By Dopey Diva
Now before you read this and get upset over what I say, please remember this is my personal opinion from taking my child to Disney World. What does or does not work for my son may not apply to your child/ children and you may or may not agree with what I have to say. With that being said I will give you a little information on the trips I have taken my son on and how I decided what I FEEL is the perfect age for a child’s first trip to Disney World.
The very first time my son came to Disney World was when he was 17 months old. Since he was that young, it required much more in the packing process. Yes, he could walk, but we definitely had to bring the big stroller. He was in diapers and still drinking from a bottle so we had to pack all of that extra stuff. I did, however, decide to mail a box to my resort with diapers, wipes, extra bottles, and some snacks so as not to take up too much room in the suitcase. Once at the parks he was fine, but he did not like waiting in lines, he wanted to be held a lot, and he was hard to keep entertained. He was able to ride most rides in the Magic Kingdom but was almost always on a lap. At the other parks, there was not much he was able to ride so our family did a lot of rider swaps. His naps were shorter than at home, even when we took him back to the resort, which caused him to be extra cranky. He did love the splash pads at the pool and we let him play in the one at EPCOT so that helped keep him happy, which helped keep us happy. It was a good trip, but not the easiest, and I swore I would wait until he was older to bring him back. Of course that didn’t happen and we ended up coming back a year later!
So here we are at 2 years old. We still had the diapers and wipes to deal with and sippy cups instead of bottles and the big stroller. Once again, another box shipped to our resort to save space in the suitcases. This trip was better than the last. He absolutely loved meeting characters as long as they weren’t face characters (Princesses, Mary Poppins, etc.) but he still did not enjoy waiting in lines. I tried to keep him occupied with little toys or books during the wait but we still had a few meltdowns, which in my child can result in crying until he throws up and is not a good situation at Disney World. He did have his first official haircut on this trip which was a very memorable experience. In fact we now take him to the Harmony Barber Shop on every visit for a haircut. He was able to ride more rides but not quite ready to sit through any shows. We did try the Nemo show at the Animal Kingdom but he was bored with it about 5 minutes into it. He was able to take naps in the stroller so we didn’t have to go back to our room in the middle of the day. If he did fall asleep, I would try to find a quiet place in a park to let him get a good rest. All in all it was a better trip but still a little stressful on the family.
Fast forward to him being 3 years old and we are getting better! We still needed the big stroller, but no diapers and no bottles (We still brought a couple of sippy cups but they were easy to pack into a suitcase). The only thing he drank was milk or juice (mixed with water) so for that trip I decided to have some groceries delivered to our room. I ordered some milk, juice, cereal, and granola bars so we would have breakfast foods to eat in the room before heading to the parks. At this age, my son no longer napped so we had no need to leave the parks or even worry about finding a quiet resting spot. He was better at waiting in lines but I still needed small toys or books to keep him occupied. He was still nervous about meeting face characters but did manage to visit with a few. He was tall enough for his first roller coaster, The Barnstormer, which he loved but not quite tall enough for the bigger roller coasters. He did sit through the Lion King Show at Animal Kingdom and seemed to enjoy it. We also chose to visit a water park on this trip, Typhoon Lagoon, and he was thrilled to play in the wave pool. There were no major and only a couple of minor melt downs which definitely made for a better trip.
And here it is….my thoughts on the perfect age to take a child on their first trip to Disney World and it is 4 YEARS OLD!!!! We just returned from what was our best trip EVER! My son was amazing! I still took the stroller as well as ordered some groceries for eating breakfasts at the resort and it worked out great. He ate while the rest of us got ready in the mornings. He had NO melt downs. He waited in line more patiently than I did sometimes, he didn’t complain and I even tried to bribe him to go other attractions but he told me “no, I want to wait”. He wanted to meet all characters, even the face characters…including all princesses. He LOVED when they kissed him and left their lipstick on his cheek. He was tall enough for Big Thunder Mountain, Star Tours, Tower of Terror, and Soarin’ and he rode them all. He was old enough to do Jedi Training (which was the highlight of the trip for him). He was polite to others, he even told people in line wearing birthday buttons Happy Birthday. It was truly our best family experience at Disney World ever and I am looking forward to many more.
