Your MK days with New Fantasyland?

[Mendelson]

I used to have our plan for MK down cold but in the last couple years Disney built the New Fantasyland and my wife and I built a new human being.

So I've got a tyke who will be 2.5 at time of travel. We're only planning one day at MK (in late May)...we always get to the park very early and I'm thinking we should probably do the expansion first, as I'd guess it gets crowded quickly.

I do wonder though if Storytime w/Belle is worth the time with someone that young. Sitting and hearing a woman tell a story is fine, and I'm sure the animatronics will wow him, but what have the rest of you experienced with a little kid at this? I'm worried about restlessness. What is the total time commitment for this? Also, should we devote the time to BOG for lunch? We'll get in line early, but that's two BatB attractions and while my son has seen the movie, he's not as enchanted with it (pun intended) as he is some others. I don't want to kill a lot of time in a dining room with a 2.5yo while there's the whole park to see.

Before the expansion I'd have taken him on Pooh, IASW, and Peter Pan and then make tracks out of Fantasyland before it gets too crowded but this new stuff is an added dimension (in a good way).

Those of you who are early risers and have young ones and have been recently - what have you found worked and didn't work?

[KiNg4aDaY]

Im curious to see how people answer this question as well. I have never seen the new fantasyland so Im very curious. Im a 35 year old guy who really wants to experience the new little mermaid ride and the storytime attraction.

I am going to be with my brother, SIL, and my 4 nephews (11,8,5,2). I watched the new ride and new story time attraction and I was wondering how the boys would react to these. I think they would be neat and the storytime has some of the best animatronics I have ever seen.

[Strmchsr]

You're right the FLE fills up first. It's what everyone runs to. Storytime with Belle doesn't have a fastpass, so go straight to that if you choose to do it. I thought it was really cool, the mirror effect alone is worth seeing, but a 2.5 yr old who isn't a big BATB fan will probably get bored quickly as there's a lot of waiting. You move from room to room to wait, but I think generally kids need to be 3.5-4 before they can really get much out of it.

As for BOG, again, it's neat, but if you're not a BATB fan I'd skip it. There was nothing I didn't think was cool, but I wasn't just in awe of it. The Little Mermaid ride you can get a fastpass for. It's definitely worth it. Right up there with Disney's other classic dark rides.

[BuffaloJason]

Story time with Belle is a great attraction, but I'm not sure I would bother with a 2.5 yr old. It's an awful lot of time sitting still in a theater for a little kid. My 1.5 yr old was very restless through it, to the point where we probably would have left had her 4 year old big sis not been completely "enchanted" by it.

As far as the rest of the MK goes, we took my oldest for the first time at about 2.5 and the only attractions she was interested in really were the carousel and dumbo. The dark rides you mentioned like Pooh and Peter Pan seem like they should be good for little kids but can in fact turn out to be really scary. That was our experience for whatever its worth.

Every kid is different and your results may vary of course, but I personally find it helpful to go in with the expectation that you may spend most of your time watching parades, looking for characters etc. We spent 7 days in WDW last month, barely did any attractions at all, and still had a great time. If I had gone in expecting the type of WDW trip my wife and I used to take pre-kids I would have been really disappointed.

[Kairi_7378]

I haven't seen the FLE yet. However, we took our son on his first trip at that age and I don't think he would have done well with the storytime experience. (And he loved the movie.) If you and your wife aren't set on seeing it, I'd spend the time on other attractions, some character hunting, or parades.

[Mendelson]

Okay, yeah, I just watched Storytime on Youtube and just don't think it would hold his attention. Thanks for all the comments!

We will have just gotten off of the Fantasy so he'll be pretty immersed in Disneyana and we don't have to do everything (so I keep telling myself)....we'll have had a lot of character meets on the cruise, for example, and we definitely plan to take it slow in the park. I do think he'll be okay in most of the dark rides - like Peter Pan - but we'll skip HM and are on the fence about Pirates. One concern is that he has bizarrely started to freak out when IASW comes on the Disney CD we listen to in the car...he used to like this song. I'm not worried about him being afraid of the ride, but am worried he'll pitch a fit as soon as the boat sets sail and the song starts on a very, very long ride!

[Kairi_7378]

Here is a tip for the dark rides... When my son was that age, it took him a few dark rides to figure out that they weren't going to be that scary. (At one point, he ran out of the line for Nemo and we had to chase him.) I had brought some glow sticks for use at parades and I gave him one to wear on a lanyard on the dark rides. I told him to shake it when he felt scared. Worked great for us- we were able to see when he was scared in the dark and could hold him closer, whisper to him, etc. It's so hard to know what will get them at that age... My son's favorite ride was Snow White's Scary Adventures, and I know that a LOT of kids had trouble on it.

(I guess the glow stick wouldn't work on Small World though... you could probably wait at the top of the ramp and see if the song made him upset before boarding a boat.)

[Katzateer]

I would spend more time in the new area around Dumbo. Get fast passes when get to park - Winnie the Pooh and Little Mermaid fast passes are near entrance to Philharmagic.

My girls at that age would have loved the story time with Belle but I guess it would just depend on the child.

I love the new waiting area at dumbo - my girls would have spent lotsof time there - especially first thing in the morning when may not be as crowded. It is a play area indoors so the kids won't get too hot and good if the weather isn't great. And the Winnie the Pooh area is nice also. I could see a little one wantingto spend a lot of time playing there also.

Hope you have a great time checking it all out!:thumbsup:

[beksy]

The only experience I have with little kids was with my sister (I'm 6 years older and remember her first trip at 2.5 really well). She has always been leery of rides (I still can't get her on Dinosaur or RnRc and she's 24). On our first trip she was a daddy's girl and would only ride next to him so we went with that. On dark rides she freaked out until Dad came up with a good idea that we used for many years. Whenever she got scared she would shake her finger and make a scary face at the character she was afraid of (poor Snow White!). That kept her occupied and then she wanted to go back on to "scare" them again so we got to ride again.

[Butters]

My DD was 27 months and loved every minute of story time with Belle, she even played Chip. Only you know how your child will react, and you may need to change your plan on the fly...

We took her at 18months and again at 27 months... Each time she went on every ride that she met the height requirement. She asked to do POTC back to back until she fell asleep in my lap on the boat.

[ANG]

My answer to anyone who has never done the attraction or the restaurant is DO IT! At least once, you just have to. Let's be real, I have 2 sons under 4 and these things are not for them :mickey: I smiled thru the entire Belle's attraction. And my kiddos did just fine! Everyone can have a part telling the story if they want, so just try to get your 2 yr old involved to help keep attention. And the restaurant wasn't for them either.

Last 2 trips, we ran to Dumbo first, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh. But this next trip will probably be Enchanted Tales and Little Mermaid. Maybe grab a FP for Dumbo. We get there at park opening and the last 3 trips, Dumbo hasn't been nearly as crowded as I thought it would be.

[roses]

I just took my 3 year old in Oct. and we went to see Enchanted Tales with Belle - she loved it! Although, she was asleep when we got to the attraction - so she wasn't picked to be "in the play", and didn't get to meet Belle after - she was the only child in the place that couldn't meet Belle. It was heartbreaking, she was so upset. We even asked the cast members and they said no. She's been talking about not meeting Belle ever since :( Fortunately, our local high school just put on Beauty and the Beast the Musical for their yearly play - and she got to "meet" Belle! Mission accomplished :woohoo: