Suggested rides/attractions for 5 yr old ?

I%26#39;ll be taking my 5yr girl to Magic Kingdom, MGM Studios, and Epcot. It%26#39;ll be her 1st time. What rides/attractions/shows would everyone suggest?

Suggested rides/attractions for 5 yr old ?

She%26#39;ll love Magic Kingdom as it is ';geared'; toward children her age. Everything in Fantasyland and Mickey%26#39;s Toontown Fair will be appropriate for her, unless she%26#39;s afraid of the dark. If she%26#39;s afraid of the dark, stay away from Snow White, Peter Pan, and Haunted Mansion rides.

About the only ones at M.K. that she may not like are the ';big attraction'; rides like Space Mtn., Splash Mtn., and Big Thunder Mtn. She should be find on all other M.K. rides.

MGM also has a lot for little ones, but there are more ';shows'; here. The only rides to avoid here are Tower of Terror and Aerosmith Rock %26amp; Roller Coaster.

Epcot has less things for someone her age, but still there%26#39;s a few rides she can do. The ones to avoid are probably Test Track and Mission Space. She should be fine on all the other Epcot rides (there really isn%26#39;t that many ';rides'; at Epcot anyway).

Hope this helps!!

Suggested rides/attractions for 5 yr old ?

I think Epcot is WONDERFUL for kids your daughter%26#39;s age. Mission Space is probably the only thing too intense. If she%26#39;s tall enough; Soarin’ and Test Track should be fine. Honey I Shrunk the Audience 3-D and Maelstrom might be a little scary for some but many do just fine. Spaceship Earth, The Universe of Energy (Dinosaurs %26amp; 45 blessed minutes of air conditioning), and Journey into Your Imagination with Figment are all visually interesting for kids. One of the Innovention pavilions has a lot of things geared for little ones. The Living Seas is being changed to ';The Seas with Nemo %26amp; Frientds'; (opens Fall 2006) and is great for kids – marine life %26amp; “Turtle Talk with Crush” are fantastic. “The Land” has a character meal and there are Princess meals at the Norway Pavillion. There are Character Meet %26amp; Greets all through Epcot. There is some great entertainment too – the Jammitors are a “Stomp” like percussion group and Kristos is a Cirque du Soliel type balancing act.

There are “Kidcot” stations throughout the World Showcase. Your daughter can make a cardboard mask (free) at which ever station she stops at first. Then she can add a decoration at each additional station. The boat ride at the Mexico pavilion is similar to “It’s A Small World”. She may or may not enjoy the American Adventure or the Circle Vision movies in China %26amp; Canada. If I was going to choose one, I’d go with the China movie. There is a little hedge maze in the UK pavilion that is too short for adults to find challenging but I saw a bunch of kids gleefully running through. I also saw kids intrigued by the model train at the Germany pavilion. My kids loved wandering through the Morocco pavilion. There are Koi fish in the pond in Japan. Norway has a Viking boat play area. There is some fantastic entertainment that kids enjoy: The “Serveur Amusant” (France) is a comedic balancing act. Japan has three great things for kids – “Matsuriza” is a tradition drum act; “Miyuki” is a very neat candy artist, and there is a Japanese Storyteller “Honobono Minwa” on Wed, Thurs, %26amp; Fri. Sergio (Italy) is a juggler. “OrisiRisi”, the drum circle and African Storytellers (Mon- Fri) in the Outpost get good reviews. Kids always love the Dragon Legend Acrobats (China) because they are children too. Some kids will enjoy “Off Kilter” (Canada) – bagpipe rock and “MoRockin” (Morocco) – Middle Eastern pop sounding band. IllumiNations is the evening fireworks show and it is excellent.

A fairly inexpensive souvenir that my daughters loved was getting an Asian fan (about $5) from the shop at the China pavillion - they had people there to write our girl%26#39;s names on their fans in Chinese (Mandarin?) for free.

www.disneylinks.com has lots of links to good WDW sites.

You can also go to www.allearsnet.com and click on ';theme parks';, then choose the park you are interested in and there will be descriptions of each attraction. You%26#39;ll probably also want to check the Ride Restrictions %26amp; the Rehab (closure) Schedule so that you don%26#39;t get your daughter all excited about something that she%26#39;s not tall enough for or that will be closed while you%26#39;re there.

You might want to pick up a used copy of Disney%26#39;s Sing-Along Songs ';Disneyland Fun'; for her, so she%26#39;ll have some idea of what to expect in the Magic Kingdom. We got one really cheap on either ebay or amazon and my daughter watched it over and over again. She can ';melt down'; when thrust into new situations and was glad to have the advance information. Try ';Epcot + VHS'; or ';Epcot + DVD'; in the seach box on eBAy to see what is available. If you type in ';Walt Disney World'; you%26#39;ll get a list of every movie Disney has ever produced, I think. There is a Barbie in Epcot video that is truly one of the most irritating things I%26#39;ve ever seen.

The Travel Channel also frequently has WDW related programs.

Are you planning to do a Princess meal? The have Princess breakfast, lunch and dinner at both Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Breakfast is the least expensive but dinner at Cinderella%26#39;s Royal Table during the wishes fireworks (try to get a window table) is expensive but amazing. Reservations can be made 180 days in advance now and the Princess meals fill fast. You can make a reservation by calling 407-WDW-DINE.

Another thing your daughter would probably enjoy is the free Campfire Sing-Along with Chip %26amp; Dale at the WDW Fort Wilderness Campground. It generally begins around 7 p.m. during the fall/winter season and 8 p.m. after the time changes in April through the summer. It is held near the Meadow Trading Post in the campfire area. The program begins with a sing-along led by a Disney cast member (if you%26#39;ve seen ';Barney';, you know these songs) and a marshmallow roast around two campfire rings. You may bring your own marshmallows or buy them at the Chuckwagon (roasting sticks and marshmallows are $2, s%26#39;mores kit is around $5). You may also buy pizza, hot dogs, candy, nachos, juice, popcorn, sodas, coffee, beer and other refreshments at the Chuckwagon. While this is going on, Chip and Dale make an appearance to visit with guests and sign autographs. The sing-along lasts about 40 minutes. Next, one or two Disney animated features, depending upon the season, are shown on a large outdoor screen. Seating is available in bleachers or on benches. There is also plenty of room to lay out a quilt or blanket. The movie schedule is posted at all comfort stations. In the event of rain, the sing-along is still held on the porch of the Meadow Trading Post.

We did this with our daughters and they loved it. Just take the Fort Wilderness bus from any of the theme parks or Downtown Disney. They have their own internal bus system with will take you to the ';Meadow Trading Post'; Area. You can find out the month%26#39;s movie schedule by checking the ';sticky'; at the top of the camping forum at www.disboards.com.

The campground also has a free petting zoo and pony rides (about $3 each) that close earlier in the afternoon. These are in the ';Settlement Trading Post'; area. The ';Trail%26#39;s End Buffeteria'; is considered one of WDW%26#39;s best values for a meal. If you have a free day (or your arrival day), you can go early and see the petting zoo, get a nice supper, and then head over to the Sing-Along.

You can also rent boats or kayaks from the Marina.

ajcolorado - thanks a bunch for those tips. I appreciate it. Lots of things to keep the little ones busy and interested !

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