Disney World vs Land, for children under 5

[DesiPower]

Planning a small group trip in the last week of Feb or first week of March. Looking for ATOT input, recommendations... Would prefer Land as we have friends and family in that area but fun factor for the kids is more important, will gladly go to world even if its a tad better for the kids.

Duration is debatable, can be anywhere between 3 to 5 nights, depending upon how much is there to do.

Where to say? Is it really much more convenient to say in the park? Budget is not the biggest issue but if savings is a LOT more, can say outside too. One thing to keep in mind, as they are small kids they need to rest/nap in the afternoon.
Its all about the kids, all are 3,4,5. They should have fun. Fun factor, rides, shows for kids 7 and above or adults, is irrelevant.

TIA

*Update*
Ended up going for a 5 night Disney Cruise!! more on page 3...

 

[vi edit]

Honestly...neither for that young. My 3 year old was still freaked out about the mascots and a lot of the rides are not aimed at kids that young.

We did the combo package between Sea World & Busch Gardens and she really enjoyed that. There were animals, trains, the Seasame street world at Busch Gardens and then all of the shows and exhibits at sea world were nice for her too.

Disney world/land is more for the 7 and above because most of the fun stuff is in that range.

Just my $.02

 

[silverpig]

My wife and I went to Disneyland/LA for our honeymoon. While there we saw a family of 5 that was having a hell of a time.

Mom was pushing a stroller with a ~1 year old in it, trying to hold on to a very tired and cranky 3 year old, while being laden down like a pack mule with 2 over the shoulder bags full of kid stuff.

Dad looked even worse off, carrying just one bag, but holding the hand of a 5 year old who may have been on meth because he was so energetic and bouncing up and down, dragging his dad around running from one ride to the next. Mom had to stand by the line in the heat with the kids who couldn't go on all the rides because of height.

They gave each other the most hopeless look of despair I have ever seen: "why did we think this was a good idea?"

Wife and I decided to not bring kids there until the youngest is at least 5.

Have fun!

 

[AFurryReptile]

I went when I was 8, had a blast. My brother came as well, and he was 4. He doesn't remember a second of it.

Take that how you will.

 

[DesiPower]

I thought so... did some research and found that it "could" be fun... here's one link I found...

http://familyfun.go.com/vacations/disneyland-in-a-day-with-kids-six-and-under-711153/

btw, the youngest will be 3.5 years old, 4 kids in all, oldest almost 6, accompanied by 3 sets of parents.

 

[rudder]

man.. a lot of money being spent to not do much. If you are planning on the Florida Disney... I say stick with universal studios... and have enough left over to go to Sea World.

Dr. Suess land can't be beat for small kids.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Whichever is cheaper. I suspect a 5 year-old won't really remember the experience. Better yet, just go to the beach or something and save yourselves the money and headache of dealing with the Disney crowds (though right now would be the comparatively "slow" season).

 

[JTsyo]

Kids might be a bit young to get enough out of the trip. Maybe try Sesame Place instead.

 

[JS80]

I took my 3 year old to Disneyland he said it was the best day ever

 

[LookBehindYou]

We did Disneyworld this past summer with our 7 year old. I really couldn't see taking him any younger than 6 or 7. He was just tall enough to ride all the rides and had a blast. Being less than 48" is going to exclude a kid from probably half or more of the rides. But if you have to choose between the two, definitely do disneyworld.

 

[LookBehindYou]

I took my 3 year old to Disneyland he said it was the best day ever

That doesn't mean a whole lot. I picked my kid up from school one day and told him we were going to the mcdonalds with a playland and he said the same thing.......and this was about a month and a half after he had spend 10 days at disneyworld/space center/universal studios.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Only been to Disneyland -

3-4 days back to back?

O hell no!

Plan to be at the park for 4hrs, back to the hotel for pool & nap & food. Back top the park for 2hrs of fireworks - bed.

Repeat for 3-4 days.

