Attractions with Little Ones Part 3: Disney's Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios is by far the most unconventional of the four theme parks in terms of layout and touring strategy, mainly due to the amount of shows and the schedule these shows follow. Be sure to pick up a times guide upon entering the park to see the daily show schedule! There are many experiences for young children, yet the Studios is also home to the most thrilling attractions found in Walt Disney World.

Hollywood Boulevard/Echo Lake:

Great attractions for everyone to enjoy:

• American Idol Experience
• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
• Jedi Training Academy
• The Great Movie Ride (some mildly scary moments)

Attractions with height requirements:

• Star Tours: The Adventure Continues has a height requirement of 40 inches. Most children are around this size at four years old.

Sunset Boulevard:

Great attractions for everyone to enjoy:

• Fantasmic! Nighttime Spectacular
• Beauty and the Beast, Live on Stage

Attractions with height requirements:

• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror has a height requirement of 40 inches. Most children are around this size at four years old.
• Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith has a height requirement of 40 inches. Most children are around this size at seven years old. *Note: this is the only ride that goes upside down at Walt Disney World, it has two inversions, one loop and one corkscrew*

Pixar Place/Animation Courtyard/Mickey Avenue:

Great attractions for everyone to enjoy:

• Toy Story Midway Mania
• Disney Junior Live on Stage
• The Magic of Disney Animation
• Voyage of the Little Mermaid
• Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow
• Walt Disney: One Man's Dream

Streets of America:

Great attractions for everyone to enjoy:

• Backlot Tour
• Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure
• Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show
• MuppetVision 3D
• Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights (Seasonal event from mid November to early January)

Be sure to think out a general touring plan before going to Disney's Hollywood Studios. It is a much harder park to "wing it" in since many attractions and shows only are available at certain times.

Coming Up Next-Disney's Animal Kingdom

Attractions with Little Ones Part 2: EPCOT

EPCOT is more of an adult friendly park. It serves alcoholic beverages and has less of your "normal theme park characteristics". While adult friendly, it does have many attractions that make the park great for family experiences as well. Many of the attractions available are not just rides. There are shows, fireworks, and interactive play.

Future World

Great Attractions for everyone to enjoy:

• Captain EO
• Circle of Life
• Ellen's Energy Adventure : Great to get a rest or even a brief nap as the attraction is 45 minutes in length.
• Image Works
• Journey into Imagination with Figment
• Living with the Land
• Spaceship Earth : This attraction has an interactive story as well that may be of interest to young children. They will get to play around with the technology on the ride vehicles.
• The Seas with Nemo and Friends

*All of these attractions are indoors and are great to visit on a hot day for a cool down*

Possible Attractions to Avoid:

• Mission Space - Orange: This is much more intense than Mission Space - Green. If your child does not like rides that spin or gets sick easily we would recommend avoiding this attraction. The Green side is essentially the same attraction without the sensation of spinning, although it could still cause motion sickness in some.

Attractions with height requirements:

• Mission Space: Both Orange and Green height requirement is 44". Most Children are this size around six years old. 
• Soarin': Height requirement is 40." Most children are this size around age four.
• Test Track: Height requirement is 40." Most children are this size around age four.

World Showcase

Great Attractions for everyone to enjoy:

• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros
• Impressions de France
• Maelstrom
• O' Canada: This is a circle vision film. The whole family may enjoy being able to see a video from a perspective that they never have before. 
• Reflections of China
• The American Adventure

*All of these attractions are indoors and are great to visit on a hot day for a cool down*

Things to do for children as you walk through the World Showcase:

Disney's Phineas and Ferb: Agent P's World Showcase Adventure: This is an interactive game to do around the World Showcase. The children become a secret agent and get to use a device to help complete the quest.

KidCot Fun Stops: There are fun stops in every country. During these stops the children are given masks or other items to color. The children get to take this to every country to receive a special stamp on it or something written in the language of the country. It keeps the kids interested in going through each country and becomes a great learning experience for them also.

Coming up next --- Disney's Hollywood Studios

Additional Information on the Magic Kingdom

While spending some time on Pinterest I had come across an article that builds off the idea that it is possible for young children to enjoy Disney. This article covers some of the ideas that our previous post about attractions suitable for young ones goes over. The tips mentioned in the article are a fun read! Please let me know what you think or if you have any fun tips or experiences to share!


http://suite101.com/article/tips-for-visiting-wdws-magic-kingdom-with-kids-a213907

Attractions with Little Ones Part 1: The Magic Kingdom

One of the most common misconceptions about taking a young child to Walt Disney World is that they will not be able to ride anything or be able to remember certain experiences. While it may be true that most young children won't be able to remember certain experiences, it does not mean they won't be able to enjoy themselves while they are there. For our first series of blog posts we wanted to focus on this subject and look at experiences children and their parents can enjoy together. We will begin in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.



