6 years old - too OLD for Disney World?!

[MrsCies]

My daughter is 6 years old and in the first grade. She is VERY excited about our upcoming trip to DW! She was excitedly telling friends in her class that she is going, one of the girls said, "disney world? Aren't you too old for that? It's so babyish." Excuse me? She IS my baby. Then other classmates told her that we were probably only going for my younger daughter who is 3 years old. I plan to try my hardest to keep her from growing up too fast. She loves the princesses, classic characters, rides and most the big cheese himself. Now she is a little self conscious about pictures with all of them - I told her that her mama is 30 years and even MORE excited than mist little kids to go and there is no age limit on imagination. Some kids are just turds...

 

[Sparkly]

Too old at 6? Not likely.

 

[momtoltl74]

You tell her that my kids, who are 11, 8 and 7. Love love love going to Disney world and love getting their pictures taken with the Characters. We are even going to Hollywood and Vine so they can meet Sophia and Jake our next trip.

That said you are never to old for Disney and I hope she holds on to the magic as long as she can. Kids are growing up way to fast these days.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Uh yeah, tell that to my 10 and 7 year olds and all of their friends who begs us to bring them with us every year.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

My 7 year old (soon to be 8 ) loves disney! Whenever we start planning a new vacation we always ask him where he wants to go and he always answers disney lol. I don't think u could ever be too old for disney. Some kids are just mean to say that to her.

 

[WantToGoNow]

My 10, 13 and 30 year old kids love WDW... So does their momma. And next year my first grand baby will go on his/her/their first trip at just 4 months old.

 

[MSLRAC]

I wonder if the classmates saying it's babyish have ever been? I'm thinking they've asked their parents to go and their parents have blown them off saying they won't like it because it's for little kids.

 

[lam0037]

I wonder if the classmates saying it's babyish have ever been? I'm thinking they've asked their parents to go and their parents have blown them off saying they won't like it because it's for little kids.

Agreed. They probably are jealous or disappointed because your daughter is going and they can't/haven't been able to.

I'm 21 and I'm so excited for my December trip and to meet all the characters. And honestly, most of my college friends are either jealous or have gone themselves recently.

I had a similar thing happen when I was about 12/13. I still loved disney but was worried what my friends would think. However, when I got there I still met all the characters and had a blast and didn't hold myself back because of my friends/classmates.

 

[DisneyObsessed87]

I wonder if the classmates saying it's babyish have ever been? I'm thinking they've asked their parents to go and their parents have blown them off saying they won't like it because it's for little kids.

This. More than likely these kids have never been to Disney World. My son until recently could not believe there are kids who never get to go.

My DS and best friend's DS (8 & 9) have been saying they want to go back to Disney for the last 2 years! (We are surprising them in November.) IMO, 6 is a great age to go. We last went a week before he was 6. It was an amazing trip!

I hope you and your DD have a great time.

 

[Hisgirl]

That sounds like a child who knows nothing about disney and if had a chance to go, would love it, but hasn't or can't so must bring it down. If she/he can't go, then it must not be good.

So very sad. I hope your daughter wasn't discouraged. I don't think there's every an age when fun stops being fun!

 

[Airship Ariadne]

Shes the perfect age for it...if anything I think if she was much younger she wouldn't get as much out of it...so many rides she can do that toddlers wouldn't.

 

[puffkin]

I wonder if the classmates saying it's babyish have ever been? I'm thinking they've asked their parents to go and their parents have blown them off saying they won't like it because it's for little kids.

Definitely this. We go 2x year (sometimes more) so my DS8 has been there about 20 times. We live in the Northeast so its a pretty far trip for most of these kids. I think last year in 2nd grade only 2 other kids in his class had ever been there. Most kids we know might go once in their childhood. We just make it a priority for us.

Knowing this and knowing how kids are, we have had from Day 1 of school a no character policy. Nothing on shirts, backpacks, folders, etc. He can wear it at home, not to school. When we go, we also never tell him in advance. That way he isn't talking about it at school. When we get back, he is told not to make a big deal about it because other kids will be jealous. He gets all that and does a pretty good job of it. We haven't had issues, but we also don't go out of our way at school to broadcast Disney. Its just our personal preference on how to handle this situation. Kids can be cruel and petty and jealous. We just like to limit the ammo.

 

[mjkacmom]

Definitely this. We go 2x year (sometimes more) so my DS8 has been there about 20 times. We live in the Northeast so its a pretty far trip for most of these kids. I think last year in 2nd grade only 2 other kids in his class had ever been there. Most kids we know might go once in their childhood. We just make it a priority for us.

Knowing this and knowing how kids are, we have had from Day 1 of school a no character policy. Nothing on shirts, backpacks, folders, etc. He can wear it at home, not to school. When we go, we also never tell him in advance. That way he isn't talking about it at school. When we get back, he is told not to make a big deal about it because other kids will be jealous. He gets all that and does a pretty good job of it. We haven't had issues, but we also don't go out of our way at school to broadcast Disney. Its just our personal preference on how to handle this situation. Kids can be cruel and petty and jealous. We just like to limit the ammo.

Honestly, I don't think other kids really care how often others go to WDW. Unless you grow up in a family of Disney freaks, it's just a vacation. When my kids were little, a promise of a WDW trip would generate the same level if excitement as a trip to Six Flags.

I don't think the child was jealous - probably just wanted to get in a dig.

 

[Frozen2014]

Totally ridiculous comment by children that have no idea. Kids can be so mean and find anything to put someone else down or make them feel bad.

