What's the youngest age you would bring a baby and still have an enjoyable trip?

[summersfam4]

AT ANY AGE POSSIBLE LOL! We have taken our DD's at 4 months (DD#2), 17 months (both DD's), 2 yrs (DD#1), 3 yrs (DD#1), 4 years (DD#1), & 5 years (DD#1). Can you tell DD#2 just hasn't gotten to attend her 2 year old year yet! We will be returning when they are 2 & 6 (2005). Every trip has it's challenges, bottles, nursing, baby food, crying, napping, diapers, "I wants", tantrums, but if you can do it on a trip in your city/state/area, then you can do it at Disney and it's much more enjoyable (IMHO)! At every stage there is a different glow, a different type of magic that they experience, and many people don't get to experience each stage (we missed quite a few) but the ones that you do get make lasting memories with pictures and video (and of course mommy & daddy memories). Yep, DD#1 will tell you her memories of her very first trip because she has watched the video ten thousand times and she loves to see herself as a baby laugh, jump, giggle, and sing! Those are memories I would never give away. I'm sure that the following years will be priceless also and I'll take as many priceless memories as I can get !

Kelly

 

[KristiKelly]

Originally Posted by silvio
Disneyworld is defenitly not a place for babies. Parents should wait until the child is 5 or 6. I hate to see babies suffering under the sun or in lines, and not understanding anything. Come on parents, think about your children and not only about yourselves!

We have taken both of our kids since they were each 2-1/2 (what I believe to be the magical age for a child to go to WDW). It is not hard as long as you take it slow, naps, etc. but 100% magical. We took DD when she was 2 yrs 4 mo., she is now 5, she still remembers staying at AKL, she remembers seeing a baby bunny hopping in the grass at EPCOT, she was COMPLETELY aware of what was going on & understood. When DS was just turning 5, was having his picture made with Pluto, Pluto pretened to lick DS, afterwards DS said "Pluto's tongue feels like plastic". He realized after that they were just people. Kids do understand alot before they are 5. Sometimes @ 5 & 6 they understand a little too much and some of the magic is not there for them. My kids have never suffered in the hot sun, of course we go in Oct usually.

We have taken our kids yearly since DD was 2, they don't remember every trip, they do start to blend together for them. But, that's why we take video, they love to watch the video of when they were really little & so do I. It's so much fun to see the magic in their eyes as a little child. They may not remember it but I do. I remember DS 1st trip, 2-1/2, we were leaving MK to go back for a nap. DS was on my lap with his head on my shoulder, as the bus drove off he could see the castle, he looked up at me (with very sleepy eyes) and said "Mommy, this is the best place to go." I will never forget that.

 

[PratersloveDW]

Disneyworld is defenitly not a place for babies. Parents should wait until the child is 5 or 6. I hate to see babies suffering under the sun or in lines, and not understanding anything. Come on parents, think about your children and not only about yourselves!

I don't want to sound like I am trying to pick a fight with you but that is only YOUR opinion. I don't like when people try to patronize the parents - like ME - that take their little ones to the most magical place on earth. Maybe YOUR child wouldn't be able to enjoy it. Maybe YOUR child would be too hot or too fussy - that's not for me to decide. But my DS, well, my DS LOVED all of his trips, starting at 5 months. How could I tell? He would giggle and smile and kick his feet. If we felt that it was getting too hot, well, we took him in.

Your right in one aspect, taking him at such a young age may be about myself; at least, in the long run. He probably won't remeber his first trip but I will always remember the magic when we walked into the Magic Kingdom and his eyes lit up at all the eye candy. I will never forget the excitment in his eyes when he saw Mickey - Mickey and friends decorate my DS room so he knew very well who they all were. And the older he gets, the more excited he is everytime we go. We told him about a week ago that we are going back. He doesn't comprehend that we have a little while before we go but he still asks to watch Disney movies all the time saying, "I am going to see Mickey!" He knows the magic...

You can always have your own opinion, we all do, that is why we post them here. But there is no reason to sit here and say how you 'hate' seeing us bring our babies and that we are being selfish.

 

[DisneyWisher]

Oldest DD when she was about 18 months, 2nd daughter when she was 2 years old. At this age Fantasyland and Mickey's toontown is all they enjoy. Youngest when she was 3. Now my daughters are 21, 19, and 11. All are Disney junkies. We waited to take the youngest til she was 3 because we wanted the older girls to enjoy their vacation without anyone have to sit out a ride. Worked great for us. But I live in FL and we would only go for 2 days at a time. Luckily for me my youngest DD always wanted to keep up with her sisters so she would go on everything when we finally did take her. Only rides she couldn't go on when she was 3 (height restrictions) were, AE (now its Stitch) and Space Mountain. We go every couple of months still. The only ride that scared her was Pirates. After she got off that ride she started to stutter (lasted 2 years). To this day its not a ride she cares for. LOL but she has no problem going on MS and ToT by herself. MS makes me nauseous and I don't ride ToT anymore. Yep I'm a chicken when it comes to that ride. I've rode it 4 times but the last time I wanted to scream "Let me off!" as the doors were closing.

