Age to take grandson

[4disneynuts]

:mickey::mickey::mickey:We have a 3 year old grandson and we are not sure at what age we should take him to the World for the firs time. Does anyone have an opinon on this. He is a very good little boy and well behaved for us. We were thinking 5 or 6 but now I am thinking maybe next year when he is 4. We are sooooo anxious to take him. Our DD are 18 and 15 and we took them the first time when they were preteen and never really got to enjoy the World through a small child's eyes.:mickey::mickey::mickey:

[Scar]

I think a person should be at least 38 years old before they take their grandkids to Disney World.


In other words.....GO!

[Pirate Granny]

Go go go...our granddaughter was 9 months, then 18 months, then 30 months and 4-1/2 yrs...and her sisters first trip was at 18 months....
Disney is so special at any age

[AgentC]

I took my son to Disney for the first time at 8 months. My daughter at around 10 months. They are now 5 and 3. We take them several times a year. I have never regretted taking them so young. I have lots of memories to treasure and they love going. :mickey:

My only advice is to remember that going with a young child is different than an older child or adult. You have to go at his pace and be aware that some rides that seem very simple to us may be scary to a younger child.

In our case that means I spend lots of time riding Small World at MK and playing the Piggy Bank game at Epcot. We also spend lots of time at parades and character meets. And that's okay. :D

So go! :thumbsup: I don't think you will regret it.

[Tink#64]

LOL I started planning our first trip to WDW when my 2nd DS was born! I knew that I wanted to wait until he was potty trained & past naps. ( I wanted a vacation for us - not boot camp!) That was a personal decision. Our first trip for all of us, Myself & DH, DS 6 & DS 4 was amazing! We have the most precious pictures & the looks on DS's faces looking at the character's - Priceless!

Now DS's are 13 & 15 & would still rather go to WDW than anyplace else for vacation! We had planned a beach trip this year, but both said they wished we were going to WDW so guess what? We'll be there in one month! Woo Hoo!

One funny note about that fist trip - I hadn't planned on going to Epcot, thinking it was too old for them, that DS's wouldn't enjoy, the 6 yr old & DH informed me otherwise! It rained our first park day of that first trip, I had read that to save a rainy day - go to Epcot as so much is inside - so we did. Epcot is the favored park of all of us to this day! Those little ones are so impressionable! GO GO GO - whenever you can - whenever it works for you! :thumbsup:

[TiggerDeb]

Our oldest grandson was 2 when he went the first time, he loved it and went back when he was 3-4-6 yrs of age. His little brother went when he was 5months and 2. We are taking them again this year and now they are 8 and 4.
We have instilled in them the Disney life and they are hooked.:mickey:

[faline]

It depends. Is the only time you will bring this child to Disney or will there be additional trips in the future? If the only time, I'd probably wait until the child were 5 or 6. If there are many trips in the future, any time is a good time - just be prepared to tailor the trip to the needs of the child. We went two years ago with my brother's family and their then 2 year old. He did not get a whole lot of park time during that trip though it was a good trip and he enjoyed himself. (A DVD featuring Disney characters in the park became his favorite after he returned home.)

[Dream'nDisney]

Our children were 4 years old and 17 months when we first went, and it was the most wonderful trip. Our children LOVED the characters, especially our 17 month old. My poor DH video taped 90% of our trip, but I am ever so glad. My kids still enjoy watching that tape. :mickey: I say take him now while he believes in the characters. I think that since my kids have gone since they were little, they still have fun with the characters. I believe if we had waited until they were older, they wouldn't have so much fun with the characters. Happy planning. :)

[NJGIRL]

My son was 18 months old when we took him for the first time. He loved it!

[delaford321]

I say go...he's going to enjoy it! The only down fall is that he might not remember outside for the stories you tell and the pics you take. But that's why you take him again in a few years!

[KylesMom]

We were thinking 5 or 6 but now I am thinking maybe next year when he is 4. We are sooooo anxious to take him. Our DD are 18 and 15 and we took them the first time when they were preteen and never really got to enjoy the World through a small child's eyes.:mickey::mickey::mickey: I think you just answered your own question. Go and make memories with your DGS!

