Does anyone else get asked why you would bring a toddler or younger to DW?

[Honeybee83]

We have twin girls that just turned 4. They probably will not remember any of it, but I am going to remember their faces when they see the castle or Cinderella for the first time. Priceless. BTW, we are 30 days away from that moment and I think I have been planning this for the last 4 years and nine months. This dad is going to have a hard time keeping his eyes dry.

You made me tear up too! So excited for y'all! Don't miss getting pics of their sweet little faces the first time they see the castle!! Btw, you can get princess dresses off of craigslist, ebay, and even garage sales! I got a complete jasmine outfit for my little girl, shoes, wand, outfit, everything for $10 at a garage sale! Your twins will love it!

 

[Chabby]

I have DD7 and DS2 we are going in 2 weeks for the second time. Both times people have asked me if I'm taking DS

Someone else told me that it was useless to take young children because they will forget. So I told him that I will bring them to WDW as often as I can so they remember

 

[Honeybee83]

I priced up a trip, mid-October for seven days, six nights for two adults, a 13 year old, a 6 year old, and an infant (which is free), with 7 day tickets with Park Hopper, at the Boardwalk, with the regular dining plan. Absolutely no discounts.

$5600

Not even $6000 and you made the claim that was average for the DIS, which is more likely to use discounts (I didn't in the example). Take away the dining (go during free dining, probably their most popular discount) and it cuts the price by over $1000. Simply make the switch to a moderate resort and the price drops even further to $2800.

The trip that I priced out will be $1750 if DW offers the free dining during our stay. We're going for 9 days which will include a 9 day value resort stay, 9 days of two adult tickets with park hopper, and the food would be included under the dining plan. My husband is an airline pilot so our flight is free. 9 days of DW as a family and it's UNDER $2,000! Unless you're staying for a week with a family of 5 and planning to go to the parks every day, while staying at the Grand Floridian, I just don't get how you can spend $6,000 on average....

 

[Disneylifeforme]

Yea and I don't care!

 

[jesster]

I didn't read the other responses, so I apologize if I'm redundant

But I 100 percent agree with you: YOU will remember it! We took our first DS when he was about that age and it was a trip my DH and I will never forget. I swear, seeing the excitement in our little guy over his first Disney parade nearly brought my DH to tears, and he's not an emotional guy, lol. It was truly a magical moment, and DH still talks about it!

Also, our younger DSs were just babykins and have no recollection of their first Disney trips - but I have *adorable* pictures and memories, and we all had a SUPER fun time as a family! So for us? Totally worth it!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

The trip that I priced out will be $1750 if DW offers the free dining during our stay. We're going for 9 days which will include a 9 day value resort stay, 9 days of two adult tickets with park hopper, and the food would be included under the dining plan. My husband is an airline pilot so our flight is free. 9 days of DW as a family and it's UNDER $2,000! Unless you're staying for a week with a family of 5 and planning to go to the parks every day, while staying at the Grand Floridian, I just don't get how you can spend $6,000 on average....

Um, a family of 5 could easily spend $2,000 on travel alone.

 

[Honeybee83]

Um, a family of 5 could easily spend $2,000 on travel alone.

I would think if a family was going to be that tight on funds they could drive from most places to save. My point in posting this thread is not so much to say you SHOULD be taking your toddler to Disney, but rather don't question why I would want to take mine. People can be too strongly opinionated about things at times and it can rain on someone else's parade. Just say have a great time instead.

 

[sk8ingmomma08]

Yes! all the time. We took our oldest on a Disney Cruise at 2 and now our girls are 20 months and 4 and we are going to Disney World in 2 weeks. people acted like I was crazy cruising with a 2 year old and now taking an almost 2 year old to WDW. Its not just for them! I wouldn't change a thing about the cruise and even though our DD doesn't remember much of it, we have amazing pictures and my hubby and I have wonderful memories!

 

[jesster]

I'm not trying to be snarky in any way, but for those who don't see how a family of 5 can spend $6k I can show you how easy it is! I just priced it out, assuming our family was trying to plan the most inexpensive trip we could, and the numbers don't lie.

Here's a breakdown (for reference our kids are currently 8, 6 and 3, and we live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area):

- airfare $1,800
- moderate resort $1,544
- park tickets $1,478

.... we are EASILY almost to $5K without including taxes, food or souvenirs! (and we were being a bit skimpy with some of the pricing/options)

While some can hope and plan for free dining, a lot of parties of five are families traveling during school breaks and don't have the planning flexibility of others, so free dining is something one might hope for but never assume, IMO. The resort I priced was for a week at the most inexpensive WDW resort option for five ages 3 and up, and that's POR. The 5 days at the parks do not include park hopper or water parks.

So $6,000 on average for a family of five? No problem!

FWIW, our family of five spent $6,764.22 in 2012 on a full package including 6 MYW, DDP, airfare from DFW, and a week at Ft Wilderness Cabins; DS3 was under 2 then so he was "free."

Sorry to the OP for getting OT...

 

[JessicaW1234]

My husband and I plan on taking our daughter to DW next fall (2014). She will be about two and a half at the time. The overwhelming response that I've gotten is "Why would you do that, she won't remember it". Does anyone else run into this. I've never visited "The World" with a child in tow but isn't the point to have a great time as a family? Even if she doesn't remember a thing about it, I still will! Ok... Rant over!

The first time we brought our kids they were 2 1/2. They still remind ME of details from that trip, like while mom, dad and poppa were riding BTM, Goofy came over to them in the stroller and played with them and grandma! They also remember the first time they met Tigger and Pooh.