1-day is fine for most kids - it will be a long day but you will get through everything in Disneyland in about a day, maybe two max. As you are traveling with kids under 6 it restricts you on a lot of rides so you will get through things quickly. Start early when the park first opens!

 

[DesiPower]

*Snip*
O hell no!

Plan to be at the park for 4hrs, back to the hotel for pool & nap & food. Back top the park for 2hrs of fireworks - bed.

*Snip*

So you are saying we should not be staying in the park? not worth it?

 

[quikah]

Either would be fine, I prefer Disneyland for young kids because it is a LOT easier to get around. Need a nap? walk 10-15 minutes to the hotel. By comparison it can take 1+ hour to get back to the hotel at Disneyworld if you rely on Disney transportation (this assumes staying onsite).

Disneyland also has a LOT of cheaper hotels very close by (some literally across the street) to choose from if you don't want the expense of staying at a Disney hotel.

I think you would have access to about the same # of rides for those ages at either place, but Disneyland is much more compact, so it is easier to get around.

 

[bobdole369]

The biggest question here - On what side of the country will you be? If the deciding factor on your destination is which park will you go:

http://www.disneygeek.net/dland_vs_wdw/

WDW IMHO is a "good" experience, simply because there is a tourist trap big feel to the Orlando area. You don't "have" to go to WDW, there is a ton of stuff for kids in the surrounding area - Something like 5 other theme parks and all that crap on Intl. drive.

It isn't hard at all to find an "inexpensive" hotel that isn't a crackden in Kissimmee/Orl

I simply don't know much at all about DL. Isn't it *significantly* as in 2-3 orders of magnitude smaller? My wife and 2 20 something friends trekked through EPCOT/MGM/MK in an 8am-9pm chunk once, though each park can easily take up a day or more.

 

[sactoking]

Either would be fine, I prefer Disneyland for young kids because it is a LOT easier to get around. Need a nap? walk 10-15 minutes to the hotel. By comparison it can take 1+ hour to get back to the hotel at Disneyworld if you rely on Disney transportation (this assumes staying onsite).

Disneyland also has a LOT of cheaper hotels very close by (some literally across the street) to choose from if you don't want the expense of staying at a Disney hotel.

I think you would have access to about the same # of rides for those ages at either place, but Disneyland is much more compact, so it is easier to get around.

I remember staying at the Apollo Inn for like $20 per night with free breakfast when I was younger. At the time the Disneyland Hotel was over $100 per night with no food included. Since the rooms a D-land Hotel are offset from the street it was a shorter walk from the Apollo to the Monorail than it was from the D-land Hotel to the Monorail (which is on D-land Hotel property).

 

[DrPizza]

Kids might be a bit young to get enough out of the trip. Maybe try Sesame Place instead.

I was going to make that same recommendation. My kids still remember going there when they were little. My kids barely remember their trip to Disney (which, if I recall correctly, was the same year.) Then again, I barely remember the trip to Disney except for one part - the "It's a Small World" ride. 17 hours of hell on that ride, or at least it seemed like it. Oh, and Space Mountain - their indoor roller coaster. Having been to Cedar Point, Busch Gardens (both of them), half a dozen Six Flags parks, Kings Island, Kings Dominion, etc., I'd have to rank that coaster around 50th of the roller coasters I've ridden.... lame. My personal feelings, after having done Disney in Orlando, was that it was greatly over-rated.

 

[PokerGuy]

Disney in Orlando is fantastic. I went with my two nephews (both under 5) and they had the time of their lives. It's all they talked about for a month.

If you can afford it, definitely stay at one of the resorts on the monorail (floridian, polinesian, contemporary). It's great because you can literally hop onto the monorail and be back at the hotel in a few minutes, so the kids can go to the room and get a nap etc, and then you can hop back on the monorail and go back to magic kingdom in minutes. You can also take the boat there from those resorts, something the kids will enjoy.

Maybe it depends on the kids and how mature they are for their ages, but my nephews had a great time on a lot of stuff, so I don't agree with some of the comments about 7+ ages etc.

