Why do families bring newborns and infants to Disney Parks so much?

[HopperFan]

When my parents and I used to go to Disneyland my mom and I were shocked to see so many families with newborns and infants there and I always why families bring infants and newborns to Disney Parks so often? Is it because families want to bring infants and newborns to Disney Parks as the first starter trip? What I see is that the infants will get bored really easily and there's limited rides for infants and newborns. And when Mom and Dad eat at character breakfasts with the older kids the infant will get tired and start crying and the only thing the characters can do with the infants and newborns is wave to them and if you go to the parks at night to see a parade or watch a fireworks show with a infant the sounds can be loud for an infant and causing them to cry and if you want to watch a parade or fireworks show watch it with the older kids while the infant is being watched by a babysitter or have the infant nap while doing this. When families decide to go to Disney Parks wait until the kids are around six which is the age when I went to Disneyland that way they can have fun and memories of their first trip

I'm not sure if you are asking for why someone wants to take their infants to Disney or if you are asking them to leave them home. Why they take them? - infants are part of families and families take vacations, so there will be infants. Whether at Disney World, the beach, on airplanes, in parks, in restaurants ... there will be infants. Some families like to take the whole family. We never took one vacation without our kids. If they were an age where a particular trip wouldn't work, none of us went.

NOW as you say if an infant is screaming and crying in a show or restaurant bothering the others, then yes I think they should be walked outside or removed until they settle down. My kids learned from a few months old if they start up, we leave. It only took a few times of them sitting outside while the fun was inside for them to figure it out.

Kid #1 went at 1 year old, #2 at 3 years old and #3 at 4 mos old. That said the 4 mo old was in cooler months and was a big baby, I would never take a young infant to Disney in the hot summer months. Dehydration happens too quickly in infants.

It is fine you went at six, and if you have kids you can wait until they are six. But your timeline isn't everyone else's timeline. Everyone should just make that decision for themselves based on their own circumstances. And as always I hope people make good decisions for their babies.

 

[Sakurachaek]

went a couple of times when I was extremely little (when I was below 4, the first time being when I was 1. I remember the trips when I was 4 and I loved it, and apparently I loved it when I was 1, especially Dumbo. There are loads of rides for babies and toddlers (basically the whole of Fantasyland!) and honestly it just depends on the kid whether they’ll enjoy it or not. Also not in the summer!! We always go in winter.

 

[Dakota731]

What are you supposed to do if you have older kids then have a baby? Never go out of the house until they are three or four? I never wanted to be away from my kids for more than a few hours, so I wouldn’t ship my baby off with someone for a week. And like some posters said babies are often easier - they sleep in a stroller a lot and you don’t have to worry about them missing school.

 

[LYSE]

We only have one kid and brought her to DL and WDW very very often starting at 3 months old, she's 4 now and and can create her own itineraries for each park.

Even if she won't remember the infant vacations we definitely won't forget her trying to take it all in.

Personally I don't understand people who act like infants are just bricks until they are older.

 

[tinkerhon]

Some families take their newborns/infants everywhere. Some families like to wait till their kids are a bit older. It’s just personal preference.

You seem to think your way is the right way. It may have been right for your family. But every family is different and everyone has different reasons for travelling with infants.

Could not have said this better myself ! Because its a personal preference--- simple as that. We took each of our kids once they were 6 months old, and their reactions were priceless--- we have so many wonderful memories and pics--- times that obviously, we will never be able to relive.

 

[Lilsia]

I am more concerned with their health safety, especially now. For us, I couldn't live with myself if they got sick because we could not wait a year to go to WDW. I guess others feel comfortable risking it. Not to mention that it is exhausting having a baby and your body is still healing. The last thing that I wanted to do with my newborn was pack everything up, take them on a plane, and sit out all day in the heat. I felt like all I was doing with them at that age is nursing them and changing their diaper. I barely had the energy to shower.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Disney encourages tinies to visit by making it free until they reach the age of three. Then they slowly raise the prices for the next few years until they are 10 and boom they are adults. Great Madison Avenue type market saturation strategy. I never fell for it but many do.

 

[brazzledazzler]

You raise valid points, but as others have said, every family is different. With my first kiddo we brought her to WDW parks at 1.5 years old. She wasn’t very interested, but we had a great time.

She is now 3, and loves Disney characters. Perfect! Her baby brother is 6 months, and so, he comes with.

Plus, we are Disney Vacation Club owners, we go often and our travel plans are different than cash-stay guests.

There is no perfect age for Disney, but everyone has their preference and I try not to judge.

