Beginning the adventures of Disney with grand children

[skorpie]

I admit to being a Disney addict. My youngest daughter, now 18, has been to Disney so many times she is a pro! She is off to college in a few weeks.

I was recently blessed with my first grand daughter and cannot wait for her to grow up. She will be my new reason to visit the World with "first time eyes." I am so excited by the prospect! Unfortunately, she is only 4 months old so I guess DH and I will have to wait a bit for her to understand her Disney surroundings!
Have many of you been blessed with grandbabies to take to WDW for the first time?

 

[FindTheMickeys]

I took my 2 grandsons the first time in 2006. The oldest was 3 and the baby was 6 months at the time. My mother and I ended up spending most of our vacation in the room while THEIR mother (my daughter) and my son spent their time at the pool. (Orlando in June was way too hot to have the baby out too long). The 3 year old is now almost 8 and the little one will be 5. I have told both of them (and their mother) that we will go back as a family when the little one is 6. That means May of 2012. They are counting down the days and in the mean time, they get to place their order for tee shirts every time I go without them. I am really looking forward to showing them the Wonderful World of Walt Disney and all it has to offer... Until then, I travel with friends and have a great time

 

[ELKHUNTER]

We just had our first Granddaugther on July 22 and we are already planning on when she can go to Disney for her first time.

 

[skelooch]

I have been blessed to take each of my 5 granddaughters on their first WDW trips. The two oldest now 12 and 14 have already been at least a dozen times, most recently 2 weeks ago and the youngest who made her first trip at 4mos, and just turned 7 has already logged 8 trips. They all love Disney, the oldest has become a real Disney expert.

I purchased DVC so that each one would have at least a one week trip to WDW until 2042.

While I enjoy a couple of solo trip a year, I really look forward to my trips with the grandkids.

 

[RobDoc]

Our oldest grandchildren have now been to WDW four times each. It is a wonderful experience to "see" WDW through the eyes of grandchildren.

At age 2-3, each of them had no hesitation to enjoy characters. At age 4, they were a bit shy around characters (Nooooo, Mommy. Nooo Piglet!), even though their younger siblings totally enjoyed the same encounters.

By age 5 all were fine with any/all character encounters and at age 8/9 everyone had a wonderful time with all attractions/characters/etc.

We have five grandchildren - aged 4 thru 9 and completely love watching them enjoy our favorite place!

Enjoy the experience. It is a wonderful time!

 

[TOMAR@SSR]

Hi,
I just had to reply to this thread, as my DH and I just came back a few weeks ago from taking our 2 grandchildren to the world for their first time !...
We have 2 Sons, both married, the older one is the daddy of our little Princess (4 years old) and our little Prince (6 months)....
Our DSs have been to the world with us from the time they were 3....wayyyyyy back in the `70`s, every year until they grew up......and to have the opportunity to see Disney through our grandchildren`s eyes for thier first trip.....was our dream since our DGD was born in 2006.
This summer our dream came true !!.. Our DDIL told us, back in Jan. that they were able to come down the last week we were in the world at the end of July ...and that`s when my planning began...
I cannot tell you guys how many times my eyes welled up with tears,
for instance..
The first time our Princess looked at the castle....omg
Her first encounter with the Princesses at the storybook dinner in Norway...
Her first BBB makeover at the castle....(She chose to be "Belle")
Her first ride on Dumbo with her grandpa....
Her first ride on Peter Pan...IASW....POTC'...Pooh....Snow White
Meeting Mickey for the first time...
DH and I had long since stopped doing Disney "Commando Style" (especially after buying into DVC back in 2003)..Our trips were becoming more relaxing and laid back...but... somehow...this year.. I found a new "Me".. finding myself plannning all kinds of character breakfasts and dinners ....the baby was a Pure Angel....even in all the heat of this past July....he was as pleasant as can be....
Sooo, to all you grandparents out there...all I can say is....."Remember the thrill of the first time you took your children ????"..........
TAKING YOUR GRANDCHILDREN ....to me....IS THAT THRILL ...MAGNIFED BY A MILLION !!!!!!
maria

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

We believe in getting our grandchildren addicted to Disney early! Ours have been going since they were babies - both to WDW and Disneyland. At 7, 6 and 4 they are completely in the Mouse's thrall. They talk about going all the time, and we plan on taking them once a year until they beg us to stop. We treasure the memories.

 

[AndriaRose]

Wanting to take my DGD to WDW was what led to buying DVC.

Her Disney addiction is probably my fault , but Disney was the only channel I would leave on the tv whenever I was babysitting. And because DD always thought I had days off just so I could babysit, she arranged her part-time work schedule to match my days off - all of them

Anyway, by age 3 she was already all about Disney. So when I discovered how affordable trips could be, I couldn't wait to take her. Been on 2 trips with her (ages 4&6) and cherish every memory and am looking so forward to making more.

My best "memories" advise - research the park's photo cd option. 1st trip we scored a meet and greet with Captain Jack (DGD was a huge Capn Jack fan, and had seen every movie out back then), we ordered the cd and loved the pics but wished we had more from that trip. Next trip I made sure we stopped at every photo op, so as to make the $$'s spent well worth it.

I also learned how to make my own photo DVD. Not a job I enjoy, but having a DVD full of memories is so worth it. I'm not a scrap-booker, but I made one of those as well.