P.S. We took DS for the first time at 27 months & never regreted it! :mickey:

[4disneynuts]

Thanks everyone. My husband and I discussed it tonight and we are going to take him next March for his 4th Birthday. YIPEEEE! We will take him again when he is older so he has the memories but for now they will be our special memories with him.:mickey:

[iloveokw]

Take him before he starts school so you don't have to either work around the school schedule or have him miss school. He will enjoy it no matter when you take him.

[DonLefNY]

Soon as he's potty trained is our rule.

[DisneyFr33k]

I agree with the previous posters. We took our children for their first trip with they were 4 and 6 - only because that is when we could afford it. Since then, we've gone 5 more times, each time magical!

I agree:

Any age is magical for children. There is no "too young".
Potty training and naps are a concern. You have to factor this into your day, returning to the room for naps or expect melt downs from fatigue.
School - it does interfere and create stress if missed, so going during a low attendance time of year for his first visit would be my vote.

Have fun! I've felt bummed that my tweens are past the young innocence of their fist visit. But now I can look forward to seeing that again with my grandchildren! :mickey:

[CuteAsMinnie]

When's the next flight!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy! It's a magical time to see the World thru a child's eyes for the first time!!

:cloud9:

[Tink#64]

I agree with the previous posters. We took our children for their first trip with they were 4 and 6 - only because that is when we could afford it. Since then, we've gone 5 more times, each time magical!



This is us to a T! lol

And another thing I just have to say that drives me nuts, when people talk about the kids ages and whether or not the kids are old enough to remember. Oh my gosh, I don't everything, who does? That's why we take a gazillion pictures and make scrapboooks! Who's to say how much of any event we remember just on recall, or how much we remember because of the picures we've taken or someone reminds us of something! ?

You know yourself and your grandson and YOU are the best judge of when it's right for you! You can introduce him to Disney characters and attractions via books and YouTube & judge his reactions! It sounds like you're WDW experienced and you'll know when you're all ready for his oh so special first trip! :balloon:

[steamboat willy]

We'll all be in our "Fives", 55,53 AND 5. :balloon:
His FIRST of many Trips to DISNEY!

117 Days and counting! :cool::mickey::cool:

[MinnieMommie]

Thanks everyone. My husband and I discussed it tonight and we are going to take him next March for his 4th Birthday. YIPEEEE! We will take him again when he is older so he has the memories but for now they will be our special memories with him.:mickey:

We have taken our kids with us at age 4 and both younger and older than 4 (they are now grown and still coming with us). It"s all good! We have always had a ball! I can't think of a better birthday present. This will be the beginning of many magical memories!
:mickey:

[DisneyFr33k]

Thanks everyone. My husband and I discussed it tonight and we are going to take him next March for his 4th Birthday. YIPEEEE! We will take him again when he is older so he has the memories but for now they will be our special memories with him.:mickey:

My son remembers many things from his first trip when he was 4, so you never know!

So now that you have a date in mind, you can begin preparing - like a previous poster said - show him youtube of the characters, rides etc.

I envy you! You get to enjoy the pre-trip anticipation and planning.

Now I have the itch to go.....again.

[MuchLovedMama]

I personally suggest the age of 5 to people that ask. My husband and I are big on rides and at the age of 5 kids are typically the right height to be able to ride everything except for Rock N Roller Coaster and Primeval Whirl. We took our kids for the first time when they were 5 1/2 and 7. And this was the case with my 5 year old. Also he remembered tons of stuff from that vacation. If rides aren't at the top of your list then any age would great. My friend took her 3 year old and there was a list of about 20 things they couldn't do cause she was too short. That wouldn't be fun for me personally. I think its just what your family wants to do.

[SugarMagnolia]

My husband and I (just the two of us) took our 10 month old grandson to Disney two weeks ago (and we drove from Maryland). Everyone we knew said we would regret taking him so young. We didn't! We had an awesome time and he really enjoyed it.

[ledudes]

2 of my kids went for the first time when they were 1 and my 3rd went when she was 2 months old. They all love it all the time. If you plan to only take them once I would wait until they are older but if you will bring them back often, start young and keep taking them. There are different aspecs that they will enjoy at each age.