Should we go with a 4 yr old

[andrewandchristy]

We have a 4 year old son. Should we go to Disney with him, or is he too young?

 

[rotlex]

I guess it depends on the 4 year old. IMHO, and considering we took our 4 year old daughter to DW this past April....YES. At her age and height, 44", she was able to enjoy many of the attractions, and of course, at this age, the experience was totally magical to her. (Still can't get over the first time she saw the castle "live and in person")

As far as keeping up and not burning out, I can honestly say she wore US out. That's not to say she didn't crash hard by the time we were back in the room, sometimes after 9, many times after midnight, but low and behold, she woke us up every morning by 6 raring to go!

 

[andrewandchristy]

What were some of the issues/obstacles you faced?

 

[all4fun]

No I don't think 4 is too young. Well seeing as we've been taking ds since he was 13mos old (he's been a grand total of 7x to WDW, 3x to DL) maybe we're the wrong people to ask. IMO it kind of depends on a few factors if you're going to wait or go now... do you have older children? Is this a "once in a lifetime trip" or do you think you're going to have a chance to go again at some point in the future?

If you want your child to "remember" this trip you might want to wait until they are older but not too old, but if you have older children then you might want to go now so they can enjoy it while they're still young and can appreciate the "magic". We took our 8yr old nephew, 7yr old neice, and 12yr old neices a few years ago. They all enjoyed it but the trip was definitely more "magical" for the younger two. My ds (4) is hooked and can't wait to go again. Also, there's something about going with a young child. We went to WDW several times before having ds or taking our neices and nephew and it was really neat to experience Disney with a child in tow because they just have a different perspective than we adults do!

hth

 

[rotlex]

What were some of the issues/obstacles you faced?

Actually none. My wife and I had planned on mid afternoon breaks back to the hotel, taking it easy etc., and pretty much found we didn't have to take a break at all, or I should say, that DD wouldn't let us!

Her burning us out was probably the biggest thing. Seriously! I would not hesitate to take her at that age again, and in fact, we are, next month, although she will be 5 by then.

 

[ktbugsmom]

My DDs first trip was when she was 2.5 years old. While she may not remember the specifics, I do and she had a ball! I loved watching her love it. She is now 7 years old and has been to WDW 8 times. We love it.

A couple hints for a 4 year old - bring your own stroller. It is great for the airport and around your hotel/resort. Plus - it will save you $8/day at the parks. We have a nice umbrella stroller (macclaren) that has paid for itself 3 times over!

Next hint - take an afternoon break. It helps calm things down and give everyone a rest. We are not late night people and we still did this up until DD was around 6 years old!

Another hint - stay on site. This allows you to go back to your hotel and take a break - thus making the trip much more enjoyable.

A final hint (I am sure others have more) - only you know your child and his limitations. My DD did Tower of Terror at 4 years old. Others think I am crazy - but she loved it. Now at 7 (going on 8), she hates it and we don't force it. When she is ready, she will enjoy it again (or not). We just hype up the "Disney magic" and that things are pretend etc etc. So - if something is scary (dark rides like Peter Pan can do that) - we re-enforce it is pretend and for fun. That has worked for us... but she still won't see "Honey I shrunk the audience"!! She saw a commerical with the big snake and NO WAY! Oh well... some day. For now, I will enjoy the roller coasters that she loves!

Have a ball... we think it is the greatest family vacation around...hence why we keep going back.

 

[cl1067]

The last time we went, my middle DD was 3 and turned 4 the day we came home (the youngest DD wasn't thought of at that point ). I think it was a perfect time to take her! It was pure magic seeing her see everything there for the first time and she still "believed" in the characters. You do need to use a stroller, but I don't see that as a huge issue. She was out of naps, so I could see if you had a 4YO that still needed naps where that might make it a little harder.

But I agree with a previous poster that said she kept up better than the adults!

 

[scavon]

I used to be one of those people that thought, let's wait until they are older and can remember it. We are now going on our 3rd trip in October and my DD3 and DD5 do remember their previous trips. They ask me almost daily how many more days until we go again and they tell me which rides they want to go on. Watching the Disney planning DVD is also helpful. We have never had to take a mid-day break, but would have if we felt like they needed it. DD3 has taken naps in the stroller and we take advantage of the benches in shady areas frequently. As OP stated, it does depend on the 4yo, so remember to be flexible. I honestly couldn't imagine going to WDW without them. So yes, take him with you.

 

[Nanisashi]

We took our dd4 this past May and had a blast. She mentions something about that trip almost daily. We would head to the park early then come back to room about 1 or 2pm, then head out again at approx. 5:30pm. It was wonderful. I don't think anyone will tell you 4 is too young, if anything its more magical because 4 year olds aren't jaded yet!