 

[pineapplepalms]

I’ve heard the OP’s perspective before and it’s often because they don’t view Disney as a frequent destination. I would agree that for a once in a lifetime trip, a 6 year old will get more out of it than an infant. But a lot of us on here are regular visitors so we take our kids from a young age and go over and over again. I have 3 little ones and we took them for the first time at 10 months, 12 months, and 8 months. DLR was always the first trip for all of them since we’re in CA and we also have family in LA, so we would make it a road trip and both go on vacation and visit family. WDW first trips were at around 14 months for the first 2 and hasn’t happened yet for baby 3 since we don’t want to fly yet. We don’t have anyone to watch a baby for us while we vacation (plus I would hate leaving them behind anyway).

We are also DVC members and have APs for both WDW and DLR. Since we go frequently enough, our trips are on the relaxed side and we don’t do too much in a day. This helps us minimize any crying that might occur since we’re taking it easy. We stay in 1BR or 2BR villas, get groceries, and settle in for some fun family time.

After becoming a parent, I really saw how young a child could be and still have a reaction to a Disney trip (or anything, really). Seeing my 1 and 3 year olds laugh and clap while watching parades and shows are priceless memories for us as parents, even if they don’t remember it. I adore the photos of them in the parks when they’re little, and we’ll even book a local photographer to do family photos at our resort or in the park (so worth it!). Plus there are studies emphasizing how critical the first few years of a child’s life are in making neural connections, and I believe travel and all these new experiences are an important part of their development. We want to travel with our kids to Disney and elsewhere because we believe it’s good for them as individuals and good for us as a family.

 

[num]

saw a family with a newborn in a carrier on ratatouille. i’d venture to say the kid did not appreciate it and looked a bit jostled after. to each their own but poor decisions lead to more restrictions. just try to be responsible so you dont ruin it for everyone.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I am more concerned with their health safety, especially now. For us, I couldn't live with myself if they got sick because we could not wait a year to go to WDW. I guess others feel comfortable risking it. Not to mention that it is exhausting having a baby and your body is still healing. The last thing that I wanted to do with my newborn was pack everything up, take them on a plane, and sit out all day in the heat. I felt like all I was doing with them at that age is nursing them and changing their diaper. I barely had the energy to shower.

even if you would wait a year as of now there is no vaccine for infants and toddlers. mother of baby had to return to work when baby was 6 weeks and older sister was involved with things outside of home so guess who had to go along. we have taken one a young one granted precovid. large family trip 14 total and it had to be a summer trip based on a court order for another on the trip, long story short.

 

[Dakota731]

I always found it annoying when people would ask “why take your toddler to Disney when they won’t even remember it?” The rest of the family will remember the trip, and the one year old had a wonderful time while at Disney. We don’t do everything for a memory - we get out and experience life for fun and family togetherness. So families should just sit home and not go anywhere until children are able to remember a trip?

 

[Dakota731]

I am more concerned with their health safety, especially now. For us, I couldn't live with myself if they got sick because we could not wait a year to go to WDW. I guess others feel comfortable risking it. Not to mention that it is exhausting having a baby and your body is still healing. The last thing that I wanted to do with my newborn was pack everything up, take them on a plane, and sit out all day in the heat. I felt like all I was doing with them at that age is nursing them and changing their diaper. I barely had the energy to shower.

And we choose not to live our lives in fear. Accidents can happen just driving across town to the store, swimming in a pool or playing on a playground. I’ve read of kids who have not done anything for the past 18 months - no trick or treating, no parades, no amusement parks, no festivals, no carnivals, no sports, nothing. Those are years that these families will never get back, so I can’t imagine living like that.
But the great thing about living in America is that you are free to live your life your way, and I’m free to live mine how I think is best for my family.

 

[VandVsmama]

When my parents and I used to go to Disneyland my mom and I were shocked to see so many families with newborns and infants there and I always why families bring infants and newborns to Disney Parks so often? Is it because families want to bring infants and newborns to Disney Parks as the first starter trip? What I see is that the infants will get bored really easily and there's limited rides for infants and newborns. And when Mom and Dad eat at character breakfasts with the older kids the infant will get tired and start crying and the only thing the characters can do with the infants and newborns is wave to them and if you go to the parks at night to see a parade or watch a fireworks show with a infant the sounds can be loud for an infant and causing them to cry and if you want to watch a parade or fireworks show watch it with the older kids while the infant is being watched by a babysitter or have the infant nap while doing this. When families decide to go to Disney Parks wait until the kids are around six which is the age when I went to Disneyland that way they can have fun and memories of their first trip

When my parents used to go to the grocery store, my mom and I were shocked to see so many families doing their grocery shopping with newborns and infants there and I always wonder why families bring infants and newborns to the grocery store so often? Is it because families want to bring infants and newborns to the grocery store as the first starter trip?

