The right age for going to Disney???

[proudtobeamom]

My son is almost 4 and we were thinking about coming to Disney either this year or next. What is the best age to come the first time? We want him to be able to enjoy all Disney has to offer.

 

[Crisgw]

We took ours for the first time when my oldest was 3 and youngest was 8m. Our oldest had a BLAST. We took them again when my youngest was 2.5 and oldest was 5 (last year) and we're going again this year. I think ANY age is a perfect age

 

[jenb1023]

You will get a million answers. We were very happy with our decision. We took DD for the first time at 3 1/2 and the second time at a little over 4 and had a fabulous trip both times. I will say that the first time she was not tall enough for the 40" rides (there are a lot) but she was tall enough at a little over 4. If you son likes to ride big rides, I would go when he is over 40" and not necessarily by age.

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

I think it depends on if you're likely to revisit and how many other children you also have/plan to have.

Our kids will be 10, 5, 4 and 19months for our first visit- it's not the ideal age for our youngest to go and i doubt our 4 and 5 year olds will remember much a few years down the line but having the age spread we do we risked our oldest being too old to appreciate it as a child for the first time so we're going now and then we'll revisit again when youngest is a bit bigger, oldest is a teenager- by the time we go for the youngest to be a teenager we could well be taking a son-in-law with us!

Height-wise my 5 year old looks to be able to go on the majority of rides and the only ones my 4 year old can't aren't ones she'd really be interested in anyway.

 

[TJA]

Your son will enjoy disney no matter what age he is and all the pictures you take will provide great memories to look back on. We don't have the balance of older/younger kids (just twins...), so we started taking our kids to disney when they were 7 months old. Since then, we have taken them to disney at every age/stage and it's impossible to choose which trip has been the best! Any age in disney is awesome!

 

[Bethy Lou]

Do not worry if they do not remember, YOU will and so will photographs. Toddlers at WDW are so cute and adorable and they get so excited!

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

My dd was 2 1/2 when we brought her and my little one was 2. I have never regretted my decision to take them that young. They may not have been able to or still can't go on some attractions. Theyare 6 and 8 and still don;'t meet some heigt requirements, but we have always had great times.
For us, I wantesd to experience the magic of them seeing princess's for the first time and Mickey Mouse, while they still "beleive". I will always have the picture of my daughter's expression from seeing Ariel for the first time and my youngest could barely talk when she was 2, but sang to Sleeping Beauty at the Storybook Princess Breakfast. They both don't remember their first couple of times, but i do. I will always have those memories. There is nothing like that innocence. I can't imagine going for the first time when they are oldter because i wouldn't want to miss that excitement for the world. I went when i was 6 and every year after and i know that the feeling changes. I have always loved Disney and everything about the experience, but its different at different ages
Yes i know you can still beleive and have that Disney magic when you are older, but it's not the same. That is what i wanted for my dd's. I know there are plenty that don't feel the same. It all depends what you want for your children.

 

[JeremyGNJ]

My son is almost 4 and we were thinking about coming to Disney either this year or next. What is the best age to come the first time? We want him to be able to enjoy all Disney has to offer.

I say wait until he's 5. We almost went last year and decided not to because DD was only 4. I definitely think we made the right choice. Now that she's 5 she can comprehend SO much more. She's also much more daring (for rides), and is big enough to ride them.

I think it makes the trip/money much more worth it to know that she will be able to go to the parks for longer hours, remember so much more (might not have remembered anything at 4) and is more aware of how special it is.

I think if we had gone last year, she wouldnt have known the difference between Disney World and a local fair/amusement park. Kinda silly when you figure that WDW costs 15x as much as a local trip.

 

[Mickey and PSU]

There are so many different opinions about this. We took our oldest son when he was 1. We only had 1 day that year so we took him to MK. He has been there 17 times since then. His younger brother was 8 weeks old ( his 1st of 15 trips) when we took him and the oldest one was 4. We never regretted taking them when they were young. We always took out time and enjoyed being together as a family. This summer we are squeezing a trip in between football camps and baseball showcases. The oldest has asked for a Disney cruise as his graduation gift for next year. He loved the trip before and really wants to go back.

