"but she won't remember it..."

[Jomrog]

It was our first family trip & I have to say that it was wonderful. We didn't know anything about staying onsite and ended up at a yucky offsite hotel but it didn't matter. We were hardly there.

She loved those little spraying fountains, made us ride IASW over & over again and had an absolute blast meeting the characters. The pictures are a treasure.

She remembers some of the trip now (at 7yrs). She didn't like the animatronic dino's in EPCOT & will still avoid them. She loves the spinning tea cups & has talked about them ever since. We truly did have a magical time.

We are hopefully be going back sometime between now & July 2004 & will be bringing our DS who will be 2 in Nov. I think he will love it and we plan to take tons of pictures to preserve the memory for him & us.

I agree that an infant is a lot of work but if you love to go to Disney, then go no matter what age your children are. You are entitled to have fun, too. It's not just all about the kids.

 

[grinningghost]

Our DD's first trip was at age 4. She doesn't remember it - much. She does remember her Minnie Mouse lollipop and the hotel pool. But I can say that she did have fun on the rides at the time. I think that's what really matters.

 

[carone0318]

If you have a video camera, she will remember it!

The first time that we took dd, she was 3, and she remembers so much from that trip. Besides she loves to watch herself on tv, so much that the video tape is warped. This May will be her 4th trip, she is now 6 and it is ds' 2nd trip and he was 2 in Feb.

What I tell people is what I feel is the truth. If you have young children and you want to know if you should take them to WDW, think of this. If you (adults) are Disney people and love Disney, then take your young children. If you (again parents) are not Disney people and are basically going for your children, then wait and go when they are older. We love Disney, so we go now. Some say that they will not remember, well the ones who say that do not know my children. But as for my ds who was 16 months on his 1st trip, yeah he won't remember, but there is video and a scrapbook for him to look at in the future. But, boy the smile on his face was so worth the trip. WDW to my dh and I is like a drug. The first time we took dd, we had this high. We go back every yr to have that high again and again. We are DVCers for the past 4 yrs, so we plan to go every yr for many more to come

 

[merryweather's twin]

WE go all the time and we love WDW ! Life is short (DH Dad died when he was 3 yo!) and we want to remember our family together having fun.... Even if the kids do not remember we will.....

MY family thinks we are crazy but wants to go next year!!! WE do not even tell my MIL we are going any more she is so down on the place....( you should be paying double on your morgage and investing in the stock market ) .She does not relize that this kind of thing is why DH has no memory of his Dad!He worked 2 jobs and was never home and was saving for when the kids were older....

We have been bringing our kids for years.... Our son Has PDD and ADHD and could not speak for the first 2 trips....(almost 3yo and 3-4yo and he can now describe his grandma drinking a rum pineapple at Ohannas when he was 2! WE have no pictures of this and made no mention of it (MIL had never had a drink and likes to forget she did even once).... He brought it up last week at Easter dinner! ( great kid... MY boy) He is now 7-8yo! You never know what kids will remember..... I brought our now youngest at 1-2 mo and she loved it. She will not remember but she bonded with her sibs and Dad(he usually works 15-17 hour days!) during that trip.... Nothing like a week with total attention placed on your kids... I have pictures of her with her 3 sibs in front of the castle all in Mickey ears with her first smile! I have a picture of my now 6yo DD walking (taking her first steps at about one year!) She is by Casey's on main street! WDW is a magical place for us and we go often.

AS for the person that said there was better places for very young kids.... Where??? AS a Mom of 4 soon to be 5 I have looked! I have never found any place on earth where kids are so ok!( only 6-7 rides that a 1mo cannot ride on!) NO one looks at you funny for bringing them young.....(or having 4-5 kids) They are part of your family so of corse you bring them.... My kids are too young for the Grand Canyon( its a hole in the ground and who would camp with 4 kids under 7), Washington DC ( they will not stay quiet or be respectful of the history or tours), Mexico ( I would never bring my kids to a different country before they can be good and have an interest in the tours )or even six flags ( too short) but they fit in at WDW!

I say blow the nay sayers off and have a blast!

 

[mommystieg]

Our DD was just over 2 when we went last year and she remembers lots of stuff. Take lots and lots of pictures and video. My DSIL has been saying that she is waiting to take her kids when they are old enough to enjoy it---they are 12 and 11 now WDW through the eyes of a toddler is a wonderful experience. After we got back, our little one would look at our pictures and sing "Hoop de doo, Hoop de doo" "Yo ho, Yo ho" and she always talks about seeing the castle and "Small World". They remember a lot more than people think. You never know what will happen tomorrow-go and have a magical time

 

[BevS97]

I would never bring my kids to a different country before they can speak!)

merryweather's twin, I was totally agreeing with your post until you said this - I just don't understand what you mean.
We love WDW because it is so family friendly and that's why we will be bringing our baby, but for us it is a different country. I don't think it makes any difference.

