18 month old too young??

[ilovepooh]

Thanks for the advice. We're planning on going next summer when DS will be about 22 months. I'm hoping we have the same positive experience as others do. I am already planning to try to keep him on his schedule as best I can.

 

[ZachnElli]

We are taking our youngest next month at 17 months! We took our older 2 for the first time when they were 4 1/2 and 1 (they are now 11 and 7). My 1 year old LOVED WDW! She climbed into the stroller every morning herself! She loved the characters at this age also, not so much on the next trip though when she was 2 1/2! I hate it when people make blanket statements about waiting until kids are a certain age. Some of us have kids that are far apart in age and it just doesn't work to wait until the youngest is a certain age! My oldest and youngest are 10 years apart and yes I would have liked my kids closer in age, but things don't always happen as you plan them! Ok, mini-vent over!

 

[DisFam95]

an 18 mos old isn't going to care about or even remember a trip to Disneyworld.

I have taken kids that age to WDW and they were pretty much oblivious to the experience. A trip at that age is more for the parents than the kids,

My 17mo old was not oblivious at all. He knew what was going on because we planned for it and explained things before hand. he knew the castle when we hit Main Street. He loved all the experiences that were new to him. he knew the character by name. Could we have gotten the same reaction from the local zoo or somehting? probably so...but he was hardly oblivious. He had a blast and remembered it for month afterwards (before the scrapbook was done so I know it was his memory and not just looking at pics). He still loves to look at all his Disney trip albums.

It depends on the child like everyhting else. Just know it won't be like a child-free trip.

 

[mrstomrice]

We went in April with our 22 mo ds. It was his first trip and we all loved it. He still talks about it nearly 3 times a week! My advice is to get to the parks at opening...your child is most likely awake anyway, right? We were able to get through all of fantasyland without a wait at all during a very busy spring break week. Also, since MM CLubhouse wasn't on yet, I felt as if he didn't know the disney classic characters too well, so I bought some dvd's for him to become familiar with them. We got his haircut with all of the fixings at the barbershop...that was great! We also chose not to book any meals, so we weren't tied to a schedule while there. We found that Epcot was too advanced for him and we wish we had spent that day in a different park. We were happy to have our own stroller since the rentals are not very comfy in the MK (hard plastic). We also packed lots of little snacks for the day to avoid buying them in the parks.
HAve a great time....you won't regret it for a minute!

 

[all4fun]

We took out ds to WDW at 13, 17, 20, and 23mos and I also would hazzard to say he "remembers" and he certainly was not "oblivious" to what was going on around him. Will he remember them 10yrs from now? Probably not but I won't remember many details by then either I bet. He also was NOT terrified of the characters at all. He loves them. If anything we try to avoid them if there are long lines because at those ages (especially when he was fully into toddlerhood) he did not understand the concept of standing on line and we would have to deal with melt downs because he didn't want to wait his turn to visit with Mickey Mouse (or whoever, he loves them all). Some kiddo's are scared of the characters, but certainly not all.

I personally thought that our 2nd trip at 17mos was even better than the first. At that age ds (who was a preemie so was more like 14-1/2 mos developmentally speaking) really interacted very well with the characters and enjoyed all the rides. He's a bit of a daredevil though. POTC has never scared him. He was a bit clingy on Haunted Mansion but most often it was the Doom Buggies that would lull him to sleep (great "afternoon nap" ride, lol). One thing I do remember was dealing with meltdowns because he didn't want to exit the rides and didn't understand why we had too! We were fortunate that he would nap in his stroller, often for 2+hours so we just used that time to use baby swap and go on the attractions he was too small for.

 

[new mom11]

Took DS for first time at 18mos-he had a ball. He remebers his second trip at 2 1/2 but not the first. I second the advice about trying to stick to his regular schedule and keep things as normal as possible. My two DS are used to getting up at 6 am every day, so it worked out well. We hit the parks early, came "home" for his regular nap, and played the evenings by ear. Be sure to pack a bag w/sippies/snacks/etc, also items for waiting in line (ie bubbles). Little ones find their own magical moments and you just work with it. For us, one was getting off the boat at MGM. Usually we'd be rushing to get to the gate. NOT.... my DS saw the ducks and the rest was history. We were there for quite some time watching/feeding the ducks. It was really great. Also, in AK he loved the petting zoo - something we never would have done sans kids.
Something else to think about......we splurged and stayed at BCV. It was so convenient having a separate bedroom, so he could take his nap. Also, at night we were able to stay up later after he went to bed. Having the kitchen/fridge was a lifesaver. We ate breakfast in the room some days, or at least gave him something to hold him over. (Unfortunately, we can't afford it this time around for DS 2 's first trip). Though, I love the POP!! Have a wonderful trip........