What age should children go to diensy?

[autumnfire]

My daughter is 14 months and we'd like to go to Disney in 2 years (DD will be just over 3 years old). However, I want to be sure she'd be a good age to appreciate feel excited about the trip and disney.

ETA: Should clarify by appreciate I mean be excited for what she sees. I realize she won't remember it but I want her to have loads of fun.


With that I'm also not knowledgeable about Disney in any way. I hear there are some on here who are pros at planning. If you had 2 years to save up where would you stay, what do you recommend we do. AKA please help me plan our Disney trip

[shell24]

We went to Disney for the first time when DD1 was 3.5 and DS was 20 months. DD1 remembers nothing and did not "appreciate" it but she did have a good time while we were there.
I would say 6-7 would be the sweet spot.

[water*drop]

The best age depends on what your hopes are for the trip. We took DD last month. She's 2.5. She was free, so that was great. She had a blast - I've never seen her so consistently happy - and our memories of the trip are so awesome. Having said that, we totally followed her lead, which meant that sometimes her having a blast meant us coloring at the resort instead of spending time in the parks, and naps and bedtime made our days pretty short, so value-wise, there was a lot of "wasted" money. It was worth it to us because we hope to be able to go again in the future, so our expectations for this trip really were to just do whatever she wanted to do and accept that we weren't going to do everything (or even a lot of things). Plus although she still talks about the trip now, she's not going to REALLY remember it, you know? So the trip was more to create memories for us.

[shellbear09]

We plan on going to Disneyland when she is about 2.5. She is really into Mickey now. I'm sure it will be even better as she gets older but I'm totally ready to take her haha.

[madringal]

We took the girls for the first time at 1.5 and 5, and then at 2.5 and 6. Both were awesome. I think you have to balance "appreciate the trip" with "still believe in the magic of Disney".

[Deleted]

Every age lol. In all seriousness, everyone will get something different out of the trip depending on the age. I think it can be a great trip at all different ages, but I love Disney.

We are taking the kids for the first time in November. J will be 3 and the girls will be 19 mos.

[redheadk]

We had a great time with DD at age 2 and a few months. She won't remember it but we had a great time and just loved watching her enjoy herself. She was also easy bc it's not like she had any expectations for Disney so when we rode adult rides, she was perfectly happy running circles around gardens and tables.

My sis took her SD when she was 6 and that seemed like a great age. She still remembers the trip but was young enough to still enjoy the magic of princesses and make believe.

[BAMFMrsB]

I think 3 will be fine. Ideally, I think 4 or 5 will be 'better' because she'll remember more of the trip, but whatevs. Take pics, ya know?


I'd get a book or start stalking the websites for travel planning:
www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/wdwguide/
allears.net/pl/planning.htm
www.mousesavers.com/walt-disney-world-vacation-discounts-and-deals/step-by-step-guide-to-planning-a-disney-world-vacation/
www.wdwinfo.com/wdwplan.htm


Go for 1 week. Only go to the parks 4-5 days, total. Take the rest of the days as travel time or a pool day. It's rough going to the parks every day. You need some down time too

Stay on property. We've stayed at the value and moderate resorts plenty of times. They're fine. Not spectacular, but fine. I'd like to stay at the Polynesian (a deluxe resort = pricey) at some point. But I think once you do so, you can never go back to anything 'lessor'. *-)  Also, get the dining plan and plan out a few restaurants reservations in advance. I like it because it loads you up with food options, but some find it to be taxing to eat a lot or stick to the resort/on site. We don't mind that, at all.

I prefer park hopper tickets so you can bounce around, but you may want to stick to 1 park per day. Always pad in time for the day to return to the hotel for a nap.

[undecidedowl]

Depends on what you mean by appreciate. We took DS at 2y3m and we all had a blast. He really loved it and talked about it for a while. But, we did skip a lot of stuff to best accommodate a 2 yo and he won't remember it long term.

[Deleted]

Fair warning: I'm not a Disney fanatic. We went because DH is military and military tix are ridiculously cheap. We weren't interested in meeting a ton of characters (waste of time to stand in line to see someone in a costume IMO, we were there for the rides). We also stayed off property because I prefer condos and condos are plentiful and ridiculously cheap down there.


We took our girls when they were a bit over 1 and a bit over 4. The 4 year old could almost ride everything and even the 1 year old could ride most things. We had fun. They had fun and it was not stressful at all. You can read all these posts in here that make it seem like it's super stressful to plan a Disney vacation, but it doesn't have to be. I think any age is probably fine. But given my disclaimers that's probably not surprising.

[Velar Fricative]

I've never been to WDW and am fine with going or not going but DH insists that we go and says he would not consider going until the youngest kid is at least ~5 so they can remember the trip. I'm sure it would be enjoyable with younger kids but he does have a point so that's what we'll stick with. Now will MMM be around in 2020 to advise me on our WDW trip??? Hmmmmmm.

[drloretta]

We're taking DD when she's 6. At 3 she would have been fun, but the trip will be much more manageable at 6.

[h]

We went when our oldest two were 5 yo and 2y8m. The 5 yo loved it and rode nearly everything in the MK. The 2yo was too young for some stuff but was thoroughly obsessed with the Buzz Lightyear ride (the only part he remembers). We all had a great time, though. We are going again this spring when our kids will be 7.5 yo, almost 5 yo, and almost 2 yo. I think the older two will both he great ages. DS3 is just along for the ride. We will go again when he is 6-7yo.

If I was planning one trip for one kid, I would go when they are somewhere in the 5-7 range.