 

[jgive]

We took our son at 15 months. We are fortunate to live in a neighboring state, plus we won't have to pay for admission nor meals at this time due to age. Another big reason we went when we did was the Royal Family 5k during Princess Half-marathon weekend that included a stroller division. I loved having that experience with him. We went to Disneyland a couple of weeks ago and I didn't incur much more in expenses than I would have if I wouldn't have taken him. He may not remember the trips but I have plenty of pics to remind him and I definitely have the memories.

Ultimately no one can tell you how to spend time with your family or how to spend your money. You have to do what's best for you.

 

[swthrtpallanes]

My Ds was 18 months his first time to Disneyland and 3yrs when we went to DW. I got so many comments from the peanut gallery to which I politely reminded them that it didn't matter. I have plenty of pictures for him to look at and enjoy. My Dd was 9 months old her fist time to DL but will not make it to DW this October trip. Only me and DH who is now 5. Since my kids where born I have been to Disney every year, and will continue as long as I am able to

DH is 5 and been to Disneyland 5 times, Disney World 1 (2 after this October)
Dd is 19 months and has been to Disneyland twice

I would not have it any other way or regret any one of those trips

 

[paisleysmommy]

We took our almost two year old about six months ago for her birthday. It was debated for a week because of the issue of her remembering but we decided that we would rather take her and laugh about how maybe she was a little to young than something happen down the road and regret not going at all. Additionally when we came back she still remembers little tiny details from our trip almost six months ago. Yeah she may not remember any of it years from now but I will always remember the look on her face when she got to go for a walk with Merida her favorite disney character.

 

[1000HappyWishes]

My first trip was when I was three. Do I remember anything from that trip? Nope. But I do have practically three collections of photos hung up in our family room from that trip. I can see how happy I was and how happy it made my dad to see his little princess having such an enjoyable time.

I went again when I was five. The only thing I remember from that trip was eating at Chef Mickey's, and Chip and Dale tried to steal my birthday cupcake. But just because I don't remember it doesn't mean the people who took me don't. I can see it in the photos how much I had enjoyed the trip. I'm fine with taking a child at any age. The memories and the pictures are worth it alone.

As for the $6000 thing, that depends on your family and such and how you do Disney.

 

[Disneyaddictz]

My husband I LOVE Disney.... We have two little ones and they follow us Everywhere... Ugh..... we can easily spend $6000 too...I stopped taking polls from friends and family on who believes its worth it or if our kids will remember.... Hahaha smh

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[luvmy2babies]

Yes. I started each of my children traveling early because I love to travel when I can. My daughter had been on a plane 5 times by age 4, including a cross country flight to San Diego at 18 months. She had been on a cruise to the Bahamas at age 4. We did get asked why we were taking her on the San Diego trip and the cruise. She handled those better than dh did. We also did lots of road trips to sporting events just the two of us as dh didn’t care to go on those trips. After my son was born, dh died and traveling has become more important than ever. Started him out with a trip to the beach at just under 6 months.

Our first trip to Disney in 2010, he was 10 months old and dd was 7. People asked why I wasn’t leaving ds at home. I think that was more because I was going alone with them than about him being too young to remember it. But I was still nursing at night anyway. But there was no way I was leaving him. My daughter would have had a fit. Not that I never would leave him to take my daughter somewhere. Just not for a Disney trip. When he was 21 months old, we went to Sea World and Magic Kingdom on a long weekend. Our next and longest trip to Disney was when he was 2.5. Our last trip was in June of this year. He’s 3. We have also continued to do the road trips for sporting events and we did a couple of trips to Great Wolf Lodge when he was between 1 and 2 years old.

The only thing I have put off is cruising with him. He’s just finishing up toilet training and I wanted that complete before going on a cruise so we can all be together to use the pools. Even if we did a Disney cruise, my daughter is too old to use the splash area for non-potty trained children so I decided it would be better to wait on cruising.

But we have been content to do Disney from early. Hey, you can't beat the price. I loved being able to take him for free and see him have that much fun, especially his trip at 2.5 where he was so into everything and ate free too. Ohana for dinner, Garden Grill for dinner, Akershus for breakfast, Crystal Palace for breakfast, Tusker House for breakfast, CRT for dinner, Hollywood and Vine for breakfast, Chef Mickey's for dinner. I'm glad we started going when we did. And he talked about that trip for a long time. I wasn't planning on us going back this year, but he had a passionate plea. He told me it was so beautiful there and he couldn't wait to go back to see Mickey.

We're now planning for 2014. Go and enjoy.

 

[meggybear17]

I wonder what "those people" would say about the fact that I took a 7 month old to Vegas lol!

 

[mrssam]

We get the "You're so crazy to take two toddlers... anywhere...."

We do everything, modified to make it fun for everyone. Broncos games, road-trips, hiking, camping, Disney, whatever... and people are just dumbfounded. I think it is important to start 'em young in learning how to go out and see and experience new things in different places. My kids are super flexible and patient for being as little as they are and I attribute part of that to not putting everything on hold because we have toddlers.

DD was 2, DS 6 months our first DL trip, second DL trip DD3 and DS16months, and WDW in October will be DD3 and DS20months. DD still talks about the first trip and asks to look at the pictures. On our second trip she sat with a map at the hotel and circled all the things she wanted to do again and was giving us clear descriptions of the things she saw the previous trip. So they do remember, it's just in their own special way.

We just go and do and smile at the nay sayers. The kiddos LOVE it and while they don't remember everything, I will remember and I am not going to be homebound for the first 6-7 years of their lives while I wait for them to start holding onto their memories.