Disney with a younger child!?

[Disneydreamer23]

Hey every one I went to Disney this year pregnant and loved it but decided to go Dec 2014 My daughter will be 1 yr 7 months old. ( she was born may 15) This is my first child so i am wondering DO you think she will be to YOUNG, my husband thinks we should wait until she is at least 2, but thats only 5 months later and If we go in DEC I would be going with my parents as well . Also do the simpler rides require height?> EX small world lil mermaid peter pan etc? Or just the big rides ANy help or suggestions would be great thank yoU!!!

 

[Master Yoda]

There is no perfect age, nor a bad one. The question is whether you are will to do what it takes for a child of X age to have a good time. If you try to go from open to close in full commando style, the chances of a young child snapping and having a meltdown are near 100%. You are on their schedule, not yours. If you go at it from that angle you will be fine.

Many of the attractions in all 4 of the parks have no height restrictions. This would include attractions like HM, PoTC, SSE, even KS just to name a few. You will have no problem finding plenty to do even if you forgo every attraction with a height restriction.

 

[deanaandrich]

She may enjoy it, but she won't remember it. Plan to take a lot of breaks throughout the day, including leaving the parks if need be. The kiddie rides don't have height requirements.

 

[Mr Toad]

We are doing something similar next year. We are taking our 2 youngest June 2014. They will be 2 1/2 years and 16 months. We do plan on spending time in MK and Epcot this trip. And lots of time at the pool

 

[LizC]

Go when your parents are going! As long as you all get along it is an amazing help to have in-laws or parents with you to help. I took my 15 mo. old twins last year and we brought my parents and sister. It was so worth it to have the extra hands. I have heard this from many people, not just those with multiples. On the other end if you or your husband would rather not spend every moment with your parents that is something to think about. Fighting through at WDW trip is no fun for anyone.

As far as your child being too young, I would disagree. While she won't remember, that doesn't mean she will not enjoy herself. Plus you and your family will remember all her excitement, and have the pictures to prove it! I will never forget how excited my son was when he saw Tigger (he nearly jumped out of his highchair), or how amazed my children were by IASW. WDW is fun at any age.

Have a great trip!

 

[bgraham34]

So far I have taken my son at 5 months, 14 months, 2 years and 2.5 years and they all have been great experiences. Is it great having an extra person with you to watch your kid so you and your husband can go on a ride together, well of course it is. But it is also great just being a family and enjoying all the experiences on your own. You certainly will be able to handle it, it just comes down to whether you want your family there as well or just you guys.

 

[EaglesfanNJ]

Hi Dreamer, first off, have a great time!

More important, to echo Yoda, you are on their schedule, not the other way around. We have done trips where both our kids at time of travel were 1.5 or 2. I also 100 percent agree that if you try and take them commando, meltdowns will be unavoidable. Be prepared to take frequent breaks. Everyday we went back to the rooms mid afternoon and it worked wonders. We found the kids made it longer into the night, and, we missed the peak midday park crowds.

Obviously, this much easier if you are on site which I didn't see was disclosed, but, the fact that you will have help with you, you should have no issues. Remember, they are only that age once. Don't listen to the critics who tell you that is too young an age to go. You know your child better than anyone. Take them, enjoy, make memories, and let them dictate your pace.

 

[jkl2000]

My wife and I took our DS14 when he was just a few months older than that (so about two) and the funniest memory is that we slept late each morning because we'd had so little sleep in months, and with the room so dark and cool from the AC (it was the Poly) he slept HOURS later than he usually did. We knew we shouldn't sleep late, but cost be damned it was a surprise indulgence that we weren't going to pass up. I think it was May.

And we took him on lots of rides like PotC and HM - he didn't really know what anything was so nothing scared him!

 

[RandomPrincess]

I would take her in Dec when your parents are going. 1.5 or 2 isn't much of a difference height or behavior wise. Plus the extra sets of hands will come in handy. We took my Dd to DL at 18m and she loved it. Yes, she doesn't remember but we remember and we have plenty of pictures and videos of the great time she had.

