At what age did your kids start to lose the magic?

[Happyinwonerland]

Don't get me wrong, even now at age 30, Wdw has some magic to it. But when did your kids stop believing in the characters, stop getting that little thrill, start asking to do more grown up parks?

Ours is still little (2) but I'm already dreading the day she doesn't get excited about disney. Right now, when a movie comes one, she screams "Look, fireworks, and Cinderella ' s castle, and Disney world!" And its just such pure joy and enthusiasm.

How many years of that pure joy do we have left ?

 

[Mousemommy1]

Our 10 and 8 year olds still get excited for our annual trip. They randomly say "Let's go to Disney now!!".

I went as a child and have never outgrown it, even having several adult trips with DH prior to having kids. We now have a baby boy who will have his first trip in April, so we anticipate many more happy Disney years!

 

[leahlefler]

My kids are 7 and 9 and still love it. I don't think they ever "lose" the magic - the experience just changes a little as they get older. My kids know the characters are people in costumes. They still get a kick out of seeing them. This is their first trip to Disney World, but they've been to Disneyland several times.

When they were little, they enjoyed things like the playgrounds and the Tiki Room. Now they love the rides and are amazed at the special effects (my 7 y.o. is obsessed with the Haunted Mansion effects). They like planning which rides we'll go on, and get excited about the countdown before we go on a trip. Their interests have developed with their age, so my 9 y.o. loves building/engineering and can't wait to ride things like Test Track and Sum of all Thrills. My 7 y.o. loves "scary" things and is dying to ride Tower of Terror and the Haunted Mansion. It is fun to watch their experience change with time.

They may or may not be as interested in Disney when they get older. We don't get to go every year (we live in Western NY and usually fly to California to visit family, but are going to Florida this year). They certainly look forward to the years when we DO get to go!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

As far as characters are concerned, my son just turned five on our last trip in January and still hasn't put it all together that the characters are just people in suits. He also still believes in Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny. I think by next year though he will have it all figured out. We are enjoying it while it lasts. It's lots of fun.

I had a coworker whose 8 year old finally realized the princesses weren't real and had a major breakdown. He arrived home to his daughter and his wife crying in bed with the daughter saying "but if the princesses weren't real then I was just talking to strangers!". I was shocked that at 8 she still thought they were real!

 

[Thing 1]

My boys are 8 and 22. Neither ever believed the characters were real, even as very young children. I remember the youngest asking who was in that costume, where the zipper was, and how that person in there could breath. They however LOVED the characters. We did tons of the character meals.Every trip is different and they had and have different favorites each age level but that magic has not gone away. My oldest is still a huge WDW fan and would choose a trip there over almost anywhere else. Just enjoy each trip for what it is and the magic will take care of its self.

 

[powellrj]

My kids lost it around 15. Oldest ds never has gotten it back, middle ds got it back in college and dd has become a huge universal fan. So much that she has a season pass and we live in Indiana!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

It was already gone for me when we went to Disneyland - I was 10. I didn't get it back until I took my own kids.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

I have two girls, now 18 & 15, and they still love it. They knew about the characters at about 4 or 5, but still like seeing them. We went to a character breakfast when we went in Dec. The magic never dies for us.

They enjoy Universal as well. They have been to SeaWorld too, but don't ask to return. We have also taken them on other vacations (DL, Las Vegas, National Parks, cruises, etc.) but they still love WDW.

 

[msmama]

My son was about 3 when he told me that the characters were people in costumes, but to him, the dude in that Mickey suit is still the REAL Mickey. And that Cinderella is THE Cinderella, even if she's just someone girl dressed up.

My son is a very logical realist so Disney has never really been about Magic for us because he's always known that everything is pretend. That said, we still talk about "disney Magic" but it's not magic, it's very creative people doing amazing feats of engineering.

 

[stormer]

My boys are 13 and 10 and Disney is still magical for them. They love the atmosphere of Disney and I don't think that will ever change for them (DH is a big kid and they see how magical it is still is for dad). They love Universal, Hershey Park, and Six Flags for the thrill rides, but that hasn't affected their love if Disney. They love the whole experience of Disney.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

When I think of magic, to me that's the kids really, truly believing--not just loving and/or enjoying Disney, but really believing that what's at Disney is magic come to life. For our oldest (who is now 8), I saw a significant difference in her on our last trip in December. She still really, really enjoys it, but it was less about the characters and more about the rides for her. To me, the characters exemplify the magic...once the kids see the reality of what's going on with them, I really think that's when the full magic fades. Not that there isn't excitement about everything Disney...but once you see that real, honest belief gone, it's a little sad, from a Mom's point of view. And for us that happened at 8. My 5 year old still loses. his. mind when he sees a character, but the 8 year old? You can just see that something changed with her. **weep**

 

[Our 2 Princesses]

Our girls are 15 and 19 and still love the princesses!!

 

[Pesky]

My kids are 7 and 5 now and already have "lost the magic" in terms of knowing the characters aren't real. Doesn't mean they don't love meeting the characters and interacting with them though! Just that they might enjoy villains and Jack Sparrow more than Daisy Duck. I think the magic just evolves. You enjoy different things at different ages. And yes, there are kids who grow out of or even never had an appreciation for Disney magic and prefer other things. That's just luck of the draw there.

 

[growinupdisney]

My son will be 18 next Monday and he still loves Disney, we are going in June for SWW because that's what he wanted for a graduation present! My dd20 goes to Disney for her college spring breaks so, they still haven't grown out of the magic and neither has their Mommy!

 

[Minnesota!]

My kids have never believed in the characters being real. But, they still get a thrill out of WDW. Even after 10+ trips.

We are doing Uni for the first time in August so it will be interesting to see how they like them in comparison!

 

[verleniahall]

Im 27 and haven't los the magic. I think its all in how you look at it and raise them to view it

 

[chris31997]

17 & 9, they both are going to work for Disney

Well, the our 17 DD for sure, she has been tracking that for about 5 yrs. DS just decided he wanted to. We shall see

 

[Alexle2007]

We did Disney and Universal with DS7 this past fall, while he enjoyed WDW, he much preferred Universal. I guess it helped that we stayed onsite and got their version of FastPass to expedite the rides plus he enjoys the thrill rides. RnR is his favorite at WDW.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

None of my kids have outgrown the magic! My 13 year old still gets as excited about Disney as he did when he was 4! I'm hoping they never outgrow the desire to go to Disney. =D

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

I still scream "FIREWORKS" whenever I see them at Disney. I don't think you ever really lose the magic, I think it just changes overtime. I know the princesses and the characters aren't real, but that still won't deter me from waiting in line to see them and excitedly jumping around with Goofy or pretending to shoot Zurg with Buzz. Granted I absolutely refuse to step foot on It's a Small World but a Disney trip isn't complete without a ride on Dumbo, and nothing beats the nostalgia of Peter Pan's Flight. I was excited getting to hold the candelabra at Be Out Guest when we ate there for dinner. I wore Mickey Ears the entire trip. So while the childhood innocence might not be present as your kids grow older, you never lose that inherent Disney magic.