Why Disney with a 2YO? Won't remember.

[mdurette]

I have just returned from 2 trips. One in November when my dd was 22 months and one just this week to celebrate her 2nd birthday. So many people rolled their eyes and said "why, she won't remember".

Well...a stranger on the bus gave me the greatest answer and it is SO TRUE. Because I will remember! That awe on her face, the big eyes, the excitement, all of it. I WILL REMEMBER IT!!!!

 

[wdwfamilyinIL]

While yes you will remember it, don't be to shocked when she ask's to go back. My baby was 26 months on his first visit, we really didn't think he would remember anything, little did we know. About six months later we were sitting at a traffic light, and out of no where he said I want to go back, we looked at him and asked where, he said mickey mouse. What can I say but little did we know after the first visit that this would turn into a yearly thing, but we do have our own mickey. He will be 5 in May, and still loves Mickey as much as he did at 22m.

 

[ilovepooh]

I got the same comments when we took DS at 22 months old. I told people that I would remember it, so whatever!

DS had the best time! He loved every minute of the trip, and I'm sooo glad I didn't listen to others!

Life is just too short to have the mentality.....'we'll wait until he's old enough to remember' Glad you went and had a great time!

 

[poohfriend77]

That's what photos are for! My DD5 looks at our scrapbook so much that she is convinced she "remembers" our trip to Sesame Place when she was 19 months old. Of course DD2 also thinks she remembers it, and I was only about 10 weeks pregnant with her at the time. Now that's a good memory!

wdwfamily-- Where in IL do you live? I grew up in Shelbyville and live in Champaign now. Go Illini!

 

[GoinToDisney]

People said that to us too, and I said I totally realize that this trip is more for me than it is for her (she was 17 months). When we got there and her face lit up, I realized I was wrong. We returned for her second trip when she was 29 months old, and she loved it. So a year later, I read a post on here about what your children remember. I asked her, and she started telling me all these details that I didn't expect... for example, she remembers riding in the "boats" on the peter pan ride. We have no pictures of this ride, and it wasn't one we really talked about much if at all after the trip. She just really remembered it. Other things too, but I can't remember.

 

[I believe]

Hi! When we first started planning our first "baby in tow" vacation, I am sure we thought we were doing it so we could remember it. I remember being really surprised that they really do remember it. For weeks, after my youngest's first trip she would say Mih Mih Mih when sitting in her own highchair at home....because she wanted Mickey to come to supper! Then she would look through the photo albums. They really do remember it longterm... because now that they are older, they have memorized our trips by looking at the photos and remembering the stories we have told them about the pictures. (They can "picture" it.) They love seeing themselves as littleones with the Characters and at attractions that they now know so well. I am so happy we didn't wait! Every trip is different with kids and I am so thankful I didn't miss out on bringing them when they were very young. You can always go again later when they are older but you can't ever go again later when they are younger.

It is also really neat to see what picques their interest....and how much! I have a picture of my youngest sitting in her stroller kicking her feet pointing wildly in the air as she saw Mickey round the corner in the parade. She was so excited and turned her head so fast that her little fat cheeks look giggly and her face is wobbling over to the side because of all that baby fat in her cheeks she used to have in her cheeks. I love that picture! Do it if you can, without a second thought! Take lots of pictures...of them! Hakuna Matata!
-kristenc

 

[I believe]

She just really remembered it. Other things too, but I can't remember.

So now its the child that remembers...but not the parent?

 

[disneynewbee]

I took my 5yo when she was 2yo and my 2yo when she was 11 months and even though they don't remember they enjoy it in the moment and I will always have those memories. She has lots of pics she can look back on one day and my 5yo already looks at hers every chance she gets. I hate the whole they won't remember thing I mean do we keep our kids from everything enjoyable until they are 4 or 5 yo because they won't remember. Kinda silly I think.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm two years behind now on printing pictures. None of our disney trips are printed yet.

When we went to Disneyland on a one-day trip when DS was about 29 months old (wow it's weird to use months again, LOL). We had been the year before, for another one-day trip. My brother lives in San Diego and we were visiting him, and driving up for the day.

He wasn't talking all that much even at 2.5. He seemed to enjoy the trip, but when we got home, he talked more about my brother's cats and Shamu at Seaworld than Disneyland.

