DisneyLand/World...age or height?

[tyvek]

I feel the pull of the mouse over here lately. I just think my kids would just love DisneyLand and want to start planning a trip. I know Corbin and the babe will not remember it but D and I will love it. But I started looking at the ride list and height requirements and it seems like 40" is pretty typical for the bigger ones. I think izzy would really enjoy the rides and feel we need to wait until she is all enough. But that got me thinking...how do out of town people decide to go to Disney? Age? Height? Interest from the kids?

If you have gone, please share your thoughts!

[raspberry]

We just spent 3 days at Disney World. For myself I cannot imagine going with a younger child than my son, he will be 4 in July. We had a few moments where he was tired and cranky, but overall he did really well. He was old enough to walk around and enjoyed looking at everything. We had our stroller and he did nap everyday. I saw and heard a lot of little kids crying and having meltdowns. I would consider your child's personality/temperament. My son is pretty easy going and laid back and will normally transition well. He was excited to meet the characters, but a little unsure at the same time, he wanted me with him at all times. If we had tried that at a younger age, he would have been fearful. He loved the rides, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear. He even did Pirates of the Carribean.

Our trip was a last minute deal offered to Florida residents. Since we had a great time, and we live 4 hours from Orlando, I can see us going a lot.

[macksmom]

I would not even consider going before my youngest is 4-5 but we are in NY and it would be a huge expense so I want to only do it once and make sure everyone is old enough to handle it, go on rides, not need strollers and diaper changes and old enough to remember, appreciate and enjoy it. When my youngest is 5 my other kids will be about 8 and 10ish so I think that would be perfect for us.

[Irish-Eyes]

I too wouldn't go before 5 yrs old. It is sooooo expensive. We just took Lilly (3.5yr) to Islands of Adventure but we were given tickets to go. Otherwise, no way would I have paid.

[Renee29]

I just took my 7 year old and 3 year old. Most of the rides at Disney World Magic Kingdom were suitable to take my 3 year old, who was 38". There weren't too many rides that he couldn't go on, and we were with my parents so we were able to take turns on the rides he couldn't go on if we wanted too. We also didn't have to spend a whole lot of money because we have family that live there. If I had to spend more money, I wouldn't want to take my kids until they were all old enough to be able to go on all the rides and be able to remember the trip.

[MomOfAnOnly]

We are taking Emme next week, she is 3 years 4 months, 41+ inches
tall. We decided to go now because she is tall enough, and she is just a busy, energetic, outgoing kid. Because she already remembers everything, I think she will remember this trip, at least for a few years. And we aren't that far away, only a 6 hour drive, so we could even take her every year if we wanted to.
Temperament-wise-- well we've had difficulties just recently, but Disneyland is sort of a "all about her" day so unless she is objecting to waiting in line for a ride she wants to go on or she gets cranky from refusing to eat, I'm not anticipating too many issues. We will talk a lot about what we expect from her, how the day is planned, etc. That usually helps.

[preciousnd98]

Olivia will most likely make her first trip in March - she will be a little shy of 3 1/2. But my parents live about an hour away so it will be part of a visit to see them. And we will have a 4 month old which will make things trickier. But I think our plan will be to get hotel rooms so the kiddos can take a break and nap (as well as my dad who is not Disney's biggest fan). We'll take turns sitting out rides with the baby I think. (My sister will have an 8 month old and will likely be there too).

[GA1977]

We've told Parker that we would go when she is 5 (I think she will be 5.5 years old when we go.....so Boden will be 3). This trip will be more for Parker than it will for boden. I'm sure we'll go back when they are middle school age (8 and 10 or so).

[ozzy]

We just went for a week to the World. My son was 3 in jan and 41 inches and my other son 5. They had so much fun and rode every ride they could. I would not go with a child shorter than 40 inches. My youngest would have been mad if his brother could go on everything but he couldn't.

We aren't big disney people either, my boys don't really watch a ton of disney stuff, but they loved it! Its all about the rides to them and not so much about the characters.

