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We've taken our 3.5 year old about once a year for the last three years, and we'll actually be going back with my extended family at the end of December (we live locally). Your 4&5 year old will have a ton of things that they love/can ride, and your 8-month-old will have a ton he or she can enjoy, too!

For Disney: Fantasy Land has a ton of rides that cater to them. If they can get over the fact that many of them are dark (e.g. Snow White, Peter Pan, Pinocchio). Small World is great for all ages. It's a good "bang for your buck" ride-very long, so if the line is short it's really worthwhile. It's also a good place to take a break after lots of walking! At 3.5 my son really enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean-he thought the pirate fight was the coolest thing ever and got over the fact that it was dark and had two small "drops" because he knew the cool pirates were coming towards the end. We rode it twice.
*Dumbo was under construction when we went last month which stunk, but I'm sure you can look up whether or not it will be open when you go.
*Max Pass-a $10-per-ticket add-on lets you do Fast Passes from your phone, and also collects all of your photos taken by Disney employees in one place for you to have included in the price. I will warn you that there are only a limited number of rides you can FP, though, and many of them are rollercoasters. As a result, we found its use to be a bit limiting. However, if your 5-year-old would be interested in something like Splash Mountain or Thunder Mountain, I think it's useful for that.
*Winnie-the-Pooh is probably my son's all-time favorite ride, and there is rarely ever a line, so we can go a few times in a row which is always popular. Right after the ride is where Pooh/Tigger/Eeyore/Rabbit hang out, so that's a great photo op.
*Tom Sawyer Island was a huge hit this time. You take a little ferry over there, and there was lots of exploration to be done. My son and husband had a blast running around and climbing (it's a great place to burn off energy). I was at the beginning of my third trimester of pregnancy at the time so was a little limited in my climbing skills, but still enjoyed it!

*California Adventure has more "thrill" rides that my guy is too young for, so unless either of your kids is super into the Cars movie (and, truly, the re-creation of Radiator Springs at C.A. is stunning), I found it to not be as big of a draw as Disneyland itself for this age. That being said, if you're there for more than one day it is fun to see, and if you and any of the other adults want to go on some of the rides there (and enjoy a well-deserved cocktail, since alcohol is only available there and not at Disney), it might be worth doing a park hopper one day.

*One more thought: I read this great tip from another mom who was at Disney World for a week with her three kids. She said she promised them in advance that they could pick ONE thing from a shop at the end of the trip, which helped the fact that there are tons of gift shops when you leave rides and it's crazy tempting for kids to want it all. We do the same-we tell our son he gets ONE thing he can pick at the end of the trip, and it's made it a ton easier to walk past it all when he realizes he is "saving up" for something. It's staved off tantrums and obviously helped save money on more than one occasion! Hopefully something similar will work for you!

Sorry this is such a ramble-others probably have way more to add than I do, but hopefully something above will come in handy!

@theotherstark: Hey, do I know you? Get ready for tons more info when I'm not 5 million weeks pregnant and can think a bit more.

Our kids are around that age (5year old, 3 year old and 9 month old) and we're Annual Passholders so I'm not sure how to plan for a one time trip but some of our must-do's:

**We follow MagicKingdomMamas on instagram too for great tips!

Disney California Adventure: It's Pixar Fest this summer so definitely make time to visit CA Adventure! The pier should be fun Pixar themed all over. The Little Mermaid Ride and Monster's Inc are fun rides that usually have low wait times.

Disneyland: The train that goes all the way around the park is great for a mini break. The kids LOVE it and it's fun to see everything. Our kids cannot get enough of the "Alien Ride". It's Astro Blasters...shorter wait times and interactive fun.

In general, our kids prefer parades and shows. No wait and lots of fun. I would also recommend taking your own snacks and drinks. We buy stuff all throughout the parks because it's Disney and we NEED churros and popcorn and pretzels...but running around makes the kids hungry and nothing beats having fresh fruit and water ready. We take all kinds of easy snacks for the day. Granola bars, snack sized chips, gold fish, think anything easy and sure to please.

If you can get there at opening, that's an amazing time. The first two hours are basically walk on rides.

HAVE FUN