Then we went through a tough time b/c my FIL was in the hospital and died, and we had to help my MIL through all that. Not much focus was on DS.

A few months later, probably in January, he suddenly started talking about it. He can still remember more than we can, off the top of our head, in greater detail.

And we still haven't printed pictures, so none of it is coming from talking about things or looking through pictures!


I'm glad to know that others have had that experience with their 2+ year olds.


wdwfamilyinIL, I find it so interesting that the timing was about the same for our kids. My guy was older for that trip, but it was less than 6 months when he started talking about it, but it evens out to about the same age when they started talking about it.

 

[MousekaMaddi]

we took dd- now 5, when she was 18 mos, I am a disney freak and was dying to take her altho everyone said shes tooooo young, well what a blast we had, I loved seeing her joy, Id do it all over again if I could. She is 5 and has been 10 times

 

[SunKat]

My dd11 was 17 months on her first trip to WDW. The pictures we have from that trip are some of my favorite photo's ever. The look of joy on her face, and in her eyes when she met Mickey for the first time is priceless. Even now, she loves to watch the videos of that first trip. As for not remembering.....we are currently planning a Disney cruise and my dd will be 12 when we go. I went on a cruise when I was 12 and remember very little of it. In fact, I only remember about three things from that cruise - the dress I wore one night, one of the desserts and the safety drill! But, I'm sure I enjoyed every minute of it. The whole idea of "but they won't remember it" makes no sense to me. Regardless if children remember a vacation or not, at the time of the vacation they are enjoying themselves and the family is together having fun.

 

[nancy drew]

yup, i took dd at 15mo. i was told it was stupid, and she wouldnt remember. she is now almost 4, she has been every year since then, and she remembers. 9 months after a trip (she was 27mo on the trip) she asked me where the carousel was. i said (to test her) "i dont know, where is it?" and she said "its behind the castle." that was her favorite ride on that trip. she totally knew what she was talking about. she remembered. and she may not remember when she is 13, but from one year to the next, she remembers. and the photos will last a lifetime. and i can tell her the stories around those photos, and she will remember those stories, even if its not her actual memory.

when people say to me "oh, its fun to go to disney, maybe when the kids are older." i know they dont get it. and they wont. and its a shame for their kids, but what can you do?

 

[ppony]

Those kinds of comments are really igorant actually. Why take them ANYWHERE then. They won't remember any of it. Seriously, we should jsut leave our kids at home in a closet because they won't remember anything anyway. UGH! Forget the park or the zoo. they won't remember that either. What they do at EVERY point in their lives shapes their growth and development. Why do anything now anyway?!? When I'm 90 I'm not likely to remember what I did yesterday. OYE!!! Just roll the eyes and move on. YOU will remember it and the pictures wil be priceless! Queen of sarcasm here!

 

[bumbershoot]

9 months after a trip (she was 27mo on the trip) she asked me where the carousel was. i said (to test her) "i dont know, where is it?" and she said "its behind the castle." that was her favorite ride on that trip. she totally knew what she was talking about.

That's awesome.

Those kinds of comments are really igorant actually. Why take them ANYWHERE then. They won't remember any of it. Seriously, we should jsut leave our kids at home in a closet because they won't remember anything anyway. UGH! Forget the park or the zoo. they won't remember that either. What they do at EVERY point in their lives shapes their growth and development. Why do anything now anyway?!? When I'm 90 I'm not likely to remember what I did yesterday. OYE!!! Just roll the eyes and move on. YOU will remember it and the pictures wil be priceless! Queen of sarcasm here!

How true!

You know, pre-kids I did have a few thoughts that differ from how I am as a parent (not being jokey/sarcastic...it really is only a few things...I thought things through very thoroughly and am almost exactly the kind of parent I thought I would be...the unexpected were strollers for jogging and disney, more TV than expected, and the following are pretty much it...), and I did used to wonder why people did so dang much that cost money with their kids. But then once DS was here (or maybe when I was pg?) I thought "well what ELSE am I supposed to do, just sit in the house and stare at the kid???!!!!???"

