One of the big problems families face when trying to plan their first trip to Walt Disney World is not really knowing what attractions are “age- appropriate” for the kids going with them. And now with the addition of only being able to choose 3 fast passes per day, even Disney guru’s are freaking out a bit.
It makes it really hard to plan when you have no clue if something scary is going to jump out or a loud firework is going to BOOM and freak your two year old out!
So Diva Husband and I sat down a few years ago, and have updated since, to start writing a spread-sheet we hope will assist you as you make decisions before you start wandering right up the middle of Main Street USA.
Instead of just doing attractions, we also added Character Meals and Character Greetings for each of the “lands” in Magic Kingdom to give you a more thorough picture of what is there. I have also included shows, parades and fireworks. This list will have to be updated as attractions change, so if you are reading this and something is outdated PLEASE send me a comment and I will modify it ASAP! I’m hoping this will be a helpful resource for years to come and PLEASE feel free to pass this along to your friends and family! I wish I would have had it when I was planning. You wont be able to “share” it through google docs however.
I fully realize that EVERYTHING here is actually an individual decision based on YOUR child. and this spreadsheet is simply a tool to give you some ideas as you plan.
The spreadsheet is broken into three categories:
1) MD = Must Do – These are the things that, based on age, you should seriously consider putting into your “touring plan” for the day. Some of these attractions are simply “Classic Disney” that, quite honestly may bore your teen or pre-teen to death, but are things that EVERYBODY who goes to Magic Kingdom must try once (example: Jungle Cruise & Tiki Room). However, if time is a premium you may choose to skip them all together. I tried to take height requirements into consideration. Your child’s height may or may not coordinate with the ages indicated on the spreadsheet.
2) ID = Individual Decision – One of reasons there are so few spreadsheets like this is that most of attraction selection is based on YOUR CHILD, and nobody knows your child as well as you do. You may have a thrill seeker at 6 years old, you may have a teenager that absolutely MUST meet Tinker Bell or their trip is not complete. It’s really up to you! Some of the attractions are marked ID based on how dark the ride is, if there are things that might startle them (ranging from how big the costumed characters are, to witches popping out, to fireworks exploding), speed of ride is also considered, and height requirements (indicated next to rides that have them). This is where you should probably ask your child directly if they’re up for it, and you should NEVER MAKE a child go on anything they have indicated they are afraid of.
3) S = Skippable – This is the area that people who have been to WDW a million times are most likely to get grumpy about, because as I mentioned before, really all of this is an individual decision based on your child. However, as people are taking shorter and shorter trips to WDW they need to know what is imperative to be scheduled in and what can be saved until a second, or third trip. So if your favorite ride is marked skippable, sorry, the whole thing has been done based on personal opinion and you can certainly choose to do something different.
You will also see that some attractions are marked “Cool Down/ Dry Off”. This means that if you are sweating through your Mickey Ears, or its been pouring rain for hours, they make a nice temporary retreat. If marked “Skippable” and Cool Down/ Dry Off then that indicates you really only to need visit the attraction if you require a break from the elements, or are tired and need to sit for a little bit.
Ok, well without further ado I present to you the link to the Diva Magic Kingdom Attraction Checklist. Please do not take this and try to pass it off as your own, its just bad manners.
Click on the link to be taken to the Google Doc. You can then export it and format it according to the age of your family and print. Enjoy! (Most recent update: 3/30/2014)
http://tinyurl.com/DivaMKattractionchecklist
Get the ride list for Epcot HERE
Get the ride list for Hollywood Studios HERE
Get the ride list for Animal Kingdom HERE.
Want more PRINTABLE help with planning? Check out:
This post was very helpful to us as we chose our FP+ rides/attractions. Thanks for all of your hard work and help!