[cinco]

DD2 loved it! We went a couple weeks before she turned 3, so it would still be free. My 6 and 8 year old also had a blast, but I can not lie, watching the 3 year old was the most fun for me. The older kids will be the ones bugging me to go back since they remember more.

[Deleted]

It's fun with dd1 at 4.5 but it's a day trip for us. I don't think we will do a full vacation until the girls are 8 and 5 or thereabouts. It is decidedly not fun with 19 month old dd2.

[kershnic]

I plan to go when my girls are 2.9 (free!) and again when they're like 6 or something around there. I have too many places I want to go to go to Disney a bunch of times, but I still think I missed out by my parents being anti-Disney when I was a kid.

In general I hate the 'they will remember it' argument because I want to travel for me, including with them, and I think there's value to the travel in the moment not just long term memories. Plus pictures! That said, if it's a trip mainly for the kids and not because adults want to do it anyways maybe the argument applies better.

[auntie]

DS was 6. Old enough to have the stamina to enjoy himself but, that said, we aren't Disney fanatics. It's a real nice amusement park, nothing more, for us.

[arch01]

We're taking DS for his 5th birthday. We wanted him to be old enough to remember it and also to (hopefully) make it the entire day without needing a break. We absolutely wanted to be out of the napping phase.

[thebreakfastclub]

I was thinking of taking DS right after he turns 5.

[deo]

We are planning on going whenever our youngest stops napping, so probably when he is 3 or 4. It will be a big trip for us so I don't want to worry about sticking to a nap schedule while we are there.

[zarapipe]

DD went at 4y 1m and she did great. She was so well behaved, no tantrums, etc. I think it was all the "magic"

We hope to go again when dd2 is 2y and 11m because of the free before 3 rule.

[vmars]

I think the earliest I would do is 5. I don't want to deal with strollers and diapers.

[carolinagirl831]

i think there are a couple of different ages to hit certain sweet spots. 3-5 is so magical, they believe in everything! 6-9- it's cool you do different rides, they will love and remember

older- it's still fun just in a different way- and not quite that magical experience when they are young

[kittycatlove]

We were originally going to wait until DS was 5, but on the spur of the moment we planned a trip to CA and went to Disneyland for the first time when DS was 2.5. He had a blast and loved meeting all the characters. Didn't go on too many rides, but still had a blast.

We just went to Disney World last September and DS is 3.5. He had an even better time this time. Enjoyed going on a bunch more rides, and realized he is a roller coaster junkie. He couldn't get enough of the Barnstormer. He also was still so excited to meet all the characters.

If this is a one time trip, I might wait till about 5. But if you think you'll go more than once, then I think going at 3ish is great age.

I'm already itching to go back.

[july]

We are waiting until she is over 4, and it will likely be 6 at the earliest. She was very scared of characters last year and I didn't want to have to deal with her anxiety over it the entire time. She also didn't nap well, so naps would be a pain. We did go to SeaWorld when she was three and it was an okay experience. She had the stamina to last all day without a nap. With young kids, you have to lower your expectations and just go with the flow.

My mom loved disney and I went several times as a kid. I still had fun as I got older.

[holly116]

I think everyone has covered everything I would say except the way I balance the whole, I want them to remember it, thing.

I took my kids last year and I know they won't remember it at all, but I will remember how they lost their minds meeting their favorite charaters, riding the rides, enjoying the magic. And that was worth it.

My parents spent my entire childhood waiting for the youngest kid to be older enough to appreciate Disney and didn't go till I was in college and my youngest brother was five. Hell, I'm trying to think back to vacations in general when I little and I know I don't remember any of them all that well. Even that very disney trip when I was 20 (you better believe I went lol) I don't remember all the details. I had to ask my dad what parks we even went to when we were planning our trip last year.

Long story long, I'm not going to let the expectation of lasting memories dictate when to do stuff with my kids. If you think it'll be fun and you can swing it financially, go for it! Our next trip will be next year before DS2 turns 3, so he's still free. We'll probably go again when they're a bit older and we can do all the rides.

[CloudBee]

We're taking DS over his 2nd birthday, because we have family in FL. We may or may not have done a trip during toddlerhood if we didn't have family down there. I think he honestly would have had fun even a year ago, as he loves music. Can't wait to do the "rides" where you basically sit in a little cart and go through a tunnel with singing/dancing characters. He'll love it.

[Ashley&Scott]

We're thinking of going later this year - probably early fall, M will be just over 3.5.

[pinkdutchtulips]

Sitting squarely in the 5-7 yo camp

I went to DL for the first time when I was 5. My younger siblings were 3&2. Of the 3 I am the ONLY one who remembered anything !

My mom learned her lesson and the next time we went - WDW- I was 11 and my youngest sibling was almost 6. We all had a blast and the 'magic' of Disney wasn't lost on us older kids

DD has yet to go but I'm planning on it in the next year or two. Given the cost involved, I want her to REMEMBER !! the trip lol

[autumnfire]

Thank you all so much for your input! I didn't know about the 2 years free bit! It's something we'll have to strongly consider. I'd love for her to just at least as I said in my updated OP, have fun. Not be too scared of the characters and I realize she won't remember it but I'm fine with photos. Sorry I sounded perhaps too up tight with my requirements. Only requirement is she has fun with us. I like the idea of following her lead.

If we find it to be a fun place for us we very well could return when she's older. I went when I was 13 and it was fun but I don't feel it was OHH and AHH as I would have been if I had gone younger.