Animal Kingdom and a 2 year old

We are going to be in Florida in June and I was thinking of taking DD to Animal Kingdom one day and the Magic Kingdom another day.

Will a 2 year old be able to ride and do everything at Animal Kingdom? She LOVES animals but I want to make sure its worth it for her age.

Re: Animal Kingdom and a 2 year old

No a 2 year old won't be able to do everything at the AK but she can't do everything at the MK either. I wouldn't worry though there is still plenty for them to do. Our last trip DD#1 was almost 3. She went on everything in the MK and AK that didn't have a height requirement. Unless she is 40+ inches she will not be able to do expedition everest, dinosaur, and the dinosaur spinning coaster. Kali river rapids is 38 inches. She could go on the dinosaur ride that is like dumbo, the safari ride, see the lion king and finding nemo shows, tough to be a bug 4D, play on the boneyard, take the train to see the baby animals, see all the animals.

My DD#1's favorite parks at 2 were in this order:
MK
EPCOT
AK
HS

Have you considered EPCOT?

My girls love that park. They loved the rides they were tall enough for:
Spaceship earth
finding nemo ride
journey into your imagination
the boat ride in Mexico and on Norway

They loves a lot of the interactive exhibits (esp after journey into your imagination). Almost all the princesses are in World showcase, as are alice, pooh and eyore. They like walking around the countries and seeing the drums in Japan, acrobats on china,trains near Germany etc.

There is a great interactive fountains the kids all run around in where the water shoots up from the sidewalk.

Have a great trip!

Animal Kingdom and a 2 year old

Thank you soooo much for your input!!!! I would consider Epcot as I love Epcot and have not been here in a very long time.

Our main purpose of this trip to FL is to see DH's family but we are going to be there a week and I wanted to do at least one of the park's with DD and then hopefully get to see the fireworks show.

As long as she can go on the Safari, I'm sure she'll be happy. I might get a two day hopper pass so we can go to any of the parks.

Thanks again!

Re: Animal Kingdom and a 2 year old

If you do a 2 day hopper I would go 1 full day to MK so you can see the 2 parades and the fireworks ( make sure the evening parade is that night they do not do it every night). Then you could do 1/2 day AK and hop over to EPCOT and do spaceship earth, finding nemo, turtle talk with crush, walk around the living seas, journey into your imagination, then head into world showcase, hit the 2 rides and have dinner and watch illuminations. OR do 1.5 days at the MK and 1/2 day at EPCOT. It would be a long day for your DC but if you have your stroller she could take breaks and nap in the stroller if she is tired. Then at least you could walk around world showcase and grab a drink or snack while she naps.

You will want at a minimum 1 full day at MK. Since you won't be doing the mountains bc of the height requirement that will help to see more but then you can pick what you think she will like from that - dumbo, little mermaid, winnie the pooh, peter pan and its a small world, jungle cruise, aladdin carpets, buzz, pirates, haunted mansion (my girls liked it but it could be scary so you can show videos on youtube of
it just in case). Then there are shows like tiki room, country bears and monsters laugh floor. You might not get to it all in one day but if you plan it right and are there at rope drop on a non EMH day and stay the day you might get it all. Check out Be Our Guest for lunch and you could make and ADR now for dinner at crystal palace with pooh and friends or cinderellas castle with the princesses.

I would make dining ressies if you want to sit for 1 or 2 meals as the window should be available already (180 days). If you think you want EPCOT there is garden grill with mickey and chip and dake, akershsus with the princesses in norway, coral reef has the tanks along the whole front wall so you can watch the fish, biergarten has a band and dancefloor you DD can get up and dance, italy has via napoli which is a brick oven pizza place, there is a habachi place in Japan.There are several other choices in EPCOT but those are good if you want something to occupy your DD at the meal. If you plan to go all day and only have 2 you might want to consider one sit down a day to cool off and sit and relax for an hour. It will give you a break from chasing. Plus if you hit a character meal then you can avoid waiting in line to see those characters in the parks since time is limited.

Message edited 1/18/2013 6:13:21 AM.

Animal Kingdom and a 2 year old

We went when DS was 2 3/4 and spent 1/2 day in AK. DS liked it.

He couldn't do everything but, like PP said, that's the case in all parks. He loved the safari and looking at all of the animals. They also have a dinosaur ride there like Dumbo that he loved - we went on a million times because there was no line. It's also a great place to see the characters.

Animal Kingdom and a 2 year old

WOW--Thank you Christine!! It's been about 15 years since I have been to MK.

I am very excited to go and can't wait to take DD. I think I will consider doing 1/2 day at AK so we can go on the Safari and see the baby animals and maybe a few of the shows.

She does not nap in her stroller EVER but if I tire her out she might. We'll have to play it by ear.

BTW...what is an EMH day?

Also, what websites are best to purchase tickets?

Message edited 1/18/2013 10:22:59 AM.

Re: Animal Kingdom and a 2 year old

Re: Animal Kingdom and a 2 year old

Our boys love dinosaurs and really enjoyed Dinoland. The Finding Nemo show was fantastic.

We were not marathon park goers. Since our kids are young and we knew we could not see everything, we only spent 2-3 hours at a park at a time. We went at rope drop and rode all the rides within the first 1-2 hours.

We would go to Epcot in the afternoons to eat. The Nemo ride was my personal favorite. The aquarium is good for a 2yo but nothing special.

As pp suggested, I would recommend AK in the morning and Epcot in the afternoon.

Re: Animal Kingdom and a 2 year old

Re: Animal Kingdom and a 2 year old

Re: Animal Kingdom and a 2 year old

Nicole, we have never spent more tan half a day at AK. But my DS could spend hours with the goats on rafiki island! Also he loved the bugs life show.he was22m the first time we went.

If I had to choose though, he liked Epcot better.

Re: Animal Kingdom and a 2 year old

We loved the Animal Kingdom, with my 3 year old and 1.5 year old. They love zoos, so the animals were a lot of fun. They loved the character greeting trails and the Festival of the Lion King show. They did fall asleep in the middle of the day, but that was fine, because the adults got to ride the grown-up roller coasters and rides.

There are more shows than rides there, so it wasn't a problem that they couldn't go on a few things.

Re: Animal Kingdom and a 2 year old

Thank you everyone for your advice!!

We have decided to spend one day at Animal Kingdom and one day at Magic Kingdom. I am going to start my research for planning out the two days.

Does anyone know a place in Orlando to purchase tickets to the parks aside from the front gate of the parks?

Re: Animal Kingdom and a 2 year old

AK is my DD's 2nd favorite park. She is a huge animal lover. We usually arrive by rope drop and leave in the afternoon.

DD loves the safari, we got her binoculars and a safari hat once and it made it even more fun. After we usually hit the trails to see the tigers.

AK is great for shows. We love Festival of the Lion King and the Finding Nemo show. You could also go to the It's tough to be a bug show in the tree of life.

Dinoland is great for kids. They can go on the Tricerotop spin, which is a lot like Dumbo. They could also play in the boneyard.

As for tickets, we usually order through undercover tourist.