How young is too young to take your kid to Disney?

[TheAmazingBobbo]

I agree pretty much with everybody else. We're waiting until my niece (who just turned 2) is about 3 1/2 or 4 to take her, because we think she will be able to appreciate it a lot more with a little more age on her. That said, she LOVES Mickey and can't wait already.

 

[Rinx]

I personally wouldn't take a kid less than 3-4 years old. Babies can't do anything, nor will they remember anything. To me bringing a baby on vacation is a waste of money. Save up the first 3 years or so when the child is an infant and then go on a nice trip when everyone in the party can enjoy it and say "I remember..." :wave:

 

[Master Yoda]

Some would argue that we men never mature. :lookaroun

I resemble that remark.

 

[accord99cutie]

I personally wouldn't take a kid less than 3-4 years old. Babies can't do anything, nor will they remember anything. To me bringing a baby on vacation is a waste of money. Save up the first 3 years or so when the child is an infant and then go on a nice trip when everyone in the party can enjoy it and say "I remember..." :wave:

I didn't take my DD until she was 3 1/2, but I am currently pregnant with our second and am already planning a trip for when this one is a little over a year old. It wont cost us any more to bring the youngest, and our DD would be heartbroken if she had to wait another 4 yrs to go again!!! (Not to mention how heart broken I'd be!)

 

[Rinx]

I didn't take my DD until she was 3 1/2, but I am currently pregnant with our second and am already planning a trip for when this one is a little over a year old. It wont cost us any more to bring the youngest, and our DD would be heartbroken if she had to wait another 4 yrs to go again!!! (Not to mention how heart broken I'd be!)

:lol: understandable.

 

[happymom52003]

My youngest was 12 months old (and was not walking yet) and our oldest was 4 on their first trip....and it was the easiest trip we've ever had! Disney is the most baby friendly vacation destination I have ever been to. I say take them whenever you want. The only regret we had about taking her at 12 months was that we had not taken our oldest alot sooner! If I had it to do all over again, we would definitely have taken our oldest well before his first bday. Like many, we had the mind set that he needed to be at least four or five to enjoy it and make it worth the money, etc.. Boy were we wrong!! Will she remember her first few trips? Of course not. But you should have seen the smiles on her face and the happy squeals she let out the entire time we were there! Our whole family had a blast, and the trip was so much more special than any trip to WDW my husband and I took before we had kids.

I agree with The Mom about the Florida heat and a newborn though. I don't think I would personally do that. But if we have a third child, you can bet they will be going to Disney while they are still a baby!

 

[happymom52003]

I didn't take my DD until she was 3 1/2, but I am currently pregnant with our second and am already planning a trip for when this one is a little over a year old. It wont cost us any more to bring the youngest, and our DD would be heartbroken if she had to wait another 4 yrs to go again!!! (Not to mention how heart broken I'd be!)

This is such an excellent point for people who think it is not a wise choice to take kids before they are 3 or 4. What about the siblings?? Talk about a way to make a sibling resentful to the baby...lol! "Sorry sweetie, you can't go back to Disney World for four more years because we have to wait until the baby is old enough".

 

[Susan Savia]

Son was 6 months old and he slept in the stroller just fine, as we went about enjoying the parks all day long.

 

[kashmir]

I personally wouldn't take a kid less than 3-4 years old. Babies can't do anything, nor will they remember anything. To me bringing a baby on vacation is a waste of money. Save up the first 3 years or so when the child is an infant and then go on a nice trip when everyone in the party can enjoy it and say "I remember..." :wave:

This is the final child and the other children might be ready now. As long as the parents don't mind that the baby will remember nothing, and they are ready to accommodate the baby's schedule...the trip should be fine.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

i have two children who are 5 years apart so i understand the desire to take the older child/children even when you have one so young but as a nurse practitioner i have to ask you WHY you would want to subject you newborn to the risks involved with being in the heat/humidity and potential for infection with the crowds plus you've just delivered a baby... give yourself a break and maybe leave the new baby with grandma and spend some special time with the older children, especially when it's a quick trip. the newborn would basically be like taking along an extra 8 pounds to carry just for the sake of carrying him/her...they won't have a clue if you don't take him/her. i know there's no right or wrong answer but it's just something to consider. good luck no matter which way you go... after all can you REALLY go wrong when you're talking about a disney trip?

 

[matt_taylor1985]

I personally wouldn't take a kid less than 3-4 years old. Babies can't do anything, nor will they remember anything. To me bringing a baby on vacation is a waste of money. Save up the first 3 years or so when the child is an infant and then go on a nice trip when everyone in the party can enjoy it and say "I remember..." :wave:

I would strongly disagree with this. We first took our daughter who was 14 months at the time - she recognised the characters and got excited when she saw them

We just took her last month, and she's still not even two yet. She remembers things like 'epcot ball' and Figment, and the Castle and the 'big hat'. But I guess it depends on what you class as a baby. I wouldn't class her as a baby, but she's not even two years old yet. Just because they can't have full blown conversations doesn't mean they don't remember.

As a parent I think you'll know when the right time is.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

but a 14 month old can walk, talk, watch disney tv/movies, and interact/experience their environment so i can see taking them at that age (especially with them getting in free as an extra bonus) but a 4-6 week old infant doesn't and i think the original person posting was considering taking a newborn that age.

on top of that the immune system of a one month old is nil... just think of what they could be exposed to. when my daughter competed at the wide world of sports allstar cheerleading worlds competition in april 09 there was an outbreak of h1n1 among some of the teams and i can tell you the minute those kids weren't practicing or competing they were in the parks. so you just never know, why take that kind of risk with a newborn? :shrug:

 

[javs4evas1298]

I don't think a child is ever too young. Whenever the parents are most comfortable taking their children is the best time in my opinion. The child may not remember but if your baby smiles at one of the characters or something you as the parent will remember and it could end up being one of your most fondest memories. And to comment on why you would expose a baby to the risk of sickness, you are risking that as soon as you take the baby home from the hospital. You can't put your life on hold because you have a child. Life is too short for that.

 

[matt_taylor1985]

but a 14 month old can walk, talk, watch disney tv/movies, and interact/experience their environment so i can see taking them at that age (especially with them getting in free as an extra bonus) but a 4-6 week old infant doesn't and i think the original person posting was considering taking a newborn that age.

I appreciate that - I was responding to the fact that I didn't feel that you would necessarily need to wait till they're 3 or 4. We certainly wouldn't take her when she was a newborn, however each parent's different.

 

[magicmaya]

You're never too young to go to a disney park. :wave:

 

[Tommye1078]

I hear a lot of people say. Not to take your children to Disney until they can remember were they are. I think that's crazy.

Should I stop hugging my son since he won't remember it. Just because a child can't remember an experience doesn't mean they won't enjoy the experience and help to shape there personality.

IMOP