Does this make me a bad mom??

[DisFanatic]

That choice is totally up to you, but we can never imagine leaving our child while we vacation, especially if it's at Disney. Good luck with your choice.

 

[rideswithchrist]

Everyone's family has different thoughts on this, but for us, it's not a family vacation if we are not all there.

We do go annually, and our upcoming April trip will be our girls' 6th trip, but it will be different because their baby brother will be joining the family on Monday and he will most definitely be joining us on our trip. He will be 3 months old. It wasn't even a thought that we would leave him behind.

Will it be tougher traveling with an infant? Yup. Will it be a different experience? Yup. But we are an extremely close family, and this little guy will be a part of that. No way would we leave him behind. We actually can't wait for his 1st Disney experience!

That is us- We are going for our FIRST Family trip, taking our 2 Yo, 4 YO and 7 YO. Sure, the 2 YO will miss out on SOME rides, but the experience of all 3 of them getting to experience Disney together for the first time will be amazing!
Will he remember it all- no way, but he also does not remember lots of things we do, but the picture we capture of him seeing Mickey in person for the first time with his sissies will be priceless.
The memories that my husband and I will remember of his face with his sisters is worth the extra effort. AND- there are lots of things that your 4 year old may not be able to do more than a 2 year old either (depending on height).

When you look back at photos 10 and 15 years from now, are you going to regret one of your kids missing out on these memories, or will you be going again next year anyway, so your 2 YO will get another chance soon?

PLUS- a 2 YO is FREE LOL - except for food

If you already feel guilty, I think you have your answer- but you need to figure it out with your hubby.

 

[kangamangus]

Every family is different, we fall in the camp of everyone comes on family vacation. You have to do what's right for your family. Disney in my opinion is one vacation where even a baby can have a great time.

 

[BabiesDaddy]

It's not a family trip if the youngest is not going. My youngest was a month shy of her second bday on our first trip. If you feel bad now, your really going to feel bad once you get there and realize how much fun she would have had. Take her and have no worries or regrets.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

We took our 2 kids to Disney last year. My oldest was 7 and my youngest only 8 months. It was tough my husband missed a lot bc he ended up taking the baby back to the hotel for naps and the baby didn't like the dark rides and we were nervous about sunburn. It was very rough. We are going again in April this time oldest will be 8 and youngest 20 months and I couldn't even imagine leaving my little one at home.

 

[disneyworlddreaming]

Hi everyone, I have a question for all you moms and dads out there with little ones. My family is planning our first (Well my husband and kids first. My fourth) Disney vacation in March. My two oldest kids will be 4 and 6. My youngest will have just turned 2 and we are planning on leaving her home here in Michigan with grandma and grandpa. I am having a TON of guilt about this. My good friend told me to take my daughter and that she will have a lot of fun. While I know that there will be parts that she will love, I know that there will also be times that we all will want to pull our hair out. I feel like taking her will mean that the other two kids will not get as much out of Disney as they would of if it was just the four of us. Other than Ride Swap I have no idea how we could possibly get rides in and I'm really worried about night time. My youngest has a very hard time falling asleep in strange places. Also it will be everyone's first plane ride except for me. The whole thought of taking my youngest gives me immense anxiety. On the other hand, I can only imagine her face when she sees Minnie for the first time! I would love to have our photos include her and I really cannot imagine leaving her behind but I feel it's just not practical. I begged my parents to come with us for help but they cannot. We DO plan on going back in a few more years when my oldest can ride everything and my youngest two and can do most things. What does everyone think?? Am I freaking myself out too much or will it be a total anxiety/tired/irritable fest if we took her??

Don't feel guilty! Only you know what's right for your family! That being said, we have always taken all of our children. First time I only had 2 kids and they were 15 months & 3 years. Second time we had 3, and they were 14 months, 3 & 5. Third time they were 2 1/2, 5 & 7. I never thought for a second about leaving any child behind. Although it was tricky with diapers and food and the works, it was all manageable! Rider swap was so easy. You have to go to the CM at the entrance of the line, and ask for a rider/parent swap. Some CM's will ask to see who you are with to ensure you are swapping with another adult/child. When your off the ride, pass the rider swap to DH and they go through the the FP line! Super simple. We utilized a lot! As for dining, they can share off your plate, or just order. We ended up ordering for our youngest this past trip and found it extremely reasonable pricing for kids meals! I didn't read all the responses, so sorry if I repeated! HTH

As an edit, my kids remember. EVERYTHING!!! When DD was 15 months old on her first trip, she talked about it all the time. Youngest DS ( went at 14 months & 2 1/2) also remembers quite a bit from his trips!

