How Young is Too Young?

[shortbun]

I guess my philosophy is this. Children at any age can enjoy
WDW if their parents know how to and will limit their time at
parks when necessary. I've seen so many little children pushed
passed their limits because their parents have some agenda.
Sometimes less is more. People feel they have spent the money and time to get there so by golly everyone is going to go commando. I've been to WDW at least a dozen times. I didn't
take DS until he was 4.5- old enough to ride, not be afraid and
possibly skip a nap. We did short mornings, went in a friendly
temperature time, allowed enough time to see what we wanted
and were completely flexible to his needs. We did make one mistake, I won't tell on myself because you'll be disillusioned about my parenting skills-lol. We went back when he was 6.5,
enjoyed more rides and stayed a little longer at the parks. Recently, at 8.5, DS returned and rode all the action rides to his
hearts content. He chose which rides and events to skip as he had seen IASM, Dumbo, Pooh,Peter Pan, etc recently and wanted to put his time into screams and thrills. Again, we left early and
didn't push his limits. We even got a double stroller at his request in EPCOT on day 3 of parks. He said he was tired but wanted to stay longer. This was just fine with us. We left prior to Illuminations. We've seen it twice by boat as we don't like to
be in crowds with a young child. Next time-age 10, we'll push the
envelope. We'll do a more commando style trip and really squeeze more in - if DS wants to. So you see, it's all about the child IMHO. Let them guide your day, your trip and your plans.
Be flexible, relax, find peaceful places. Get them a stoller, don't
expect them to walk. Don't take them unless you are prepared to
make it THEIR vacation too.

 

[Kimickey]

In 2000 I took my then DD2 to WDW with Dh's Aunt. His Aunt Patty was on government travel to the Coronado Springs for a week to attend a conference. She invited us to go and at the last minute I decided to go because DH had to work and I was getting ready to attend a six week school in Boston, MA. I purchased the tickets with the intentions of just enjoying WDW and spending some extra time with DD & myself while Aunt Patty attended all day workshops. DD and I visited all of the parks, swam and just had a good ole mommy and daughter time. Well I did not know until a year later how much the trip had left an impression on Amani. DH and I returned to WDW a year later for a family vacation and Amani remembered everything from the Coronado Springs Resort, it's amazing pool, the characters, where we ate and so forth. It never dawned on me that she would even care, nevertheless where we were & who was there, but she did and told us every detail as if we had went the day before. Ever since then we have returned every year, Amani still to this day remembers that short four day trip to WDW. Now she cries when we leave because it's one of her most favorite places on earth, along with mommy and daddy's! Two years old is the magic age I think, children soak in a lot and remember more than what we think they are paying attention to.

 

[HappyMommy2]

I think if it were going to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip I'd wait till the kids were older (maybe 6 or so) and could really anticipate everything, remember everything, etc. But, God willing, we hope to go to WDW many times during our kids' childhood, so we took them for the first time when they were 3.5 and 1.5. Who would have ever known that it would be the most wonderful vacation of our lives so far? The magic was nonstop, for all of us. I had never seen such wonder and joy on the kids' faces. We have pictures of our younger son on It's a Small World; you would have thought he was in Heaven! Seven months later, our older son still talks about the trip every single day and is already planning how many times he is going to ride Dumbo and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad on our next trip!

Were our kids old enough to "feel the Disney magic?" Yes, I definitely believe so! Will they remember their first trip to WDW forever? Probably not, but DH and I will!
I imagine our trips will get "better" as the kids grow older and we can "do more" at WDW--on this past trip we definitely went at the kids' pace, which is actually DH's preferred pace , and we had no meltdowns from the kids (or DH or me!) at all. We have so much to look forward to in addition to all the magical memories we already have!

It all really depends on the personalities and needs and expectaions of everyone in the family. I don't think there's any hard and fast rule about what age is best for that first wonderful trip.

 

[Alic]

Thank you so much for everyone who took the time to reply! I'll be planning a trip soon....

 

[mom2alix]

We just took DD last October when she was 18 months and had a fabulous time. She still sleeps with her Mickey from that trip and talks about the "castle" and says "Disney" when she sees the logo. (Nope, no brain-washing in this family!)

One tip that I think really made our trip smooth was that we were pretty religious about naps. We also took my MIL with us which made it really nice. Grandma and baby were both ready for naps after lunch and that allowed DH and I to get some park/resort time by ourselves.

It certainly depends on the child, but I wouldn't hesitate to take a young one again.

BTW - We also took her to HH when she was 6 months old and that was a great trip too. She loved the beach and the pool. It was really relaxing for the whole family.

 

[Dancind]

OK, I'll be different. We took our DD to DL when she was 21 months, and again when she was 4. Both trips were very special, she had all the character interaction and "thrill rides" she could handle, and DH and I didn't feel we were missing anything because we had both been before. So, we did the stroller thing and tailored the trip to our little one. We waited to go to big ol' WDW until DD was more mature, could walk long distances, go on all the rides, appreciate the exhibits in Epcot, be a little more adventurous about where/what she would eat, and until we had the $$! Because, you see, neither DH or I had ever been, and we had every intention of it being our dream vacation too. DD was just weeks past her 8th birthday, and we had an incredible trip. We did it all, she even went on TOT (OK, not twice). We really didn't think we would be back for a looong time, but things change. I'm still happy we did it the way we did.