Can you believe my "friends" felt it was their business...

[lookingforward]

We took our sons when they were two and four years old. We had a BLAST! Our younger son does not remember it, but WE do...and the pictures are so adorable. Now they are eight and ten and we will be bringing our three year old daughter over Christmas. Have a good time and remember you are making memories that will last a life time.

 

[AlisonB]

We took our DDs at 3 & 5 and have no regrets. They believed EVERYTHING was real. That really WAS Cinderella's castle and that WAS Mickey Mouse (not just a guy in a costume).

You can never get that innocence back once it's lost (you can pretend though, like I do) so ENJOY!!!

Alison

 

[robsmom]

We are taking our DS 2 1/2 with us in December. We were lucky enough in March to spend a day in MGM and a day at Universal so I've tested it out. We had a great time. We took the advice of many of these boards and paced ourselves. In December we are going for 10 days (early December not Christmas). I am working on an every other day in a Park strategy, that should give us plenty of down time. DS loves Mickey, Pooh and Barney (universal) and I love to see his reactions!!

 

[honeymom]

We just took a 2 1/2 and 5 year old. We were careful to take rest breaks and do things at the kids pace. My son loved it and we have some great pics of him with the characters. I don't think your crazy at all. I don't know if you're staying on site, but I actually think one of the highlights of the trip was the pool and water slide at PO-FQ. We had to make sure to schedule swim time each day there.

 

[staylor]

Your poor friends must not have been to Disney themselves. Too bad! We took our oldest when he was 2 1/2. My grandmother said the same thing to me, "He won't remember it." I told her not to worry that he will be going back so many times in his life that he won't be able to forget it. We just went back in May with both sons 5 and 16 mos. It was awesome! We planned on leaving each day so the little one could nap. But he fell asleep in his stroller each day and was fine. 5 year old never wanted to leave. Our favorite, priceless moment, came when we went to find Buzz and Woody at MGM. The 5 yr. old was beside himself that he was going to meet them. We didn't think to much about the little one, but when we turned the corner and they were standing there, he pointed his little finger and said Ohhh! Not another character the entire trip got the same reaction. Now that we are home, he walks around our house everyday carrying Buzz.
So, you just ignore your friends and try not to take them personally. They just don't understand the power of Disney.

HAVE FUN!
Staciinkbounc inkbounc inkbounc inkbounc

 

[honeymom]

I guess I forgot to mention that I was barely 3 when I went to the World's Fair (1964). I still have vivid, wonderful memories of It's a Small World which was at that fair. Take your kids.

 

[sablair]

Make sure you get lots of pictures of your baby to show them what a great time all of you had

Im a working Mom... and yes we are taking our older children (15 and 7) to WDW without their 18 mo old brother. Reasons.. its HOT in July!!! .. the other two have never been and will enjoy it more without staying on a toddlers schedule. Is that selfish? No, not at all.. our family has revolved around our youngest for the last year and a half.... and its time to do some older kid stuff for a week. That doesnt mean we dont love him.. doesnt mean we are abandoning him, or that he isnt really part of the family.. or that we take time for ourselves over the kids either!! It just means we decided he will be miserable in the July heat and most of the vacation would be spent by the pool instead of in the parks.

I will miss my baby terribly! I even considered staying at home and letting DH take the older two, but we came up with a better solution. Go for a week now.. get a little Disney out of our system and take another trip with him in Nov when it's cooler. We refer to that trip at Ty Ty's trip already and I cant wait to see him at Disney I think after going once we will be much more prepared and informed in Nov and will feel like relaxing and taking his pace for the week. In fact, I think we are looking forward to that trip even more than the one next week. My mother is calling the second trip a "guilt" trip....haha... maybe she is right

Go.. enjoy.. do what is right for your family and tell your friends when they pay the bills in your house.. they can have an opinion!

~Sheila

 

[totallycait]

You've had plenty of responses to your original post but I just had to add my two cents as well.

I was born in 1971, the same week WDW first opened. I think I was almost 2 years old on my first trip there. I remember a lot of it. I remember the first character I met- it was Donald, right on Main Street. I kept touching him to make sure he was real and not a cartoon. My father took some great pics of it- I'm thinking about scanning them to make some kind of a sig banner for myself here.

I've been to Disneyland with my godson twice, and the first time he was 2½ years old. He's seven now and still talks about that first trip.

Take your kid to WDW and don't worry about what those other people are saying. I'll bet none of them have done it. As long as you don't let the child get overtired it will be just fine. Take lots of photos- they will really be appreciated later. And once you get home you can show them to all these cranky people who are offering their advice on what not to do!

Have a great trip!

 

[lvs_eeyore]

I posted before on this thread but just had to tell you of something that just happened. Lends a lot of creedence to TAKING small children to Disney.

