What is the Best are to visit disneyworld

[tif22]

My son will be 4& 1/2 this summer and I was wondering what the best age to 1st go to disney is?

I figured it would be around now so it still will be magical for him.

I know going as a kid I didn't have the "awe" that I am sure a smaller child would have.

So what are do you think is best?

THanks,

-Tif

 

[Mandychelle79]

Depends on your child....

My dd was three when she first went and will be going again this year

My DS will be 2 when he goes his first time.

 

[buckler]

I vote to go now! And then go again and again and again .

My youngest was 2 yrs 10 months and my oldest was 4 years 10 months on their first trips. They both loved it. In the last 4 years they've been to WDW 5 times and DL once. They are SO spoiled! They still think it is magical no matter how many times we go.

 

[Nicolepa]

It depends on how often you will go. If you only plan to go once or every several years then I would wait until he is 40 inches. At that height he can ride most of the rides. My kids usually hit that somewhere between 4-5.

If you are going to go every year then you need to go immediatly! LOL

 

[Kimmumum]

3-5 were our most magical years

 

[llmurphy17]

Depends on your kids but there is something to do for every age

 

[t-beri]

My DD's first trip she was 3 months old. She was 2 years and 3 months the last time we took her (she's been 3 other times n between) and we had such a blast w/ her this year. She really knew the characters especially the ones from her favorite movies. She LOVED going on rides and was tall enough for goofys barnstormer-yay and got to DRIVE the go carts (w/ Dadda's help) I think that between 2-4 are great ages. Still little enough to not know that Mickey is just a costume but old enough to know what's up. I think you are going at a great age... you'd be surprised what the little ones remember. Lily still talks about going to "Mickey's house" of course it was only a month ago, but it's still nice to hear her talk about what she remembers.

JUST HAVE YOUR CAMERA READY!!!

...t.

 

[JodyTG]

My daughter's first trip was when she was 4-1/2; my son's was when he was 1-1/2. It's really never too early to begin the memories...

If you take him at this age, make sure to give him plenty of time to play in Mickey's Toon Town Fair.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I think the best time varies from family to family. For me it would be when the child is old enough to walk around the parks, don't need a nap and is fully potty trained.

My son was 9 when we took our first trip. We were both in awe(it was also my first trip). He wouldn't ride some of the big rides, but we still had a blast.

We returned 2 ½ years later with my sister's family. My niece had just turned 5 and my nephew was 6 ½. That trip was also a success. We didn't have to deal with naps, strollers or diapers.

My niece was only turned away from 3 rides due to height(Mission Space, Space Mountain, and the crazy hurl ride in AK ). The character's were a huge hit. ( NOT the sad2

Our trip was during spring break. Both kids were able to walk(or should I say run) around the parks from open to close for 7 days straight. They never needed a stroller.

My sister and BIL have had two more kids since that trip. (My niece is 2 ½ and my nephew is 11 months.) I asked last summer if they wanted to go down with my son and I next spring. They both said heck no, they're not returning until the baby is 5.

 

[TJA]

It depends on how often you will go. If you only plan to go once or every several years then I would wait until he is 40 inches. At that height he can ride most of the rides. My kids usually hit that somewhere between 4-5.

If you are going to go every year then you need to go immediatly! LOL

This is excellent advice.
From a personal standpoint, we have been taking our twins to WDW since they were 7 months old and we have absolutely no regrets. It has been magical at every single age/stage.

 

[VirginiaMom]

My husband wanted to wait until our kids were older before we went- he said it would be a waste of money otherwise since the kids wouldn't remember it. I finally wore him down and we took the kids (DD 5 and DS 3) last year. We all had a BLAST!!!!

My husband tells everyone that he was completely wrong and I was completely right! The kids loved everything- especially the characters. Since they wake up at 6 am, we got to the parks first thing in the morning and spent the late afternoons at the hotel.

Our only regret- not going earlier in life!

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

This is excellent advice.
From a personal standpoint, we have been taking our twins to WDW since they were 7 months old and we have absolutely no regrets. It has been magical at every single age/stage.

Our two youngest have been going since I was pregnant with them. Our oldest is 14 and still loves the magic. I agree if you are only doing it once, you may want to wait until they are a little older. DD is 4-1/2 right now and she is as disneyfied as ever, though not 40 inches. She is 37-1/2 now. My peanut.

We have enjoyed every single trip, as well.

 

[dallasdisneymommy]

Go now! Although your child may not be able to go on some of the rides, you will miss valuable "magic" years if you wait until he is too much older! We started taking our kids when they were almost two and almost four, we have been 3 times since then, the kids are now almost 5 and 7 and our third child had his first trip when he was only 3 months old. The kids have enjoyed every trip for different reasons, but there's something wonderful about seeing it through the eyes of a 3 or 4 year old...that's my favorite age!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I think it really depends on the child. (and the parents! )

On our first trip (for all of us!) my oldest was 6 and my youngest turned 4 during our trip. As it was a first for all of us we didn't really know what to expect. We knew that we didn't want to have to deal with diapers and bottles and strollers while at Disney World. That's why we waited so long. With that being said, our youngest could have definitely handled a trip at a younger age. He is very calm and well behaved and could sit in a stroller for hours when he was little. And he never once needed a stroller on the whole trip at age 4. Now my oldest, I'm glad he was 6 when he first went. He is just more high-strung and active, and hates to wait in line. He can barely handle the 2 hour plane ride!

I wouldn't want to wait much past about age 6-7 for the first trip because then they start questioning if the characters are real and so on!

Good luck with whatever you decide! I'm sure it will be a magical time!

 

[TiggerGuy67]

I think that 3-5 is the best time to first take them. That is assuming that they use the potty all by themselves, of course. I would not want to mess with diapers.

At that age, they are soaking up everything and they believe all that they see. That being said, be careful for 'scary' rides. We made the mistake of taking our 4 year old son on Snow White for his first ride. Big mistake. Not only did he get scared out of his wits but everytime we got into a similar car type of ride that was in the dark, he got scared again.

I find myself now watching younger kids around me to catch their expressions as they experience the magic for the very first time.