 

[Pokprincess]

Well we have been taking our family since our youngest was 10 months old, and his brother was 5... wouldn't change a thing. They nap, and love to look around & everything. He got to go on all the rides, except the thrill rides of course.
We had sunscreen on him daily, and he fell asleep most times in the stroller, and we took breaks for naps also & went back in the evening. He was also nursing still, and we still had fun. It was nice to take the aircondition breaks with him in the baby centers.. I loved MK's the best. They have this quiet room for feeding, which has rockers, and is dim.. and the doors shut for privacy.
Anyway... I think 4 is not tooooo young at all.
We had friends that kept saying, lets wait until they are 5, then 6, then 7 ... turns out they never took them until they were 13 & 14.. by then, it was all over. They never got to see the magic in the little kid's eyes... it's wonderfully magical

 

[srgibbs]

I say GO GO GO! We took DS for the first time when he was 4 and DD was 14months. We are going for the 3rd Sept. in a row. DS remembers it and had a blast. DD does not remember her 1st trip but she is about to be 3 and still talks about the rides, the characters, and yes Chef Mickey's. They are so excited about our upcoming trip and talk about it every day. Even when DD was 14 months we didn't take many afternoon naps. Sometimes around 3:00 we would go back to the resort for a swim and then to dinner and back to the parks. We figure if the kids don't mind being on the go we can sleep when we get home. I highly recommend staying on site for conviences and also it just extends the Disney Magic. We usually do 2 big trips a year and 2 long weekend trips. This is a permenant 1 week trip for us now while the kids enjoy it so much. My DH and I just have a ball watching the kids have the time of their lives. Ds will ride Space Mountain,Tower of Terror, BTMR, Expedition Everest, ect. so that makes it even more fun for us.

 

[sdrsdd]

We took our 4 and 2 year old children last March and it was WONDERFUL!!!
They still talk about it all of the time and can't wait until our next trip!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I would say that depends on your child and on you. We went on our first trip to WDW right when our youngest was turning 4. He did great! But we knew he had the personality to do great. We would have never taken our older son at that age. Just a totally different personality and disposition. Our older son was 6 on that trip and he was even borderline then!

At age 4 my DS was only 38" so he couldn't get on a lot of the bigger rides. Most kids at age 4 are probably over 40", which gives them much more oppertunity. He was fine to just sit with DH while my older DS and I rode the bigger attractions. Luckily DH was not interested in riding these things anyway! So it all worked out fine!

While I see a lot of families with babies at WDW, that is not for us. We wanted to wait until the kids were potty trained, we didn't need any bottles or sippy cups, and didn't need to lug around a stroller. We wondered if we'd need a stroller once we got there, but we never did. We would do the parks in half day increments. Either open the park and stay until around 4. Or go to the park around 12 or 1 and stay until close. This works great for us!

We took lots of pictures and talk about our trip a lot and he still remembers almost everything about it!! Yes, some people say - "I'd never take my kids at that age, they'll never remember". . . But they do remember and it is a great age. Disney is geared for kids this age and it is so magical for them to see!!

 

[ella6599]

Our most recent trip was with our youngest DD being 2 years 9 months. She's 3 1/2 now and will still spontaneously talk about things she enjoyed from the trip...so...absolutely- GO!

 

[danielle782001]

What were some of the issues/obstacles you faced?

*Tough To Be A Bug was very sacrey for our two boys under 4!

*Our DS4 was tall enough for Tower of Terror and knew it because of his older cousin. Son wanted to go so badly BUT when we got in the building he got all freaked out.... So the lesson is they my not be ready for a ride even though they are "big" enough!

*He also did a lot of walking and got very tired! So we got a stroller pass for him.

**The rest was all good!!!!!! My sons have been at ages 1.2.3&4. They love it. They can go on most rides, enjoy all the fireworks shows and parades.

***I say go with a 4 year old. Get the free DVD planning video before you go to show your child all the things he/she can except and will do. We watch ours until they don't work any more. They love seeing and remembering all the fun!

 

[Tiffany_MommyOf3]

We took our son, he was 3.5 yrs old, along with our dd and younger ds (ages 19 months and 7 months at the time). They all had a blast!

 

[Tiffany_MommyOf3]

oh and the only thing that really freaked my 3.5 yr old out was the Winnie the Pooh ride LMAO.. yes, it scared the poo outta him. but he LOVED the Haunted Mansion lol

 

[Kae]

DS's first trip was 4 & he loved it. We did use ear plugs on most rides. Tough to be a big freaked him out. The part when Hopper came out of the wall/side. First morning DS jump right out of bed & was ready to go we did MK. Second morning he did not jump out of bed so quickly I would pace yourself to your kid. We only got a stroller when needed mainly at night. His favorite ride that trip was Splash.

Kae

 

[bbmommy]

We have a 4 year old son. Should we go to Disney with him, or is he too young?

Take him!!!
We went in June with DD 4 and DS 2....it was the most magical trip ever, we live in Kansas, drove there and spent 7 days at the parks. We did use a stroller for the 4 year old. It was a perfect vacation!! The interaction with the characters and all the rides. DD rode everything she could at 45 inches. We gave her $10 in quarters and if she was fussy she had to pay us a quarter and she wanted to keep her money!

 

[dr&momto2boys]

We have a 4 year old son. Should we go to Disney with him, or is he too young?

No way, 4 isn't too young. We're going with four little kids, the OLDEST of which is 4! We've always had a great time with all our little kids! Our two and a half year old looks through his Walt Disney World guide book for kids every day and says where's the scary ride? (Referring to the Snow White ride. The book only shows a picture of the buggy-eyed witch.) And he says, "Let's go on that. You hold me, and I'll be fine." I don't really think he'll want to go on THAT ride when we're there, but it's sooo cute!