At what age did you start bringing your kids to the parks?

[ilovedisney3000]

Hi! Took our son for the first time when he was a baby (he was about 1 year old). I wouldn’t say he really got anything from the experience, he just slept most of the time in his stroller! Took him again when he was 4, but this time he hated it and kept telling us he wanted to go home! We went again the next year, and this is when he really started enjoying it. We took our daughter for the first time when she was 4 (our son was 9), and she loved it from the second we arrived.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

My daughter was almost 3. Looking back I think that was too young to bring her but we did the trip with extended family on each side and knew it would be the only trip with extended family and we wanted them to experience it with our daughter. Being smarter and wiser....I'd choose around 6 years old.

 

[Disney Kidd]

8 months lol! I got more out of it than him, but he still had a great time. I have precious pics of him meeting Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore! Hopefully character meet and greets will become a thing again soon.

Now that my son is 16 months, he would definitely get a lot out of it. He points at everything so I can only imagine him losing his mind in IASW. I'd say starting at around 15 months is when they would REALLY start getting something out of it.

 

[Disney Kidd]

8 months lol! I got more out of it than him, but he still had a great time. I have precious pics of him meeting Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore! Hopefully character meet and greets will become a thing again soon.

Now that my son is 16 months, he would definitely get a lot out of it. He points at everything so I can only imagine him losing his mind in IASW. I'd say starting at around 15 months is when they would REALLY start getting something out of it.

 

[Silvermist999]

We joke that my daughter had her first trip when I was 4 months pregnant with her, she just doesn’t remember, lol. My youngest was 3 and my daughter was 5 when we had our first WDW family vacation. Perfect age for them, they still remember their magical first trip.

 

[tinkerhon]

Aw hopefully you'll be able to take them again soon!

thanks ! Yea , this was supposed to be a nice one - 19-day stay for DD middle school graduation - getting ready to try and go next summer of things are close to back to normal

 

[kimyinpink]

Our first trip my boys had just turned 3 and 1. It was wonderful. We have gone every year since. They are now 7 and 5 and we also have a 2 year old daughter. Each trip is magical and new experiences become the highlight!

 

[Pesky]

Youngest was 4.5 and oldest was 6.5. We hit DLR first (we had family a couple of hours away so a two birds, one stone kind of thing) and that certainly makes it a bit easier being smaller parks. It was driven more by my oldest's age than the youngest. I wanted her to be young enough to still love the princesses and such. It was a good call as a few years later she was kind of out of it. For WDW we did 7 and 9 and that was good too. I did want them to be able to remember some of it. DD remembers some but DS really remembers more through pictures than anything else. I think it depends more on your desired experience plus budget.

 

[disneyseniors]

Our son was 7 and our daughter was 5. They were at an age to take care of themselves, not need diaper changes, etc, and were really excited about Disney from watching tv.
It doesn't really matter what age, IMO, but what the individuals needs and wants are. I didn't want to take care of a baby aged child while at disney, so waited. It was what worked for us, but to each their own. You will get a lot of diverse answers to this question and no one is right or wrong.

 

[Jmljasmine]

DD1 made her first trip at 15 months. Only issue was the plane. My kids do not do well with limited space for long. DD2 was 9 months (DD1 was 2.5 years) on our next trip. We drove with lots of breaks. Much better for us.
Our next trip was to be August with DD1 at age 5, DD2 almost 3, and DD3 15 months. That will be delayed to next year as we nap midday so very few park hours are left on the new schedule and I can't imagine forcing masks all day on them. Plus the older two are obsessed with meeting the princesses.
My biggest takeaways are feel out your kid for if driving or flying fits their personalities more and the mid day naps helped prevent a lot of meltdowns for kids and adults alike. That said, our trip with the 9 month old she napped on us for morning nap so they younger ones are arguably the easiest.
All of our kids have been difficult sleepers as well and their best nights sleeps were at Disney.
ETA: my almost 5 year old remembers the trip when she was 2.5. DD2 of course doesn't remember when she was 9 months but she had a blast and was fascinated with Mickey and loved Hoopdedoo. Also they were free those trips so it was fantastic. We chose family style and buffet so they ate free too.

 

[Kae]

Both my kids first visits were at 18 mths those were because we were driving home from Naples we stopped did Chef Mickeys for dinner and The Magic Kingdom the next day. DS first big trip was 4. And DD's was 5. Those were week long visits.

 

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

8 months lol! I got more out of it than him, but he still had a great time. I have precious pics of him meeting Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore! Hopefully character meet and greets will become a thing again soon.

Now that my son is 16 months, he would definitely get a lot out of it. He points at everything so I can only imagine him losing his mind in IASW. I'd say starting at around 15 months is when they would REALLY start getting something out of it.

Aw so cute!

 

[ktlm]

They are free until age 3, so we took DD at 2 years 10 months. She is 14 now and we have been to WDW or DLR (or both) every year since. That 2 year old trip is still one of my absolute favorite trips, if not my favorite trip. Everything was new, real, and exciting to her and she absolutely loved all the characters. She was what they call a "spirited" child (LOL) and she was much better behaved at WDW than she was at home. It was so fun to watch everything through her eyes. I remember walking into MK the first day expecting her to be in awe of the castle- didn't happen. She could have cared less about the castle. She walked in and spotted Pluto. That wild child waited patiently in line for 20 minutes to see Pluto with no complaints and then threw herself at him and hugged him like he was her long lost best friend. One of my favorite Disney moments ever. I had visions of taking her on Dumbo for the first time. She took one look and pointed up and said "I not riding him". We didn't know until later that it turns out that she is afraid of heights. LOL. Aside from heights, she was a lot more fearless about rides at age 2 and 3, than age 6. She hit 40 inches at age 3 and rode and liked several of the thrill rides. At age 6, she refused to set foot on thrill rides that she had ridden and enjoyed and even asked to ride more than once the same day in the past.
When they are little you have to be flexible and be prepared to modify plans based on what works for them and what they like, but it can be absolutely magical.

