Is 2ish a Good Age...and Other Age ?'s

[HLAuburn]

OK, so the baby is only 2 1/2 months old, but we MUST start planning her first trip to Disney! We are thinking sometime between 2 and 3 yrs old, but not when its too hot (I am from Tampa, and I know FL heat!). So is 2 1/2 a good age...old enough to really appreciate at least some of Disney?

Am I right - kids under 3 are free to get in parks? If they are close to 3, will they want to see a birth cert? Also, what else is free for kids under 3 (someone mentioned some restaurants let kids under 2 eat free)?

Any Disney with a 2-3 year old advice would be MUCH appreciated! THANKS! :thumbs:

[Chris/Lisa]

Thomas our eldest has been going to Disney parks regularly since he was 20 months old and even at that age loved pirates and small world - his brother went to WDW when he was only 11 months and loved those rides as well. We went in January - nice warm weather, short queues.

I really dont subscribe to the 'too young' philosophy - but I suppose there are those that only want or can afford to visit Disney once in their lives and want to make the very best of it.

Top tip - take things entirely at the kids pace and if they want to go on a ride again then do - days of charging commando style round the parks are put on hold when you have a little one. If you are one of those that will go back again and again it doesnt really matter if you miss some of the rides - you'll be back.

Oh and WDW is fantastic with kids the CM's make a real fuss of 'em and it really is a whole new experience

[Whitequeen]

Totally agree with C/L. :D My youngest was 22mths on her first trip and nearly 3 on her 2nd. If you want to know whether she enjoyed it or even remembered it, I'll send her to you and she'll give you a 2 hr talk on it! :eek: She loved it! Not a week goes by without her saying "Mummy, remember at Disney World" or "We saw that at Disney World". I can quite honestly say it wasn't wasted on her.
Kids are free in the parks if they're under 3 and eat for free at restaurants if they are under 3. If we ate at a Buffet we just picked her up a small plate of stuff and made sure our server knew she was under 3. If it was table service staff were quite happy to bring an extra plate and she would have some food of our plates as she's not a big eater.
As long as they are under 3 kids do not need to show a birth certificate.

[Dawn]

Is there an older child too or is this the only one?

We took our 2 and a bit nephew last year, with his 6 year old sister. The one thing we did encounter was the boy getting bored and restless waiting while big sister rode the big rides that he was too small to go on. Apart from that there were no issues and every time I see him he tells me all about the time he hugged Donald at Disney and wouldn't let him go. :D

[lisaw]

I don't think there is a 'wrong age' you just have different experiences at different ages, like everybody else has said you have to take things a bit easy with little ones and some of the big rides you may have to give a miss but the character intervention more than makes up for missing a few rides. Our DD was two when we last went and she still remembers bits now and I am so glad that we decided to take her at that age :)

[candyman]

do you know i never even thought that oli was to young at 18 months

BUT i want diferent things from the parks than a lot of people .
i dont like white knuckle rides
i just want the "disney atmosphere"
the characters , the parades , the shows -really just being there !

it will be a first time for me takeing a toddler my older son was 6 when we first went

but to be honest i am so excited for him
but the comments from people in this thread have made it even more exciting !

steve

[Whitequeen]

He'll love it, Steve. All the sights, the sounds!!!

STOP!!!!!!!!! I'm getting over excited! :excited:

.......and calm.......and breath......and calm. :D

[mel64]

Hey Auburn, I say no age is to young. If it had been up to me, We would have taken DS the day he was born. Had to wait till he was 4 though. (We we're in "go to the beach every year" mode) Now we are in "go to WDW every year" mode. It just gets better and better.

[candyman]

He'll love it, Steve. All the sights, the sounds!!!

STOP!!!!!!!!! I'm getting over excited! :excited:

.......and calm.......and breath......and calm. :D


i think so too if only because we went into the disney store last week, it was the first time he has been old enough to notice things , he loved it so much he cried when we came out of the shop !!!

steve

[d_dreamer]

I think its a good idea, shes young so you dont have to pay for her tickets of anything, wich is nice./. but the downside is that she probably wont rememmber the trip, but you will, and im sure thats worth going. Stories sometimes can b more precious then memories to a kid

[candyman]

not forgetting the photos


a picture of the baby with mickey will be something for her to treasure when she is older
steve

[dcfromva]

OK, so the baby is only 2 1/2 months old, but we MUST start planning her first trip to Disney! We are thinking sometime between 2 and 3 yrs old, but not when its too hot (I am from Tampa, and I know FL heat!). So is 2 1/2 a good age...old enough to really appreciate at least some of Disney?

Am I right - kids under 3 are free to get in parks? If they are close to 3, will they want to see a birth cert? Also, what else is free for kids under 3 (someone mentioned some restaurants let kids under 2 eat free)?

