Disneyworld suggestions?

Two days isn’t enough to really see the whole park. I would aim for one or two of the parks. Your kids are a perfect age for the Magic Kingdom. Epcot is nice too but has more for adults than kids.

Check out the official Disney site for good discounts. Right now they’re running a promo for a free pass to one park for a day. Don’t buy discount tickets from roadside or website places. In my experience they’re frauds. I can’t tell you how many families I saw that ended up at the gates with fake tickets. This is just my experience though so YMMV.

Here’s a good site for travel with kids-
http://travelwithkids.about.com/cs/disneyworld/a/wdwtoptips.htm

Forgot my favorite site- www.allears.net

Epcot was always boring when I was a kid. It really only gets going (for the adults) when they host wine festivals.

With that age, I would stick to the Magic Kingdom.

It would seriously take a week to see it all. Stick with the MK, and make sure you go in the haunted mansion.

Thanks! Haunted mansion at 3 yrs old? Sure?

Magic Kingdom is pretty much like Disneyland right? I’m very familiar with Disneyland.

How about places to get a bit for dinner outside the park? I remember being in Orlando for a convention and there was a place on a little (manmade possibly) lake surrounded by restaurants and a boardwalk maybe. Might have been a Disney mall. Suggestions?

If I recall right now Downtown Disney is under reno. Depending on the budget and how zonked the kids are you can eat at one of the character dinners on property at one of the resorts. Although at this late in the game it might be a bit difficult to get a reservation.

The Magic Kingdom is kindof like Disneyland… just bigger and more geared twards your children’s age.

Try for a parade while you’re there. A good way to relax while letting the kids squeal a bit. A great thing to do would be Chip and Dale’s sing along at the Disney Campground. S’mores and relaxing around a campfire. There are plenty of meet n greets around the parks and resorts. There’s also a great luau at the Spirit of Aloha Show at the Polynesian Resort.

don’t go. it’s a waste of money and time. go visit NASA out on the coast instead.

With only two days I’d suggest one day at Magic Kingdom and one day at Animal Kingdom. These are the parks best suited to your age kids. MGM will be better in their teens, and Epcot when they can drink.

www.mousesavers.com
www.undercovertourist.com/

Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom was originally based on Disneyland Park, yes, but MK is bigger, and the parks have diverged since WDW’s opening. Here’s a spreadsheet I created a while back comparing/contrasting which attractions are found in DL, WDW, and both:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkAI9LTUaudtcGlybGh2anNZR0RPVHY2VGdkcWZWVlE&hl=en

If you’re familiar with Disneyland, you’re going to find copies of many Disneyland attractions at all the WDW parks, not just MK. For example, Disney’s California Adventure’s Soarin, Tough to Be a Bug, and Tower of Terror are found at WDW’s Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios (MGM), respectively.

For ticket discounts, there are some reputable ticket wholesellers; UndercoverTourist.com, MapleLeafTickets.com, KSG.com, OrlandoFunTickets.com. This late in the game, you’re going to want to pick them up at their Orlando offices rather than have them shipped to you. (You still have to order in advance, though). Also, the discounts are not large. Maybe $10 off the gate price, at the most. Do not be fooled by any advertisements for free or discount tickets you see along the way – 99% of them are timeshare scams.

I agree with others that Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom are your best bets. I don’t think the kids will be bored at Epcot – they’ve made it a lot more child friendly since it opened 27 years ago – but MK and AK are still the best for kids.

Haunted Mansion is perfectly fine for kids. It’s silly-spooky, not scary-spooky. Of course, you said you’re “very familiar” with Disneyland, and the inside of Haunted Mansion at WDW is exactly the same as that at DL, so presumably you should already know what it’s like and whether it’s okay for your kids.

The little manmade lake and boardwalk you’re talking about is, in fact, Disney’s Boardwalk. It’s located between Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. There are several restaurants there, both on the boardwalk itself and in the 5 hotels in the Boardwalk area. My recommendation there would be the Cape May Cafe clam bake buffet

Downtown Disney is not “under reno” as someone else said. Pleasure Island (one of the three sections of Downtown Disney), however, has been dismantled. All of the night clubs are gone. In its place are a couple new shops and restaurants. Downtown Disney is still the home of a bunch of restaurants, two of which are decidedly kid friendly – T-Rex and Rainforest Cafe.

Good luck to you.

@MrItty Pleasure Island- that’s what I was trying to think of! thanks :) So glad you popped in!