 

[MandiC]

Don't feel guilty! You know what works best for YOUR family. We left our 2 and 4 year olds home last year when we went and I don't regret it for a minute. I don't think our trip would have been awful with them but we would have had to take things slower, take more breaks and not do as much. Overall, I am very happy we left them home. We will never be yearly Disney kind of people. We enjoy other places too much to use our yearly vacation on Disney every year. So we wanted to be able to really focus on our older kids before they outgrew the magic. There will be time to focus on the younger kids next trip. Plus it was *my* first Disney trip (ever, oh the horror of a childhood without Disney ) and I love the nighttime shows, I knew the little ones wouldn't last or would be in an awful mood. Each night at the fireworks there were always several screaming toddlers/preschoolers...not to mention watching parents try to make their way out of post-firework crowds with a stroller...Disney with little ones just isn't for us. I'm sure it'd be great for people who go often and don't mind missing a few years of some stuff but for us we aren't going to go that often.

 

[tinklvsu]

My son was 2 the first time that we went. There are more things at Disney that he could do, than he couldn't, plus he was still free, so why not is what I thought. He had a blast. Slept in his stroller when needed, and was ready to go whenever. He may not remember it when he's older, but he's four now, and still asks to go back almost every other day (we have went every year since, so I'm sure its not just from that one trip) He talks about things he rode, and what he saw. Describes them as best as he can, we always know what he's referring to.

Even if he didn't remember, you will. I'll never forget the look on his face when he hugged Mickey for the first time.

The biggest and ONLY complaint that I have, is the stroller. I've been so accustomed to going with adults (before the birth of my child) .... that I didn't realize how time consuming a stroller can be. Locate the parking area, then go to the entrance of the ride (which can be quite a distance from the parking area in some cases)..Then ride, then try locating the stroller (which can be far from the ride exit).... and sometimes the cast members move the strollers around to make room (completely understandable) .... but you spend some time trying to find yours.

Then again, my experience was with my ONE child at two years old. We were able to meet his needs, without having to deal with two others I think whatever you decide will be what's best for your family! It does not make you a bad mom.

 

[Monykalyn]

Been following this as we had this dilemma our first big family trip (>10 years ago now) Just had the 2 who were 6 and 16 months and we talked about leaving the baby with grandma. Ultimately I would have had too much mom guilt. BUT (and a big one)-we went at a slow time of year (february a week after presidents day = minimal time spent in lines) and our 2nd child was (and still is) an active/loves to be out and engaged/OK to sleep anywhere kid. We also stayed in 2 bed condo offsite. She loved the stimulation of all the sights and sounds of the parks (not every kid does) and the older child loved being able to ride things multiple times with us. (FYI-as good as Disney's kid swap program is Universal's is even better). The only time the toddler got upset at all was at the Princess Dinner when Cinderella went to older child first lol! Park touring with younger kids forced us to slow down and just enjoy being there-and the opportunity to see show for a "nap time".

I have wanted to do Star wars weekends since they started them and we talked about just one parent taking the 1 or 2 of the kids down for quick trips (alternating years/kids) but with all the new Harry Potter stuff at US we turned that into another family vacation this year...although my kids love love to spend time alone with grandparents (and no siblings-even now)

Good luck and have FUN no matter what ultimate decision

 

[JDX4]

Do I think you are a bad mom if you leave the 2 year old home? No.

However, I think you should bring her. I don't think it will be as hard as you are imagining. We brought our 2.5 year old this past summer along with our two teen boys and we all had a blast.

There was so much the 2 year COULD do and enjoy, and she remembers it and talks about the trip several times a week, even now 5 months later. Sometimes we did have to separate, but it was fine. Everyone had fun.

I think you will regret not having pictures and memories of your whole family at WDW.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I won't call you a bad mom as that isn't right.


But I wouldn't plan a family vacation and leave a family member at home. When we want to do something without the youngest, we try to do a last hurrah before they are born. Once they are here--they are part of the family and the family vacations. This isn't to say we don't do smaller trips with mom or dad and one or two kids. (Like a mommy and me or daddy and me or boys only or girls only with age restrictions.). But we plan our trips to be inclusive and don't long for the days of what we could do without that child. We just travel differently knowing they will grow up one day.

That said--it isn't child abuse and I am sure your 2yo will have fun at home with grandma and grandpa.

But--if the 2yo goes now, their admission into everything at Disney is $0.

You could always hire a sitting service for an evening during the vacation.

 

[Pesky]

Don't feel guilty about making a call that you instinctively feel is right for your youngest and your family. I'd go with your gut on this one and if your gut is saying that it will be better for her to be home with the grandparents and enjoy some special bonding time with them, do it. No one else knows your youngest and the family dynamic as well so stick to your guns.

 

[MagicalMother]

We took our daughter as an infant with her brother who was 3. We had an awesome time and have been one or two times a year since then. It was great to go before they were 3 because they were free and we still enjoyed everything that we wanted to do.

