Magic Kingdom must-dos

[takingkidstodisney]

We are taking our 4yo to Disney for the first time this fall. I have never been and I am know everyones opinions are different but I need input!! What are your favorite rides at Disney for this age range?

 

[Muppetfan3]

Dumbo, Dumbo, Dumbo!!!!! Awesome for a kiddo that age - or any age!! Tea Cups are our absolute favorite. Other must do's - Winnie Pooh Ride and It's a Small World.

 

[craigkerstiens]

We just got back with our 3.5 year old and her top rides were:

• The barnstormer or as she referred to it "Goofy airplane"
• Dumbo
• Seven Dwarfs mine train

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

Not a ride, but an attraction: I highly recommend Tom Sawyer Island. It's a great opportunity for kids to unwind and enjoy some unstructured playtime, to take a break from the sensory overload in MK. I've got a son on the autism spectrum--he has a hard time with crowds, waiting in line, all the sounds and sights assaulting his senses. Frequent breaks are necessary for him, but I honestly feel that it's something that all kids can benefit from--the grown ups too! It might help prevent both child and adult tantrums. Lets face it--waiting in lines all day long is hard on everyone. My son enjoyed riding the WDW Railroad and the peoplemover.

 

[DH-2-mamaduck]

Tomorrowland Speedway and get his/her WDW Drivers License from a CM. My 16yo still has hers.

My 5yo and said: Dumbo, Tea Cups, Roller Coasters, Buzz Lighyear, Racecars, Caribbean's (Pirates of the) and get Mac N' Cheese and Grilled Cheese to eat.

 

[bearcat97]

Peter Pan. Go early in the morning so the line isn't too bad and go through the regular queue (vs. the fastpass line). It's really neat.

 

[takingkidstodisney]

Thanks everyone for your responses!!! I am so excited to see the World of Disney through his eyes!

 

[MinnieGolfer]

My daughters also liked the Carousel, Enchanted Tales with Belle and Journey of the Little Mermaid.

And don't forget about the non-rides - my girls also were enthralled with the dancers going down Main Street.

 

[patdoc98]

You can't go wrong in Magic Kingdom at that age. At age 4, our son was above 40 inches, so it really opened up a lot. He is a dare-devil and a "boy's boy." His favorite rides were Big Thunder Mountain and Mine Train. He liked the Dumbo play area much more than the Dumbo ride itself.

His 2-year-old brother loved Small World, the Carousel, Dumbo, Tomorrowland Speedway, Buzz Lightyear, and Jungle Cruise. Our 4-year-old asked, after riding TL Speedway, "Why do they call it Speedway, it's not very speedy?" They both loved Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Under the Sea, and Tea Cups. They both also really enjoyed the raft to and from Tom Sawyer Island, and running around over there. With the boys running around, my wife and I found the island tiring, and not the break we expected! Mickey's Philharmagic was a nice break for everyone. Neither of the boys liked Pirates of the Caribbean very much - our boat got stuck for awhile, which didn't help. They loved sitting in Gaston's Tavern. They did not like any meet and greets - we did two and then cut those out of our plans. On our next trip, we won't do any meet and greets; we can get plenty of good pictures without meeting characters.

 

[Pesky]

DS was 4 when we went to DLR. Luckily he is tall for his age so we didn't have to worry too much about height restrictions. At DL (a lot of the same as MK and ignoring what is in DL but not there), favorite rides were IASW, carousel, Tomorrowland Speedway, Dumbo (so magic carpets is probably another good one), tea cups, PPF, Buzz Lightyear, Winnie the Pooh, Little Mermaid ride, PoTC, Pinocchio, Alice, and the train. He did okay on PoTC and BTMRR but they weren't his favorites then (he is eager to retry now that he's seen POTC). I would imagine 7DMT would be a good pick. He flat out refused to go on Splash and I didn't try him on Space.

 

[Thing 1]

When DS was 4-5, his very favorite was the Buzz Lightyear ride. The Speedway cars were a close second. We also loved the People Mover for some reason. He really liked just about everything except The Haunted Mansion; scared him to death and he cried. He did not love BTMR but was ok with it. He did not do Splash mountain that trip as it was so cold, and we chose not to do Space Mountain. Surprise thing he liked a lot was Carousal of Progress.

 

[Greggieb]

We are taking our 4yo to Disney for the first time this fall. I have never been and I am know everyones opinions are different but I need input!! What are your favorite rides at Disney for this age range?

I know it's not a ride but he first trip we planned to Disney when my son was 5 we made sure we took the ferry to MK. When you round a corner and see the castle for the first time it really was magical.

 

[amy delaune]

My 4 year old's favorites: Carousel, It's a small world, Dumbo, Mine train, Thunder mountain. If you want to get your child used to a "roller coaster", maybe try barnstormer, before thunder mountain and mine train. It's super quick and mild. For some reason, she did NOT like Winnie the Pooh... i don't know why.

 

[Jasmine81]

Dumbo, Small World, Peter Pan were hits for us. Most of them are very kid friendly though so anything should be fine!

 

[cbreg1]

The steam engine train. A nice sit down ride with lots of things to see. It also stops at Fantasyland to get to Dumbo ride. Aladdins Magic Carpets are a lot like the Dumbo ride too. My grandson was also a fan of Astro Orbiter and the People Mover.

 

[tami82]

Aside from the rides everyone mentioned, one of our fun moments is eating at Pinocchio's where you can sit in front of the window watching people as they go through Its a Small World ride. My daughter still talks about it and how great the corn dogs are. Also collecting pressed pennies throughout the parks. Take an empty m&m canister and put quarters and pennies in there so you can easily take out money to do it. They also sell books to put the pennies in.

 

[oufpat]

Don't forget the People Mover, at that age my grand-kids loved it. They called it "a ride that's not a ride."

 

[takingkidstodisney]

Aside from the rides everyone mentioned, one of our fun moments is eating at Pinocchio's where you can sit in front of the window watching people as they go through Its a Small World ride. My daughter still talks about it and how great the corn dogs are. Also collecting pressed pennies throughout the parks. Take an empty m&m canister and put quarters and pennies in there so you can easily take out money to do it. They also sell books to put the pennies in.

Oh great idea on the pennies! He will love that!

 

[Hans Olo]

My kids were 4,5,7 and 9 when we went a year ago.

My two youngest loved Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Teacups (never waited more than 10 minutes for this ride so we rode it a lot during our trip), Peter Pan, Winnie The Pooh and the Little Mermaid one.

Barnstormer was way too short, my kids hated Stitch's Great Escape and Its a Small World was ok to do for our first time but none of them want to ever do that ride again.

Have a great trip!

 

[SwanVT2]

my DD LOVED Haunted house. she said the ghosts were friendly haha. Plus she loves the dark. also pirates, tea cups, Dumbo. surprisingly Peter Pan and little Mermaid did not impressed her much. she had fun with Belle at Enchanted Tales
can't wait to do the coasters with her this year.