We are coming for the first time with our DD5 and DS9 year old. We didn't want to wait much longer as we wanted to capture our daughter's princess stage. But I'd say that there are some rides that she'll probably skip with her age and our DS may get more out of the rides. But having said that, i know a lot of adults come without kids.

Your daughter and the rest of you will have a totally amazing time and memories to keep forever.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Consider the source. It's a random comment from a 6-year old who's probably never even been to WDW. Some kids just enjoy making comments like that. If your DD said she was going to Vegas, the other kid would probably, "Why? It's for babies!"

I have 16 and 19 year old boys who cannot wait for their next trip to Disneyland in December. They went to WDW last year and loved it!

 

[Stephaniesue]

My kids are 11 (DD) and 9 (DS). DD can not wait to get to DW to meet Merida! Me either, we are doing that first off at MK. This was her only request the entire trip, to meet Merida.

DS can't wait for Chef Mickeys to see all his favorites. They were 8 and 6 the first time we went to WDW, and they haven't stopped talking about it since.

You guys will have a great trip, let DD bring some pictures back with her. Those kids will be changing their tunes then!

 

[MaleficentEvilSister]

I went for the VERY first time last year. (May 2013) My husband has been once when he was 16. We LOVED it so much and our son (his first trip at 12) loved it just as much. We came home and bought a DVC contract. We went this past January on an "adults only" trip with friends of ours that are just as Disney crazy as we are. We are headed back in 28 more days for another trip!

Disney isn't for a specific age, it is for anyone who believes and feels the magic.

 

[scoutie]

Aw! How disappointing for your little one. Kids can be really clueless and mean. It sounds like the kid is either clueless or jealous.

My 7 year old daughter went with us in August and was proud to list all of the "scary" rides she went on. Which in my opinion WERE scary (you couldn't pay me to go on Space Mountain). 6 is prime princess/magical age!

 

[nugov2]

Definitely this. We go 2x year (sometimes more) so my DS8 has been there about 20 times. We live in the Northeast so its a pretty far trip for most of these kids. I think last year in 2nd grade only 2 other kids in his class had ever been there. Most kids we know might go once in their childhood. We just make it a priority for us.

Knowing this and knowing how kids are, we have had from Day 1 of school a no character policy. Nothing on shirts, backpacks, folders, etc. He can wear it at home, not to school. When we go, we also never tell him in advance. That way he isn't talking about it at school. When we get back, he is told not to make a big deal about it because other kids will be jealous. He gets all that and does a pretty good job of it. We haven't had issues, but we also don't go out of our way at school to broadcast Disney. Its just our personal preference on how to handle this situation. Kids can be cruel and petty and jealous. We just like to limit the ammo.

What??? This to me is making it clear to your own children that other kids should be jealous of them. Like it is a big deal you go to WDW so much, when in fact it isn't a big deal at all. Maybe only 2 kids went to WDW, but there were kids who went to Europe, Hawaii or even Seattle. There are lots of amazing places to vacation and honestly only a very small percentage would choose to go to WDW every year or multiple times a year. Lots of people choose not to go to WDW not b/c they don't have the funds, but b/c they just don't want to.

That is like me taking my kids clothes shopping and saying honey don't talk about your new clothes because other kids can't afford new clothes and they will be jealous because of all your fabulous clothes. I find it hard to believe that in reality there are that many kids who care either way how often someone goes to WDW or for that matter goes on vacation.

OP I think this child is an exception not a rule to a typical child's reaction. Some kids aren't Disney fans and this may just be one of those kids or it is just a kid who likes to bring others down. I certainly don't think it is a jealousy issue though. Like another poster said, most kids don't care if they are going to Disney vs somewhere else. They just get excited about a vacation. We went to Disney last summer and Dollywood this summer, we also have an upcoming Disney trip. The excitement level is the same for all of them. They are just happy to go somewhere as a family and have fun!

 

[puffkin]

What??? This to me is making it clear to your own children that other kids should be jealous of them. Like it is a big deal you go to WDW so much, when in fact it isn't a big deal at all. Maybe only 2 kids went to WDW, but there were kids who went to Europe, Hawaii or even Seattle. There are lots of amazing places to vacation and honestly only a very small percentage would choose to go to WDW every year or multiple times a year. Lots of people choose not to go to WDW not b/c they don't have the funds, but b/c they just don't want to.

That is like me taking my kids clothes shopping and saying honey don't talk about your new clothes because other kids can't afford new clothes and they will be jealous because of all your fabulous clothes. I find it hard to believe that in reality there are that many kids who care either way how often someone goes to WDW or for that matter goes on vacation.

OP I think this child is an exception not a rule to a typical child's reaction. Some kids aren't Disney fans and this may just be one of those kids or it is just a kid who likes to bring others down. I certainly don't think it is a jealousy issue though. Like another poster said, most kids don't care if they are going to Disney vs somewhere else. They just get excited about a vacation. We went to Disney last summer and Dollywood this summer, we also have an upcoming Disney trip. The excitement level is the same for all of them. They are just happy to go somewhere as a family and have fun!

I think you missed the point of my post entirely. And I do think this comment (bolded) is really sad and elitist. I live in a very urban school district and while we are very fortunate, many kids don't even have coats here, let alone go on any type of vacation. We are trying to teach our kids how fortunate they are. I don't think kids should be bragging about vacations, clothes, electronics, etc in school. I think being a little excited is one thing, but there are many kids that get hurt and upset that they can't have the same things. Let your kids be happy, excited, etc at home....it doesn't belong plastered all over school.