Main Street U.S.A.:

First off a great place to begin with a child's experience is Main Street U.S.A. Everything on Main Street can be experienced by children of all ages with the possible exception of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. This is because it requires reading. If done as a family it can still be a great experience because of the interactive storytelling.










Tomorrowland:

Great attractions for any age;

• Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover (TTA)
• Carousel of Progress

Possible Attractions to Avoid:

• Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor : May not be best for very young children because they may not understand the jokes and it may be difficult for them to sit through.
• Astro Orbiter: This can be scary to someone who is young. This attraction is not good for a child who may have a fear of heights or does not like rides that spin. (Think Dumbo on steroids!)
• Stitches Great Escape: Some children may find this attraction to be scary. This ride can be dark and loud at times.

Attractions with height requirements:

• Space Mountain: Height requirement is 44'': Most children are around this height by the age of six. 
• Stitches Great Escape: Height requirement is 40'': Most children are around this height by the age of four.
• Tomorrowland Speedway: Height requirement is 32" to ride, and 54" to drive alone.  Most children are 34"by two years old and 54" by age eight.

Fantasyland:

Great Attractions for everyone: 

• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Enchanted Tales with Belle
• its a small world
• Mickey's PhilarMagic
• Peter Pan's Flight
• Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel 

Possible Attractions to Avoid:

• Mad Tea Party: This attraction should be avoided by children who get nauseated easily or do not like quick spinning rides.

Attractions with height requirements:

• Barnstormer Starring Great Goofini: Height requirement is 35''. Most children will be this height by four years old.
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (Not yet open, scheduled to open 2014): Height requirement is 40''. Most children will be this height by four years old.

Liberty Square:

Great Attractions for everyone:

• Liberty Belle Riverboat
• The Hall of Presidents

Possible Attractions of Avoid:

• The Haunted Mansion: This attraction could be scary to young children. It is dark and is meant to have a spooky appearance. *The majority of young children do fine on this attraction, as it is not meant to be truly terrifying, but more "silly scary"*

Frontierland:

Great Attractions for Everyone: 

• Country Bear Jamboree: This attraction has been recently shortened from 16 minutes to 12 minutes making it easier for kids to sit through.
• Tom Sawyer Island

Attractions with height requirements:

• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: Height requirement is 40''.
• Splash Mountain: Height requirement is 40''.

Most children will be this height by the time they are four years old.

Adventureland:

Great Attractions for Everyone:

• Jungle Cruise
• Enchanted Tiki Room
• Magic Carpets of Aladdin

Possible Attractions to Avoid:

• Pirates of the Caribbean: This attraction could possibly scare young children because it is dark and at times loud. There is also a small drop in the beginning of the attraction. *Like the Haunted Mansion, most young children do very well on this attraction*
• Swiss Family Treehouse: This attraction may be a bad idea for children too young to walk. Kids who are able to walk well and walk up and down stairs should be fine.

Parades and Fireworks:

All parades and fireworks are appropriate for all ages. I would recommend that if you are traveling with small children and carrying a lot of items to remember that both the parades and fireworks get very crowded at certain times of the year.

*Note, although we included The Haunted Mansion on Pirates of the Caribbean on the list of possible attractions to avoid, these are classic staples of the park and are almost a rites of passage for some families. Some even select these as first attractions to take their children on!

Next Up: Epcot (EPCOT for the purists)

Welcome to 4 Parks For Parents!

Welcome to the 4 Parks For Parents blog, a blog focused on parents interested in sharing Disney with their children.  The blog will not only focus on information interesting to new and veteran parents, but to those interested in Disney in general.

From two new parents, Megan and Nick, we will share the experiences we have with our new daughter, Leighton.

We plan on covering topics including

• Tips and experiences about traveling to Disney parks with young children
• Suggestions for saving time and money while in the parks
• Disney experiences outside the parks including movies, shopping, etc.
• Questions and answers
• And any other suggestions!

This blog was inspired by the idea to have a place where parents can learn and share information about Disney.