[ibisgirldc]

My sister and her family go to DisneyWorld every month or so - but within the bounds of the Florida residents pass. (A flat fee for the year minus a few blacked-out periods. They drive the few hours and use hotel points for rooms, etc for weekend trips.) Their kids are 1 and 3 and they've been at least a dozen times. And the kids totally get it and love it.

Like a poster said above, though, I'm out of state. For me to go would involve airline tickets, longer stays in hotels, out-of-state pass prices. So we're waiting. My son would enjoy it at this age (almost 3) so I guess we'll go when we have the time and money. We don't have any vacation planned for this year so it might be sometime in 2013.

No idea about heights, but I think if the kids are accompanied by an adult, they can do just about anything. (My 3 year old nephew went on the whatchamacallit mountain roller coaster on his last trip.) There's so much else to do anyway. (At DisneyWorld, at least. I don't know about DisneyLand.)

[amylove]

We have been to WDW twice now. This last time we took DS right before he turned three so we didn't have to buy him a ticket. There were lots of rides he was able to ride and he loved the characters! We can go to local amusement parks for a lot less, so for us it was really more about the "magic" of the characters. That's why we went before the girls were too old to enjoy that aspect and then went back so DS would be old enough to enjoy the same. (He was only 10 months the first trip).

[Flynn08]

We live a little over an hour away and have taken our boys several times. Mostly to hang with visiting family & friends but the kiddos are starting to enjoy the rides and have always loved the people watching. I like food & wine festival, so that trip is for me! My brother goes every couple years. They stay offsite and get a suite. They eat one or two meals a day there plus just relax at the pool every other afternoon. It keeps their kids from getting burned out but it requires the parents to mentally write off some of the cost of the passes.

[tami]

we took the girls in Nov (Ella was just 2 and Sophie not yet 4). They had an awesome time and ask to go back every day!

[anonsouthernbell]

We took m a few days before he turned two and we had a fantastic time. I can't wait to go back!

[Marquette Fan]

We just went to Disney World last week. I had heard that 5 was a good age to go and wanted to take Abbie for her 5th Birthday and go before she started school in the fall and our travel times become more restricted. I actually thought about doing this before I was pregnant with Natalie. We decided to go ahead with it even though we'd have an infant along. My parents came with us and we traded off staying with Natalie and there were some rides we could take her along on. She napped in her stroller or the Ergo.

For us, 5 was a great age to take Abbie. She is so into Princesses now and loved our Dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table and the Bibbidi Boppiti Boutique (however the heck it's spelled :) ). She loved meeting the characters and could do a lot of rides she wanted to. She loves roller coasters like her Mom (so happy about that as my DH hates them - need her to be my roller coaster buddy :) ) and she was a little disappointed she couldn't do all the rides I did. But there was enough other stuff she could do that she liked.

Next time I go I want Abbie to be at least 44 inches so she can do some of the other roller coasters. There are additional roller coasters that have 48 inch height requirements but I think it's going to be awhile before she is that tall. I think we may go back again before Natalie turns 3 so she's free and then go again when she's 5 or so in order for her to remember it a little better. That will be tough though b/c Abbie will be 9.5/10 and into different types of rides but we'll figure something out :).

[Sammitom]

well we live here in so cal and are only 30 mins away from disneyland with passes and have had them for 2 years now. my kids are 2 and 3. piper is now 40 inches and able to ride the MOUNTAIN rides and had a blast. there is a thing called rider's switch passes and one parent goes on the ride with the kid and the other stays off with the one not tall enough and then when they are done you switch and the switching parent doesnt have to wait in the long lines. i get to do this once in a while but most of the time there is SO much that we can still do that my 2 yr has a blast still and we have to forgo the bigger rides and dd is ok with that too.

[caligirl07]

We go about once a year but it's only a 4 hr drive for us to Disneyland so not a huge expense.... T really grasped what was going on and was beyond excited around 3 toddlers have fun too and can still ride a lot but 3 seemed to be when the magic of Disney kicked in.

