Stories Of First Time Taking Your Child...

[Hester]

I'd like to hear your stories about taking your child on their first trip to Disneyland...

I am in the midst of planning my daughter's first trip to Disneyland. We're planning a 3 night stay at GCH in Feb. of '09. I've purposely waited to take her because I want her to remember her "first time" and I want to do it right.

I grew up in Southern California and Disneyland holds a very special place in my heart (as I assume it does for most people here as well.)

As we're moving through the planning phases, I'm realizing how much this trip means to me personally. I've visited Disneyland many times since 1979 or so (I clearly remember going just after the redesign of Fantasyland.)

Growing up, I started thinking about being a father and how special it will be to someday take my child to Disney for their first time... well that time is coming and I'm in great anticipation of our trip 6 months from now.

Can't wait to hear your stories!

 

[CrazyDuck]

I took my daughter for her first trip just before she turned 2. It was great, but she doesn't remember it at all. So what I did was when we got back I ordered her a brick with her name on it and the date of her first trip in the park. We got an acrylic replica that sits on a shelf in our house. 3 years later and we are finally going to go and see the actual brick installed in the esplanade. For our next trip it will be my son's first trip so I planned ahead and ordered his brick 6 months ago with the date that I though would be his first visit. They installed it last month but now our plans changed and we moved up the dates of our first day in the park. Oh well I'm not about to drop another $185 for a brick that is only 2 days off! It'll still be fun to look for them before we go into the park!

 

[Whidbey5]

We went when our twins were six and our younger son was four. There first trip was the week before Christmas. The morning of the day we were to leave, there was a big scroll at the breakfast table. Santa wrote a letter to the kids, telling them they'd be leaving for Disneyland right after school. Pity the poor teachers who had to be with our kids on THAT day!

They were excited beyond belief. They'd watched videos of Mickey's Merry Christmas. All they could talk about was meeting Mickey and Donald and Minnie and and and...

I think we went on every ride in both parks (except our four year old was too short for some of them). We found out our kids are roller coaster dare devils.

It was a wonderful trip and made us Disneyland lovers for life.

 

[minnie4me]

We took our son to WDW for his 3rd bday.
He had a great time !! It was the end of Oct so the weather was great.
He did very well, and we didn't overtax him, when he was tired we went back to hotel. My parents came on the trip with us, and DS is very close to them, so was even more special.
We did wonder how much of the trip he would remember, and were surprised he remembers alot.
DH and I took his this past fall for his 5th bday. He kept saying I remember this, I rode with Grammy and pappy on this ride. Lets do this and that. I think the second trip may have been even better than the first, as we watched him remember and enjoy all that was new to him. 5 was a great age !!
Frequent trips to the bathroom, a mealtime routine and knowing when enough was enough made both trips all the more enjoyable for all !!
Have a great time, and take tons of pics and video. DS loves to look at them !!

 

[PinkBudgie]

We first took our twin boys when they were 6 years old. It was summer. They were big enough to ride everything. One morning we went to Toon Town first and there was no one there, we went on the little coaster about 5 times in a row because there was no one in line. We just stayed on. Then we went to Mickey's House and there was Mickey at the end of his house walkthrough with no one around! We have a picture on the wall today of the boys standing with Mickey on his porch.

 

[shishigirl]

Hester- Great thread topic! Thanks everyone for sharing your stories! They are fun to read! I am taking my little ones for the first time this Oct and can't wait for the smiles on their faces. In the long run, I dont think they will rememeber much, but I will!!! Yea!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

I'm gonna watch this like crazy too! DS will be 4 and DD will be 2. I know DD won't remember it, but DS DEF will. He remembers stuff from two years ago. Maybe DD WILL remember it.

I just hope it won't be a mistake taking them their first time at Christmas LOL. I can just see the next time we go "Um, where's all the lights?"

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

We first took our girls when they were 2.5 and 10 months. The younger one didn't remember any of it, but our 2.5 year old remembered and loved all of it! We had been advised by so many to wait because they wouldn't remember it, but our oldest proved everybody wrong, lol.

