How old for first trip?

[turnlisa]

Well, I answered 3 but only because it was the youngest age. With my older DS we waited until he was 2 since I couldn't wait any longer! What a great trip! It was our first trip back since our honeymoon and seeing the whole place through his eyes was magical.

With my youngest DS, he was 9 months old. By then we had established yearly trips and decided that we would continue even with the baby. That was the best trip! The sight of my baby playing peek-a-boo with Piglet and kissing Mickey was absolutely priceless! He may not remember the trip but I will never forget it!

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

Every age can be magical with the right attitude and expectations. We couldn't afford to take our kids till they were 11, 12, 13, 13. It was a great trip. They had plenty of energy and loved all of the rides. Years later we took our first grandchild at 1-1/2. He was terriffic. It was so much fun to experience the magic through the eyes of a toddler. He was frightened of the loud shows (Tough to be a bug) and also fireworks. But he still looks at the pictures of himself and the rest of us (12 adults). It was a blast. We are taking him again, just dh, myself and grandson (age almost 4) in September. We can't wait. We plan to go with the flow, do what he wants and avoid what he isn't crazy about. We expect to have a fantastic time. We also plan to take all of our grandkids every chance we get. We have 4 grandbabies so far and we look forward to watching every one of them enjoy WDW with us.

 

[parmtoo]

We've been taking our kids since they were under 1 year.........Our first family trip was when my oldest was 8mos, she's now 16 and we are going in three weeks.

 

[cdrn1]

Well, Aimee, here's my slam. Why does it have to be MOM that the baby should stay in the hotel with???? Dad gets to run off and do as he pleases while Mom sits at the hotel with the little one???? That is SO sexist!!!
Seriously....we are going in December with my then 11-month-old granddaughter. While I do have misgivings, they are outweighed by the fact that I always said my first g'child would get his/her first haircut on Main Street. So...we're hoping she will grow some hair by then.
We know it will be a drastically different trip this time and we plan on lots of resort time, but she is a very easy baby so far and we sure hope she stays that way.

 

[beaubeau8853]

We took my DS when he was two months shy of 3. He loved it and my DH and I had a great time watching my son having the best time. Granted you can't do the "big" rides, but this trip for us was about enjoying my son's first trip to Disney.

What was really great as one poster stated - he was free!!! He could eat for free at the sit down restaurants (buffets and Liberty Tree Tavern) and it cost us nothing to get him into the parks.

I took a ton of pictures and put it into a special Disney album and my son still remembers things (he is now 5). The best is that I still remember his look of joy during the whole trip!

 

[bubba's mom]

sounds like it's a good arguement for younger AND older.....have to do what YOU want.... know what I was waiting for?? my son to be tall enough to ride most things (which is like 40")....so we could ALL have fun!!! (he's 49" in sneakers now!!!)

 

[averysmom]

We went when my ds was 4 1/2 months and again when he was 14 months.
I am expecting again and we are planning a trip for when the baby is 4 months and ds is almost 3.
We had a great time both times! In fact, it was easier when he was 4 1/2 months - he was breasted so we didn't have to worry about food or anything - we just put him in the carrier or stroller, threw in some diapers and away we went!
OF course, we realized before we went that we couldn't be park commandos anymore so we really took it easier than we usually did. Taking the time to slow down, we really saw a lot of things we noramlly missed. I read somewhere before we went to remember that "It's your child's vacations too" and we kept that in the front of our minds when we went.

I say go!

 

[Kadorto]

Since you've been 7 times in the past 8 years you know what you're getting into. If you feel comfortable taking your child whatever his or her age then I say go. We have had some great memories of taking our two boys on several different trips including disney when they were very young.

 

[Bork]

Thanks for all the responses, definitely some food for thought. I guess we'll just play it by ear and see how long before we get "the itch"

 

[Eeyore's Girl]

I'm with BevS97 on this one. My DD (4 this weekend!) has been 3 times already: age 13 months, 2 years, and 3 years. By far her best experience was at 13 months. She's very shy and the intensity of her shyness had become apparent with each trip.

I'm not one to agree with forcing a child on a ride. However, we did have to do that with the Pooh ride. You would have thought we were sawing her legs off. What a scene! But after a time or two, she decided ole' Pooh wasn't so bad after all.

All this to say that once your little one reaches toddlerhood, you might want to consider his personality as well as the age.

I don't think I'd take a baby during the summer months. Then again, I don't take myself to WDW in the summer months.

 

[LuvAriel]

I agree, the summer months are brutal for anyone, let alone an infant.

That's why we are going at the end of October with our kids.

 

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

As an adult, I've taken three trips....
1st trip - DD 18 months, I was 5 months pregnant
2nd trip - DD 2 1/2, DD 8 months
3rd trip - DD 4, DD 2, DS 10 months

Each trip was awesome - althought the trip with the three kiddos was a *bit* more work

If you go with different expectations and at your kid's pace, it can be fun at any age!

I don't think solid food or out of diapers need to be requirements. Once you have the wee one, you'll adjust to the new life eventually and know what is right for your family.

It's very true that potty training or newly potty trained kids would be more of a challenge than a child in diapers or completely trained.

The *only* concerns I would have with a very young infant is what age your pediatrician would recommend flying (because of the recirculated air and developing immune systems) and not travelling in super hot heat because of tender new baby skin and possible sensitivities to sunblock.

Other than that, you'll know what's good for your family after the baby arrives...but I certainly don't think you'll need to wait until three if you don't want to!

And I don't wait for the kids to be old enough to remember it. *I* will remember it and we all enjoy our selves together --- that's all that matters to me!

 

[Laurabearz]

As you can see from my siggy and pictures of my kids, we have taken a lot of trips to WDW with small children and while preggo.

We think nothing of it. Our girls are pros at traveling. We use strollers and love them. In fact when DH and I went to WDW with out the kids, we missed the stroller!!

But to each there own. If there is a will there is a way.... life goes on.

I wanted to add... what if you have more than one kid... I mean if you decide that the child has to be 6, and you have another kid, when your first is 5 or 6, then will you wait another 6 years before going?