Seeing Disney through a child's eye

[GC&S]

We had the best time at Disney this year. We have been there many times but this year was truly magical seeing it through dd's eyes. She is 3 and was just in awe of everything. She was scared of some of the characters but was on a mission the first day to find Mickey. She was speechless at the sight of Cinderella our first night. Her favorite ride was A small world and Peter Pan and we went on them numerous times.

DH and I didn't do a lot this year - missed Soarin, RNRC, space mountain, etc but we didn't miss it. Watching dd meet Ariel for the first time made up for missing all the adult stuff. We missed Wishes (dd is scared of fireworks) and the parades (during her nap time) but it didn't matter. I thought she would nearly pass out when she spotted The Little Einsteins at MNSHP. I always had a kleenex with me because I was crying so much watching her with the princesses and characters.

I'm really glad we were able to experience Disney before we had our child and then again with our child. We saw so many things that we never paid attention to before and to experience them with her was just priceless.

 

[Steamboat Girlie]

I totally agree with you. DH and I are dis veterans, married 10 years before ds came on the scene. We had so many commando style trips to Disney before our son was born. But last year we took our son (he just turned 1) for his first time. It was amazing. I was crying the whole time. He marched around with Pooh at Crystal Palace and I was weeping. In my opinion Disney is so much more special with him. We are going again in December. It will be interesting to see how he is this year. Last year he wasn't afraid of anything, even let some of the CM hold him. I wonder if he will be afraid of any characters this time. He went on every ride that would allow him, even Pirates and Haunted Mansion and he loved every second of it.
I just can't wait for our next trip. The memories for DH and I are priceless, even if he is too small to remember.

 

[dizneybelle]

I am glad you posted this. We took are taking my dd 2 1/2 in Nov and I am so excited. The last time we went was when she was 6 weeks old, before I had to go back to work from maternity leave. Every time we are on this site looking at pictures, she gets so excited. She wants to see the castle and eat breakfast with "Cinderbella". I get excited thinking about how she will react to her first siting of the characters. Your post now has me REALLY excited. Thanks!

 

[bicker]

Okay, please pardon me for hijacking this thread to some extent. We're bringing DN6 and DN1 (but she's really more like 2 or 3, as compared to the other kids). I'm wondering if it makes sense to separate a few times (four adults, two children -- we have them out-numbered this time, and could readily split up into 2+1 and 2+1) instead of always going together everywhere. Have other folks taken this approach? Where did it work best?

 

[Nank]

That was the way we planned our trip. Our DS (4) is also afraid of fireworks. DH took him out before they started. He loved the Grand Prix (?) ride in Tomorrowland so they went on 6 times. He loves characters so we waited to see soooooo many characters. We were lucky it was pretty empty when we went so we did get to do some things we hadn't planned but for the most part the trip was all about him and he had so much fun. Even chases lizards at POFQ!

 

[LadyDulcinea1]

I get happy just seeing other people's children meeting characters during my trips! I love going to Disney and doing adult stuff, but I'm looking forward to the day (several years from now! ) when I'm able to see it through my child

 

[Honeybehr1]

When I was talking about vacations with some family, they had said it was stupid to go now since my youngest is 2 and wont remember it at all. I pointed out that he is free till he was 3 and he would have a ball. They all said to pass on it till he is older.

So Dh and I agreed and we booked a trip for October 15th.
We havent told anyone in our families yet. They will find out on the 15th at DS 8th birthday party.

I love seeing Disney through a childs eyes. It what makes Disney so magical. Heck it doesnt even have to be my child. I will be standing in line watching other kids and just to see there eyes go round with pure joy is a sight to see.

I cant wait 8 more days who am I kidding.

