Taking a 3 yr old to Disneyworld from Melbourne

[minniemumma]

Hi All my Aussie Disney lovers,

I have a 2.5 year old turning 3 while I am thinking of taking her to the WORLD and am wondering who else has taken their children at this age?
Would you do it again? Was it a fail?
HELP my sister keeps telling me its a waste of money to take her so far for something she wont remember.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I think this comes down to the type of child you have.

I took my 2.5 year old for a day to Disneyland. He went from 9 am in the morning right through to 8 pm at night without stopping. But he was a child that was capable of go go go without getting tired or throwing a temper tantrum. He's now nearly 14 and he still remembers bits of that trip. And we have loads of treasured pictures from that trip to bring back happy memories.

How long are you planning on heading to WDW? You can always plan to head to the parks for the morning or the afternoon and have lots of down-time in between. More than DLR, there is so much to enjoy and experience at WDW that you really don't need to spend the entire time in the parks to get value from the trip.

Whether you take your child to DisneyWorld or not is your choice and decision. As with anything else in life, you'll always have the nay-sayers telling you not to do it.

Good luck with it all.

 

[LeanneDownUnder]

Hi,

We took our kids back in 2000 when my daughter was 3 and my son was 7, my son remembers the whole trip and my daughter has no memory of going.
She had a ball at the time, don't get me wrong, she loved it at the time but thats about how long her memory lasted.
We have lots of great photo's that she loves to look at ... BUT if you want her to remember everything about going maybe hold off a bit longer, will you do it again, this could also be a further deciding factor, some people only go once.

I should add .. I would do it again because there is nothing like the smile on a little girls face when she see's that Princess Castle for the first time, or meets the Disney Characters and I think Disney has a Magic where you still keep that but at 3 and 4 ... it's like MAGIC with GLITTER and FAIRY DUST on top ... if that makes sense and even if they don't remember it ... you have it in the pictures ... so YOU will remember it.

It's a hard decision! lots to think about ... Good luck

 

[Neha]

I took my 3 kids (5,3 and 1) to Hk Disneyland instead. Much closer to Australia, so less jetlag issues and smaller so easier for kids to walk around and enjoy. You still get to see their faces light up when they meet the princesses or mickey, buzz and woody Will take them to the WORLD when they are a bit older.

Depends also if you can go many times to Disneyworld or you can only go once..if you can go only once then i'd wait.

Also another issue..even though you are at the happiest place on earth..dont expect that your kids will be the happiest kids in the world. Tantrums still happen!

 

[Tashinwdw]

I think taking them at that age would be magical, I would have loved to have taken my kids when they were younger but DH felt it was not worth it when they were that young. It really is a personal choice. I guessed that you are talking about disney world when you talk about going. Have you considered just going to Disneyland, its not as overwhelming and it will bring the cost down alot.

 

[Snickals]

I've been fortunate to be able to take my little girl and each trip she has loved it for different reasons. I think the last trip she really started to 'get it' and still talks about it now. We also just finished doing up all her autograph/photo albums and we love looking back at them. Such special memories! Ohh and my little girl is now 2yrs7months

 

[WanderlustNZ]

For me the answer depends.

If it's a one time only trip I would probably wait until my child was a bit older when we could do more rides as a family.

If my child didn't travel well, I'd also probably wait a bit longer.

But if neither of the above are an issue, then I say 'Go for it'.

As someone with a Psychology degree (majoring in childhood development), I'm always bemused (if not a bit concerned) when I hear people say you should hold off on exciting experiences until a child can remember them. Regardless of whether a child remembers a happy experience or not, they will still be forever affected by it. So much scaffolding happens in a child's brain during the early years. If a child experiences a lot of happiness and love while they are young, they are more likely to grow into content, well-rounded adults. If they see their parents laughing and having fun, their sense of security about the world around them will be boosted.

Plus, of course, you as parents will always have the memories. At the speed our kids grow, we need to take advantage of every moment.

 

[dabecs]

As someone with a Psychology degree (majoring in childhood development), I'm always bemused (if not a bit concerned) when I hear people say you should hold off on exciting experiences until a child can remember them. Regardless of whether a child remembers a happy experience or not, they will still be forever affected by it. So much scaffolding happens in a child's brain during the early years. If a child experiences a lot of happiness and love while they are young, they are more likely to grow into content, well-rounded adults. If they see their parents laughing and having fun, their sense of security about the world around them will be boosted. Plus, of course, you as parents will always have the memories. At the speed our kids grow, we need to take advantage of every moment.

I couldn't agree more. When people said they wouldn't take a 5 year old (the age of my daughter on our trip) because they won't remember I started countering with "May as well pull her out of preschool and not bother taking her for a walk to the park or a day out at Zoo because she won't remember".

I agree if this is the 'one big trip' you can afford then maybe hold off, but if money isn't an issue I say go for it! It really is extra magical when they meet the characters and BELIEVE it really is them

 

[Aust]

I've been to Disneyland twice with my kids, the first time they were 3 and 6, the second time 3, 7 and 10. Not a waste at three at all, my daughter especially loved the characters at that age and believed in them, it was lovely to see the interactions. It didn't bother me whether or not they would remember the trip at that age, as they enjoyed it so much in the moment. They loved all the rides they were big enough for (my son at 3 was tall enough for most which was great as he's a daredevil), and we used child swap for rides not appropriate for them.

I've not had any issues with travelling with my kids at that age either, they're old enough to be entertained by the inflight entertainment etc, but small enough to curl up and sleep on the plane. We chose Disneyland due to it being less travel and also smaller in area/easier to get around.

 

[minniemumma]

Hi all thanks for your advice. I do plan on going back in 5 years (hopefully with another little disney lover!) pretty sure we will be seeing minnie and Mickey in a few months then!!!!!

 

[Tashinwdw]

Hi all thanks for your advice. I do plan on going back in 5 years (hopefully with another little disney lover!) pretty sure we will be seeing minnie and Mickey in a few months then!!!!!

Thats great to hear, I think it will be really enjoyable and the wonderful memories you are creating will last a lifetime, if not in actual memory but with video and photos. I am sure half of what we have done with our children they only remember through photos and video. We did the Queensland parks when they were younger and they still now 10 years later watch the home movies of them.

 

[PinkCupcakes]

Hi all thanks for your advice. I do plan on going back in 5 years (hopefully with another little disney lover!) pretty sure we will be seeing minnie and Mickey in a few months then!!!!!

YAY!!!

We took my mdd to DL when she was 4 and she totally believed that the princesses were real! It was so sweet and magical. And we have the photos to look back on.

Now we are planning on going back to at least DL (hoping to include WORLD and NYC) this December with DD11, DD8 and DD2! So Iam totally in the "go for it" camp of thinking!

 

[BecBennett]

That's great news!

Your daughter probably won't remember it, but you definitely will, and isn't that just as important?