We also took our dd to Majorca, Spain when she was 7 months old, probably a similiar type of holiday to Mexico for you guys. it was ok, but not particularly fun - I wasn't concerned about it being a foreign country, but I'd rather be in WDW especially now my eldest is a bit older, we went for another beach holiday last October and we were all so bored! We won't be doing that again...

I think little babys are very little bother, and really it makes no difference where you are with them, there needs are the same, well fed, clean, comfortable, and they are happy, I'd just as soon be someplace I enjoy while i deal with those needs!

Bev

 

[Trinity721]

merriweather's twin, your stories about your MIL are funny... don't even get me started about my MIL!!!!

And about your comment about bringing your child to another country before they can speak, actually being a psychology major with a focus on child psychology I can attest that children learn any language very fast. Children can speak multiple languages, without even having an accent at that. Exposing them to different cultures and languages actually makes for higher intelligence. It also helps them learn their own language more easily. I bought my DD the Baby Einstine DVD which exposes her to something like 8 different languages. She loves it, but she can't talk yet... maybe if i keep playing it she will soon, hehe.

I believe children of all ages can enjoy WDW with their parents, and it doesn't matter if they remember it or not.

 

[Whosemom]

Gotta tell your "friends" this - when we took my oldest to wdw at 5 mo, her dr went on and on about how great it was. And what a shame people don't take the opportunities to take their babies to these types of place - so stimulating. And he's a great pediatrition (doesn't hurt he has 4 preschoolers of his own)

Not to start a whole debate, but I wonder if the difference between people who think its very bothersome (infants at wdw) vs those who don't is as simple as (gee I wish I could spel...) convey-ance devices. We used the sling (for each of three children) and lines etc were fairly fun for them. They could see faces, and everyone flirted with them - they had whole relationships going in the longer lines.

3 is good too...we were there last for two birthdays - my girls turned 6 and 3. You better believe the younger one (now 4 1/2) remembers ALOT!! Maybe even more than the rest of us.


sigh - I can't wait until December!!!!!!!

Micki

 

[Denine]

People stopped asking us "you're going to Disney again?" a long time ago. Now they ask "So when are you going again?"
Our DD is 7 months old. Her 1st trip was at 3-1/2 months, her next trip is next month. She is also going in October & December. We have a Disney cruise booked for next year. We are Disney fanatics. I can't wait to see her face when she sees Pooh again. I plan on having her picture taken with him on each trip.
She will grow up with Disney!
I have seen a lot of toddlers at WDW. They seem to be having the best time! Everything is real to them. The older the kids get, the less real the characters are. They are just interested in the rides. It is all fine, just different. We want to experience it all with our daughter.
Disney is also very easy with babies!

 

[merryweather's twin]

Bevs97
I re- read what I said and I did not mean that the way it sounded....Please do not take offence... I only meantin a different country I would want to visit museums and famous places and very young kids (kids under one who could not speak) would have a boring time... It would also be a one time trip for us becouse of 4 soon to be 5 kids.
I guess I would bring them to a different country before they could speak if DH and I wanted to visit it. I think kids should be exposed to new things.. I would love to go to Disney Japan...

I guess for me on any vac the kids have to have something to do..... Four bored kids does not a fun time make... I think anyplace disney would be young child friendly no matter where it is...

I also think it is great that you choose to come to WDW for your vac time! I choose it time and time agian over all other options and I would if I lived anywhere else also!

When I said Mexico I was thinking of a educational visit to Mexico to see relics and fosils and for that I think they would like it more if they were older.... Or I would enjoy it more if they were older.....HAHA
P.S. I have edited my first post!

 

[KSDisneyDad]

I don't understand the under one argument either.

We took our 9 month old DS last December and he loved it. On the second night, we went to MVMCP and put him in a little Santa outfit including a santa hat. He was the hit of the party. Everyone just loved how cute he was whether we were carrying him, he was in the stroller, waiting in line, etc. He loved the rides as he really responds well to music. His favorites seemed to be Pooh, IASW and Peter Pan. He enjoyed Dumbo, but the highlight of the evening was the Christmas Parade. The character interaction with the little "Santa" was great.

We were at WDW for 9 days and it was the rainiest weather we had ever had on a WDW trip. We were wearing our ponchos for long stretches at a time, but our little one never gave us any problem. As long as he was with Mom & Dad (and his older two DB's) he was happy. There wasn't a whole lot we couldn't do because of him, and the baby swap made it very easy (the older kids loved Baby Swap as they usually ended up riding twice in a row!)

