have you taken a 3yr old and wish you hadn't?

[CarnotaurDad]

We took our DD when she was almost 3 in November of 2002 and we all loved it so much we are going back in November of 2003 when she will be almost 4.......

We don't regret taking her at all.....while it's true that she won't remember specifics, her mom and I certainly do.....seeing the look on her face and how happy she became was worth it....

Some random examples:

* Riding the Merry Go Round with the penguins from Mary Poppins.

* Going on Winnie the Pooh ride 7 times.....by the 4th time she knew when to start singing which song....

* Crying out "it's London!" on the Peter Pan ride.

* Patiently waiting through the (long) Ellen D. movie on Universe of Energy so she could see her dinosaurs.

* Our "manatee picnic" at the Living Seas.

* Curling up at AKL in the lobby and watching Mickey Mouse cartoons before we ate dinner.

Anyways, the memories are for your whole family and we don't regret going at all.....we made her a picture album upon her return and she looks at constantly ("that's me and Mickey"!).

Best of luck........

 

[tlens]

Take your 3 yo. We have priceless moments from when my DD was 22 months, and 2 1/2. At Chef Mickey's she was so excited that she literally lept into Mickey's arms. We had to peel her off of him. She loves the teacups, Winnie the Pooh and Pirates of the Caribbean. She still talks about those rides!! She said Spectromagic was "the most beautiful thing ever". We are going on the Disney cruise this Sunday and she is 3 1/2. We are going for some more of those special moments we will never have when she is 8 or 10 (there will be different special moments at that age).

As for sneaking in, our DD was the size of a 3 1/2 YO last year and we were concerned they may think she was over 3 so we brought her birth certificate with us to proce she was still 2. We bought her a 4 day PHP this year even though we are only going one day (we'll just have to go bakc to use up the rest!!!). It never occured to me to try to sneak her in. She has as much fun as my husband and I do!

 

[sha_lyn]

Everytime I've come here to respond I've gotten side tracked by some of the post. Now finally I get to what I've wanted to say.

DD went to WDW at 2 1/2(may 2000), We planned our vacation to take advantage of her being under 3. DS was 10 at the time (almost 11). I really wanted to get at least 1 trip in while he was young enough to still get some of the "magic".

Staying on site to me is very important with a small child. We chose ASMu because of the pricing, but would have chosen a monorial resort if that had been in our price range. However now, knowing the taste of our kids, I'd chose an Epcot/MGM resort

Don't discount going to Epcot with a small child. DD loved the boat rides in Mexico and Norway, the living Seas, HISTA and Ellen's Energy Adventure. She was ok with goign to all the countries because she looked forward to the characters and working on her mask.

We planned on taking breaks back at ASMu, but DD napped very well in the stroller. We would use that time to shop, people watch, etc.

Don't expect your child to be excited by the same things you are.
Boith kids loved the pay areas. The first day they kept wanting to go back to HISTK. At first I was like "they can play at a playground anywhere, this trip is costing us lots of $$". Somehow the magic hit me, and I realized this trip was for them too, and if that is what they enjoyed then so be it. They would never get to paly on such neat stuff at home.

They'll remember more than you think. The following yr we went to US/IOA. We also went to Cedar Poit and Six Flags (GA) since our WDW trip. DS and a friend were talkign about their favorite rides on differnt places (SF and IOA mainly) when DD (then almost 4) piped up "my favoirte ride anywhere is the tea cups at disney". Well you could have knocked me over with a feather. It had been 1 1/2 yrs and she had been to several other parks, but she still remembered WDW. Last yr we went back to WDW and she would ask to do certain things she remembered, and went we returned she rememeber some of the things we skipped (like HISTK paly are).

Oh as for napping. In 2001 we went to US/IOA and stayed on site. The second day DD asked to go back to the room for a nap. We went back and relaxed. She never went to sleep, but she needed the break from the excitement.

 

[ShaneV]

We have taken our DS 3 time when he was 18 months 3 and 3 1/2.

All three times were different and all three times were great! Just keep in mind that they may have a different idea of what is fun to do on a vacation than you do. If you go in with a commando style trying to see and do everything you will have a dissaster. If you take it slow and stop and enjoy the little things it will be great!

When our DS was 18 months he would make sure to pick up ANYTHING he dropped, or anything anyone else dropped for that matter. At EPCOT one day there were a bunch of giant leaves on the concrete. My DS decided it was his job to pick up each and everyone of those leaves and put them on the grass where they "belonged". He had a great time doing it and we spent 30 minutes there just watching him and helping out, not my idea of the best time, but as parents we owe it to our kids to do some of what they think is fun too!
Just my .02 c.

 

[rejobako]

Originally posted by Darian
Hehehe rejobako, "Leap Year" thats a good one! So instead of me being 46, being born in a leap year I could say I'm really 11? As far as the whole "don't judge me, man" thing, forget it. It is a necessary part of life.

You're right, the leap year example was meant in jest, but my point was misconstrued. One might argue that a child born born just after February 29 in a leap year is one day younger on his/her third birthday than some other children. A hyper-technical example for a hyperbolic topic.

Believe me, I'm with you on the whole "judging" thing. It seems some judge others for cheating Disney out of a child's ticket. I judge those who would judge such people harshly, and yet will get in the car today and drive over the speed limit.

I am not among those who would bend the rules to get my child into Disney for free. But I'm not about to lord over such people by expressing gratuitous disgust with those who feel financially compelled to consider it. (That's not directed at you, by the way.)

I appreciate your closing comments, and I reciprocate.

[/QUOTE]