 

[disnut8]

We took our soon-to-be-granddaughter right after she turned five. It had been a long time since we had a child at Disney World (our son was turning 21 on that trip). Marlie rode almost nothing since she was afraid of the dark and the noise. It didn't matter. She had so much fun doing other things. Watching her watching the Magic Kingdom parade had her mother in tears. Marlie got to ride a pony at Fort Wilderness, feed the fish with her soon-to-be stepfather while waiting for a Magic Kingdom boat, see Off Kilter (her new favorite and I did not force her at all), learn all about nature from her soon-to-be great-grandparents (she got to meet all of them for the first time on the trip).

To bicker - definitely split up. We did that all the time just with the one child. You have to. We took walkie talkies for when we were in the same park and cell phones for when we weren't. Really worked well. Just make sure to turn the things off in line and in the attractions (or at least silence the cell phone).

 

[robertsmom]

We had the best time at Disney this year. We have been there many times but this year was truly magical seeing it through dd's eyes. She is 3 and was just in awe of everything. She was scared of some of the characters but was on a mission the first day to find Mickey. She was speechless at the sight of Cinderella our first night. Her favorite ride was A small world and Peter Pan and we went on them numerous times.

DH and I didn't do a lot this year - missed Soarin, RNRC, space mountain, etc but we didn't miss it. Watching dd meet Ariel for the first time made up for missing all the adult stuff. We missed Wishes (dd is scared of fireworks) and the parades (during her nap time) but it didn't matter. I thought she would nearly pass out when she spotted The Little Einsteins at MNSHP. I always had a kleenex with me because I was crying so much watching her with the princesses and characters.

I'm really glad we were able to experience Disney before we had our child and then again with our child. We saw so many things that we never paid attention to before and to experience them with her was just priceless.

I understand this feeling completely. When I took my son 2 years ago, I too missed lots of my favorite rides, but didn't care one bit. Seeing his face was everything to me. He had the time of his life, and I got tons of memories (and pictures) that will always be with me.

 

[eeyoresmountainpals]

Maybe a little off-topic but I wanted to add my two cents worth here and say how lucky DH and I are.

Like the OP I can still remember the first time we took our first child to WDW. It was so different than when we had gone by ourselves. Now we have four children, DD20, DS16, DS13 and DS11. It's been great to see WDW with each of them for their first visit. Now, however, as they get older that first time, child-like magic isn't the same....

Except for DS16...you see, DS16 has Down Syndrome! Every time he is at WDW it's magical for him! For us, we will always be lucky enough to watch the experience of the child-like magic. We are truly blessed!

 

[jennymouse]

Thanks for posting! I'm looking so forward to taking my 2yo granddaughter for her first time in November. She loves shows and music and rides at the little carnavils that come to town so I know she'll have so much fun at WDW. My adult DD and I are going to split up quite a bit so my 11yo DGD (who's been several times) can ride the big rides too. I'm going to take DGD2 to Playhouse Disney while DD takes DGD11 to ToT & R&R, etc. Can't wait!

 

[izzys4]

I so agree with the magic of it all.....our "little princess" is deaf and we went in 2002 just 2 weeks before she was to have cochlear implant surgery. She was 3 at the time. She loved to see everything and we were blown away with the emotion of it all. Then we went back in 2003 when she could hear it thanks to the surgery and it was even better!!! She was even more excited when there was sound to the sights!! Disney will always have a special place in our hearts!!

33 days till our next trip

 

[bowsi]

My husband and I consider ourselves Disney veterans - we had many trips there prior to our (soon to be) five year old son;s birth. We decided right after he was born that we would take him to Disney in October every year for his birthday up through his fifth birthday (October 2006 he'll be in Kindergarten).

We "knew" everything about Disney, or so we thought. Believe it or not, Nicholas took his absolute first unassisted steps in our room at Riverside the day of his first birthday. Totally made me cry. Then, I'll never, ever forget sitting on the floor at Playhouse Disney (something my husband and I had never done prior) and watching our son's eyes open wide and him cry out "Rolie"!!!! when Rolie Polie came out. Absolutely fantastical.