Edit: I have never been to Disneyland so I can't really compare the two.

 

[bobdole369]

My kids barely remember their trip to Disney (which, if I recall correctly, was the same year.) Then again, I barely remember the trip to Disney except for one part - the "It's a Small World" ride.

Why do I also only remember the it's a small world ride? I went when I was 4 or 5. That's literally all I remember.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

So you are saying we should not be staying in the park? not worth it?

The Park hotels at Disneyland are really nice and are super kid friendly. No such thing as a 15-minute walk from the park to the hotel in Disneyland - more like 30 minutes.

Disneyland hotels are super kid friendly, the characters come by, the rooms are made for kids, the pools are EPIC. But cost 2.5X the money of a comparable offsite hotel.

Many of the just outside the gate hotels are quite crappy.

I couldnt imagine lugging multiple kids out of the park, on the tram, to the garage to hike to the car and then drive to the hotel nap & relax, and then repeat the haul back into the park.

Little kids get tired and Disneyland is open from 8am - 12 midnight on most weekends & summer days.

Like I said - 4hrs at the park. Leave to eat, swim & relax & nap. Leave to go back to Disneyland by 6pm for parade & fireworks. Or stay at a hotel on-site and split the group up when one gets tired or hungry or cranky.

 

[quikah]

Oh, and Space Mountain - their indoor roller coaster. Having been to Cedar Point, Busch Gardens (both of them), half a dozen Six Flags parks, Kings Island, Kings Dominion, etc., I'd have to rank that coaster around 50th of the roller coasters I've ridden.... lame.

Yeah, Disney is not for coasters, if you want coasters go someplace else. However, if you want kid coasters, the ones in Disney are not too bad (Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Matterhorn in Disneyland). Expedition Everest and Rock n Roller Coaster in DisneyWorld or California Screamin in Disneyland (California Adventure really) are decent adult level ones though.

 

[randomrogue]

Disneyland. You'll die but it will be less painful. Disneyworld is simply too big for kids that young. I don't know how you would have the energy.

I should point out that Disneyland was scary when I was that age. I'm not sure I'd take my kids there until they were older. The characters are HUGE to a little kid and when you have them wanting to dance and play with you it's scary. I still remember it and it wasn't pleasant. On top of that rides like Pirates of the Caribbean made me cry.

 

[Golgatha]

My wife and I went to Disneyland/LA for our honeymoon. While there we saw a family of 5 that was having a hell of a time.

Mom was pushing a stroller with a ~1 year old in it, trying to hold on to a very tired and cranky 3 year old, while being laden down like a pack mule with 2 over the shoulder bags full of kid stuff.

Dad looked even worse off, carrying just one bag, but holding the hand of a 5 year old who may have been on meth because he was so energetic and bouncing up and down, dragging his dad around running from one ride to the next. Mom had to stand by the line in the heat with the kids who couldn't go on all the rides because of height.

They gave each other the most hopeless look of despair I have ever seen: "why did we think this was a good idea?"

Wife and I decided to not bring kids there until the youngest is at least 5.

Have fun!

I'm going to Disney World this February. My youngest son is 5 and oldest is 8. You sir are smarter than the average bear. I've done trips with my niece and nephews to Silver Dollar City when they were in the 1.5-3 years range, and let me tell you it was not fun. I can't imagine spending 3-4k on a trip to Disney World for that kind of experience.

 

[CPA]

I never begrudge someone trying to take the family on a vacation, but....why now. Your kids are too young (other than maybe the 5 year old) to remember much of anything about the vacation. And I can guarantee it will be hell for you.

 

[PokerGuy]

I never begrudge someone trying to take the family on a vacation, but....why now. Your kids are too young (other than maybe the 5 year old) to remember much of anything about the vacation. And I can guarantee it will be hell for you.

See my earlier post, I couldn't disagree more. We had a great time with my nephews, and they were all under 5 both times we went. It's a great kid friendly environment.