How old were your children on their first visit to Disney World?

[han22735]

We didn't want to deal with diapers so just after potty training. It was just before her 3rd bday.

 

[kathy884]

We had extended family going the Christmas when DS was three, so we tagged along for a mini trip - five nights / four days - not the full two weeks the rest of the family was doing, as we didn't think DS was ready for the parks.

We did one day at the MK which was a total bust. DS was scared of the characters, so we stayed away from those. He loved watching Dumbo, but he did not want to ride and never did, but we must have in total watched that two different times for about a 1/2 hour each with him. He liked Mickey and Minnie's house (Those aren't there any more). And parent mistake -- I made DS ride "It's a Small World" even though he was scared and didn't want to. I said this ride isn't scary at all and you know the song, get on and give it a try. He screamed the entire time on the 12 minute ride ruining it for our boat and the boat in front and in back of us. He didn't stop screaming till he got off the boat. It felt longer than 12 minutes to me lol. A nice man in his 50s came up to us after that ride and told my son he always felt like screaming on that ride too, but it's just not social acceptable at his age. I appreciated that man talking to us in what felt like a horrible bad mom moment. We left the park after that and had a nice time in our condo and swimming with our son in the resort swimming pool. SeaWorld, the one other park we did with DS, worked great and was a delightful place to go with him at three. We thought it would be too as at home we loved taking him to the zoo, but he didn't like the noise of amusement parks or carnival rides at that young age. You kind of know ahead of time what you think will work. But being there with the rest of the family we tried a day at the Magic Kingdom which was definitely a mistake for us and a waste of money.

We took DS with us when DH had a conference at the Contemporary hotel (five night / four day stay). We did not though go to any Disney parks. We just enjoyed visiting Disney resorts, playing in the pool, and went offsite and did a day at SeaWorld and a 1/2 day at Gatorland.

We didn't do a Walt Disney Park again till DS was six and Disney as well as SeaWorld both worked great then. DS will be turning 30 in August now and is a Disney loving adult.

 

[tx911]

Both 6 almost 7.
Wish we hadn’t waited so long!

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

4 and 15 months

 

[Jasper&Bowie]

My oldest was 6 and my middle was 1 then we waited until my youngest was 5. My granddaughter was 18 months.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

My husband and I have recently become first time grandparents, and can’t wait to take our grandson to Disney! I am wondering at what age your children first visited Disney World. My children were 10 and 6 on our first visit. My niece was 3 and seemed to handle it well. I am just curious about others’ experiences.

4yo and 20 mths. They had a great time and we went twice a year for many years when they were young.

 

[WinterSolider]

6 months, and it was a fantastic trip.

If you're only going to go once in a life time, yeah it makes sense to wait for the "perfect" age. But if you're going to go frequently, there's no reason to wait.

 

[WinterSolider]

We didn't want to deal with diapers so just after potty training. It was just before her 3rd bday.

Walt Disney World is just about the most accommodating place you can be on the planet when you have diaper-age children. There's a changing table every 50 feet, you can trust that it's going to be reasonably clean, and you can be confident that both the men's and women's rooms will have them.

When people say they didn't want to do Disney with diapers, I always ask "so what did you do instead that you thought was EASIER with diapers?" Or do you just not do anything at all?

 

[han22735]

Walt Disney World is just about the most accommodating place you can be on the planet when you have diaper-age children. There's a changing table every 50 feet, you can trust that it's going to be reasonably clean, and you can be confident that both the men's and women's rooms will have them.

When people say they didn't want to do Disney with diapers, I always ask "so what did you do instead that you thought was EASIER with diapers?" Or do you just not do anything at all?

Interesting take. Perhaps we just didn't want to lug that stuff around all day? And we definitely didn't do anything at all...stayed in the house actually for those 3 years

 

[Rory607]

Walt Disney World is just about the most accommodating place you can be on the planet when you have diaper-age children. There's a changing table every 50 feet, you can trust that it's going to be reasonably clean, and you can be confident that both the men's and women's rooms will have them.

