4 year old boys, what rides and shows are a must see?

Bete

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 14, 1999
Would love to hear suggestions. Our great grandsons meet the 40 inch ride requirement. Going late November; so, the holiday season will be in full bloom.

There's only 5 days to go to the parks. I figure we will double up on MK. Should we bother with MVMCP? If so, should we choose a different park for 2 days?

I believe the boys will like rides more, but some shows would be fine.
 
My son was 3.5 when we went last year. He loved all the roller coasters he was able to go on. Loved the Jungle Cruise. Refused to go to Haunted Mansion.

Loved the monorail and still talks about it.

His favorite thing was character meets with the classics because he knows them from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He wanted to meet them all in every park and he says that’s what he wants to do the most this year. No interest in any Princesses.

We didnt do any shows, he wanted rides. We watched a show in front of the castle briefly and he said it was boring and asked to go on a ride.
 
Some of my kids’ favorites at that age were Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Tomorrowland people mover, Tomorrowland Speedway, Toy Story Midway Mania, Soarin, and Test Track. My kids haven’t been as into the shows except for the Indiana Jones stunt show.
 
My son was 5 for his first trip, but his favorite rides were Buzz and Splash.
 
Some of my kids’ favorites at that age were Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Tomorrowland people mover, Tomorrowland Speedway, Toy Story Midway Mania, Soarin, and Test Track. My kids haven’t been as into the shows except for the Indiana Jones stunt show.
These are good - I'll add Pirates, Buzz Lightyear, 7DMT, Splash, Tom Sawyer Island if you need to burn off some energy.

At AK - The Safari, Festival of the Lion King, Kali River Rapids, The Boneyard
 
I can tell you my 3 year old boy is obsessed with Toy Story Mania in Hollywood Studios. He gets to shoot things, which he sadly loves, but all he's doing is popping balloons and breaking imaginary plates, so I don't mind.
In MK, the Speedway is a must, and also make sure to make time for Pirates.
 


When my son was 3/4 years old he LOVED the stunt show at HS, visiting with the characters from Toy Story and Cars, and anything having to do with transportation - MK Railroad, the monorail, all the boats, Tomorrowland Speedway, Jungle, Cruise, It's a Small World, Liberty Square Riverboat, etc. He also loved anything that spinned (spun?) so the tea cups were a big hit. When he needed to burn steam he loved exploring the Swiss Family Tree House and Tom Sawyer Island. He had just turned four the last time he went as a preschooler so he was not tall enough for any of the mountains. Also, he never cared to stand in line for the characters (other than TS or Cars) so if we wanted to see Pooh or Mickey & Friends we had to do character meals.
 
My son was 3 last fall for his first trip, we're going back this year for Halloween. What surprised me last year was how much he loved meeting characters. We did MVMCP and he wanted to meet as many characters as he could. The lines for characters are long at the parties, so honestly I wouldn't waste your money on party tickets. Just incorporate character visits during your park days and do 1-2 character meals. We loved Crystal Palace at MK (Pooh and friends) and Garden Grill at Epcot (Mickey and friends). I've also heard good things about Tusker House at AK (Mickey and friends) or Hollywood & Vine at HS if they like Disney Jr. characters (although the characters at that one are from more girl-focused shows).

My son was not interested in shows, only rides and character meets. Although he also had fun doing simple things like playing in the spray area and watching the trains at Epcot or the Splash Mountain play area at MK. Most of the rides at MK will be good for them and you can absolutely spend 2 of your days there. Rather than MVMCP, I would do the new Toy Story Land EMM for guaranteed rides on all 3 TSL rides and meets with Buzz, Woody and Jessie (we are doing this for our next trip).

We find AK to be a half day park due to limited activities for preschoolers. We will do Na'vi, Kilimanjaro and Triceratops Spin, meet characters, and either the Lion King or Nemo show. The rest doesn't appeal to him right now and I'm not going to risk scaring him on Dinosaur (the MK roller coasters aren't scary, but Dinosaur has some potentially scary theming).

We plan our days around nap time, and even if they are no longer napping I'd plan a mid-day return to the room to rest and recharge. We do rope drop through lunch, go to the room for a few hours, and return to the parks from about 4:30-close.
 
My son is 4 and we just went at the end of August and are going back in December. Every 4 year old boy is different but mine loves fast rides so he loves all the roller coasters. Big Thunder was his favorite followed by Splash and the 7 dwarfs coaster. Loves the toy story rides, ALL of them. Loves the Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Dumbo. Winnie the Pooh is his all time favorite ride there, not sure why. The only ride he didn't seem to like was the Jungle Cruise because he thought it was "boring". Chances are if you are on a ride, the kids are going to like it.
 
I can tell you my 3 year old boy is obsessed with Toy Story Mania in Hollywood Studios. He gets to shoot things, which he sadly loves, but all he's doing is popping balloons and breaking imaginary plates, so I don't mind.
In MK, the Speedway is a must, and also make sure to make time for Pirates.

I've never ridden the Speedway, but bringing my 5 year old nephew in October and wanted to know how this ride works. Is it true you have to be a certain height to drive the car? We went to a local amusement park in July where kids could "drive" the car but there were no pedals, it was a battery operated ride very similar to Speedway. I think he'll be disappointed if he can't be in the driver's seat.
 
I've never ridden the Speedway, but bringing my 5 year old nephew in October and wanted to know how this ride works. Is it true you have to be a certain height to drive the car? We went to a local amusement park in July where kids could "drive" the car but there were no pedals, it was a battery operated ride very similar to Speedway. I think he'll be disappointed if he can't be in the driver's seat.
There is a pedal that is fairly heavy to push to the floor. He can ride in the drivers seat & steer & you could sit next to him and push down the pedal for him.
 
I've never ridden the Speedway, but bringing my 5 year old nephew in October and wanted to know how this ride works. Is it true you have to be a certain height to drive the car? We went to a local amusement park in July where kids could "drive" the car but there were no pedals, it was a battery operated ride very similar to Speedway. I think he'll be disappointed if he can't be in the driver's seat.

There is a pedal that is fairly heavy to push to the floor. He can ride in the drivers seat & steer & you could sit next to him and push down the pedal for him.

Yes to this. You two share a seatbelt. I want to add in that it is important that you sort of keep a hand on the wheel as well, as wrong turns at high speeds cause quite a jarring sensation that can upset young children. I sort of yell "left, left, left!" while also guiding the wheel to the left in order to minimize these crashes.
 
We went in June with our 4 1/2 year old boy.

His favorites (things he tells people when they ask him) were:

MK - Splash Mountain, Pooh, Peoplemover, Speedway, Dumbo, Astro Orbitor, Big Thunder, mine train, the train, the monorail

Epcot - Frozen Ever After, Test Track

DHS - Star tours

AK - festival of the lion king (this is the only show he’s ever sat through), kali river rapids

He also loves characters, so all of the meets were a big hit.

Another big favorite - the buses.
 

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