I'm hoping someone has some guidance on this. I have some friends who want to buy Annual Passes for the holidays. They have a 2-Yr. old girl who turns 3 the last week of March.

My question is how strictly Disneyland enforces the policy on paying for children 3 and above. I would think there is some leeway, because obviously if my friends could get a few months after their daughter turns 3, then they can get her an AP closer to their next renewal date, instead of in March. Do they always ask when you wheel the stroller in and/or do they actually ask the child, figuring they're going to brag about their age, and trip up mom and dad? :-)

Any help is appreciated.

Although parents really *should* get a pass for their children right at three, we didn't untill he was 4 1/2. But, then again, we only took him 3 times from the time he turned 3 until we got him a pass (gotta love the uncle!).

We didn't have any problems. The CMs never asked his age, we just walked through without hesitating. The last time we did get the look, the "ya right, he's 2" look, but they still didn't say anything. We did buy him a pass the next day though.

Of course, this wouldn't have worked if the CM had actually asked his age, because we wouldn't have lied in front of the boy. And no, we didn't feel guilty one bit. He is small and didn't reach that all important 42" until then anyway, so we didn't feel like we were cheating.

In my experience and in the experiences of many MousePadders whose posts I've read.......they don't really ask at the gates how old a child is.

If I were them, I'd buy passes for themselves now and then buy hers for her third birthday. That way the dates are spread out and they don't have a $450ish renewal month the following year. I know we're going to spread ours out when we all have them. Right now only two of us have AP's. The rest we'll buy in the spring.

FYI, this topic has been discussed before. Go to this thread (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3099) for some responses on that very subject.

We had thought about not buying our oldest one for his 3rd birthday (this was last year in June). But we decided it would be better, not just money wise, but it gives him a nice present to last for a year. I think he loves that more then anything. LOL We renewed it this year for his birthday as well. I think if you are buying an AP its better just to do it as the birthday present but if you are going for the day then don't bother with the ticket. A friend and I used to have APs for Universal Studios. Her daughter at the time was almost 3. When we would take her with us we would just take her on in with no problem as well. Never asked at all about her age. Besides they can ask the age but how are they going to tell you to prove anything, you know?

Im going through this right now. My son turned 3 in august and our passes expire in feb. Now im glad that only once it was asked sean's age but it makes you think that a better way of charging wouldnt have anything to do with age but height. If your four year old is under 40 in what fun can he have, the same fun as a one year old. but my son has been 40 in sence he was about 2 and a half (yep he a big boy). If they charged by height there would'nt be any emberasing questions to ask

If your four year old is under 40 in what fun can he have, the same fun as a one year old.

I don't think this is true. Its different. I know I would rather be charged by the age then the height. If it was height then there are alot of kids under 3 that are probably 40" or close enough to it. I do think that the age for starting to charge for adults is crazy though but that is another thing. I do know that my oldest had tons of fun no matter what age he has gone. And there really are not a ton of rides with height restrictions in Disneyland (there are 7 and that is out of how many rides?). Plus the ones with restrictions I would never take a 2 yr old on anyway. Heck I won't even take my 4 yr old on Space Mtn yet. He does everything else but that and Indy (still not tall enough). This is just how we are though. I know there are others that would. But obviously they know there will be some kids that are big for their age. You can tell the difference between a 2yr old and a 5 yr old. I know one of dh's cousins is the same age as our oldest (4) and he is a big boy. But when he talks and plays you can tell he is a 4 yr old. Anyway, I just know that my son has had fun there each time we have gone and has plenty to go on. That was even when he was 2 and before he was tall enough for the "big" kid rides.