When people say they didn't want to do Disney with diapers, I always ask "so what did you do instead that you thought was EASIER with diapers?" Or do you just not do anything at all?

I agree. I was going to be changing diapers and not sleeping at home, so why not do it somewhere fun for a week?

 

[Dakota731]

We didn't want to deal with diapers so just after potty training. It was just before her 3rd bday.

We did the opposite and went before potty training. I didn’t want to be in a ride line for an hour, and then have a toddler say “I have to pee” as they do so often right after training. My girls had to go to the potty every ten min after training just for the novelty of it

 

[whitestavern]

Ours were 7 and 9. We wanted to wait until they had the stamina to handle a day at the parks without naps.

 

[bluezy]

We did the opposite and went before potty training. I didn’t want to be in a ride line for an hour, and then have a toddler say “I have to pee” as they do so often right after training. My girls had to go to the potty every ten min after training just for the novelty of it

Yes, that is an issue for the first several months after potty training. It was one of the reasons we chose to wait until the kids were 4 years old before taking them on a Disney trip. That got us past several "issues" we didn't want to deal with at Disney -- they were well potty trained and we didn't have to worry about accidents or the sudden need to go to the bathroom in the middle of a line and then find out they didn't really need to go potty, they were just bored and wanted a change of scenery. It also meant we were way past the need for a stroller and they were tall enough to go on most rides. But, I sure did visit a lot of random bathrooms for nothing more than a sight-seeing tour over the years.

 

[anrew]

5 and 8. Both loved it! Reading through the Disney World trip stories on Disboards reminds me how special those first visits are for kids. I imagine hotelbeds customer support gets a ton of questions from families planning magical vacations like these. Can't wait to do it again with both of them

 

[scrappinginontario]

18 months. Loved it but I knew we would visit each year. If we would visit less often I would wait longer.

 

[westie55]

My oldest was 9 months. My younger two were both 3 months. I go every year, so I've taken children of all ages. We've never had a trip I regretted!

 

[DodgerGirl]

I would have to say that if you want to take your child on their very first Disney Parks the age I strongly recommend is six years old because when my family first went to Disneyland I was six years old and even though my parents had dreamed of taking me there because they would always see Disneyland commercials and they thought I would enjoy it and so they waited till I was six. I later went to Walt Disney World for the first time when I was twelve and I loved it when I was older. My parents have photo albums of me eating at character breakfasts with the characters at Disneyland and me having fun with the characters and I would have to say if you are starting a first time Walt Disney World vacation with your kids or grandkids take them at six

 

[danceintherain]

First trips respectively....3 months, 19 months, 18 months, and almost 4 years (so like 44 months).
Last trips respectively.... 13 years, 9 years, 6 years, and almost 4 years.

That last one bothers me, but he's a COVID baby who got cancer when he was two. It was the hardest "first trip" for any of my kids. We actually had a Disney trip planned right before his 3rd birthday, but postponed if after the cancer dx.

I, honestly, prefer taking my kids before they turn 3. They're just so easy to please, until that point. Their needs are more predictable.
Then after they're about 6. At that point, they're more capable of communicating when something doesn't work for them.

I have my second "Mommy & Me" trip planned for Disneyland in a few weeks. Those I'm targeting for 5th grade, because they're tall enough to ride everything they want. They're also independent enough to do single rider line by themselves, or otherwise hang out by themselves for a little while.

 

[toesmom]

My husband and I have recently become first time grandparents, and can’t wait to take our grandson to Disney! I am wondering at what age your children first visited Disney World. My children were 10 and 6 on our first visit. My niece was 3 and seemed to handle it well. I am just curious about others’ experiences.

first visit was with 3 year old in 2001 bought into dvc 4 years later, great place to vacation with kids, always something to do

 

[CayBoo]

While I think both Disneyland and Disney World are totally doable with littles, I personally would choose Disneyland since the parks are smaller, closer together, and have a huge amount of rides without a height requirement. My parents first took me to Disneyland at 4 months old, and I first took my son at 16 months. We've taken my son 3 different times now before he turns 3, and they were all amazing. There are so many different experiences and attractions for littles. It's magical to see the parks through their eyes.