What I see is that the infants get bored really easily and there's limited stuff for them to do. The sounds in the grocery store can be loud for an infant and causing them to cry.

When families decide to go to the grocery store, wait until the kids are around six which is the age when *I* went to the grocery store. That way, they can have fun and memories of their first trip.

*****************
The above sounds ridiculous, right? I meant it as tongue-in-cheek.

It's not a big deal when somebody takes their baby to the grocery store. And it's not a big deal when somebody brings their baby with them on a vacation. If you don't want to see babies on vacation, then don't go on vacation. If you don't want to see babies at the grocery store, don't go to the grocery store.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Why WOULDN’T they? Seriously, families with kids take vacations….babies go along. Don’t need any more reason than that, but there are more valid reasons.

I guess what you are really getting at is….why don’t parents wait until their kids are older to take a WDW trip? We never subscribed to the idea that kids need to be some arbitrary age before they can remember, enjoy, or get any benefit from the wonder of the Disney parks (or the beach, or the mountains, anything really). Is an infant going to have fond memories of their experience at 9 months old in a Disney park? No, they won’t. Will they enjoy it? Absolutely. Get benefit from it? Heck, yes. The developing human brain is an amazing thing. The more stimulus you can provide it as it forms connections the better.

Yeah, you say, but babies get tired and cranky, then they cry! Well, I can’t argue with you there. However, I’d point out that big kids and adults (myself included) get tired and cranky, then they cry!

 

[DisSurfer878]

On the noise, they make ear defenders in infant size and they are safe to use.
Seen plenty of parents use them

 

[morganms22]

You never know what can happen in life. As you get older loved ones can become ill, things happen, situations change, etc. Experience what you can with who can right now. You never know when the opportunity will fade.

Sure, your young children may not remember, but you will.

 

[bsmcneil]

saw a family with a newborn in a carrier on ratatouille. i’d venture to say the kid did not appreciate it and looked a bit jostled after. to each their own but poor decisions lead to more restrictions. just try to be responsible so you dont ruin it for everyone.

To be fair (all my Letterkenny friends can chime in here), we took my 2.75 year old on 7DMT. In the moment, right after, and to this day, the kid claims they absolutely LOVED it and it was the best thing ever. And this was their picture ...

 

[bsmcneil]

My kids are 5 years apart. If we waited til my youngest was old enough to enjoy young child things, my older kid would be over it.

Babies are easy to travel with. They don’t need much. And who cares if they aren’t getting anything out of it, they don’t cost anything for admission.

The trips when the youngest was a baby were for my older child, not her.

There was this sweet spot where (I can't recall the exact age) we felt comfortable taking the baby out to do things AND they slept through most of everything. It was something like 6mo-18mo. And then it got hard for us again. But no one told me to expect that and we were shocked. We also took our 2.75 year old to WDW juuuuust before they turned 3 (largely for the parents after a particularly stressful year - but also to get in a visit before we had to pay). And truthfully, it was a good time to visit. I'm planning to take my 5 year old and there's a bunch of stuff they've glossed over/aged out of that their older sibling enjoyed when they went as a toddler.

 

[tano]

When my parents used to go to the grocery store, my mom and I were shocked to see so many families doing their grocery shopping with newborns and infants there and I always wonder why families bring infants and newborns to the grocery store so often? Is it because families want to bring infants and newborns to the grocery store as the first starter trip?

What I see is that the infants get bored really easily and there's limited stuff for them to do. The sounds in the grocery store can be loud for an infant and causing them to cry.

When families decide to go to the grocery store, wait until the kids are around six which is the age when *I* went to the grocery store. That way, they can have fun and memories of their first trip.

*****************
The above sounds ridiculous, right? I meant it as tongue-in-cheek.

It's not a big deal when somebody takes their baby to the grocery store. And it's not a big deal when somebody brings their baby with them on a vacation. If you don't want to see babies on vacation, then don't go on vacation. If you don't want to see babies at the grocery store, don't go to the grocery store.

For me the question is more like...isn't it disruptive/uncomfortable for a child of less than say 4 months to be taken to Disney which typically requires long time outdoors in noisy and often hot enviroment? Not saying it's dangerous or bad parenting (parenting is so much more).. but why make a newborn uncomfortable?

I agree waiting till a child turns 5 yrs is unnecessary.