 

[Wishes]

We, too, have been lucky enough to take our kids to Disney many times since they were little. Here's some good news for you . . . my two were 17 and 13 on our last trip and I can still say the "magic" is still there! Yes, it was special when they were little and saw it for the first time and I treasure (and sometimes miss!) those moments when they were younger but we have always felt that every trip just gets better and better! I'm so glad for all of you who don't wait until your kids are older to go. They grow up so fast and I wouldn't trade any of the special times we were able to spend together at Disney! Isn't being a parent just the greatest thing ever?!!!!

 

[lucincia]

We, too, have been lucky enough to take our kids to Disney many times since they were little. Here's some good news for you . . . my two were 17 and 13 on our last trip and I can still say the "magic" is still there! Yes, it was special when they were little and saw it for the first time and I treasure (and sometimes miss!) those moments when they were younger but we have always felt that every trip just gets better and better! I'm so glad for all of you who don't wait until your kids are older to go. They grow up so fast and I wouldn't trade any of the special times we were able to spend together at Disney! Isn't being a parent just the greatest thing ever?!!!!

Yes, every trip just gets better and better because you stop having to change diapers or running for emergency potty breaks!

 

[mamaprincess]

This thread has me giddy!

There is nothing like having a little child with you. our first trip was with our girls when they had just turned six and our then 9mos old baby girl. Our girls were so knocked out and our baby was so funny. On the Land she kept turning around and babbling and laughing at the couple behind us.

We went again when she was about 19 mos and they were just turning 7. Everytime she saw mickey or minnie, she ran after them yelling mickey! She was a riot, and the girls just completely lose their minds. It's awesome going with them. I can't imagine Disney without their priceless reactions. We all are dreaming of our next trip which wont be far off.

 

[Tigger2252]

My DDs were older (16 & 9) before we were able to make the trip down to WDW. I have to say that their reaction to the magic was the same as it is for the tiny tikes. I will never forget the looks on their faces the first time they saw Cinderella's Castle. It was dusk and the castle was lit....I looked at my oldest and she had tears streaming down her face. All she could say is "It's so beautiful mommy...." Naturally, I fell apart. Just typing this brings that memory back and I'm crying again!! I can't wait until we get back in November!

 

[whacked]

Okay, please pardon me for hijacking this thread to some extent. We're bringing DN6 and DN1 (but she's really more like 2 or 3, as compared to the other kids). I'm wondering if it makes sense to separate a few times (four adults, two children -- we have them out-numbered this time, and could readily split up into 2+1 and 2+1) instead of always going together everywhere. Have other folks taken this approach? Where did it work best?

We generally do this for parts of each day. DS loves the thrill rides. DD likes the slower rides. Grandmothers like to take the DD and do the mellow stuff while the "menfolk" go on the rinse and spin rides. We also do many things as a group as well.

It works really well.

 

[speakupjc]

Your post was beautiful!!! Thanks fo sharing.

 

[GoofyGirlnPrincessV]

loves the princesses, she had the MOST magical time ever last Thursday. I posted this story on a different thread:

My DD had the most magical time with Stanley

We went to Rafiki's Planet Watch and saw Stanley. OMG her face had the biggest smile while we were in line. When it was her turn Stanley saw her overalls and went nuts!!! He started jumping up and down and clapping. He came up to her and gave her a huge hug. I took a couple pictures and he signed her book. We then went to get in line for Rafiki and it was Stanley's turn to go get a snack so he blew her a kiss when he left

After we got Rafiki's picture and autograph Stanley came back and Victoria "HAD" to see him again. Luckily he only had 2 kids in line. When it was Victoria's turn again Stanley jumped up and down again and did a little dance when he saw her. He came over and gave her more big hugs and motioned that he loved her and gave her a big kiss. He took her hand and walked her around to show off her overalls. Everyone loved them and one Cast Member told her that she must have made Stanley's day and Stanley stood there clapping and shaking his head yes. The whole time she had the biggest grin on her face. When we were walking back to the train station all she talked about was how much she loves Stanley and how he loved her overalls. It was so cute.