How young is too young ?

[hippychic]

Don't do Disney to the exclusion of other attractions in your area. Where we live in S. Jersey (very close to Phila) we have within a 1- 1 1/2 car ride, dutch wonder land, sesame place and a little park called storybook land, as well as the boardwalks of the Jersey shore. All of these venues are wonderful low keyed places to take little kids but are to "baby ish" for bigger kids. We made sure that we enjoyed all of these age appropriate parks before we did the big trip to disney when they were 7 and 9. They could go on all of the rides at disney at that age, spend hours in the parks without needing naps and really enjoy the educational part of the experience.
We are planning a second trip to disney in the fall, but have yet to do the Universal Park as we are waiting till they are a little older and really enjoy the BIG thrill ride scene (which they don't enjoy now).
Peace.

 

[3xthecharm]

Don't do Disney to the exclusion of other attractions in your area. Where we live in S. Jersey (very close to Phila) we have within a 1- 1 1/2 car ride, dutch wonder land, sesame place and a little park called storybook land, as well as the boardwalks of the Jersey shore. All of these venues are wonderful low keyed places to take little kids but are to "baby ish" for bigger kids. We made sure that we enjoyed all of these age appropriate parks before we did the big trip to disney when they were 7 and 9. They could go on all of the rides at disney at that age, spend hours in the parks without needing naps and really enjoy the educational part of the experience.
We are planning a second trip to disney in the fall, but have yet to do the Universal Park as we are waiting till they are a little older and really enjoy the BIG thrill ride scene (which they don't enjoy now).
Peace.

We are from NJ, and you sound just like us. Dutch Wonderland has been a yearly ritual as well as the Strausburg RR. We will "graduate" to Hershey Park this summer.

 

[WIDisneyFan]

Wow ! I did not expect to get this much of a response so quickly - so let me say thank you to everyone for weighing in.

To briefly answer a few of the questions raised,
1) As for frequency of trips from a financial standpoint, that is not a big issue, just a matter of planning the time more than the money.
2) As for the local attractions I agree completely - and we use those as weekend getaways

Now it looks like time to read a few trip reports.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Much respect to all you "brave" folks who took your youngsters to WDW. DH and I left our 11 month old at home when we went last year. She will be home with Grammy again this year (she'll be 23 months). We still believe that she's too young to enjoy herself. During our last trip, my husband "interviewed" every parent he could find with young children to ask what the opinion of the "best" age is for Disney. We got a lot of answers but the general opinion was 4. Old enough to remember, young enough to believe! We plan to bring her then.

 

[beattyfamily]

I forgot to add in my post that a BIG plus to bringing a toddler is 2 and under are FREE!

 

[DisFlan]

Kids under 3 do everything pretty much free, but the "Disney" experience depends on the child. If your little one doesn't like noises, crowds or dark spaces, you might have a problem. Our son didn't like any of these things, so we waited until he was 6 and he loved every minute of our trip. From then on it was no trouble.

We were there last year with our three year-old niece. She's an assertive, well-behaved kid and we had a blast with her.

Remember, if you're going with a baby under 2, you're probably going for you more than the child. They won't remember much later. And you may be constrained somewhat from a full-tilt enjoyment of the more adult side and hours of WDW. If that doesn't bother you, then go for it and have fun!

DisFlan

 

[DancingBear]

Well, our DS was less than 2 weeks at his first visit!! (We didn't go to any parks, were just staying at CBR for a few days). He returned just after his 2nd birthday and had a blast. He's pretty much fearless (too much so for his own good), so we ended up doing everything that didn't have a size limit---inc. Haunted Mansion, Pirates, etc. And he got his first haircut at the MK barbershop.

He also played on the CR playground, and enjoyed the ride in his stroller on the path from WL to FW, and the animals at FW, and...

You have to adjust your pace, of course, but you'll have a blast!