Any Disney with a 2-3 year old advice would be MUCH appreciated! THANKS! :thumbs:
HLAuburn,
Kids under 3 are no charge and you don't need to bring a birth certificate to prove it.
We first took DS to WDW when he was just over 2 years old. Did he appreciate it? Sure. Would he have been just as happy to visit the local zoo or a playground--probably. Did he remember--Not really. But, it was my first vist to WDW and it was a dream of mine to go to WDW and I remember it. Did we see everything at a frantic pace? No. We took it at his pace. He loved the monorail, riding the boats, looking at the flowers and playing on things. He loved Dumbo and the Carousel. He did not like going on any rides which were dark (like Peter Pan). We took him to a Character meal and found that he warmed up to the characters after a fashion. We also went back to our room in the afternoon for a rest--which we adults appeciated probably more so that DS. :) We stayed at the CR, and every night DS had to watch the Electric Water Pagent before he went to sleep (we could see it from our room). All fond memories for me. I can't watch EWP without thinking back to that time. (DS is 16 years old now)
Do I regret taking him when he was so little? No. We had an awesome time. We have found that the Disney experience is never the same over the years. When they are little, the focus is different than when they are older (ex--it is difficult to get DS-16 to go on IASWAA and Dumbo) --I am glad we didn't miss out on any of it. :)
-DC :ears:

[andie*a]

Just returned with a nearly three year old and a nearly 1 1/2 year old. They LOVED it. My eldest DD has not stopped talking about it. She loved the characters, the shows, the rides (especially Magic Kingdom) Everything!

We saw the parks at a slower pace than we have before, but as it was September it was very quiet and hardly qued for any rides. We have wonderful pictures of them both and the memories we have of their littte faces lighting up at the sight of Mickey, or anything knew to them, will last forever - even if eventually they do stop talking about or scouring the Disney chanels for a glimpse of their fave characters.

I would definately do it all over again - in fact have already started planning next trip in not too distant future.

PS Yes under 3s have free admission in to parks but also eat free at Character Meals, We did Crystal Palace, Chef Mickeys and Ice cream Social. Would recommend all!

[simbo]

We took Becca to Disneyland Paris when she was 16 months old as a trial run for Florida (we didn't want to sit on a plane for 9 hours if she was going to hate it!!). She loved it and thouroughky enjoyed any rides we went on. We took her to orlando May 2002 (aged 22 months), June 2003 (just before she turned 3 so free entry to parks - no birth certificate needed). May 2004 and we are going again 16th April 2005. Each time we have gone it has been a different experience and I have felt it to be worth the money every time. I really don't think that kids can be too young as long as you appreciate that it is your memories and not necessary theirs which are being created. The expression of joy and wonder on her face the first times we went were priceless.

talk soon

Simbo

[luvthemouse]

The other thing to remember is that Disney is not going anywhere. If you miss something, you can always go back later. Our DS was 6 mos on his first trip, 13 months on his second, and will be 18 mos when we go in April...

[andrea9873]

I have a friend who just went with her 2 1/2 year old.My friend said that she loved it but it was even better watching her 2 yr old daughters reacation to it. Even though her DD will have a faint memory of it, its worth reliving in pictures and going agian.

[Morgan8]

I took my youngest at 17 weeks old. I was very worried about taking him, but I was amazed with the way he sat on my lap and watched all the shows. We went the first week of september and the weather was lovely.

[swissfamrivers]

How come they don't need proof that the child is under 3 - my 2 year old looks like a 3 year old is very tall, talks well etc etc. Should we take his passport just in case?

[simbo]

We took Becca a month before she turned 3. She is tall (we got her on all the 40" rides - with big shoes!!) and we were never questioned as to how old she was. But if you are worried it won't do any harm to take her passport just in case. I think we did but like I said never needed it.


Simbo

[Josette]

When i was down when I was 1 and 2 I don't remember it, but I have the video tapes! :D

[JuniorMickey]

Disney isn't going to ask for proof of age for your under-3

[rogers6madhouse]

How about the under 10's???:rotfl: :whistle:

[JuniorMickey]

The only thing you're going to be asked for proof of age for is for alcohol

[disneymeces]

We took our youngest daughter there for her 1st b-day, she love it. Just as long as we planned a nap everything worked out great. Going back in June, she'll be four and now she is excited.

[Marks friend]

We have taken both are children at young ages, DS at 15 mo. and 2 1/2 and daughter at 1yr ( spent her birthday on the cruise) and we are going back in a few weeks with them 3 and 19mo. The best part of taking them this early is the magic in their faces. To them , Mickey is Mickey, they don't know it is a character, and it is great to watch their reaction. Both of mine loved all of the shows, Just take things to entertain them while waiting!! Be careful of it's a bug's life and Philarmagic, It upset my son at 15 mo, being sprayed in the face with water, but my daughter at 1 yr loved it, so analyze their personality before you proceed with certain rides. Be prepared to let them out of their strollers and to run around a while, and to ride one ride over and over and over again. My son last year loved Pirates of the C. and we rode it countless times!! Your focus must be on letting them have fun. And what ever you do chill out and don't be one of those parents that you Pass by that is yelling at their kids!!! It is vacation for goodness sakes!!! Have fun!