How old is old enough?

[Steve's Wife]

My niece just turned 3 and her doting aunt and uncle are planning on taking her to Disney World when she's old enough. For the last three years we've been using the "7 years old and 42 inches high" guideline from the unofficial guide. She is a bit shy and didn't want much to do with the "princess" who entertained at her party today. Her dad talked about moving the trip up because she loves all of the princess toys and has memorized the Cinderella dvd. I'm looking for some solid advice from some seasoned veterans. Obviously every child is different, but in general, how old is old enough?

Thanks!
Lori

 

[Hannathy]

Do you mean have someone else take her on a trip or her own parents take her to Disney? Her own parents I say what are they waiting for! I think any age can go and enjoy it. For someone else We took my nephew by himself for a week when he was 7 and he loved it and did great.

 

[luvthatduke]

Our DS was "old enough" last year right after his 2nd birthday!
If we could have, we would have taken him the year before.
ANY age child will have a wonderful time at Disney World.
We can't wait to take him back again, hopefully this Christmas.
BTW, DS talks about his Disney trip a lot - he loves watching
the promo videos and Sing-A-Longs, and gets totally excited
talking about going back.
He was 27 months old while there, and he remembers SO MUCH!

 

[Mouse House Mama]

As soon as they are conceived they are old enough!!! Start them young and you can enjoy them every time they go! Each time is a new experience.

 

[KimberlyC]

Since you referred to aunt and uncle, I'm assuming the parents aren't going. My niece was 7 or 8 when we first took her on an overnight trip to an amusement park within driving distance. She just turned 12 and we are taking her to WDW with us in June. We'll be flying. My DS is turning 2 at WDW so I think any age to go is good but I'm not taking my niece's 2 yr old sister because I'm just not comfortable taking someone elses (SIL and her DH)toddler so far away.

 

[eeyoreiscool]

I would say if the aunt and uncle are willing to take her and don't have a problem with the age, then it is a good time to go. We have been taking DS since 6-8 weeks and he has a great time each time we visit. He is always seeing something new and is fascinated with everything. He also isn't terrified of the charaters since he has grown up seeing them.

 

[Mom to Jordan]

In our family, 6 mo old is "old enough" . I would just be sure that DN is comfortable enough with you to be away from mom and dad for that long a time.

Our DN is DUE in October and we plan to take her for her first trip sometime before she turns 3.

 

[crisi]

Around the Disboards, Disney is a family tradition to a lot of people. Babies are carried in slings as infants. Toddlers go. Great Grandparents go.

I'd ask what do they intend to get out of the trip:

If this will be the only trip they make, ever - I think seven to nine is about the right age. They'd be able to do most of the stuff, still have a bit of magic left in them, and retain some memories.

If they will take several trips, a trip as a preschooler, followed by a trip in the seven to nine range - and even one as a teenager or young adult (when they can enjoy some of the subtleties), works well. My daughter's first trip was at 2 1/2 - and I have a photo of her hugging Tigger that was worth the whole trip to get.

 

[Aneille]

Around the Disboards, Disney is a family tradition to a lot of people. Babies are carried in slings as infants. Toddlers go. Great Grandparents go.

I'd ask what do they intend to get out of the trip:

If this will be the only trip they make, ever - I think seven to nine is about the right age. They'd be able to do most of the stuff, still have a bit of magic left in them, and retain some memories.

If they will take several trips, a trip as a preschooler, followed by a trip in the seven to nine range - and even one as a teenager or young adult (when they can enjoy some of the subtleties), works well. My daughter's first trip was at 2 1/2 - and I have a photo of her hugging Tigger that was worth the whole trip to get.

I agree with this. After seeing how much my 4 year old lights up in Disney due to the characters, I couldn't imagine missing it. Also most kids I think are over 42" by the age of 7. My 4 year old is close to 42". As far as being afraid of characters my guess is most kids get over that somewhere around 3/4. My oldest that was close to 3 was not afraid at Disney. My youngest has been. But now that she is close to turning 3, I don't think she is afraid any more since she saw the Easter Bunny and liked him alot.

