Age of children on their 1st WDW trip

[Sharon L]

I think it all boils down to knowing your own children. There are two year olds that can handle the trip, and there are those who can't. For example, our most recent trip was taken at the same time as another family we are friends with, so we spent some time together in the parks. My son is 7 and their children are 7 and 5. We all went on Dinosaur! together, and their two children came off the ride crying. Our son loves the ride, and he first went on the ride when he was 3. It just goes to show that every child is different.

I don't think it is fair for people without children to comment on what age is appropriate to first take a child to WDW. They just don't have the experience themselves that it takes to express an informed opinion.

And I think it is ridiculous to say that adults "force" their small children to go to WDW just so they can go. WDW is considered a family destination and is pretty much designed to enchant children of all ages, whether they be 2 or 92. My son may not remember much from the trip we took when he was 3 when he is an adult, but I do have pictures to remind him and I have the memories myself.

 

[Jigs]

I think that the decision is really up to the parent(s) of the particular child and no one else. We visited WDW when we were first married and had no children. We decided on the spot that 10 would be the perfect age for our (yet to be conceived) children. Little did we know that our girls would be almost 6 years apart in age and that taking one daughter at our chosen "ideal age" would mean bringing our just-turned 4 year old. So many of the ideas and plans that you make without children look pretty silly to you once those children arrive. I'm not pointing the finger at anyone here, I had plenty of pre-conceived notions myself. But if a Disney vacation is not for children, then what is? I took my nursing baby to Marineland (a theme park in Niagara Falls) so that my 5 year old could experience it and had no regrets at all. My 5 year old loved it and I was glad that I was there to share the experience with her. How fair would it be if we took our first-born to Disney when she was 15 just so the second child would be old enough to remember it? Flexibility, tolerance, and acceptance will be the most important things on my packing list when we prepare for our February trip.

 

[TowerofTigger]

We first took our son when he was three months old. He is now 15 months old and we just got back from a six day stay. He loved it and seemed to have a great time. He kept wanting to ride Pirates over & over. Same thing with the Haunted Mansion & Pooh. As soon as we got off of something, he wanted to go right back on. Every morning in the hotel when he would wake up, he would run to his stroller and start pointing at the door. Every afternoon we took him back for a nap and then returned for the evenings. You should not have any problems. No child is ever to young to enjoy WDW.

 

[Master Yoda]

OK here goes….at one point in my life I would have agreed with MissM. I always swore that I would never take an infant to WDW. Then I had my own kids. My youngest daughter was at WDW at 12 days old. She would have been there at 5 days old but my wife was understandably a little worn out to take the trip so I went with our other two girls. When I see other brats acting up I don’t really blame the kids, I blame the parents that are oblivious to their child’s annoying behavior. I didn’t think that a twelve day old baby would get much out of a trip to WDW but she did. At 3 years old she has been to WDW more than I had at 21 and she loves it. I don’t think a week goes by that she doesn’t ask me if we are going to Disney World. Walt created WDW so parents and children of all ages could spend time together.
I’m just assuming that MissM does not yet have any children. If and when she does she will understand, much like I did. When you take your infant son or daughter on Peter Pan and hear that little “ooohhh” come from there tiny little mouth you will know what we are talking about.

 

[The Mom]

My daughter took her first trip "in utero." :lol: She went again when she was about a year old. She loved it! We would spend the whole day in the park; I had a special sheet to cover her stroller, so she could nap quietly while I read a book. We visit at least four times a year , but did take a year off after her brother was born. He didn't go as many times at a young age as his sister, as she was in school and old enough that she couldn't miss days without falling behind.

Now that my son is older (11) and my daughter is away, we go more frequently. It's his turn to be the only child. :lol:

I also agree that it's up to the individual parent to decide, but I wish some parents would be more realistic in their expectations! There is NO WAY that you can see everything, SANELY, with a young child in tow. If you base your trip on number of attractions seen per day, you're not going to get your money's worth! Be prepared to waste money on half-eaten meals (unless you follow my rule, and never let your child order something you aren't willing to eat yourself ) and frequent snacks. Be prepared to leave the park when a "meltdown" is approaching, and the heck with the cost. Remember that the most magical moments are spontaneous, and when your children are young, those moments have little to do with "attractions." :lol:

Some of you may remember a photo of my daughter (around 20 months) and I with Dreamfinder. The look on her face was well worth that day's admission. :animwink:

 

[DisneyPhD]

Remember that the most magical moments are spontaneous, and when your children are young, those moments have little to do with "attractions." :lol:
. :animwink:

I would agree with that. Last year we took some friends who had never been to WDW along with us. Their son is just Little PhD's age and her best friend. Now he is the type of child who might not do well at WDW. (doesn't deal well with large groups of people, changes, needs time to warm up to things, not so fond of strangers.) We weren't too sure of how it would go, we expected to spend a lot of time sitting out and hanging out at the room.

Being with his best friend who was very comfortable at WDW really did help. Things he might of not been so sure of at 1st, he felt much better about seeing his friend do it (seeing Mickey, rides ect..) In fact some cases he was more brave then her. However as we expected, some of our best times were just hanging out and letting them play (toon town, the area around Areil, the pool.) The best time was blizzard beach. The kids had a blast. So did the adults playing with them. :lookaroun :lol:

I felt a little sad that we didn't get to do it all. My friend sumed it up best. "We had tons of fun all day every day, what more could you ask for?"

We had so much fun it was their idea to come back with us this year. So this Febuary 25th there will be 10 of us total. 5 aduts, one 13 year old two almost 4 year olds and 2 babies (6 and 7 months old.) Should be an interesting trip. We may end up spliting up a bit to care for individaul needs.

I did notice that the one trip her BIL and SIL came too and they had not been to WDW in 5 years Little PhD didn't do as well because instead of going by her needs only, BIL and SIL had things they wanted to do (not having been in a long time.) That was harder for her.

And yes mom I do remember the picture and it is priceless. :animwink:

 

[Tramp]

We first took my daughter at two years old....two weeks of chasing character after character after character with autograph book in hand. She loved it and we have priceless memories of our little girl's unconditional fantasy with the Disney characters. No doubt about it, we had limits to our mobility and content but we expected and planned for it and were willing to sacrifice to get those first pictures of our child with Mickey and his friends. Character meals were the best (and still are) because of the extended time the characters spend with your child. We stayed at the Grand Floridian so we could conveniently limit our stay in the park to no more than two or three hours at a time. We made no plans whatsoever and spontaneously did whatever we felt like doing at the moment as long as everyone was comfortable. For us, the biggest attraction was our daughter, Space Mountain et al took a back seat.

My daughter is now almost 14 and there are things that are 'must do' on her list when we visit WDW each year... small, traditional things that made an impression on her in those very early years.