We stayed at the GCH and I remember our first morning so clearly. We went the Emporium and bought the girls the 50th anniversary golden ears, which they wore every single day. The first ride was Dumbo and when my 2.5 year old saw it for the first time she flipped she was so excited. She loved every part of that trip and it made it one of the best vacations DH and I have ever had.

She talked about it so much in the months after we came back that she convinced other people in our family they should go experience it with her, so we went back that Dec. with my mom, stepdad, brother and his gf and again the following Sept. with my dad, stepmom, 2 stepsisters and their families! It was her love of the parks that created the number of trips we've gone on in the last two years.

Now my little one is old enough to really remember it too and I'm so excited for this trip next week!

 

[mariezp]

My son was 10 the first time and my daughter 18 months. Of course, she doesn't remember her first trip except from watching videos. However, at the time she had a wonderful time so that is what really matters. And even though she doesn't remember it all, I feel like it has helped both of my children develop a true love for the park. It is their favorite vacation destination. This year will be our 8th annual trip. We are all sooo looking forward to being back at the park!

We have gone enough times now that the park feels like home. It's great to know our way around the park. We all have our favorite rides and have found "our way" that we like to spend our time in the park. There is nothing quite like taking your child to Disneyland!

 

[avalon451]

Last March was our first time, any of us, including DH and I. When I was a kid, going to DL was a distant dream, one of those things rich kids did, that I never remotely considered possible.

Our kids were 5, 10 and 12. They were all great ages to introduce to the parks, for different reasons. DD5 was all wide-eyed wonder and delight! She just had SO much fun and took joy in everything! The first night in the parks, while we watched the fireworks, my DH and I kept watching her almost as much as the fireworks, because she was just so wide-eyed and open-mouthed with wonder. DH, who is normally not sentimental, was actually wiping tears away from seeing her with the fireworks reflected in her joyful eyes.

DD10 is our crazy, bouncy, cool and funny middle child, and she was just a kick to see, too. She cracked jokes (intoning "Dead men eat no snails..."), begged for hats and souvenirs, ate everything in sight (why the heck is she skinny as a beanpole? Daddy's genes, I guess) and loved Indy. She balked at roller coasters, which is ok.

DD12 got sick on the plane (many of you have heard this story before), and woke up each morning of our trip feeling a little bit worse. The poor thing was worried a lot of the time about "ruining" the vacation for the rest of us. We spent a lot of time switching off in the room with her while she rested and recovered in the mornings. She usually perked up enough to make it to the parks for awhile in the late morning, or afternoons. Those times when she felt ok were great; she loved the parks. She adored the rides! I have never seen her so jazzed as when we went on Space Mountain 3 times in a row! The last time, she and I requested the front seat, and we shrieked, screamed and laughed through the entire thing.

She and I are going in October for our "do-over" trip. I am so excited to experience everything we missed. She is at that adolescent stage where she will try to be cool about everything, and roll her eyes a lot, but it seems like when it's just the two of us, she reverts back to that enthusiastic little girl, and I can talk to her just as easily and comfortably as when she was 4 and chattered nonstop. We love the same kind of rides (although she is refusing point-blank to go on ToT with me) and she will experience all the FL rides for the first time. I will miss DH and my two other DDs, but I'm going to cherish this special time with my growing-up little girl!

 

[heatherleigh]

"When I was a kid, going to DL was a distant dream, one of those things rich kids did, that I never remotely considered possible."

I can totally relate to that. That's exactly what it was to me, when I was a child. I never thought I would get an opportunity to go. I was 13-yrs old my first trip to DW, and it was unbelievable.

My boys were 2 and 3-years old on their first trip to DL. They were at a great age. My 2-year old has always been a serious little boy (it would take him a lot to get him to smile, etc.) I tell him the story about how I knew he liked DL on our first trip (which was difficult to see, because he didn't express much pleasure lol.) Everytime we would get off a ride, like Peter Pan, he would say, "Mo wide. Mo wide." It was so cute. No smile or anything, but at least I knew he was enjoying it.