Shirley

 

[liznboys]

On our last trip, our older two boys were 3 and turned 17 months on the trip. We didn't plan to take them at that age, it was a spur of the moment trip. But boy were we glad we took them!!!!!!!!! They both had a blast, we have so many wonderful memories!! On our next trip in 2 weeks, our youngest will be 11 months old. He loves when we go fun places, lots to see, and he is so happy when he sees his big brothers having fun. We are so excited!! We originially were going to go last September and he would have been 6 months old for the trip. We just felt like waiting till he was closer to 1 would be better for us. But I think you can take any age baby to WDW and have a great time, of course THEY won't remember it, but YOU will, and that is worth it! I think it's pretty cool to tell your child they went to WDW for the first time when they were REALLY little too. heehee

 

[justhat]

I have to disagree that babies will be miserable in WDW. Like I have already posted, my daughter was very happy on all 4 of her trips, at 12 and 15 weeks, 6 months, and 9 months. On the first 2 trips I know she was happy because she didn't cry once, on either trip (well a few minutes on the place on the way home from trip 1 because it was turblent and I put her in her carseat and she wanted to get out, she always hated her infant carseat). Now she didn't really cry much at home, but she would cry from time to time, mostly cause she wanted my attention and I had to do laundry, dishes, or one of the many other tasks I do at home each day. At WDW she didn't have to ask for my attention cause she had it 24 hours a day. She was held in a Baby Bjorn most of every day when we were out (she wasn't a big stroller baby at that age) and was never int he sun when we were in the parks. That's right, she was totally shaded at all times we were in a park and we took many, many breaks from the heat and she nursed whenever she wanted to, and all those wet diapers everyday reassured me that she was well hydrated.

It is true though that those 2 trips were for me as they were planned before I was pregnant. The other 2 though, at 6 and 9 months, were planned for my daughter. We went to DL at 6 months on a convention with my mom, when I otherwise would have stayed home if I didn't have a child. She loved it and had a great time with the characters, watching the Electrical Parade, and going on rides and in shows. She also loved watching the other little kids, since she doesn't see many at home. The trip at 9 months was planned when I thought about how much she'd like the Osborne lights and Christmas parades. My husband couldn't take any vacation time so I went alone with the baby (my husband did come for the weekend, so we had Sat and 1/2 of Sun with him). She had a blast. I travel alone with her frequently to meet my mom at a destination (either at her home or we also went to Las Vegas with her) so that wasn't a problem and everything we did while there (except for the Santa photo, which was for me) was for my daughter. We watched every parade, some twice, and I do not like parades so that was in no way for me. We skipped any ride I thought she wouldn't care about and just rode and rerode ones she likes. The only thing we did for us that trip, and not our daughter, was when my husband was there we ate at the CG. As it turned out though, my daughter liked that too-not only did she love tasting my meal, but she loved watching the fireworks. She'd jump up and down everytime she saw one and squeal with excitement. So when we unexpectedly went to Orlando after a cruise from Ft. Lauderdale we ate at the CG since we knew our daughter liked it. (Now the cruise was for us, not the baby, though she did have fun, but due to problems the ship had, we couldn't disembark and missed our flight, having to drive to Orlando for a flight the next day). We got there early so we had to time to go to MK for a bit (we have APs and happen to have them on us form the last trip) and we rode the Carousel and Snow White. Wouldn't have been my first choice, but Madison likes them so that's what we did.

So I really don't think that you can say babies are miserable in WDW or that it's selfish of parents to take them there. No, my daughter won't remember these trips when she's older, but I will and we've got lots of photos. But if I were only going to take her once, then I'd wait till she were old enough to remember it, but since that isn't the plan, why not take her while I have the opportunity to? She has fun and I have a great time watching how happy she is.

 

[sters]

Wife and I are 3 weeks away from are first child. This is a topic we discussed a couple of time. We have opted to wait until our kid(s) are 5-6 years of age so they can really enjoy Disney and be able to retain some memories for years.

I think this is a wise policy if this is your once in a lifetime trip to Disneyworld with your kids, and I know many families who view a Disney trip in this light. And that's perfectly okay, but if your plans include multiple trips to Disney, your kids will really enjoy and remember (through pictures at least) their experiences at a much younger age and I wouldn't (and haven't) hesitate to take a baby. Kids under 3 are admitted for free, so what the heck. My 4 year old has clear memories of her trip over a year ago and my 8 year old remembers some details from a trip he took at age 3. It's more the good feeling of being together and being happy and joyful they seem remember best rather than a lot of details. My kids constantly bring me loose chance "to save for Disneyworld" they are so eager to go back and experience the magic all over again. They certainly REALLY ENJOYED their trips, as did I.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

Digging this up for personal research

Lots of good replies! With parenthood approaching for DH and I, we have been wondering this same thing. We are going to take advantage of the fact that by going when they are little, we can go in the off season without taking kids out of school. Low crowds and mild weather seems like a great time to take babies.

I definitely agree with the idea that if this is a once in a lifetime trip, wait until they are older to go. But, if you go often, why not take them when they are little. Heck, they won't remember their first birthday party, but that's no reaosn not to have one!