re: Disney Pros, is it worth it to stay on site?

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we are taking our 3 year old Dec. 12th-14th. Any advice?

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GREAT age to go and time, too. We took our 3-yo son last November.

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She loves the princesses

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Magic Kingdom will be her favorite. There's Princess Fairytale Hall. Basically a meet and greet. Might be a long wait. But there's also Enchanted Tales with Belle (the furniture talks which is neat), The Ariel ride and Ariel's grotto. That's all mostly around fantasyland behind the castle. You can also meet Minnie and Daisy in Storybook Circus where there's a small roller coaster and the flying Dumbo ride that isn't too intense. And the lines are never long there. Mickey's PHilharmonic is great and so is Peter Pan but the wait can be crazy for that one.

EPCOT isn't a total wash. Yes, there's the Elsa and Ana ride, but it's really not a "must do" thing and it's only 90 seconds long. There are some good meet and greets around the World Showcase (Belle by France, Snow White by Germany) but those are hit and miss. The stuff she would enjoy would be to the right of big ball: The Living Seas - Finding Nemo ride and an aquarium. Inside there you can also meet Crush from Finding Nemo. He can have conversation with the kids and it's funny/cool even for the parents. There are also a couple of easy, short-wait boatrides in The Land and Mexico. Easy entertainment. Also by The Land is a theater that was playing 5 or 6 of the Pixar shorts which was another good place to rest and keep the kid entertained. EPCOT is our favorite.

Hollywood Studios may actually be her least favorite. It's getting a remodel so some things have closed. What she'll enjoy is a couple shows: Journey of the Little Mermaid (inside) and the Beauty and the Beast musical (outside). The only other thing she might like is the Toy Story ride. EVERYONE loves that one. But because there's so little to do in HS right now, it's the longest wait there by far. I'd throw in the Muppets but she may not be familiar with them. You'd probably enjoy that more than her.

You may be surprised at how much she likes animal kingdom but be prepared for long walks between attractions. It's the largest park and meant to immerse you in a jungle in a way. There's the A Bug's Life show right in the middle in the tree. Festival of the Lion King. Finding Nemo Musical. A train that takes you to and from a petting zoo and area meant for smaller kids. The Safari is also a good "ride". Better to go in the morning when most of the animals are up and moving.

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We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside

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Awesome. You are really close to EPCOT and can take a boat to Disney Springs (shopping and food) but that would be a waste on a 3-day trip. But your wife may like to go there one evening. Everything is open pretty late.

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We plan on getting to the park when it opens and go until the little one is done. Then, my folks will take her back so the wife and I can ride the big rides.

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Not really knowing what your plans are for food and fastpasses, I would do something like this:

Whatever day you have the Christmas party: Magic Kingdom all day as long as you can with the kid. Send her back with the parents to nap around 3 or 4, use fast passes for Space mountain, Splash mountain, Runaway Mine Train, Thunder mountain, etc. Bring your daughter back well rested at 7 or 8 for the Christmas party. It's way more than a parade. Special characters, treats, fireworks, parade, and very few people riding rides.

Use one of the other two days for Animal kingdom all day following the same formula I mentioned above where you do Avatar while she's resting and maybe Expedition Everest. If you're done with that park "early" meet your daughter and your parents at EPCOT instead to do some of the stuff I mentioned above.

The next day, do the same but start back at Magic Kingdom. Do anything she missed or wants to do again. Get her tired, send her back to rest, and then do whatever y'all want at either MK or EPCOT, again, utilizing fastpasses. It's easy to get from one to the other using the Monorail.

The reason I have you ending your day at EPCOT is because it's so close to your resort and would be easier/quicker to wing it from there since you are close to your resort and just a monorail ride to MK. There are also buses that take you directly from park to park which would be helpful getting between AK and the other two.