Ok, so my wife and I had our first child this past December.

We've gone to WDW a few times when it was just the two of us and had the times of our life there. Disney has become so much a part of our marriage that its almost disturbing, if it wasn't so darn fun!

The last time we went, we sat at the Rose & Crown in Epcot and watched couples pushing very young children around in strollers who clearly seemed less than amused one evening.

At what age do you parents thing it's time to start taking kids where they will actually be able to appreciate it on some level? We originally said 5. Now we're leaning towards 4 (probably 3 & 1/2 now) mainly because we don't want to wait four and half years to go back!!!

I was at wdw with my son when he was 3.5 months. It was the best time to travel with him. Being in the parks were definately for my husband and I . If we wanted to ride rides, we would do the parent swap thing. I have also taken ds to Disneyland at 2.2 months and 2.11 months. He really enjoyed it both of those times and actually talked about it since. So we know at close to 3.5 years, this will be the best time yet. If you feel like you are up to it, i say go!

There have been many threads on this in the "Parenting in the Parks" section.

My 22-month-old daughter and I have gone to Disneyland seven times (plus once with my wife) since September (when she was 15-months) old. Disneyland is easier to get in and out of for quick day trips than WDW. My daughter has loved every trip! So have I.

both our daughters made their first trip to both Dland and WDW around their first birthday. they had a great time...
when youngest was 2.5 we told her we would be taking a trip to WDW soon (we meant 4 months), evert time we got into the car she would ask "we go dizzy world?"

but the best time, and for the best reason to go is right before the 3rd birthday, and why? because they're free, old enough to have a lot of fun, and remember the trip (I still remeber my first trip to dland 44 years ago when I was 3) and most of all they're FREE:D

we have a little different approach than others here...we waited till our youngest was 5. Our reasoning was/is this: FOR US - going to WDW dragging along a stoller, tired kid, carrying a little one for a week, crankyness, needing a nap wasn't the way we wanted to go!

We decided to wait till our youngest hit these criteria: doesn't need a nap. Can walk by himself. Old enough to participate in as many activites and/or rides as possible. That happened when he was 5 and his brother was 7. Now, I'm not saying that Eric wasn't carrying those boys out on his shoulders a time or two:p and once they fell asleep on the bus back to the room! We like to go in January, so crowds are minimal - thus eliminating a lot of line waiting. We also have a rather laid back approach to touring WDW. A go-with-the-flow attitude that seems to work well in Jan/early Feb. when crowds are low.

now - that doesn't mean we went without travel - we just choose other places to go. our youngest was just 3 when we went to Virgin Gorda for 10 days. When the boys were 1 & 3 we went to the Outer Banks for 2 weeks.

in the end, you know your kids and what your family wants outta a vacation.

I think that our reasonings for waiting to go to WDW varies from most on these boards - but it worked for us.

Good luck

We took our dd at 2.5yo because she was free. We did have to give her a Disney movie crash course before hand so whe knew who everyone was, but she loved and definitely was a great experince for us. Wife was 5 months pregnant so it was mostly about our dd. Then when we found out the rest of my family was goign this past year we took our dd at 3.5yo and 7mo ds. It was Hard with the 7mo, but once we got into a rhythm with him it worked out better. We alos had grandparents that were more than willing to sit and babysit a sleeping baby. This trip dd was more able to interact with teh character, especailly the princesses so it was totally different. She knew what she wanted and what she liked. She napped is her stroller and she was totally amazed at every thing

Mine start going to Disneyland at 6 weeks old but that's because it's a quick trip for us. A huge multi-day trip is a totally different thing.

We took the boys to WDW last April and they were ages 1, 4, 4, and 5. The one year old did have fun but my 4 and 5 year olds had a blast. I think 3 1/2 is perfect. They are old enough to really get it and have lots and lots of fun.

I agree with ericles. We waited until our son was a little over four before we went to Disneyland. We are going again just before he turns five. There are several advantages:

:) Since we are going twice in the same 12 month period we bought annual passes.
:) He is young enough to still LOVE the characters (but not be scared of them), and old enough to have seen most of the movies, so he knew most of the characters.
:) He is old enough to enjoy some of the bigger attractions (i.e. Big Thunder, Soarin', Splash Mountain, Star Tours, Matterhorn).
:) He is young enough to enjoy Playhouse Disney.
:) He is old enough to not need a nap, walk entirely on his own, and we don't have to worry about a stroller.
:) He is not yet in kindergarten, so we don't have to take him out of school to go at a time when it is not too crowded.
:) He is almost swimming, so time spent back at the hotel is more enjoyable.

If we lived closer to a Disney park, I might have taken him earlier, but when we go it is a 3 hour flight, and we wanted to make the most of it. I'm really glad we waited.

My son first went to WDW when he was thirteen months old. It helps that his grandparents live in Orlando and wanted to take him there. He went to Disneyland at around eght weeks because it was close and a day trip for us.

We just got back....it was our 10 month old sons first trip and dd 11 6th trip.We started with her at 5 and it was great.However 10 months may be too soon.Our son loved the parks,characters etc.had so much fun but we had ALOT of work with formula,diaper changes,him screaming in fancy resturaunts etc.stroller on and off bus...Alot to do...

We took our son for the first time when he was 6, right out of kindergarten. Our second trip, he was 8 and our daughter was 18 months. She did just fine. We brought a double stroller to switch seats & views for her, and a baby sling to help ease carrying. She slept in the stroller, and really seemed like she enjoyed the sights, and the characters (except Eeyore and Goofy, they freaked her out!). We used the rider-share option with not much wait at all. I know I had more fun that trip than the previous when I was pregnant with her!

We're going again in July, and she'll be 3 and a half. She's so excited already. All I have to do is say, "xxx days until we're at Disney!" and she'll shriek and hug me. I say go for it. The worst that will happen is that you have to take a mid-afternoon nap break. And that's not so bad, is it?

We took our son on his first WDW trip at 18 months. It seemed to be the best age--he could walk some but was still OK using a stroller (and napping in one) he was eating regular food, drinking milk, etc.

I do know plenty of people who draw the age line at toilet trained-- whatever age that is and I agree that it's easier to go without diapers.

We took our son on his first WDW trip at 18 months. It seemed to be the best age--he could walk some but was still OK using a stroller (and napping in one) he was eating regular food, drinking milk, etc.

I do know plenty of people who draw the age line at toilet trained-- whatever age that is and I agree that it's easier to go without diapers.

Oh, see I think diapers are a lot easier, actually----no running to find a bathroom, no getting out of line because someone just "has to go now, Mommy!" I just have always thought diapers were more convenient when traveling or shopping. At least the majority of the bathrooms I've seen at WDW are very clean, thankfully, since I have a potty-trained GIRL this time (boys are so much easier!)

One thing to consider is the "magic". My daughter has been going to Disneyland since she was 2 months. She probably experienced the "magic" the most when she was 2-3 years. By magic I mean the belief that it is all real. That was the real Cinderella, the real Mickey Mouse, Minnie really lives in that house. On our last trip she was almost 5 and she said, "Those are just people in costumes". I nearly started to cry. She still somewhat believes that the face characters are real because their lips move and they can talk, but she knows that there is alot of pretending. They may not be able to ride all the rides and you have to take lots of rest time while visiting but you can never get that real "magic" once they are older.