cindy B]

our kids went to MGm at 3 (just turned) and 5. They loved the character interaction.. there were tons of characters out in front of Movie Ride, and in the trailers... the Bear show was on them, and DD loved it, but my son was a little bored. They all liked the Little Mermaid show as well.

DD loved the Beauty and the Beast show. DS and DD loved Star Tours.. DS wasn't that crazy about Tower of Terror first time, and now he wants to go back on it. DD is now 48 inches and can't wait to go on Rock n Roller coaster. They liked Muppets 3d, the Movie ride, and the animation tour.. (although they were a little tired, they liked watching the animators working!)

We haven't done Indiana Jones yet, and I think we will do that this trip.

As for Fantastmic, we got there reallly early and got a great seat. The kids loved it, and wasn't scared at all.. they even asked if we could go back to the mickey water show...

Now they are 5 and 8, (the five year old will turn six after the trip), and are real daredevils.

 

[the4moores]

My dds were 2 and 4 when we went to MGM. My 4 year old was afraid in every show except Playhouse Disney. My 2 year old was fine. The worst was the Great Movie Ride. We were right behind the driver. We saw Little Mermaid and Muppets as well. We called it quits before lunch.

 

[Narcoossee]

We just returned from trip with our 2 y.o.. She had a great time at MGM. We did all of the things already mentioned here. I would suggest that you get in line early ( at least 30min) for Playhouse Disney. Get a FP for Little Mermaid and do it after Playhouse Disney. The shows for Little Mermaid start first and you can make it to the Playhouse Disney show. But what happens is that the Little Mermaid exits right at the Playhouse Disney line. The crowd all go right into Playhouse Disney. This will make it difficult to get good seats for little ones on the floor. We did Playhouse Disney first. My daughter was front row center. She was pulled to the front to dance with "Jamie" the show's MC. She loved it!! She talks about Jamie all the time.