Taking your grandchildren to WDW w/o their parents

[helenk]

I have a trip planned in December for myself, my son, his wife and my grand-daughter who will be 2 and a half in December.
Due to the loss of his job, my son and his family may not be able to go with me, which is fine I go solo more often than not.
At 2 and a half I would not consider taking my grand daugher by myself, she is just potty training now and I would be worried about how she'd feel flying without her parents etc.
I look forward to some trips where I will not have to schedule a trip around her parents going along. (I have way more vacation time than they do)
I would be interested in hearing from other grandparents, what age did you take your grandchildren/grandchild to WDW without their parents?

 

[Nancyg56]

My DGD was 4 going onto 5 when I took her without my DD. My 22 YO niece was with us and IMO, she was a Godsend. I would have been able to take care of everythng but having Debbie there was even better. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

 

[Mrs D]

I have a trip planned in December for myself, my son, his wife and my grand-daughter who will be 2 and a half in December.
Due to the loss of his job, my son and his family may not be able to go with me, which is fine I go solo more often than not.
At 2 and a half I would not consider taking my grand daugher by myself, she is just potty training now and I would be worried about how she'd feel flying without her parents etc.
I look forward to some trips where I will not have to schedule a trip around her parents going along. (I have way more vacation time than they do)
I would be interested in hearing from other grandparents, what age did you take your grandchildren/grandchild to WDW without their parents?

I love Disney so much that I'm not sure I could send my Mom & kids and not go with! Now leaving the kids at home to go with my Mom is fine by me! LOL!

 

[singnring]

Haven't done it yet, but I would take DGS3 1/2 in a heartbeat!!
He was the perfect kid when we went in Sep.
Unfortunately, DD24 is divorced from DGS's dad. He would NEVER in a million years allow us to take DGS with us.

Our hope is that DGS1 1/2 will someday prove to be as great @ WDW as his brother, and we can take him.
Though, I fear big brother will be devastated by not being able to go along.

Divorce stinks for EVERYONE, even Grammie and Poppy!

 

[tms295psu]

Will it be your grandchild's first disney experience? The parents may not be willing to miss out on that... unless they know it is the only way the child would ever be able to go.

I have a Mother in law that likes to take away those magical first moments. She is actually upset that she can not go on our disney trip with us next week...

 

[helenk]

Will it be your grandchild's first disney experience? The parents may not be willing to miss out on that... unless they know it is the only way the child would ever be able to go.

I have a Mother in law that likes to take away those magical first moments. She is actually upset that she can not go on our disney trip with us next week...

No it will not be her first trip, since I own DVC I treated them all to a trip in June and had a wonderful time. We stayed in a savanah view villa at the Kidani portion of AKL. She loved seeing the animals everyday.
As much as I love Disney and my grand daughter I would never want to take away a parent's joy of the first visit.

 

[helenk]

My DGD was 4 going onto 5 when I took her without my DD. My 22 YO niece was with us and IMO, she was a Godsend. I would have been able to take care of everythng but having Debbie there was even better. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

I think the 4 going on 5 age is a good idea, in another year I will start running the idea past my son and daughter in law.

 

[Princess Roo]

That sounds great! Of course I'd hate to miss the trip, but I know my parents and children would have such fun together.

I actually think 2.5 - the age of my youngest - is not too early, if you are comfortable with it. (And she'd still be free - LOL!) But 4 to 5 years - the age of my oldest - would certainly be easier.

 

[katied]

It wasn't grandkids, but a niece and nephew. We've taken the twice - first at 6 and 8, and then at 8 and 10. It was not our first trip with them - they've stayed at our house for weekend, week trips, and we'd taken them on some other driving trips around the midwest, so we were comfortable having them with us for a trip.

6 and 8 was nice ages - very easy. They had a great time, and so did we (which is why we went back 20 months later).

 

[Nancyg56]

Will it be your grandchild's first disney experience? The parents may not be willing to miss out on that... unless they know it is the only way the child would ever be able to go.

I have a Mother in law that likes to take away those magical first moments. She is actually upset that she can not go on our disney trip with us next week...

My DH and I are so fortunate in that my DD and DSIL wanted us to join them on Kady;s first visit to the World. WE never would have wanted to "steal: that experience from them but it turned out to be the best memory for us. My DSIL actually told me that I planned the perfect trip for us. We were very careful to make sure that their little family knew they were not compelled to spend the entire time with us.

Honestly, we would never have resented missing that experience but I will admit that my DH and I would have been a bit sad if we did nto get to share her joy.

As much as I love Disney and my grand daughter I would never want to take away a parent's joy of the first visit.

My SIS IL did not really understand that DD adn DSIL wanted to be able to have their own family time (although they really never took the opportunity) and that attitude totally backfires. We had a full scale mutiny when she invited herself on the next trip. That was the reason I took DGD on that extra vacation. No one in the family would go if SIS IL came after thay first unhappy experience. Marisa had been wonderful in that she invited my DS and his DW, me and DH and her Aunt to join us. She never dreamed that there would be any issues with her decisions.

I think the 4 going on 5 age is a good idea, in another year I will start running the idea past my son and daughter in law.

