Disney with a 2.5 yr old versus 3.5 yr old?

[Chrispygal]

DD's first trip to Disney was at 8.5 months and we are going again in a few weeks when she'll be 19 months. DH does not go with us - we go with a good friend - but I am looking at planning a family trip including DH and am debating between next year or the year after. For those of you who have been with 2.5 and/or 3.5 year olds, is there a huge difference?

DH is not "into" Disney like I am, although he's never been. I told him he has to go once and if he doesn't like it, we will continue to go without him. If we go before she is 3 she is free, and I figure it will save us at least $500 between not having to buy her a ticket, paying for her at buffets, and being able to upgrade my 6-day pass to an annual pass. Seems like it would be the most economical time to go, unless there are some significant reasons why 3.5 is better. I'd love to hear people's thoughts/feelings on this.

Also, as a side question, has anyone ever done CRT with a toddler under 3? How does that meal work? I don't think she'd eat off my plate at all - would I have to pay $30 for her meal?

TIA!

 

[kmb584]

DD's first trip to Disney was at 8.5 months and we are going again in a few weeks when she'll be 19 months. DH does not go with us - we go with a good friend - but I am looking at planning a family trip including DH and am debating between next year or the year after. For those of you who have been with 2.5 and/or 3.5 year olds, is there a huge difference?

DH is not "into" Disney like I am, although he's never been. I told him he has to go once and if he doesn't like it, we will continue to go without him. If we go before she is 3 she is free, and I figure it will save us at least $500 between not having to buy her a ticket, paying for her at buffets, and being able to upgrade my 6-day pass to an annual pass. Seems like it would be the most economical time to go, unless there are some significant reasons why 3.5 is better. I'd love to hear people's thoughts/feelings on this.

Also, as a side question, has anyone ever done CRT with a toddler under 3? How does that meal work? I don't think she'd eat off my plate at all - would I have to pay $30 for her meal?

TIA!

I took my DD at both 2.5 and 3.5 with the only noticeable difference in her personally being that she was much more opinionated at 3.5! At 2.5 she was happy as a clam no matter what we did, what attraction she was on, etc. At 3.5 I heard a few too many "but I don't want to ride that!"'s and "but I want to go over there!"'s. I enjoyed the 2.5 trip much more.

The fact that under 3 is free was a fantastic bonus too, and by the time she required her very own AP she had been to WDW 5 times. Of course, as you mentioned, little ones of the age group aren't applicable to the DDP but that wasn't of concern to me as I utilize TiW instead of (free) DDP (much prefer a RO discount and TiW saves me 20% at TS off of food, beverages and alcohol). We did CRT once, for breakfast, prior to her turning 3 and while she wasn't given a menu she did receive a plate of french toast sticks for no charge. That was in 2011 though so I'm not sure what the policy is right now.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I have taken my son at 14 months, 2 years, 2.5, 3, and 3.5. Each trip has been wonderful, so no matter what you choose you can't go wrong.

However, I actually preferred the 3.5 year trip to the 2.5 year trip. At 3.5 my son had been potty trained for over a year, so bathrooms were a non-issue. The 2.5 trip almost exclusively revolved around trying to get him to pee in the scary park bathrooms. At 2.5 my son was still terrified of the characters. At 3 he was terrified of the characters. At 3.5 he thought the characters, in particular the furry ones, were the bees knees and we had soooooo much fun at the character meals and meeting characters in the parks. At 3.5 he was more in tune with the "story" and believed that all the characters were real and that magic was really happening during some of the attractions. At 2.5 a lot of stuff just went right over his head. As with the previous poster my son was more opinionated about things at 3.5, but I kind of liked that. I liked that he wanted to ride Tomorrowland Speedway 10 times in a row and we could indulge him by doing so. I loved that at 3.5 he was more tolerant of varying nap times, so if we weren't back in the room by 1pm sharp he didn't turn into an evil gremlin. At 3.5 he was also over 40 inches, so we were able to ride Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Dinosaur, Test Track, Soarin, Tower of Terror and Star Tours for the first time with him.

I think 3.5 year olds are more fun to be around than 2.5 year olds for an entire week (at least mine was), and that your husband would enjoy the 3.5 year old trip more. Plus your child may be tall enough to ride some of the bigger rides, and since it will be your husband's first and maybe only trip, he may enjoy getting to ride some of the headliners instead of spending all that money to ride the teacups a thousand times.

ps. I really hope he enjoys the trip and wants to go on more. My husband had never been when we got married, and now he's more hooked than me. My MIL took her first trip with us last year and she absolutely loved it too, and she doesn't like anything. So there's hope!!

