Home

[waddle_thepenguin]

Apologies if this is in the wrong place or has been asked before - but what age is the best age to first take a child to a Disney Park?

Basically I'm getting well ahead of myself as I'm currently expecting, baby #1 is due in January next year, and my Father in Law was asking me this question as he wants to plan a family trip when baby is old enough.

So what do people think? Any stories of experience etc?

Thanks all

Helen

[polar vixen]

I found Disney a great place to holiday with a baby but as far asd them appreciating it my baby was 11 months lay time we went. Hee got excited about the v characters and started clapping when he saw the carousel and was just amazed at every ride he could go on. This all of course depends on your baby's progression but I say never to early.

[Zee79]

I agree with Polar Vixen. I took my youngest and my nephew at age 9months and 10 months of age and they loved it! My twin nieces then went at 10 months old and they were fascinated by the characters. We took them in the Playhouse Disney and they knew Mickey Mouse Club House. They just heard the theme tune and were getting excited.

[gemma2806]

We took our son just before his third birthday as he was still free! He enjoyed it but did find it overwhelming. He loved the characters, most of the rides and he did have a lovely time. He found things to eat at the different restaurants but the buffet ones worked best for him. Only down side, due to his age he slept ALOT in his buggy and back at the room.

We then took him back just after his 4th birthday and he had an unbelievably brilliant time. He was sooo excited! He went on every ride his height would allow (which was pretty much everything!), he still loved the characters. He found a monstrous appetite and we found plenty for him to eat. He didn't sleep as much as he had far more energy and walked a lot further. He still remembers an awful lot about this holiday.

I would say 4 was the perfect age to go but to be honest Disney is a great place to go at any age! They cater really well for young children and you'll have some amazing memories even if they are too little to remember!

[daddyof2]

Our youngest was 23 months when we went in June, possibly a bit on the young side IMHO to get that much out of it. Around 3 to 4 is perfect, but even at younger ages they can still enjoy seeing the lights, characters, fireworks and so on.

[SGregory27]

We went when DD2 was 11mth and found that they won't let under 1yrs on some of the rides and she slept most of the time.  This year she was just 2yrs and that's was great she still remembers things.

[hannabdav]

We are going for the first time this month and our daughter is 27 months xxx

[Sonyak3]

I first went with my niece and nephew 5 and 2 and they both really enjoyed.when I had my first child then I bought him when he was 2 and a half and to see his eyes light up when he met the characters and give them hugs and kisses.the excitement he had goin on the likes of dumbo and all the other rides twas just amazing..I am now going in November with my 2nd son who is 3 and older son who is now 7.all I'm looking forward to is seeing the smiles on the younger ones face when he meets the characters...don't know how the 7 year old will take to the character part but he is just soo excited to be able to go on all the rides.i would definitely say 2-3 to see the excitement and the total magic of disney sayin that it's that disney buzz that I'm addicted to and I'm quite a few years older than d boys ha.my older boy still looks at the pics and talks like he remembers it all.

[Shall80]

We took our eldest son for his 1st birthday (almost 13 now  ) and he loved every second! He enjoyed the characters and fireworks/lights, and also simpler things such as Disney balloons and looking around the shops.

He doesn't remember anything about it, but WE do and they're such lovely memories  Some people have told us it's a waste of time taking them when they won't even remember it, but they'll always be able to look back on photos on all your lovely family experiences.

We went a couple of years ago when our youngest was around 18 months and while she was wary of the characters getting tooo close she certainly enjoyed the new experiences.

[MinnieMum]

We took our children aged 4 and just under 2 (22montha) they both loved it. Our daughter who was 4 knew all the characters and still talks about it  18 months later. Our son who was the younger one also loved it, he knew mickey and pooh bear. When he met Mickey I had tears in my eyes it was pure magic. When he met pooh he kissed his face and all the queue went aaahh. He could also go on all the rides we wanted to go on, he was average height. He can't remember it though but we have lots of photos and it is a good excuse to go again

I would say from a year onwards ia great

[never2old]

We took our daughter first time when she was just over 18 months old, unfortunately she chose that day to develop a fever and spent most time asleep... She woke up and the fever went down just in time to go and meet Mickey Mouse, and then see the parade, and she loved that. She gave Mickey a huge hug, and then was clapping and dancing along to the parade.

We went back later, she was just over 2 years old, and that time it was pure magic. She had her princess dress, met lots of characters (we even had a character meal in Inventions, it was brilliant - when she saw Minnie and got a huge hug from her, even I was in tears!!), saw the parade every day and even Dreams (it was at a reasonable time for her), she loved it.

We chose only rides she could do and enjoy (we tried Phantom Manor but she got a bit scared, same with Pirates), and there was plenty to do with her in both parks.

[seraphelle]

We really wanted to go when ours were around 3-4years old, but as situations occur that can't be helped we ended up not going until the eldest was 8 and the youngest was 6. Our youngest would come home from nursery school every day and put on a princess outfit without fail and was always carrying around some princess soft toy or other, and we were a bit gutted to be honest that we didn't go when she was in that phase as it would have been so magical. In saying that though, the eldest surprised us last year when she asked for dressing up stuff at Disneyland, I couldn't buy it fast enough it'd been ages since she'd shown an interest in stuff like that  Plus the older they are, the more stamina they have to stay up later, not get snivelly when they get tired / hungry, can manage going to the toilet a bit better and so on. So I guess my answer is whenever you want to take them as there are benefits to any age, and the magic will get them no matter how young / old they may be! My now 9yr old is already talking about which outfit she wants this year and she'll be 10 by the time we're there again. But she has said that this year will be the last year she dresses up, next time she'll just wear the Minnie ears  I have a friend who has recently come back and took her 19 month old twins, and said next time if she were to go with little ones she'd go in a diffeent season so she could see Dreams as close to their bedtime as possible. She gave them a nap and they went back to watch Dreams one night and they were very grumpy and upset at being out so late, but then each child is different and they do enjoy being unpredictable