My older son received a stamper set of dinosaurs. A few minutes ago my youngest who is now three was playing with them....he was about 2.75 when we took him last to Disney. Well he looked up at me a few minutes ago and said "Mommy dinosaurs go to Energy!" I was floored. The ONLY place he could have learned that was at Universe of Energy in Epcot! You just never know what's getting through to them. I certainly never thought that concept did....I thought it would just be a very kewl ride for him.

In taking your youngest you are opening a whole new world to him. You might not see it right away but they do take everything in, sights, sounds, smell, concepts. The more you expose your child to the more they learn the more wiring that goes on in their brain. Thats a proven medical fact. I think you are doing the RIGHT thing in taking your youngest. Don't listen to your nay saying friends.....go with your heart and have a BLAST!!!

 

[susy]

We decided to wait. Our son will be four Nov 30 and we are going Nov 11-14. We are keeping things simple-doing two days at MK and taking our time. We only live 3 hours from Disney, but we wanted to wait until he was out of diapers and not taking two LONG naps everyday. He also wasn't the type to just fall asleep in the stroller and I didn't want to deal with lugging a diaper bag, sippy cups, etc.

Every child is different. I feel that he would ahve been too overwhelmed at age 2. I'm hoping that by keeping our trip short and taking our time that it will be a great first trip!
A very happy SAHM

 

[s&k'smom]

I agree with the others, we took our son at 1 1/2 because I chickened out and couldn't leave him. We had a blast. There were certain things we didn't do but we also learned to take it easy and really enjoyed the trip with him. We have priceless pictures and Disney made it so easy to take a little one. The cast members could not have been nicer to him. We are planning a trip next year and our new daughter will be just 1 1/2 and her bro 6. We have gone only as a couple as well and I enjoyed both trips equally. Believe me I got a lot of the same "advice" you did. In one ear and out the other. Have a great time with the kids.

 

[kozmo]

take your babies,go ,rejoice in the day and the moment ,especially at disney,i have taken my nieces and nephews when i went when they were as little as 15 mos,my mom(gramcrackers wont go without ALL of her grandbabbies) and guess what we all had a ball!!!!the entire family together,be it disney or at home,besides babies are like sponges ,their little brains thrive on obsorbing and retaining everything!!!GO GO GO GO GO

 

[tampafan]

Our sons first trip to Disney was at 7 months. Our daughter's first trip was at 3 months. We have taken several trips since they were born, he is now five and she is now two. It is magical to take children when they still believe in everything! If as a parent you think either you or your children would be too overwhelmed then by all means do not go. However, you know your children and and whether or not they would enjoy it! Our children remember all their trips through our pictures. Have fun!

 

[Melissa]

We took our dd when she was just 2 and it was awesome. Mickey and Pooh will never be as magical as they were then. If your friend has to ask why, then they would never be able to understand even if you explained it. As long as you go at his pace you'll be fine.
It is an evil thing to be a destroyer of joy! Shame on them!

 

[Beverly Lynn]

I had those same responses the first time I took DD she was 18 mths old. well when people tell me she won't remember it I tell them so does that also mean we shouldn't celebrate her first birthday? cause she will only be one and won't remember it. should we not celebrate xmas cause she won't remember it? its the sheer joy on their faces that makes it all worthwhile. even if they don't remember it they had fun and thats what counts. my DD does remember things from that trip as she talks about them all the time. she has been there 4 times already and is ready for her 5th in sep. and if she doesn't remember something I can pull out her pictures and show her. she tells everyone who will listen about disney......

 

[robsmom]

This is not a sarcastic question. I am wondering what people think is an appropriate vacation with a toddler, if they don't agree with Disney. I don't want to leave my child at home and have stuggled with good vacation ideas. I think Disney is about as good as it gets for a toddler, but does anyone have other good ideas. Maybe I am selfish, but the thought of spending a week or more at the beach with a toddler is exhausting. We would be running non-stop up and down the beach after him and worried about losing him. At disney, he will be in a stroller, on a ride with us, at a table, in his swimming tube holding onto Mommy, or occassionally walking holding Daddy's hand. i just think this will be safer and more fun for everyone.

 

[mainey-mouse]

Actually - I think a beach vacation would have to be best. We camped with our toddlers and that included beach time. We also did alot of themeparks with toddlers. No comparison. Theme parks are much more work than beaches.

I wouldn't recommend the camping part except for people like us who really like it and are good at it. Toddlers are alot of work at a camp site, with all the inherent dangers on one (axes, fires, cans of bug spray, matches, woods to run into...)

But the beach part? Thats where we went to relax while camping. Our toddlers and others we've camped with didn't run away on beaches. They sit and play in the sand. They don't even particularily like the water - most just like to get their toes wet and fill up pails or float little boats. And you can SEE them even if they aren't sitting on your lap. Unless you are on some beach just outside a really big city, you won't encounter the kind of crowds where you will loose sight of a toddler who is only a couple feet away from you - as you can at a shopping mall or themepark.