[TripMomma]

The triplets are all right around 41-42" and 40-ish lbs, they will be 4 in July. We are not going to think about Disney for at least another year or two. Probably seriously think about it when they are 7.

[futuresoccermom]

We went last summer (just after Ari's 3rd bday) she had a blast! She was just over 30 pounds. There were A LOT of rides and activities for her. She went on almost every kid ride there was! (either me or Dh went on with her) but other than the rides, there is 'toon town' and meeting the characters, etc,stuff like that are made for toddlers. People told us to wait until she was older, but she had so much fun, and still talks about it now, almost a year later!

[raspberry]

Erica, my first trip to Disneyland I was nine and my brother was 16, but we still had fun together!!! Our favorite was the teacups, a teenage boy can make those things go fast!

[TxMom]

Our first trip to Disney world my kids were 7 and 2. My 2 yr old didn't remember anything about the trip and hated the rides. Most of them actually scared him and he cried throughout the ride. (a lot of rides are not scary, but just in the dark and that is what frightened him most).
This time I took my now 10 yr old and 5 yr old ( my then 2 yr old is now 10!), my oldest son did not want to go back, but he is 16 and has other interests lol.
5 was the perfect age! She enjoyed it so much more than her brother did at 2. She could ride almost all the rides, had fun at cinderellas royal table and bippity boppity boutique and all the character meet and greets( no crying!)
she was able to make it through the day without naps and or having to go back to the hotel to rest. Since we had limited time this is a big deal! And the best part- no stopping to change diapers this time!
I will never to Disney world again with anyone under 5, it's just a lot harder.

[kendra76]

We did Disney Land in 2007. Andrew was 9 months and Christine was 10. Andrew obviously doesn't remember it, but he was free. It was an easy trip and a blast.

We did WDW in 2009. Andrew was 2.5 and Christine was 13. It was a blast for both of them and us. There were rides that Andrew couldn't do and he was fine with that. Waiting in some lines was tough, but we used the Ergo as much as possible since you can't take strollers in line. Plus he was still free :)

We are going to wait to go again when Logan is about 4. I think we will go to Disney Land over WDW. There are a few reasons that we like it better, but would go to either.

[Cosmosmom]

I would really like to go once probably when our baby is 2.5 to almost 3 so baby is free. We are in WI but would probably drive vs fly down and would rent a house for a week. Chances are some grandparents maybe my sister would come so that helps with that cost.
Baby wouldn't remember the trip but we would have videos and pictures and the memories would be there for us. And we can go back later once baby is an older child and can go on all the rides.

[Sammitom]

oh and BTW we are waiting to go to disneyworld until they are at least 7...the hubby and i have never been and if we are taking a trip across the country for it we want them a lil older and remember the trip as well.

[tyvek]

Omg, no strollers in the lines...yikes!

I just don't want to miss out on this great magic that the kids would surely have if we went now. I guess only time will tell since we are certainly not going before this little one is born.

[Marquette Fan]

Erica, my first trip to Disneyland I was nine and my brother was 16, but we still had fun together!!! Our favorite was the teacups, a teenage boy can make those things go fast!

That's good to know :). Although I stayed away from the teacups this time even though Abbie wanted to go - I was probably the only one who would have been willing to do it with her. I can handle roller coasters just fine but I feel so sick on those rides like the teacups when you spin around like that.

Abbie told me tonight when she's 50 she wants to do the Everest Roller Coaster at Animal Kingdom with me - I don't see that happening as I don't see myself still doing roller coasters at age 83 :laugh:. I told her she will probably be able to do it much sooner than that with me :).

[kendra76]

Omg, no strollers in the lines...yikes!

I just don't want to miss out on this great magic that the kids would surely have if we went now. I guess only time will tell since we are certainly not going before this little one is born.

yes no strollers :(

But we did take advantage of the parent passes (can't recall the offical name) but we would all wait in line and then when we got to the front, DH would ride with the kids and I would stay with Andrew if he didn't want to ride. Then when they got off, I got to ride it. (most times the kids got to ride it again with me) I always felt like we all got to experience the rides with the kids. Even having a LO to think about too.