 

[Monkey Monkey]

I brought my son to DLR for the first time when he was 8.5 months old. We didn't go on any rides, but enjoyed walking around and he loved seeing everything, especially the DCA Block Party Bash parade.

He got to meet Pluto and Goofy, and he has a framed picture of us with Pluto in his room. He loves to look at it and say "It's Mommy, Daddy, baby Mason, and Pooto!"

He was about 16 months old at his second visit and maybe 22 months at his third. I don't think I really started taking him on rides until that visit, but he loves them!

I got my first AP in January, and Disneyland has become very familiar to him. He tells me what rides he wants to go on and loves seeing characters (although it's much more exciting for me than it is for him, LOL). He just turned 3 in June, and we went for his birthday.

We're taking my mom to DL for her first time in a couple of weeks, and Mason is so excited to ride the Matterhorn with her!

 

[PHXscuba]

I grew up in OC and went many times as a kid (that's me in the avatar on my 3rd birthday). DH and I went to DL for a day when we were on our honeymoon, then proceeded to move to the Midwest for schooling that eventually kept us away from DL for almost nine years.
When we moved back, we decided to wait for our son to get big enough to go on all the rides and walk the park for a whole day, so we went when he was almost 5. He did great -- loved BTMRR and Matterhorn, chickened out before we got on HM, never had to be carried.
My favorite memory of that first trip is watching the parade with him. I started to tear up because I kept thinking how wonderful it was that I could share something that was a big part of my childhood with him. We gave him a little album to hold copies of all the photos we took and he still has it 7 years later. He has the biggest smile in every picture.
Since my parents still live in OC, we've been able to leave our youngest child home each time another kid has reached a good age. Next year, my youngest son, who is now 3, will go to DL for the first time, and we are doing it up big with the whole family and multiple days for the first time. We are already projecting a marathon trip to WDW for 2011!
Although it's sometimes hard to wait and only go every few years (I know some people on DIS could never hold off that long), I think for us it makes each trip more magical and special.

PHXscuba
"You can't have everything -- besides, where would you put it all?"

 

[noga]

We took DD when she was 10 months old. I thought that she would not have any fun whatsoever (we really went for us LOL). However, she loved it. I know that she doesn't remember a thing, but she loved all the characters, was watching the fireworks with her eyes wide open, and went on any ride that we could take her on.
Then we went again 2 years later. She still remembers the trip. She had so much fun. She rode Matterhorn like 10 times. She just wanted to go on any ride possible.

 

[NicksMommy]

I took my son to WDW for the first time when he was 18 months we went to see the Wiggles!! He loved it so much when we walked in all he could say was WOW, Look! WOW! He loved all the kiddie rides! Did not like the characters much... He talked about being there so much that we decided to go to DLR last year, once again he loved it! This time he was afraid of the rides but not the characters! He loves the Character meals! He finally came around and loved getting on the rides, Dumbo being his favorite!

I think Disney has realized how much money they are losing from the parents of preschoolers who are "waiting" for the right time to take their children, that they have really taken into consideration families with young children!! We are getting ready for our Oct. trip and he is already wearing his Buzz Lightyear costume! He can't wait to go!! It is all he talks about!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Our boys were 5 and 2 when we took them for the first time. We went in early December which was perfect - nice weather, low crowds and the Christmas decorations were up. We drove down from the Bay Area and my sister flew in to join us. The boys had a blast. They loved everything. Our 5 year old especially loved the Monorail and train. My DH knew a few members of the Dapper Dans BBShop Quartet so they pulled our 2 year old into their show on Main Street. We have an adorable picture of him helping them play the organ chimes.

When it was time to leave, DH and the boys took my sister to the airport while I packed up the hotel room. After they picked me up, we went to IHOP for breakfast. As we were driving past the park one last time on the way to I-5, our two year old pointed and said, "I go Ninnyland! I go Ninnyland!" Poor guy started crying and pounding on his car seat. He thought we were going to Ninnyland again! I always cry when I think about it. I was so sad and tragic but so incredibly cute. Now he's almost 10 and has been to Ninnyland at least 5 more times. Going back again next summer!