*********

Just another little blurb for people. Should someone ever really question me on why we took him so young, I will remind them that I barely remember my honeymoon. I planned it, I chose it, I helped pay for it...I was on cruisecritic every day, along with weddingchannel and theknot for 2 years, planning our wedding and honeymoon. And then I got pg on our wedding night, and a week later on our cruise I was under the influence of so many hormones that I was passing out at 8 every night, and sleeping well over 12 hours (very very not normal. midnight to noon = normal for me, but not 8 to 8/9). I took lots of pictures and can remember from those, but I only remember a few blips about the honeymoon.

Should I not have gone???????

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

I was worried about this with our youngest, he'll only be 18 months when we got and we'd always planned on going when they were all old enough to remember it as we're travelling all the way from England and not sure when we'll afford it again but as we're travelling for a family wedding we didn't get to chose when.

BUT then i thought about it and concluded who cares if he remembers it or if my 4 and 5 year old don't remember much about it as long as they enjoy it whilst they are there? Think about it, if we only did things so kids would remember and look back fondly we wouldn't even bother playing with them or talking to them until they were 4+ so i concluded it's not just about the memories, it's about having them enjoy their here and now.

My eldest daughter doesn't remember much before age 3ish, my eldest son however remembers alot from when he was around 20 months onwards (and remembers the least logical things) so a 2 year old may well remember at least some and even if they don't just enjoy it for the here and now and for your own memories of them so tiny (at the risk of sounding like an old fool it goes way too fast- my eldest is 10 now and it doesn't seem like a second)

 

[Suzanna1973]

People like that burn my butt...."Won't remember!" How WRONG that is!
My nephew was 11 months old on his 1st trip to disney. He is now 3 and he talks about it all the time(we are going back in May and he is pretty excited!)

He remembers the characters, he looks at our pictures and tells us things about that day.

"Won't remember"......sounds to me like "won't forget"

 

[BuzzLiteyear]

On our last trip (Aug 07), my DS was 2 1/2. He came home recognizing the word Disney. Every time he sees the word "Disney" he proclaims "Disney World". Does he remember? While he may not remember the trip the way I do, almost every day he recalls some aspect of the trip. Maybe these are impressions more than actual memories, but he is very eager to return.

 

[mmkk]

My dd was 17 months old the first time and 2 1/2 this second trip to Disney. She may not have remembered it as well at 17 months but she didn't forget it either. And I have the pictures to remind me of how much fun she had that first trip!
The second trip at 2 1/2, oh, my! Thats ALL she talks about! She goes up to people in the stores and tells them "I went to Disney!" and if they take the bait, then she proceeds to tell them who all she saw and what she rode (usually starts with Its a Small World ride!). Forget about Christmas, its all about Disney!

 

[marenian]

The pictures we have from that trip are some of my favorite photo's ever. The look of joy on her face, and in her eyes when she met Mickey for the first time is priceless.

I have a photo of DS like that that I will cherish forever. We went when DS was just shy of 3 (yippee, still free!!) and DD was 10mo. We all had a great time! We didn't know if DS would be afraid of the characters and just before we live AK for what ended up being a full day with no break, we hit Camp Minnie/Mickey on our way out. No lines so we got to go right up to Mickey. We have a picture of DS approaching him and the look on his face is just...well, words really can't describe it. It was like the magic was becoming real to him.

Also, he still remembers the Indy Speedway and talks about doing that again. Doesn't want to do Buzz Lightyear (we got stopped for about 5-10 minutes in a very noisy area and he totally freaked out) and remembers that we rode boat #7 on IASW and that boat 8 bumped us and that it was yellow. And DD absolutely LOVED Nemo the musical. She stood on my lap and bounced and 'danced' and clapped her hands the entire time. We were right by the runway stage and at the end Dory came right down to her. Ok, she may not remember that but I do and she was so happy.

As for not going if you aren't going to remember...well, DH and I went on our honeymoon 15+ years ago and you know what? I remember very little about that trip!! So, I guess we shouldn't have gone??

I can't wait to go again with the kids. I'm hoping this year sometime. We only had 2 days last fall since the main reason we were in FL was a family wedding. DH has said something about 10 days this time but now when I ask him, he's backing down. Grrrr!

 

[Amirah95]

She won't remember, but you will. I wish I had that in my head when my oldest was a little girl. Live and learn.