What is the proper age to take a child to WDW for their first visit?

I don’t think there’s a “right” age, especially if it’s not a one-and-done trip.

We took our son at 18 months and all 3 of us had an amazing time. Diaper changes really aren’t a big deal, nor is taking a stroller. Disney is very well equipped for families with very young kids!

We are going back in October, the week before he turns 3. I have no idea what our potty training situation will be at that time, but we’ll roll with wherever he’s at by that time.

It’s true that a really young child won’t remember the trip. But you will. The memory of my son’s sweet little face lighting up the first time he saw Mickey will be in my heart forever.
 
First of all, congrats! As you can see, when to take your child to WDW has a lot of answers. We took our two to DLR when DD was 6.5YO and DS was 4.5YO. It still got to be a bit much for him and he didn't want to try many rides. And quite honestly, while he had a great time, he doesn't remember much. DD remembers some. Now our last trip which was to WDW and Universal, at 9 and 7, they both remember a ton. I'd just weigh the type of experience you want with how often you plan to go. Little ones reactions to things is different than when older. It's all great, just different at every stage.
 
I don't remember for sure...I think ours were 3rd grade and Kindergarten their first time. We didn't enjoy it much. It wasn't until they were about 8th and 5th grade that it really became enjoyable for all of us.

I think it's just whatever works for each family and probably depends on your expectations and how much planning you do.
 
As for what age, you'll get no end of answers...and all of them are correct. It's purely what you feel is best. WDW is age appropriate for kids ages 0-100.

x1000

I can't put it any better, so I'll just add CONGRATULATIONS!! I just had our 5th on Dec 13, and we are going down in May. I haven't had one under 1 in WDW yet so I'm looking forward to the new experience.
 


First...CONGRATULATIONS! Jan 14th is my oldest son’s birthday - he turned 18 this year. Very special day.

I have 4 kids, I’ve taken them at ages 18 months and up. I started keeping a journal for them for our trips - at night in our room, we discuss what we did that day, what our favorite or least favorite thing was, what we ate, etc...that way, even if they don’t remember, we still have these sweet memories documented. We also do Memory Maker each trip to make sure we have family pics with everyone in the photo.
Really like this journal idea. Think I will do this for my 3 year old's first trip next week (it will help both of our memories!)
 
Congrats! What a special time in your life. As others have said you will get varying answers but you and your wife will know when the time is right. We were actually the same way. We were talking about waiting until he was 4 or 5 but while I was on maternity leave we were seriously planning our first trip. We took him for Easter and he was 7 months old. It was an amazing trip. He was young enough that he slept in the stroller or the tula (baby carrier). I was breastfeeding and we made use of the baby care centers for all of us to get a drink and sit inside in the ac. It was an amazing trip. We have trip #2 scheduled for the end of August and w will celebrate his second birthday. Obviously he won't remember any of these trips. My own first trip was when I was almost six and I remember a great deal of the trip and feel certain it's the reason why I love Disney. Also a reminder that kids fly free up to age 2 and kids are free at Disney under 3, if that effects your decisions.
 
My first trip with the girls was a 4 1/2 and 6 1/2. Perfect ages IMO. Princesses are still real and the look of wonder and joy in their eyes is amazing. I wouldn't trade it.

A "once in a lifetime trip" would probably have that be too young of an age. I figured during that first trip we wouldn't be back for a few years so going back at 10 and 12 would another great run. As it turned out, the family was hooked and it became a very, very frequent thing. Having been to WDW dozens of times prior to that trip (I was born in FLA), I wasn't surprised really.

Anyway, I honestly wouldn't want to do WDW with a child under about 3.5 unless there were older siblings and they needed to get there while it was "still real" too.
 
We're taking our kiddo at 20 months. Sure she won't remember anything, but I'm not willing to wait until she's old enough to remember the trip. FWIW I went to DL around the time I was 4, I have some memories but not oodles.

Plus under 3, they're free at the park.
 
We waited until our girls were 3 and 5 before their first trip. I think we had faulty thinking about. We started going annually with them at that age and knew we could have done with younger kids. When our son came along, we took him on his 1st trip at 3 months old and have gone annually with him (now 3) and all ages are really great! There is no "proper" age, IMO. Go when you feel comfortable.
 
I'm going to vote that there is no right...or more importantly...no wrong answer here. We tooks our DD's when the oldest was 4 and younger was 18-months. Older DD still remembers a good amount of the trip and loves looking at pictures. She is really excited to go back in August. Younger DD obviously doesn't remember things, but did enjoy many parts of the trip when we were there. I still get a kick out of remembering how she was smiling and waving at all the animals as we were on the safari. I think that as long as you set appropriate expectations, any age is a great age. I am basing off of your posts that the 1st trip will not be the only trip! And as much as my DW and I loved Disney w/o kids, it was truly magical with kids! :tigger:
 
We took my youngest when she was 10 months. I was still nursing her, but it wasn't as much of a hassle as you would think. Disney is very baby friendly. If it isn't a "once in a lifetime" vacation, I'd go whenver you want! I would at least make sure they're sitting up and maybe eating some table food. But I loved seeing her reactions to things. They get amazed by the small things that you wouldn't otherwise notice. And she loved riding the rides (small world, dumbo....she could ride most things).

My oldest's first visit was around 18 months. She was about into the terrible 2's, so we had more melt down moments (she cried in disney jr so much that we just had to leave). She was 4 this last time, and she loved everything about it.
 