 

[Super]

If you want them to remember it, 4 is too young.
My say is 9 or 10 at youngest.

When your kids are teenagers and adults they have no chance of remembering disney from when they were only 4 and 5 although it may have seemed like fun at the time.

Of course if it's not once-in-a-life-time then this doesn't even apply ^_^

 

[Crystal824]

I wouldn't take an infant, but that is just me. I saw many families doing this and it seemed to be ok for them.
We took my four year old nephew last month and he had a blast.

 

[pooh101]

When our daughter was four, we had the same concern, but our son was just turning 7 and we wanted to go while he still believed all the characters were real and everything was magical. We figured this would be our one family trip to Disney just to let the kids see what it was like (neither DH or I had very great memories of Disney as kids--sweltering heat, packed like sardines,long lines, just wanted to get back to the hotel to swim). We never imagined we'd want to return...again and again and again. A good friend had just been to Disney with his four year old and this is how he put it "Even if your daughter doesn't remember all the rides and special moments, the rest of your family (DH, me, and DS) will remember and DD will have the best 5 days of her life." Kind of a carpe diem sentiment. We went in the middle of October so it wasn't very crowded or unbearably hot.She couldn't ride all the rides, but there is so much more to Disney than that,especially for the little ones. We had the BEST time. She did remember a lot more than I expected she would. Just returned from our second trip in the past two years--we're definitely hooked. You're never too young (or old) for Disney.

 

[Avonlady1001]

I have to agree that in a few years your son might not remember it....but YOU WILL. We first took my DD at 1. Watching her was amazing. It got better when she went at 2, now we are going again w/ her being 3 1/2. She still talks about Pirates & Snow White being scary...so she does have memories. But taking a young child is more for your memories than theirs.

I went w/ my mom a while back, and she watched a small child about 1 run up to Mickey and pull his ears. She started to tear up & told me that is what I did our first trip when I was about that age. That's what it's all about to me.

Disney is for ALL ages.

 

[TJA]

Our most precious picture we have is of when our twins were 13 months old and they saw mickey mouse for the first time and went running up to him with huge smiles on their faces ~ I had that picture enlarged and framed and it's hanging on our wall where it will stay for many years to come. It reinforces that we made the right decision to make such beautiful memories! Don't wait! Go and have fun!

 

[belle&sebastiansmom]

Welcome proudtobeamom!!

My dd's first trip was at 18 months. Excellent age. DS will be just turning a year when we go for fd in September. I think this will be a great time for him as well. And you don't have to pay for age 2 and under, so that works for me!! Going to Disney is as much for us as it is for the kiddos! So whenever you go from this point, since he's almost 4, he'll have a great time! So much to do!

 

[JaimeinWonderland]

Is this a once in a lifetime trip or do you plan on going back in a few years? If its a once oin a lifetime trip, I would wait until he is 5 or so. We go a lot so my boys have been going since they were about 6 weeks old!

I went for the first time when I was 4 and I remember a few things from that trip!

 

[GrammyJudy]

ANY AGE!!! It really depends if this will be your first trip to WDW or your only trip. We took our when son was 5 and daughter was 3. We have been 13 times.We took or grandson when he was 4 and again at 6 and will go again at 8. They enjoy different thingat different ages. But I like to take them when they are still in awe of the parks and the characters so 3-5 is my ideal.

 

[proudtobeamom]

We will be going back later when he is old enough to ride EVERYTHING!!!!
Im thinking next year will be when we go!

 

[belle&sebastiansmom]

We will be going back later when he is old enough to ride EVERYTHING!!!!
Im thinking next year will be when we go!

Remember though, it's not the age to ride everything, it's the height requirements. Plus your own judgment.

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

We will be going back later when he is old enough to ride EVERYTHING!!!!
Im thinking next year will be when we go!

Ride restricitons do not go by age, it goes by height. My DD is 8 and still can't go on alot because she is only 45".