It was a really different dynamic adn a very fun one. I was a little surprised that DD was comfortable with me taking her little one so far away but she was fine.

 

[ZeitgeistDuck]

I'm not a grandparent, but as a mom to two little ones, I think 4-5 is a great age. Honestly, I would not be willing to let my children travel without me before that age. What a nice grandma you are! When the time comes, have a wonderful trip full of special memories and moments.

 

[RooRach0906]

My parents take all the grandchild(ren) when they are 5 or close to (one went at 4 1/2). We all know this is what they do. It is the grandchild special trip with Pop Pop and Nana.

My one sister got to see her kids at Disney first. Other sister it was bascially her daughters first trip (since the first time her daughter wnet she was 3 months and that was a family reunion) she did not feel like she was missing anything.. actually she happier that she got to go b/c with her being a single mom she is not sure if she will ever be able to take her by herself.

I know my parents will take my lil girl as well at this time... it is important for me and my DH to see our daughters first trip so even tho she isnt even here yet we are already hoping we can take her Dec 2012 when she will be 2 1/2.

So I would ask the parents if they would mind if you took them on the first time (if that was the case)

Hope this helps!!

 

[bushdianee]

I'm not a parent or a grandparent but I have taken 2 nieces at 2 different times, one was 12 and was very homesick. The other was 2.5 and wasn't homesick at all. In fact she never asked for her parents once. I am taking her back in June and she will be 4.5 then. Of course I have her almost as much as her parents do! Her parents don't have much interest in Disney but I've got her addicted!

 

[helenk]

My son loves WDW as much as I do, my daughter in law not as much, but I know that once my son finds a new job, his vacation time will be limited. Also financially they may not be able to afford going to WDW with me all the time.
It would be nice to have someone to go with me that hopefully will enjoy WDW as much as I do.
I figure if I start getting her hooked now, I'll have a travel companion for quite a long time.
Even though she will be 2 in April we have a good time together. I love having her overnight, she is always happy to see me and cries if she does not get to go with me when I leave. I hope she feels like that for a long time.

 

[MrsPooh]

When my dds were 2.5 and 8 they went on their first trip to WDW. My sis and bil asked if I would be willing to let them take my 8 yr old to WDW because they'd been several times without kids and thought they'd like to take her along. My mom ended up joining them and asking if she could take my 2.5 yr old. I knew it would be years, if ever, when I could afford to take them. While I was very sad to miss their first trip I felt it would be unfair of me to deny them a trip because of what I would be missing.

At the time my children were very close to my sis and bil and my mom watched them daily so she knew their routines. I was very comfortable with allowing them to go.

 

[MSMomTJ]

The first time I went was with my grandparents and my cousin. They took my cousin and me on a vacation every summer, and we'd begged and begged for Disney. The answer was always "When you get older." Finally, "older" came at age 12 - between our 6th and 7th grade years. We all had a great time, and I think it was the perfect age for the 4 of us to go together. I think they were waiting until they felt we could really appreciate a lot of the details.

I personally think that 6-7-8 is a great age to take grandkids (or anyone who is not your own). I know that my parents and in-laws wouldn't feel up to taking up my youngest (age 2) because she wears them out, but my oldest (age 8) has been much easier for them to handle the past few years. (My parents and in-laws are in their 50s-60s -- they go high energy like the kids and then get really exhausted from it! So kids that can/will slow down keep them from getting so exhausted.)

 

[Alice's Mommy]

My mother has taken my kids on vacation with her, but for no more than 5 days and always within an hour or so of my home. I don't know that I would ever let my mom take the kids that far away, especially so young. Maybe when they're in the double digit ages.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

DS and Dneph went with my parents last fall and they had a great trip. They kept the boys in pull-ups for just in case. They took our double stroller and set dinner reservations for places that they could all enjoy. They didn't stick to a strict schedule. They mainly knew what park they wanted to be in on what day.

The said it was one of the most memorable trips they've ever had.

 

[Poohlovr]

The first time we took our grandsons, in 1998, they were 4 & 6. The next year, we took them back, but took their mom on that trip. Then we took the boys every year (sometimes 2 or 3 times a year) until we stopped 4 yrs ago, because their behavior was not acceptable on that last trip. We told them when they felt they could behave as they knew they should, we would take them back, again. (They fought constantly and the older one wanted to spend all of his time on the computer talking to his friend who was moving out of state.) They asked to go constantly, but we stuck to our guns and didn't take them, just based on their bahavior at home (still all the arguing and fighting).

Year before last, we took them for the Halloween party (we were taking them on a cruise, so flew down 2 days early so we could get to the party). We told them that was their test-if they could behave properly, we would plan another trip.

So, this July we are going back--with the boys (who will be 15 & 18 yrs) and their baby brother, who has never been. He will be 27 months old. Their mom is going, again, too-her first time since 1999. Apparently, the Disney loving gene skipped her.

 

[DeniseinNS]

I am really overprotective and probably not let my kids go on a trip with anyone beside me and my husband until they were at least 12 lol. While they are little I would want to experience each trip with them, especially something as exciting as Disney.