The perfect age to take your child the first time?

[GatorGirl]

We went for the first time when our twins were two and our oldest was four. It was so magical for the kids! They really and truly believed the characters were real. We did Magic Kingdom 3 out of 5 days and hardly left Fantasyland and Toon town. I can't even tell you how many times we rode Winnie the Pooh, but it they smiled from ear to ear every single time. If we had tried to do the baby swap and do some of the headliner rides, I think the kids would have been miserable though. We also didn't try to eat sit down meals. Most two year olds have no interest in waiting for food or eating at a sit down meal. I think if you bring young kids, you need to make the trip all about them. There really isn't a bad age to take your kids to WDW. Good luck with your pregnancy.

We are really hoping for just this experience! DD is four and we leave at the end of the week. We are just planning on doing MK 90% of the time with a lunch in Norway with the princesses and dinner one night at 1900 Park Fare. The rest of the time she is in charge of what we do, when and how we do it. I told DH, my sister and her DH to be prepared to ride the tea cups 100 times in a row if we have too! To me this is the perfect time because she will never be more into the princess phase than she is right at this moment in our lives.

 

[PeterPansMum]

It all depends on your child.. When we took DS at 1 1/2 we had the best time, watching his face, interacting with all the characters (Donald was probably the best) We had already Disney-washed him (our term for brainwashing) so he knew all the characters. He slept in the sling A LOT for naps. It just worked well for us.

DD completely missed the princess phase, I am sad to say... But now she can go on EVERYTHING!

I think 12-18 months would be a great age to START going..
Good luck with your pregnancy and trip planning!

 

[Timrobb]

we took our dd at age 2 and it was amazing. she loved every single second of every single day. she loved it soo much we are heading back two weeks shy of her third b'day. she cannot wait for the trip and when asked what she is going to do for her b'day - she answers - go to mickey's house!! it warms my heart every single time she says it!! she is also active in helping plan the trip - i have cut out pictures of all the rides and she decides what she wants to do - i then plug the attractions into our schedule.

but, i say go when your heart says "go"!!

 

[juligrl]

We took our oldest two months before her third birthday. I was 7 months pregnant with DD#2 on that trip. She remembered the trip and talked about it at first but then it started to fade. We just took the girls this past September at 4 1/2 & 1 1/2. Perfect age for older DD. We'll have to plan another trip for younger DD down the road here.

 

[mdurette]

I think it all depends on the kid and the parents. We took my dd down last November and she was 22 months. She had a BLAST - was in such awe of everything. So much - we are headed back down in a couple days for her
2nd birthday!!!