We took our first trip when my oldest daughter was just shy of 3. My parents went as well. We at the time were planning at least a few more trips spread over the years as the kids got older, something along the lines as to what Crisi outlined.

As it turned out we loved that first trip so much that we went back 8 months later and are going again in May and December.

If my family were to only go once I'd plan around 7, because of the magic factor. At that age there is still some left and they are old enough to remember it and go on just about every ride if not all.

For the first trip of several over the years I'd go around 3-4. Depending on height and shyness with characters. At 40" kids can go on almost every ride I think except Rock N Roll, Exhibition Everest, Primevil Whirl, and Space Mountain (I hope I didn't miss any). My oldest hit 40" at 3.5 years old.

 

[Rowlf]

We started taking my son at 15 months (see signature!) and just reserved our third September trip in a row. (And I took him to Disneyland a few weeks ago.)

Hard for me to imagine someone is TOO young!

 

[WAHMto5]

As soon as they are conceived they are old enough!!! Start them young and you can enjoy them every time they go! Each time is a new experience.

We feel the exact same way!! Since we have been going when our children have been all different ages from 9 months and up, it is soo neat to see how each of them enjoy it at every age! There is something for everyone. Our one DD was 3 last year when we went and though she is a HUGE princess fan, she would not go near them! But she hasen't stopped talking about them since

 

[DisneyMomx7]

My ds's first trip was right before this third birthday. Contrary to what everyone kept telling me he not only loved WDW, he remembered everything from that trip! I know some people like to wait until their children are older but I am so glad we started taking ours while they are young enough to still believe whole heartedly in the characters and the magic.

 

[mjmcca]

My niece just turned 3 and her doting aunt and uncle are planning on taking her to Disney World when she's old enough. For the last three years we've been using the "7 years old and 42 inches high" guideline from the unofficial guide. She is a bit shy and didn't want much to do with the "princess" who entertained at her party today. Her dad talked about moving the trip up because she loves all of the princess toys and has memorized the Cinderella dvd. I'm looking for some solid advice from some seasoned veterans. Obviously every child is different, but in general, how old is old enough?

Thanks!
Lori

Since you are talking about taking her without her parents I would guess that would depend on how comfortable she is with you. If you spend a lot of time with her when she is at home now wold be a wonderful time to take her. If you don't see her that frequently I would wait until she is older since she will most likely miss her parents too much and be miserable on the trip. My sister says she wants to take my kids to Disney but she rarely spends any time with them and I don't know if that would be such a great idea without me a tagging along.I think the key here is how your relationship close you relationship to her is, if you are very close and spend a lot of time with her then anytime is good if not then wait until she is older.

 

[katied]

As an aunt who has been taking her niece and nephew on trips for a while (now age 8 and 9), we starting with short trips when they were younger - so an overnight sleepover at my house when age 3 and 4, and then weekend trips the next year, and by the time they were 5 and 6, week long trips. We did the first Disney trip with them last April - age 7 and 8. I think they would have been fine going earlier, because they've been away from home with us for longer before. But I also think it helps that they have each other. My other niece was offered the option of taking the trip with us, both last year and this year. However, she is on the shy side, and have never spent a night away from home. As much as she loves Disney Princess everything, the though of being away from mom and dad is just too much. She's now 7.

So - it depends on the child. Has she been away from home before with you and is she comfortable with that? If not, it probably too early and you should start getting her used to trips without her parents first before you try to tackle Disney.

 

[Steve's Wife]

Thanks for the input! We were actually planning on bringing mom & dad with us, but they're Disney dabblers who look forward to sleeping in on vacation and aren't that big on the parks. Niece is pretty comfortable with us, so we thought we'd send mom to the spa and dad to the links while we worked on the magic...

 

[mjmcca]

Thanks for the input! We were actually planning on bringing mom & dad with us, but they're Disney dabblers who look forward to sleeping in on vacation and aren't that big on the parks. Niece is pretty comfortable with us, so we thought we'd send mom to the spa and dad to the links while we worked on the magic...

If thats the case then I say go now. Three is a wonderful age to go.