Are these ages okay? Or do we wait?

[rizzo0904]

My MIL wants to start planning a trip to Disney. My boys will be 2 years, 10 months old and 4 years, 3 months old. I think the 4 year old will be fine, but is almost 3 too young to enjoy it?

 

[Aggiegrl]

It depends on what experience you are planning on having. Do you plan on visiting WDW again in the future, or is this their big childhood trip to WDW? How well does your younger DS travel? Will he hinder experience of your 4 year old?

If this is your "big trip" to Disney, I would wait until your younger DS is around 4 to go. If you plan on going again before your children reach the 8-10 year old age, go now.

Of course, I'm taking my DS in November and he'll be 11 months at the time. He won't remember it, but I will remember his reaction to everything.

 

[jayjay13]

I think go for it. MY twins have been to WDW 4 times and they are excited to go this time with their baby brother, to show him around. He's 2 1/2 and even he get's excited when he sees Mickey Mouse on the Playhouse show that comes on the TreeHouse channel. He says, "Mom, going to see Mickey Mouse?" and I say, "Yes baby, very soon!" He lights up and does a little dance.

If this is you 1st trip to WDW - you'll be back. It's the 'magic' of that place that keeps us going back! Just take lost of pictures/videos so you can get his reactions recorded and play them for him when you get home, trust me he will not forget.

 

[Aristomommy]

Both of my children went just shy of 3 years and those were magical trips for both of them. There were some times they were a little spooked and we went at a slower pace, but it was so wonderful to see the world through their eyes. Take lots of pictures and it makes the trip fresh in their minds for a long time. I hope you have a great time!!

 

[sparty7798]

Our son had just turned 2 last March when we took him and we went for a week because of the great deal back then. He loved it and we certainly will not forget it ever. He had been a number of places before so he is a good traveler and does really well if we keep him on his schedule.

So we would go out early in the morning and then by 12, he would have his nap or sleep in the stroller, it just depended. Then we would do dinner or go back to the parks at night. We took it slow and were able to see a lot of things.

So I would certainly recommend it!

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

we went in october with our newly turned 4 year old and our almost 2.5 year old. they both had an amazing time. even now dd still talks about riding test track over and over. now that the next trip is 46 days away both are asking to go on the train at mk....i've created monsters!!! lol

best of all...seeing their faces lite up and cheer to see wishes at mk. it brought tears to my eyes to share this wonderful place with them.

 

[ms_missy66]

You're amongst a group of regulars on this board that take their kids really young. Both of my girls went at 13 months and we had a fab time. Go, expect to not get to see and do everything, plan time to rest and take your kids' lead (with regard to liking or not liking characters, liking or not liking parades or certain rides, etc) and you'll have a great time!

 

[krcit]

I think it depends on the child. I took my oldest at 2 and she had a blast meeting all the characters. In fact, that was ALL she wanted to do. We went again when mt ds was 3 1/2 and he didn't get out of the stroller once, lol. My DH pushed him around and bought him big pretzels all day while my 2 dds and I went on all the rides

 

[MACfamily4]

If this is your "big trip" to Disney, I would wait until your younger DS is around 4 to go. If you plan on going again before your children reach the 8-10 year old age, go now.

I agree that it depends on how you see this trip fitting into the bigger picture. DH and I decided early on that we would do one blowout Disney trip for our kids (neither of us had ever been to Disney World as children ourselves). We waited until they were 8 and 5. It was a PERFECT trip and we were so glad we waited. In addition to our wonderful memories, the kids remember, too. Having said that, we loved it so much that we've been back several times since then. Each of our subsequent trips have been equally wonderful and created completely different memories as the kids have gotten older.

If you think you're only going to do it once or twice, my advice is to wait and do it BIG! If you know you'll go back often, there's no reason to wait, IMO.

 

[Kat&Dom]

I have taken my son to Disney 4 times from ages 2 1/2-4 with his 5th trip planned in April at age 4 1/2. On our 4th trip since he was 40 inches, we were finally able to do Splash Mountain, Soarin', Test Track, Big Thunder Railroad and Tower of Terror (which was not the best parenting decision I have made as it totally freaked him out - he didn't make a sound on the ride but about 5 minutes after the ride when all the shock wore off - he cried and needed some cuddles). The other 3 trips were wonderful too but it was definitely nice to not be restricted as to what rides we could do.