 

[Gillyrose779]

Just went in September with my 2.5 and just turned 4 old boys. I think every child is different but my 4 year old def. "got it" more. He was more excited for exact rides and loved the characters. My 2.5 year old kind of just went with the flow- don't get me wrong- he loved the rides he could go on- had a look of amazement and awe.

That being said I'm trying to talk my husband into taking one more quick trip before my youngest turns 3 so he is still free too! Every age it is a new experience so I would love to take my kids every year or two if I could- Disney is SO much more fun experiencing it through your kids eyes than your own.

We also did CRT and my 2.5 year old was free- the server even let him pick off the menu and get his own desert- FREE. We went for dinner and he still got a sword and wishing star like his older brother did. My boys didn't care about the princesses but we LOVED it. I can't say for certain you will get the same service but it was really nice- best one yet even.

 

[Funfire240]

I agree that every child is different. We've been there the past 3 years - DD was 3.5, 4.5 and just over 5. We never had any problems with her. She was great on all trips with the characters and did great.

DS was a different story - he was 1.5, 2.5 and just over 3. The trip when he was 2.5 was the best. He went up to every character, was well behaved in the restaurants, loved all the rides we took him on, etc. This last trip, he develped a shyness and was scared of everything - even Dumbo and was more hyper when trying to sit in one place for meals!

We'll see how things go at 4.5 coming up...

 

[ktlm]

We took DD (now 7) for her 1st trip at age 2 yrs 10 months. There were some really big discounts the year she was 3, so we went twice that year. She has also been at age 4, 5, 6, and 7. 2 was magical. She loved everything. She was also much better behaved at WDW than she was at home. It was a great trip. Both 3 year old trips were great too. She was a high maintenance pre-schooler, but she was pretty happy and easygoing at WDW. I can only remember 3 melt-downs. 1. Our first day on her 1st trip when we made her leave MK for an afternoon nap break. That was a huge mistake- angry toddler who refused to nap for 2-3 hours until we finally gave up and went back to MK and she almost immediately happily climbed into her stroller and went to sleep. After that it was parks from open to close and stroller naps for her-problem solved. 2. I can't remember if she was 2 or 3, but we made her quit riding Barnstormer after 14 times in a row (There was no line they were just letting us stay on and go round and round- I gave up after 11, but DH held out for 14 ) and leave MVMCP at 11:30 p.m. to go to bed. She did not want to leave that ride and it was not pretty. 3. Her first 3 year old trip, she had a melt down on the boat to WL on our last day when she realized we were on our way to get to Magical Express and fly home (can't blame the kid for that one. ). It think it was was actually age 5 that she was the biggest pain (may have been 4, but I'm pretty sure it was 5). That year she was really opinionated about where to go and when, was whiny and complained a lot, and also was suddenly scared of a bunch of rides she had ridden and loved in the years before and never had any kind of problem with. 6 and 7, she was back to being easy, but it isn't the same as the preschool years when everything is totally real and magical to them. By age 5 or 6, they start to realize (or get told by their friends at school), that it isn't all "real". I wouldn't give up those preschool trips for anything. I wouldn't hesitate to take a child before they turn 3, to get in on them being free. I'd probably do it as close to reaching age 3 as you can with your schedule.

 

[lnuss1988]

I am planning our first family WDW trip for Sept 2015. My DD will be 4 years 2 months. We were going to go this past April and she only would've been 1 year 9 months. I am glad we decided to wait until my DD is older. I would've loved to get everything for free for her, but when we go in Sept 2015 she will be old enough to know what everything is and hopefully not be shy towards the characters. Even though i'll have to pay for her now, I'm glad we are waiting till she is older.

 

[Chrispygal]

These are all great comments, thank you!

In all likelihood I will go when she is 2.5 with or without DH (because I love it and have a friend with DVC ownership who wants to do a girl trip with us every year).

Sounds like I really can't lose either way, but maybe having DD be able to ride more rides with DH and potentially believe in the magic more, might be better. Hmmm....maybe I will let DH decide on which he prefers.

Keep the opinions coming though, because there is a chance we might still all go around 2.5. A lot depends on my DVC friend and what points she has and when.

 

[bellasmommy0]

Took daughter for her 3rd birthday.....best trip ever!! She was completely engulfed in the magic. Would never give that trip up for the world. We went again at 5 and 6 and they were great..but the first time was SO MAGICAL. We ended up taking other trips for a while but are planning to go back next year for her 12th.....that should be fun a sassy preteen....but she is begging to go back.