Help with trip with 4 yr old

gwensgoofy

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 6, 2008
2 questions: is Hollywood Studios good for a 4yr old? I just heard some negative feedback on the park from another toddler parent, and I thought it would be great for that age group. Second, if we decide after completing a park (like animal kingdom) that we'd like to do a park hopper-will they let us add that on, or do we have to decide before we go to any park? We are staying at BLT, and if we finish one early, we might want to stop in MK for a few rides. Thanks for any advice!
 
2 questions: is Hollywood Studios good for a 4yr old? I just heard some negative feedback on the park from another toddler parent, and I thought it would be great for that age group. Second, if we decide after completing a park (like animal kingdom) that we'd like to do a park hopper-will they let us add that on, or do we have to decide before we go to any park? We are staying at BLT, and if we finish one early, we might want to stop in MK for a few rides. Thanks for any advice!
You can add park-hopper onsite. No need to do it in advance.
 
On my trip last year with a 3 year old I skipped HS as it didn't seem worth it for that age. We are returning in a few weeks (a few weeks shy of 4 years old now) and we are doing HS. But it's still a struggle to fill a full day there for us.

We're doing EMM for Toy Story Land, and visiting all the non-Star Wars characters we can. The shows don't interest us (would have done Disney Jr, but it's closed now) and there are no other rides for us. So I'm planning to spend several hours back at the hotel (hoping for good pool weather) before we return to the park for dinner and Fantasmic.
 
You can add park hopper onsite but it will be for all days of your pass, even if you only plan on using it one day.

Is your child into princesses/Frozen? My oldest dd was 2.5 at the time and they will be 3 and 6 when we return and Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Frozen shows are must-do’s, as is the new Disney Jr. show that will be starting up. My girls have videos of the shows from our last visit and watch them all the time. It’s also the only park where they can meet the Disney Jr. characters, which my girls are obsessed with. I think it’s VERY child-dependent. For some children, these are all misses. For my girls, these are hits.
 
If your child likes shows and Ariel/the Frozen characters, it is worth going to HS. My girls were almost 4 and 6 on our first trip. We spent a whole day at HS. We saw the Little Mermaid show, Frozen show, Beauty and the Beast and the Muppets show and rode TSM and the Great Movie Ride (before they closed it.) We missed the Disney Jr. show because we ran out of time, but they met some of the Disney Jr. characters at meet n greets. They both loved all the shows-Ariel and Elsa were my youngest daughter's two favorites at the time, so for them it was great.
 
My toddler son really enjoyed it there. We went before the new Toy Story land opened, but after the Great Movie Ride closed, so the only thing he could ride was TSMM. He still had a blast riding that, meeting lots of characters, and going to the shows. We spent 10 hrs there and didn't make it to everything we wanted to do. With the new Toy Story Land now open, I can't wait to take him again.
 
I took DS9 and DS4 a month ago.

He did Frozen sing a long, voyage of the Little Mermaid, TSM, SDD, AS2, tower of terror, Jedi Training, Star Tours, Indiana Jones, beauty and the beast, Star Wars launch bay, muppet vision 3D, Star Wars a galaxy far far away.

He met Jake, Pluto, doc mcstuffins, Sofia, Bb 8, Chewie, kylo ren, woody, Jessie, Olaf, starlord and groot.
 


We took our DDs, 5 and 3 then, to HS this Jan. I don’t know if I can call it a full day, we went to Bon Voyage breakfast first, by the time we arrived at HS, is was almost 11. My girls are very into princesses then, so we did Frozen/Little Mermaid/Beauty and Beast show, Rode TSMM, saw the old version of Disney Junior show, met Sofia, Olaf, had dinner at Hollywood Vine & Dine, and saw Fantasmic. So I guess you can still spend a whole day with the new toy story land open now.
 
My 4 and 2 year old loved HS last year.

Full day, did all the shows and Disney Jr stuff. Had dinner at H&V for the characters. Hung out for an hour and watched the fireworks and headed back.

Rope dropped too.
 
HS is our least favourite park, but DS4 still enjoyed it. Far less for baby. DS4 enjoyed TSL, star tours and muppets. We missed little mermaid, beauty and the beast and Indiana jones. He hated the frozen sing along. Lol. It was quiet comical how much he despised it. I'd say it's a 1/2 day park if you're debating. We just enjoy the other parks better. TSL was nice though.
 
Going for 10 days in Feb with our 4 yo at AKL. He went last year at this time when he was 3 for just 4 days. We always park hop. We always end up doing a 1/2 day at two parks each day with one day spent just at the resort in the middle for a break. Our recipe is hit the park at rop drop and stay until lunch time. Then we head back to the resort for a break/ nap/ or pool. We head back to the second park around 4-5pmpm and stay until around 9-10pm depending on how he is. Our son is high energy go go go so this works for us.

Is HS a full day park? Definitely not. But we're excited to try Toy Story Land as it is one of our son's favorite movies.
 

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