 

[SusieBea]

We are taking our DGS to WDW for the first time next month. They arrive 4 weeks from today. He will be 23 months at the time. Staying at OKW in a GV for the first time - and I don't care whether it's been reno-ed or not; I'll just be happy for all that space. DGS's mother - our oldest daughter- and her husband are not large fans of WDW. (Where did I go wrong? ) So I'm hoping to redeem myself with DGS.

 

[Friendofpluto]

We did a family trip for our grandson's 1st birthday when he turned one in Sept 2 ys ago. He loved the characters and it was great getting his hair cut for the 1st time at the Barbershop. This year we take him and his 8 month old sis in Dec. Looking forward to seeing how she reacts to all the new things. It's so much fun!

 

[nunzia]

Well, not WDW since we are DLR people, but this is a whole new generation to show the wonders of Disney to (or...depending on your outloook...to sucker in). We had always taken the kids as often as we could, and none of them ever got Disney'ed out. Now that we have the grands..a whole new world as someone once sang. So far we have taken oldest son and his wife and 3 kids (the wife and none of the kids had ever gone..truly magical) my son admitted he got choked up watching his kids watch Fantasmic! as he had years ago, and the wife said she 'got it'. My daughter and her kids have gone with us twice, and other son and wife and stepkids and their daughter are going with us in January. We pay for the whole trip for each group once (at least). The youngest one we've taken is 18 months and in January the youngest will be 20 months. Not too young at all I say..they really have magic in their eyes and even though they won't remember I will and with scrapbooks they'll think they remember. As an added bonus, when crabby time comes you can just shuffle them off to their rooms Enjoy!

 

[tjhsr]

Our DGC had there 1st visit at 9-10 months old last Oct. We have 3 and they were born only 3 weeks apart one set of twins. They have all stayed at BLT. This past may we went to VB with all 3. This Oct. one of them will be making there third DVC trip this time too SSR. She will get to know SSR quite well over the years. She's also walking now so we are very excited about this trip

 

[CommandoDawg]

The main reason we bought DVC was so we could our daughters and their families to join us at WDW. The condos are so much nicer than a regular motel room that we can "generously" ask them to go to WDW with us instead of awkwardly begging them to let us tag along on "their" trip. Our first granddaughter went to WDW when she was 7 weeks old on a family reunion trip to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday. She went back last October when we stayed at BLT. She liked the characters, a few of the rides, the play areas and slides, the Lion's King plat at AK and loved the toddler's slide at the BLT pool. After years of rushing by the characters and children's play areas and rides like Dumbo, we enjoyed just doing the things that DGD would enjoy. We have reservations for this December to take DGD back with her new sister who will be almost 9 months old, and I am trying to complete arrangments for next June for another family reunion trip with my mother, my 3 sisters, and all of our families.

 

[CocosMeme]

We are also a 'Disney fanatic' family. We have been with our grandchildren many times and each trip has been eventful and memorable for different reasons. I would not give anything for our family memories at DisneyWorld. Just the other day I told my family that we have reserved our 1st Grand Villa trip next May for all of us together, and my grandaughter said "Wow you took me on my 1st trip to DW on my 1st birthday and now we are going again for my 10th birthday." She still has the picture of her 1st birthday picture with Minnie and her cake on her bedside table. My youngest grandson was 3 (his 1st trip)when we all went together last and he had been at DW for 3 days before we went to Magic Kingdom and he said "Now we are at Disney World" when he saw the castle! We could not convince him that Epcot and Hollywood Studios was still Disney. You have many happy memories to come!

 

[kikiq]

My grand daughter is 9 months old. She hasn't been to WDW yet, but she made her first Disney trip to Disneyland when she was 6 weeks old. Visited It's a Small World and then left. She has had her first VGC stay but I'm waiting for the first WDW trip. Tentatively it's planned for next year when she's 2 years old.

And of course, we can't wait to take her on the SSR playground.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I admit to being a Disney addict. My youngest daughter, now 18, has been to Disney so many times she is a pro! She is off to college in a few weeks.

I was recently blessed with my first grand daughter and cannot wait for her to grow up. She will be my new reason to visit the World with "first time eyes." I am so excited by the prospect! Unfortunately, she is only 4 months old so I guess DH and I will have to wait a bit for her to understand her Disney surroundings!
Have many of you been blessed with grandbabies to take to WDW for the first time?

I share your excitement. Our first granddaughter is due next month and we're already planning our trip to WDW for her first birthday (a little belated-kind of hot in September, so we'll go in October).

 

[disneydawn6]

I have two grandbabies from my two daughters boy 7 months and girl 8 months. Took the girl to Disneyland at 6 months and she loved it. Will be taking her to WDW in November for her first birthday. The boys DAD is hesitant to go or let my daughter and Grandson go. Say he wont remember. I keep telling him the it's not all for the baby. His cousin will have lots of pictures and the poor little boy will have nothing. Hoping they will come with us for Halloween party in October....

 

[wildernessDad]

Took my grand daughter, who was 2, for the first time last December. She's 3 now and is coming again with her mommy (my daughter)!

My daughter and I each have an iPhone 4 and we talk to each other using FaceTime. My grand daughter loves to talk to us. She can't wait go to go WDW. She says, "After Halloween then Disneyworld?" I say, yes, but it's still a while to go. I can't wait until December 11!