I think that kids are happy with any vacation where they have Mom and Dad's attention focused solely on them. Disney is such a great place as it magically takes all your cares and worries away while you are there and you can just have fun. I am a single mom and find that my son always wants my attention all the time because it is just the 2 of us. At Disney, I get a break because my son's attention is focused on the characters, rides and shows so I can just enjoy being with him without feeling the constant demands. It is also a safe and relatively inexpensive vacation for us to do together.

 

[rizzo0904]

thanks everyone! i think we'll go for it and do it again when they are older.

 

[Kat&Dom]

thanks everyone! i think we'll go for it and do it again when they are older.

Great decision - you will have a magical time!

 

[vettechick99]

It's never too young to enjoy it. But if this will be your only trip, I'd wait til the youngest is 5 or 6. That way he'll likely be able to ride everything.

But if you plan on going back in a few years (which all of us do!), then it's a great time to go. Especially when they are under 3 and free!

 

[Familyof4lovesDW]

Our kids were 4 & almost 6 when we went. We all had a great time and the remember a lot about the trip. We wanted them to remember it and I said everyone had to be potty trained. I did not want to worry about them not being able to not make it to the potty and have an accident. I also wanted them both to be tall enough for the bigger rides. So potty trained AND 40 inches lol. But the bonus for you now is that you would only have to pay for one kid and not 2 since the one will not be 3 yet. So if you can go now and again b4 the 4 yr old turns 9 that would be great for you. BTW DD4 loved Tower of terror, the other people on the ride thought she was crying but she was screaming lightly with excitement and had her hands up.

 

[happymommy]

The first time we took our kids, they were the same ages (almost 4 and a bit over 2 and a half).

It was a wonderful family vacation!!!! We took it easy, the took a nap in our double stroller every day, kept a fairly early bedtime, followed their cues for needing rest, and really had a ball.

I thought it was the perfect age to go there, and we really really had fun!

 

[auralia]

my 2 year 10 month old did great (we also brought her at 2 years 5 months which was much harder than 2 years 10 months) we didn't even do naps the second time she napped in the stroller if she was tired and we took that time to do rider swaps.. this was a month ago now and she still talks about driving the car at tommorowland speedway and how the rollacoaster goes wooh and dumbo goes round and round and she asks to watch the videos of it too it's very cute and it was a great trip they are plenty old and remember if he is under 3 he is free

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

My kids were 3 (b-day trip), 9 months and 10 months on their first trips and the only regret I have is that I didn't take my oldest sooner. I loved watching my babies enjoy Disney and wish I had that with my oldest. But, we couldn't afford it and thought we'd wait till she could appreciate it, be potty trained, all that stuff. YES, 13 years later she still remembers her first trip and her sisters don't, but still, it was fun to take them as babies.

But my answer, YES, take them. They are at great ages!!!

 

[ajjollie23]

My MIL wants to start planning a trip to Disney. My boys will be 2 years, 10 months old and 4 years, 3 months old. I think the 4 year old will be fine, but is almost 3 too young to enjoy it?

You should be fine..
my oldest went 3 x before he was 2 (due to time shares and christmas gifts from my parents and in-laws) And he LOVED it. Last year we went in Sept my oldest son was 5 yr, 3 months and my youngest was just over 2. They had a blast. Almost 3 is def not too young to enjoy it. Especially Magic Kingdom where they should both be able to go on the majority of the rides.

 

[ajjollie23]

Stroller naps are the way to go !! My son (25 months at the time) NEVER took naps.. But at Disney he did a stroller nap almost every day and it worked out wonderfully for the rest of us

 

[Pumpkingirl7]

We took our 25 month old son to disney this past christmas and it was the most fun me and my husband had ever had at Disney. Seeing it through our son's eyes was priceless. He wasn't afraid of anything and by the second day he knew how to say all of the characters names. Plan a trip at any age! We are going again in January! This time we hope to be potty trained but I think it was probably much easier with him in diapers!