Either age 6 or 7 was the worst age for us. She was too old/big for a stroller, but didn't quite have the stamina for all the walking and got hot, tired, cranky and whiny pretty quickly. She was also scared of rides that she had enjoyed previously, and didn't want to go on most of the thrill rides. By age 8, her stamina was built up and all was good again. I would much rather take a 2 or 3 year old than a 6 or 7 year old based on our experience. LOL. In kindergarten their friends with older siblings start enlightening them on what is real and what is not-- so it was great having a few trips while everything was real and magical.

 

[bffer]

Every kid is different. Some people wait until the kid is five or six so they have a chance of remembering the trip. I know people who have waited until their kids were seven or eight because the child was afraid of the characters when they were little. Others have taken babies because babies are free. My daughter celebrated her fourth birthday at WDW for her first trip. You take your child whenever you want! It's really up to you.

 

[robinb]

My daughter went her first time at 4 1/2 months.

 

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

They are free until age 3, so we took DD at 2 years 10 months. She is 14 now and we have been to WDW or DLR (or both) every year since. That 2 year old trip is still one of my absolute favorite trips, if not my favorite trip. Everything was new, real, and exciting to her and she absolutely loved all the characters. She was what they call a "spirited" child (LOL) and she was much better behaved at WDW than she was at home. It was so fun to watch everything through her eyes. I remember walking into MK the first day expecting her to be in awe of the castle- didn't happen. She could have cared less about the castle. She walked in and spotted Pluto. That wild child waited patiently in line for 20 minutes to see Pluto with no complaints and then threw herself at him and hugged him like he was her long lost best friend. One of my favorite Disney moments ever. I had visions of taking her on Dumbo for the first time. She took one look and pointed up and said "I not riding him". We didn't now until later that it turned out that she was afraid of heights. LOL. Aside from heights, she was a lot more fearless about rides at age 2 and 3, than age 5 and 6. When they are little you have to be flexible and be prepared to modify plans based on what works for them and what they like, but it can be absolutely magical.

Either age 6 or 7 was the worst age for us. She was too old/big for a stroller, but didn't quite have the stamina for all the walking and got hot, tired, cranky and whiny pretty quickly. By age 8, her stamina was built up and all was good again. I would much rather take a 2 or 3 year old than a 6 or 7 year old based on our experience. LOL. In kindergarten their friends with older siblings start enlightening them on what is real and what is not-- so it was great having a few trips while everything was real and magical.

Great insights, thanks!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

DS was 3 and DD was 2 for each of their first trips.

If I had more kids I would wait until they were out of diapers and no longer using a stroller before I would take them.

My kids have gone multiple times and 5 years old is such a magical age. Those were the best trips. That would probably be when I would do a first trip.

 

[disneygolfer1985]

We took my daughter over thanksgiving when she was 18 months and she loved it. We were not able to do too much, but it was awesome to see her face light up and just watch her take everything in. She had to learn patience when meeting characters. We have another due in October and typically go either in November or December, but I doubt we will go until our youngest is closer to 15-16 months. Going in November of 2021 would be too risky in my mind if she gives up breast milk and drinks whole milk or not. I would not want to have to worry about carrying a supply of milk with us and risk it spoiling. I personally think anywhere after 18 months is fine as that will help with not having to take everything with you. We are DVC members and will go most years, so going when the kids are under 3 is free and it is a great way to see Disney through the eyes of a toddler. We did mostly character breakfast meals. The main takeaway would be you want to go at an age when they have a schedule and have fewer items to carry with you.

 

[pjacobi]

2 years, 11 months was perfect for first trip. Old enough to enjoy some of the rides, but young enough for free admission!


-Paul

 

[Cruz85]

We took our son a couple months after he turned 2 (and I happened to be pregnant with our second so before her first trip I told her she had already been lol) and it was great. We went in mid-January when the weather was nice and it was as quiet as WDW gets and we took it slow. We knew we’d have a lot that he and I couldn’t do anyway and I wasn’t having an easy pregnancy so we did the rides without height restrictions and met characters and ate snacks and took it slow and at his (and my ) pace with afternoon naps in our room. He doesn’t remember but my husband and I had a fun trip and we remember how enthralled our son was with everything.

We went last May when he was 5.5 and just before our daughter turned 3. She still remembers a lot of it and of course he does, too. She had more stamina at almost 3 than he did at barely 2 and she wasn’t really napping at that age so we didn’t need to get back to the room. Though May was hot enough that we only made mid-afternoon before we were too hot and needed to leave to prevent meltdowns.

You will get to know your kid and your family and figure out what works for you and when it might be good to go. And also it depends how frequently you go. We’re getting to the point now that we’re going to go every year and if that had been the case, I would have been fine taking my kids around 8-9 months to a year when they were sleeping better and sitting well. It’s easier to go out to eat when you can put them in a highchair. But you might find that your baby or young toddler doesn’t do well away from home and you might choose to wait some. My and my husband’s family all live far away so my kids have learned young to travel and we know how they do away from home.

Whenever you choose, just go and enjoy and take it easy and be flexible and you’ll have a blast.