Would we be "missing out" if we skip AK Dinoland?

[North of Mouse]

I don't know why it's proving so hard to plan our AK day but...we have 10 people including 4 under the age of 6. Kids will be too short for Primeval Whirl, adults not interested. Dinosaur likely too scary for the kids. Not planning to see Finding Nemo.

That leaves the Boneyard which they would enjoy and maybe TriceraTop. We will be eating late breakfast at TH so won't need any of the food choices.

With only one AK day in our plan, I'm tempted to skip Dinoland altogether. The kids like dinosaurs in general so they might think it's fun to just walk around and play in the Boneyard but I feel like that would be eating up park time that could be spent in other lands.

Have I missed considering anything great in Dinoland that would be of interest to preschoolers?

Not missing anything IMO!

 

[Linkura]

Good lord, no.

 

[PPFlight75]

Yes Rafiki's is definitely in our plans for the Doc loving kids!

Now Rafikis is something we haven’t done before but the youngest wants to do that this year. Maybe this will be his new favorite and I can save the 20 bucks from the carnival games!

 

[WEDWDW]

For anyone who has not done so,be sure to read the entire Backstory for DinoLand!

IMHO,it is the most detailed Backstory at WDW.

Once you know the entire Backstory,you will "look" at DinoLand in a totally different way.

 

[KenHutch]

Well since you have kids the only thing I can think of that you would be missing is kids asking for a lot of money to play the g*d awful carnival games. During our 2008 trip my daughter kept playing a game with a water gun and after $30 of my money the girl yelled out we have a winner and gave her the stuffed animal to end my pain.

 

[loman112]

I would totally visit Dinoland again. After all, we won some pretty nice stuffed animals

 

[AFwifelife]

For anyone who has not done so,be sure to read the entire Backstory for Dinoland!

IMHO,it is the most detailed Backstory at WDW.

Once you know the entire Backstory,you will "look" at Dinoland in a totally different way.

I do agree with this! Even though the rides aren’t on the top of my list with small kids, knowing the backstory makes Dinoland so much more special. It really gets you to focus on the details of the land and it’s really impressive how much is put into that small space.

 

[DavidNYC]

Play it by ear. If you're planning a full day at AK there's no reason to even worry about it. There's nothing there that I'd ever recommend using a pre-booked FP for and it's usually easy to get 4th FP for the rides there. If you have time - walk though it - the games are cute and the playground is fun. If you fill your day with other stuff - great. If you have time to head there - great. We've often done 20 minutes there literally crossing though on our way out of the park. There's nothing there that I'd say you have to beat yourself up to make sure you get to but it's worth 30 minutes - 1 hour if you have time.

(But I do highly recommend the Nemo show if you like theater. It's really great.)

 

[tink9702]

I wouldn't say you're missing out on something amazing, BUT the Boneyard was such a great break for the adults when the kids needed to run & be crazy! DH & I got a snack and relaxed while the kids ran around. The carnival games are also fun when they aren't busy. DH & DD played by themselves on our last trip and won 5 different stuffed animals. The picture of her in the stroller with all the animals on top of her is one of my favorite memories EVER at Disney. That huge grin was worth the money! LOL

The Nemo show is okay IMHO - Lion King is my favorite so if you don't have time for both definitely Lion King!!

I'd keep Dinoland in the back of your head if you kid gets crazy, or if you finish things sooner than expected.

 

[Robo]

I think some here are confusing "Dinoland" and "Dino-Rama."

 

[AFwifelife]

I think some here are confusing "Dinoland" and "Dino-Rama."

Both have really extensive back stories.

 

[maltdizzy]

What's the problem if you are so busy having fun you can't fit more fun in? If you don't make it to Dinoland, that's okay. You don't have to do everything.

But, regardless of park, I would try and keep some plans flexible and be willing to break up large groups to keep everyone engaged. For example, If the kids seemed bored with some of the activities you have planned at AK, then maybe have an adult walk them over and let them run around Boneyard or explore Dinoland while the others stick to the itinerary. My advice is always to have a plan and reservations to fall back on if the parks are crowded, but stay flexible and spontaneous and break from the plan if you can have more fun.