They are free under age 3. We took DD (11) on her first trip at 2 years 10 months, and have been every year since and I think that 2 year old trip was my favorite. Everything was new, real, and amazing to her. She was a kid that was crazy about characters though- not scared of them at all. At age 11, even having gone every year since, she still remembers things about that 2 year old trip. Plus- even if she didn't, I would remember the joy on her little face and how happy she was that entire week. They are enlightened very early nowadays as to what is real and what isn't so those trips before kindergarten when everything was real to her are my absolute favorites!
 
We took our twins when they were 2 1/2 for their first trip & they remember Goofy coming over to say hi to them in their stroller.

I also have the cutest pix of Tigger and Pooh crouching down to their height for a meet & greet in Frontierland!

The best age was when they were four.
That was a very :tink:magical trip
 
It is really more about your comfort level and what you want to be doing. And whether it's a once in a lifetime trip or you plan to go every year or so. Any age can work. My oldest was 2 the first time she went, my second was about 11 months, and my youngest was only 6 months the first time we took her. The only time when we opted out of going was when my IL's wanted to go on a trip with us and I opted out when one of mine was about 6 weeks, not because I felt that the baby was too young, but because *I* wasn't up for doing Disney at 6 weeks postpartum. But other people might feel great about doing that.
 
I took DS when he was 3. Just him. Then we did a trip when they were: DS8 and DD2, DS9 and DD3, DS11 and DD5 and more trips after that.

I must say after the trips of them being 2 and 3 we decided we would never do another trip unless there was no stroller involved. When we went back when they were 11 and 5 it was the best trip we've ever had. No strollers, no diapers (only trip with diapers was when DD was 2), no diaper bags and bag free. Yes the kids had fun on the previous trips but we were exhausted from lugging strollers, kids, diaper bags, etc. It was just a PIA but we do have great memories.

If I could do it all over again I would've waited until DS was 5 to do his first trip and then when DD turned 5 done her first trip.

I could never and would never take an infant to WDW. My BFF took her kids when they were 3 and 3 months and she has never gone back again. She said it was pure torture.
 
It depends how it fits your budget and lifestyle. If I was to only take my kids once in a lifetime, I would choose 5-7 years old. No stroller, no diapers, no nap time but still believe in the magic. Probably at least 40" so most rides will work.

Personally, I won't plan a trip for a baby. When I just had one child, we did go to Disneyland one day when he was 12 months old, but that is because we were in CA...it wasn't planned as a trip for him.

If you think back on your memories of your life...you probably have few if any before age 3 (really about birth to 5 years is a period of childhood amnesia). Ages 5-10 are probably a little fuzzy. Ages 10-30 are where people have their most memories. (But the memories aren't just for them, and the happy feelings they get from family time will remain even if the memories don't)

That being said, I have taken my children right before they turn 3 because it was much cheaper (no tickets, don't have to pay at buffets, can fit into cheaper rooms, etc.) I found around 4-5 to be the most magical because they still believe in the magic. However, I think age 9 or 10 before all the "tween" stuff starts is also a lot of fun because they still aren't too cool to do everything and they can ride everything, stay up late, etc.
 
Wow!! Thank you everybody so much for the positive feedback, congratulates, and personal insight! Just be reading some of your replies, I now understand that there really isn't a right or wrong age range. We're both huge Disney fans (as are all of you awesome people!) and we're just so thrilled about sharing this experience with our child!

I was originally adamantly against taking kids before they were 4 or 5 since they would not remember anything about the trip.

Of course, I've now taken the following trips in the last 3 years:
1. Spur of the moment trip to Disneyland while in LA -- DD1 was 26 months old and and DD2 was still in the oven.
2. WDW trip #1 - DD1 was 34 months old and DD2 was 6 months
3. WDW trip #2 - DD1 was almost 4 years old and DD2 was 18 months
4. WDW trip #3 - DD1 was 4.5 years and DD2 was 26 months
5. WDW trip #4 - (leaving this weekend) -- just a trip with my DD1 and myself (the dad) to celebrate her 5th birthday (6 weeks early).

The first trip was really nice. DD1 rode all the kiddie rides and met some characters, and napped in the stroller as needed, while we just bounced around from ride to ride with zero upfront planning (you can do this in DL). We got there at park opening and left right as park was closing.

Second trip was good too. But it was a completely different beast staying at WDW and dealing with a stroller and the buses. With that said, the 6 month old just slept in the stroller for the most part, so she was super easy to take care of. We pretty much took turns riding stuff with DD1 using the rider switch feature.

Third trip -- my 18 month old was a terror. She wanted to walk all the time and she melted down probably 5-10 times a day (even with leaving the parks everyday to nap). One of us had to leave every single table service dinner before we were finished b/c she was just such a mess. My oldest never had any of these issues at any age...so it is entirely child dependent.

fourth trip -- my youngest got a bit better, but she is still stubborn as hell and will start crying the second she feels slighted. She just might be the death of me...hopefully this is just a phase. hahaha

All of that to say -- taking a 6 month is actually pretty easy. However, the 6 month old won't enjoy it at all. At that point, you're just going for yourselves and to get some fun photos. Since you only have one child, I would probably wait until he's around 2 or 2.5 years old. That way, he'll be old enough to recognize the characters at least. It's so much fun to watch their faces light up when they see a character they recognize. Fair warning, a lot of kids get frightened of the characters (especially the masked ones) until they're about 2.5 or so. It took mine quite a bit of time to warm up to them. She loved watching them from a distance...but got shy as soon as they approached her.

In any case, there is no right or wrong answer. It's all about what you are wanting to accomplish that will more or less determine "the best" time to take them. Just recognize that anything before 3 years old is mostly for your enjoyment in seeing their excitement. Good news though is that their tickets are free if they are under 3 years old.
 
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