Our November trip is getting ever so close and this one will definitely be an adventure with my 6, 2, and 5 month old in tow. Question to those in the know --- My 2 year old will turn 3 while at the park. Do I need to buy her a 5 day pass as well? Do I need to bring her birth certificate to prove her age? How much will they scrutinize her age???

This is a 'moral' issue for you to decide. The Disney rule is that 3 and over ..need a ticket. I know that many people see it as being fine to lie about their childrens ages and not pay for the ticket for a child that young. Personally, I would buy her the ticket and enjoy myself without worrying if they are going to ask her how old she is.... but that's just me.

Will the CM's hassle you about her .. most likely not.. you might get the "hi and how old are you" but not to trap you into anything, more because the CM's really like to interact with the younger guests....

It's totally a moral judgement on your part if you buy the ticket or not.

You can also look at the daily rates, and just buy her those for the days she is three. I know I'm planning to buy an annual pass before my daughter turns 10. It is OK to use it for a year- even if she turns 10 within the year (I checked). So if you bought a 5 day pass when your daughter was 9 and then she turned 10 during the trip, I think that would be OK too. However, you are in a bind because there isn't a "less than three" pass you can buy. It might be worth calling Disney and asking if they have a specific policy for "grace time" around a 3 yr old birthday in the middle of the trip. Personally, I agree with MammaSilva. I wouldn't want to ask my child to lie about her age, or contradict her incorrectly if she was asked. But ask Disney- it has to have happened to others- it's worth a shot.

Oh another thought happened thru my wittle brain on this.. you mention she's turning 3 on the trip, don't forget to stop in at City Hall, get her a Happy Birthday sticker and her phone call from Goofy wishing her a Happy Birthday!

It sometimes helps me to find a tangible bennefit for 'doing the right thing' (what ever you choose that to be of course).

We took our 3 yo to DL last Dec for his birthday (we also had a 4 mo in tow). We bought him the pass (birthday was on the first day there). The good thing was that he was 40" tall, and three, so he could ride the 'big kid' rides. We used his ticket to get fastpasses. That, along with a zelous use of baby swaps, meant that he got tons of rides on his favorites. So if nothing else, you get more fastpasses by paying for admission. And if you are like a lot of us that can only make the trip once a year, I am willing to pay more for more/better/easier time at the parks.

Side note - we saw a father convincing a CM (and the CM's Lead) that his kid was less than 3 at the CA entrance. About 20' after they got in, they both 'high fived' each other and ran off all giddy. Sometimes the bigger question is "what are we teaching our children?"

mckat, is there special pricing for kids APs? Our oldest turns 3 in October and we're anticipating a Nov/Dec trip to DL and probably one more before Easter, when our APs expire.

Also, we might be planning a DL trip in Sept yet -- he'd still be 2. Should I bring along a birth certificate on him just in case? He's kind of big for his age. Plus, all 3 of our kids are very close in age (22 months and 12 months apart) and I wonder if the CMs will believe us.

Originally posted by DrivingtoDisneyAZ
mckat, is there special pricing for kids APs? Our oldest turns 3 in October and we're anticipating a Nov/Dec trip to DL and probably one more before Easter, when our APs expire.

No, APs for kids cost the same as adult APs. I'll spare you my soapbox rant about that issue.

Also, we might be planning a DL trip in Sept yet -- he'd still be 2. Should I bring along a birth certificate on him just in case? He's kind of big for his age. Plus, all 3 of our kids are very close in age (22 months and 12 months apart) and I wonder if the CMs will believe us.

You don't need a birth certificate. Like MammaSilva said, they won't demand to see it. Some friends of mine took my son to DCA the day BEFORE he turned three (this was before all AP's included DCA.) Now, we're APs so he had been to DLR many times leading up to that visit- and he was big for his age.

We had never been asked how old he was until the day before his birthday. Our friends just honestly replied, "He's 2. His birthday is tomorrow that's why we're here today." The CMs let Matthew right in.

Adrienne

Just to clarify:

I think we're talking about two different coasts right now...

mckat is talking about WDW- They do have separate AP pricing for children.

atalmi is talking about DLR- They do not have separate AP pricing for children.

Adrienne

When I read the opening question, it wasn't specific for DL or WDW (although the word "park" versus "parks" could give a clue). I'd like to make a plea in this parenting forum that we be open to WDW visiting parents. I have seen in the past had many a WDW question answered for DL. I know the vast majority of park specific questions on this forum are for DL, so it is usually a safe assumption. But I think it would be nice to be alittle more broad and clear in our answers. I certainly should have specified that my answer refered to WDW! Even if the question was for DL, it is nice to give a WDW perspective as many of us read threads because we have similar issues.

PS My point about the AP is also true for 5 day passes at WDW. So if a child turned 10 during the trip, at WDW ;), disney would have us buy a pass for a 9 yr old. That is their official policy (no cheating involved). So I was wondering if they might have a policy about 2 to 3 yr old changes at the park(s) during a stay. Probably not :( , but maybe worth a try.

Originally posted by mckat
When I read the opening question, it wasn't specific for DL or WDW (although the word "park" versus "parks" could give a clue). I'd like to make a plea in this parenting forum that we be open to WDW visiting parents. I have seen in the past had many a WDW question answered for DL. I know the vast majority of park specific questions on this forum are for DL, so it is usually a safe assumption. But I think it would be nice to be alittle more broad and clear in our answers. I certainly should have specified that my answer refered to WDW! Even if the question was for DL, it is nice to give a WDW perspective as many of us read threads because we have similar issues.

The reason we call it "Parenting in the Parks" is because we are open to discussion of parenting at all Disney Parks. When we started MousePlanet, DCA wasn't even built ;)

I think we as both members and especially moderators just need to be a little clearer in our posts and responses, like you pointed out. Margaret and I will try to make sure threads are clearer, but as you also pointed out, we don't want anyone to feel limited in answering questions from both perspectives. Many topics can be answered from our experiences, regardless of which coast we individually frequent more often.

Adrienne

We took our sons to DLR last week. My oldest just turned 3 and he had his own ticket. I too saw many parents trying to pass off children who were obviously older as "under 3". I say get the ticket and then you will not have to be concerned.