Kids' age(s) on first visit?

[dwcrazee]

DD was just shy of 3 and I was 7 months prego with #2. We are going again in 9 days and DD #2 who is now 3 keeps reminding us she is not going back in my belly for this trip.

 

[raidermatt]

My son turned 2 on our first trip to WDW. He's 7 now and it doesn't seem like he remembers anything from it. We also went when he was 3 1/2 and 4 1/2, and he remembers some things from those trips.

But of course there's three answers to the "he won't remember it" comments:

1. I will.
2. He won't remember anything from that age, so should we not do anything?
3. He will still see the pictures when he's older and hopefully treasure them just as he would other family photos.

As for how it worked out, it went well. He actually took naps in the stroller, so we didn't need to go back to the hotel for breaks.

Some of the dark rides frightened him a bit, but he would just "hide" his head in mommy or daddy and then he would be fine afterwards.

We are going back soon and our daughter will be 16 months. Our plan is to play it by ear. If she naps in the stoller like her brother did, we'll probably take the same "no break" approach. But if she needs the quiet of the hotel room to get her rest, we'll go that route.

Same thing with the rides. We'll see what she can handle and adapt, using the "baby switch" when necessary.

The key is not to push the kids past what they can handle. If they need some rest or a break, do it. That might just mean a rest inside an air conditioned store or restaurant, or it might be a ride back to the hotel for a nap. Especially at the younger ages, you just have to take your cues from them.

 

[joshsmom]

DS was 5 and he remembers his first time there like it was yesterday!!

 

[MomofCKJ]

Our kids are going for the first time in December and they will be 9, 7 and 4 at that time.

We waited and it is just a personal choice for us. It is a really expensive trip for us and we wanted to wait till the youngest was out of diapers, out of needing to nap daily and just old enough to be a little easier to handle on a trip like this. I am so excited and I know they will be too. They have no idea we have this planned!

Allyson

 

[WeLoveThePoly]

DD had turned 3 a month before her first trip to WDW. The trip was compliments of Grandma & Grandpa - they'd been waiting to take her to WDW since before she was born! [DD is 8.5 now, my how time flies!!!]

Debbie

 

[aide4]

DS was 13 and DD 9 when we went the first time....we are taking our 2nd trip over xmas this year, DS will turn 18 while we are there, and DD wil be 14.

 

[tae1218]

Our DD was 22 months the first time we went. We had some much fun! We did go back to the resort everyday in the middle of the day to take a break and maybe a swim. And we still do that today and she is 8 now.

 

[higgin704]

We took our girls when they were 3 1/2 and 21 months for their first trip. It was wonderful. Perfect ages for their first trip.

Recently we took the girls (now 8 and 6) and their 3 month old brother. This was really exhausting. We made it work, but only because it was trip 6 for us and we know the parks like our own home.

I know this has been addressed lots before, but the search feature to look up past threads is not working right now.

Anyways, how old were your kids when you took them to WDW the first time? We (DSis, DMom, DNiece and I) will be going to WDW, and DN will be 7 months old. Young, I know, but just wondering how old your kids were/will be on their first visit? Any tips? We've been 4 times before without kids, so this will be a first for us. Thanks!

 

[Amyg]

This will be our very first trip and my son is 9! We live too far and it's very pricey plus we usually visit relatives in three other states.

The first time we took my son to Disneyland was when he was 5. Any younger and he wouldn't have wanted to see the character as he was afraid of Santa before then.

We are so excited for our July trip!

 

[clonetothebone]

DD was 3 and DS was 5 on our first trip which was too early for DD. She was scared of just about everything and just wanted to hang out with DW shopping and looking around at "non scary" stuff. DS loved everything including SM.

 

[mill4023]

It's pretty easy,just keep to their schedule and you'll find that it's probably easier at 7 months than say 2 years old. LOL

I can personally vouch for that.
We've taken our kids to DL at ages as young as 5 months
Last year at WDW, our youngest was 14 months.
This year, she had just turned 2. The trip with a 5 month old and the one with a 14 month old were very easy. At that age, they just enjoyed sitting in the stroller and watching everything around them. This year, in some ways was more fun with our 2 yr old because she could actually interact with the characters and she could talk some. But it was definitely more work this year because she was at the point where she no longer wanted to stay in the stroller. She wanted to walk everywhere and do everything herself. She also seemed to get overstimulated much easier at 2 than at 14 months.