As for Dinosaur, it all matters on the kids. When my DS was 4 he loved Dinosaur, ToT, and all the coasters he was tall enough for. But I remember Dinosaur was the ride where he got comments/kudos from college girls who were terrified by it. When he was 6, he rode EE and R&RC a dozen times each. If they want to be adventurous, I feel you should encourage it.

 

[kwdw]

While I'll agree the FOTLK should be your priority show if you are only going to attend one show - the Nemo show is really, really good, too.

With the youngsters in your group - playing in Boneyard might be a big hit - so I would also add to the chorus that says to keep your day flexible. Planet Watch is another good choice.

For us - AK is a day that after the mandatory trip to Safari (and now FOP and Navi) - it's all based on what we feel like for the day and the weather. During beautiful weather - we'll spend more time on the animal trails - while in the rain, cold, or excessive heat - Nemo and Planet Watch become more important. As adults - we like Dinosaur - but it's not a must do - and we skip everything else in Dinoland. But - between ages 3-6 - Boneyard was a big hit with the niece.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I would keep it tentative unless you adhere to a very strict touring plan.

If it seems like the kids (or a couple of them) need to run around, I’d go to the Boneyard. No need to go there for Triceratop for us because we do Dumbo and Magic Carpets at MK. With our little kids, our general plan is to hit the Boneyard if we think they’d need/enjoy the playtime in lieu of something else. It may mean the group splits up to bring some kids to the Boneyard. We have a group of 10-12 usually and sometimes split off for that sort of thing while some others do something else.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

In my opinion, YES.

Here's my take. There are very few 'rides' for little ones in AK. Other than Triceratops Spin, they can only ride the new Na'vi ride, the safari, the boring train ride, maybe Kali (if over38"tall). There's plenty of shows/animals, but few rides.

While the rest of Dinoland isn't super-high priority, if you have at least two adults, an easy strategy is to split up. Some of your group goes on either Primeval Whirl or Dinosaur while a chaperone takes the little ones on Triceratops Spin. PW is very close to TS. Dino is slightly further away with two pre-ride rooms (so even if there's no wait, it takes a little longer to ride than PW or TS.) If we split between TS and DINOSAUR, than there are two easy meet up spots: the gift shop that is between TS and DINOSAUR, or exit of the DINO ride. There's a small gift shop at the DINO ride exit plus a nice waiting area just outside the DINOSAUR ride with benches.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Yes Rafiki's is definitely in our plans for the Doc loving kids!

Ah, that explains it!

We almost always skip Rafiki's, because it takes a long time, and it isn't all that compelling, IMO. If you've never seen it, it is worth going once.

I'd keep it in your plans for now, but if for some reason you find your day isn't going as planned, you could easily swap it for a little time in Dinoland.

For us, the one attraction we always want to visit, but have a hard time managing is the Maharajah Jungle Trek. I like the MJT better than the Wild Africa Trek, but the Africa Trek easily pairs with the safari. MJT is off by itself.

 

[MamaBelle4]

Even if you only allow 15 - 20 minutes, I think Boneyard is worth it to let the kids run off some steam. I know my DS really appreciated all of the play spaces (Dumbo que, Boneyard, etc.) when he was younger because it wasn't just walking from one ride to the next or sitting on a ride.

Completely agree. My kids loved it!

Also, I’ll get for this, but on our last trip DS and I actually spent some time doing the carnival games (we had previously ignored them).

When we went last, my oldest was the only one tall enough for PW, so DH and grandparents took the other kids to play the arcade games while we did PW. Everyone had a blast.

I really didn’t do my research and now they have at least 1 thing they can say about me in therapy someday

OMG me too! My dad took my oldest on it. I had never been. We were waiting by the exit and all these kids came out crying. I KNOW my oldest is a fraidy cat (she gets that from me) so I tried to pull them from the queue.

When they came out they were walking so awkwardly because my (then) DD6 had her face pressed in my Dad's stomach and refused to look elsewhere. Poor kid. I felt so bad.

 

[unrequited23]

f anyone is doing EE with rider swap, I'd use the Boneyard as the place to hang with the kids while you swap out.

This.

 

[tlmadden73]

Except for Dinosaur, nothing you'd miss that you can't find at your local county fair.

 

[GillianP1301]

The Boneyard is a fantastic place for younger kids and the Nemo show is great for all ages, so I do think you'd be missing out a bit. However, if it comes down to having to pick and choose and something has to go, then that area would be the first that I would drop.