 

[6laurac]

We opted to wait until our DD was almost three for her first trip so she could ride some rides and would not be quite so wore out all day from the heat/sounds/crowd. Initially, it was hard to wait since we haven't been since 2009. We really did not want to be toting a small child around (and I do mean toting as we did that a lot when she was your daughter's age since she hated a stroller then) so wanted her to be able to walk some and ride some in the stroller. We took our umbrella stroller and she napped in it a few time. If I had to do over, I would not do anything different because it was a)super loud for her b)she still talks about meeting the mouse and Duffy c)she was free as she was under 3.

Only you can decide what's best for your family (we did not have extra hands) and personal budget. I would say, try to go before she's 3. You will still spend plenty of dollars at Disney (we did) to make Disney happy, and have Disney memories that will make you happy.

 

[Cynthia@mickeystravel]

I took my daughter when she was one year and five months and she loved it. Doesn't remember it but we had a great time. She napped in her stroller never had to leave the park my son was 10 at the time so I didn't want to make him leave the parks. It worked out great for us.

 

[Maddisneyfan]

Hey every one I went to Disney this year pregnant and loved it but decided to go Dec 2014 My daughter will be 1 yr 7 months old. ( she was born may 15) This is my first child so i am wondering DO you think she will be to YOUNG, my husband thinks we should wait until she is at least 2, but thats only 5 months later and If we go in DEC I would be going with my parents as well . Also do the simpler rides require height?> EX small world lil mermaid peter pan etc? Or just the big rides ANy help or suggestions would be great thank yoU!!!

We took our son when he was 1yr 4 months and he had a great time, we also had our daughter who was older, but our son still had a great time. I say you are never too young or old for disney.

 

[boilerpicc]

We took my daughter when she was 3 months old, and we are taking her again right after she turns 15 months old. She is absolutely not too young to go. Even at 3 months, I could tell that my daughter was enjoying herself. She had all kinds of bright colors to look at, and she enjoyed the rides that spun. She wasn't a huge fan of the dark rides, though.

Your child will be able to go on almost all of the rides. There are only a handful of rides with any kind of height restriction (think mountains, ToT, etc). The only rule for the non-height-restricted rides was that if there was any kind of lap restraint, the child had to be under it as well. That was kind of strange on Toy Story Mania with the baby in a carrier on my front. It really screwed up the whole aiming the gun thing.

Having your family there will be a big help. I think my parents were more excited to hang out with the baby than to go on rides. We did a lot of rider swaps on the rides with height restrictions. With the rider swap, part of your group waits in line while the rest wait with the baby. When the first group finishes with the ride, the second part of the group gets to go through the fast pass line. It works even better if you get a normal fast pass for the first group. It's like not waiting in line at all, and it makes your fast passes last twice as long. Also, with your family there, you and your husband might be able to swing a date night. My husband and I had a great one at Epcot (beware of La Cava del Tequila).

Also, take advantage of the Baby Care Centers in each park. Those places are awesome! I know we will be using the high chairs and changing tables a lot this year.

 

[taz0162]

My daughter was 18 months in Dec and was nervous at first with the characters but then day 2 came and she became really excited to the point that she was photo bombing other families pics whenever the characters were around. She has since become best buds with "Minnie Mou and Day-see Duck" and has to have anything with their pictures on it. She really liked the rides that didn't have height requirements which was quite a bit at MK. She really loved the parades and Baloo gave her some extra attention during the Jungle Parade at AK while she was relaxing/watching from her stroller.

 

[Disneydreamer23]

Thank u every one!!

 

[jenluvswdw]

A little late here. I totally agree with most of the posters. Take her!!! I took my son when he was 16 months. Had to get my Disney fix and he was free at parks and free airfare (lap child). He loved the characters and the rides. However, did not like loud rides. When he was tired he fell asleep in his stroller. EASY!! Every age has it's pros and cons, but go at your child's pace and you will be fine. You will make beautiful memories! Since you will have help make sure you get a date night out of it.