 

[tcherjen]

I can understand how you feel. I too think you should bring the little one. You are going to see lots of families with a children your child's age. It will probably make you feel worse. The little one will have a blast too.

 

[robndani]

I agree with the majority of posters. I think the big question is how you will feel while you are there if you don't bring the little one. If you think you'll be saying that they would have loved this and that then that may bring your mood down a bit. You want to enjoy your trip and not spend the whole time feeling guilty.

There are no special cups for free, but if there were, I'm sure the CM would give one to your little one. Ours went three times before they were three and don't think they ever felt left out at meal time!

Have you asked your other kids? I know mine wouldn't be okay leaving the other one home. They would probably take it harder than I would would, lol.

Have fun!

 

[Mainemama]

My kids have actually enjoyed disney more with their little sib. (Their first trip, they were 4 and 6, and I was pregnant.) RS is not to be underestimated! In fact, I am not looking forward to YDD aging out of RS, because it will be a rude awakening to no longer get double rides for kids. My DH and I do split up occasionally.... I might head back to resort for earlier pm break, while he uses the RS for coasters I am not crazy about. One night, he might take big kids to dtd while YDD and I explore resort and take a few boat/monorail rides just for fun. This works for us, as I wear out earlier than he does. I plan to hit rope drop with big kids one day while he sleeps in and chills with YDD in the resort. I don't think you are a bad mom, but I do think you may enjoy yourself more as a family unit, guilt free. Plus, the 2 year old is free.

 

[Angel Ariel]

The biggest and ONLY complaint that I have, is the stroller. I've been so accustomed to going with adults (before the birth of my child) .... that I didn't realize how time consuming a stroller can be. Locate the parking area, then go to the entrance of the ride (which can be quite a distance from the parking area in some cases)..Then ride, then try locating the stroller (which can be far from the ride exit).... and sometimes the cast members move the strollers around to make room (completely understandable) .... but you spend some time trying to find yours.

We found the best way to deal with the stroller was to park it in a land (say park somewhere in Fantasyland), then ride what we were wanting to ride in that area. Going from ride to ride within Fantasyland, we would carry DD in a Beco Gemini (she wasn't walking yet - 15 months), and then when we were ready to move on to the next land we'd go pick up the stroller and repeat.

Getting the stroller between each ride would definitely be a hassle. We found this to be much more helpful. I would imagine it would be even easier to do the method I mention with a child who is able to walk the short distances from ride-to-ride.

 

[Angel Ariel]

OP - only you know what is right for your family.

Our last trip to WDW was an adults only trip - DD stayed home with my parents. DH was running the Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon, and I was going to the party that happens during the run. The run doesn't start until 10pm- well past DD's bed time. DH didn't finish the run until 1:30 - we didn't catch up with him in the run area until probably around 2am, and it was 4am by the time we were back in our room at Yacht Club. No one was coming with us who could watch DD during this time, and there's no way in heck I was keeping her out with me (she's 2) during that time either. It just wasn't feasible to bring her on this trip. She's already been there twice (8 months and 15 months), and we are all going in November 2015 w/my parents and my brother's family (DH is running again, SIL/nephew and I are running the 5K). I don't feel guilty at all for not bringing her. My parents came down to our house to stay with her so her schedule/world wouldn't be as disrupted, and she had a great time!

While I did think of her frequently while we were there, my thoughts were more about looking forward to Nov 2015 when she will becoming back than anything else. I missed her, of course, but beyond the logistics not working out it was a trip DH and I needed to be just the two of us. I don't regret it at all, and am just very excited to be planning her next visit now

 

[AlexisMaxMommy]

As many others have said, only you know what is best for your family. That being said, we took our kids at 2 and 5, and the 2 year old had fun too.

 

[Nancyg56]

my son is almost 2 and while I think he would have a ton of fun at WDW, I also know he would have a BLAST with grandma and grandpa all to himself! The biggest issue for me would be I would miss him.

Exactly! I am a nana, and believe me, a week with my little one would be a great week for the three of us! Nana, Pa and a little grand all to ourselves = FUN! I agree that the only ones who would have an issue is Mom and Dad.

OP- there is no wrong answer, so IMO the decision should be determined by how you and your Dh will handle the trip. If you think it will be too hard to leave your little one home, then don't. Too many folks fixate on wha they cannot do when there are young ones on the trip. I hear that time and again when people wait to plan a WDWD trip. DH and I say look at what you CAN do. You cannot get everything in anyway, not even if you stayed a month, so look at attractions and activities that the kids can and cannot do, decide what attractions etc are "must do" on this trip. That will help you decide if you can manage your plans with a 2 YO. either way, your 2 YO will have fun.