I can't think of any other place I would rather travel to with our little ones (except maybe DL, DLP, TDL...)

 

[Bella2000]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but that doesn't mean we have to listen to them. Our daughter remembers her Disney trips and still discusses them daily and she just turned 3. Her first trip was 23 months and last was at 30 months. I read a similar post about this yesterday and asked her whether she was too young to go to Disney. She looked at me with this look of what are you nuts?! "Nooo, I like Disney World..and Epcot and MGM but not Rock 'N Rollercoaster..people scream on Rock N Rollercoaster!" No, we did not take her on RNR before you freak out she would not have made the ride requirement LOL, a family member was recounting what happened when they rode it to the family and she always mentions it now when we discuss MGM.

 

[BevS97]

I only meantin a different country I would want to visit museums and famous places and very young kids (kids under one who could not speak) would have a boring time...

Now that I agree with - I would love to go to Italy, it's relatively close to here and we could get there, but my dd would hate it. All that walking around looking at old buildings etc, she's pretty good, but her boredom threshold would be shot within the first hour! We will save that until she's much older (or we finally get to vacation on our own when she is grown up!)

What I really love about WDW is that we all enjoy it - my dd thinks it's great and so do we - there are not many places that can entertain both age groups so successfully.

Bev

 

[Baloo]

Whew y'all scared me for a second but I'm glad MWT straigthened out what she meant!

I did understand what she said about taking them to another country as a baby.I was thinking the same thing ,the stuff I'd like to see would bore them to death when they were baby/toddlers.

WDW is just so Kid Friendly.You know everyone is going to have a good time.You can dress up to dine if you like or go in with a days worth of park dirt on you and it's okay!! NOBODY seems out of place! I LOVE to travel but I know at WDW my family and I are going to find good, quality entertainment etc. LOTS of BANG for our buck!!

there are not many places that can entertain both age groups so successfully.

And Bev I TOTALLY agree with this!!!

 

[megnsamsgrace]

my kids were 5, 3 and 1 at the time and the older 2 remember so much of it! They remember descriptions of the rides and even food they ate! Now that we are planning trip #2 for this October (they will be 6, 4, 2 and a newborn) all these things they remember are coming out! I definitely think kids at 3 will remember it. My youngest (who was 13m when we went) will look at pictures and get so excited. She had a ball with all the characters and I think in a sense she remembers some of it... when the pictures come out she seems like she does! Steph

I forgot... one of the BIGGEST things my daughter remembers is Cinderellas party at the castle, the neat afternoon show... she remembers the whole story to it... and which characters were there!

 

[rejobako]

Who cares if my daughter won't remember it. I'll remember it fondly, and after all, it's all about me.

 

[JetMom]

I waited until my DS's were 3 before taking them, but it was for my own selfish reasons.

I didn't want to take them as babies because I didn't want to be encumbered with bottles, babyfood, pacifiers, etc.

I also didn't want to have to carry or hold a baby through every ride and show. I know how tiring that can be.

Even waiting until they were 3, I still got the looks and comments from people. Including several family members.

We just shrugged our shoulders and went on planning.

 

[mbw12]

Originally posted by BKoenecke
Hi--
Notwithstanding that I don't concede that as true at all, would anyone skip those first few Christmases or those Easter dresses or those birthday parties, because "she won't remember it." QUOTE]

OMG...THANK YOU for the greatest reply to that "idiotic" question!!!!! I get asked that ALL the time! My son is 5 years old, and has been to Disney World 6 times. My daughter is 3 and has been there 5 times. Maybe they won't remember some of the trips....but my DH and I DO!!!!!
We remember when my daughter was 6 months old, being held by Minnie Mouse and Cinderella. WE remember during the Tarzan Rocks show, Turk coming up to my son (who was 3 at the time) and just holding his hand from the stage. we remember all of those beautiful precious details!!!!! Go and enjoy watching your daughter enjoy her magical experience....while you enjoy it and have tears come to your eyes, seeing it through her eyes!!!

Now, if anyone can give me a good response to the question, "Why go there....go somewhere else....blah blah blah"....PLEASE send it to me! I am not very quick witted and can never think of a quick response!

 

[honeymom]

When I was barely 3 we went to the World's Fair which was near where we lived.

I to this day remember my experience at "It's a Small World" which I think debuted at the fair. It was magical!!!

Have a great time!!!

 

[Baloo]

honeymom you lucky little kid!
That is where SW debuted...what an AWESOME memory to have!