Originally Posted By jacobsmeyer I have a week off from work and was thinking of taking my son, who is 2 3/4. The bonus, of course, is that he gets in free. But does getting in free also mean that he can't ride any of the rides? I went all thru the Disney site and couldn't find any info on this other than heigh requirements for certain rides.
Originally Posted By mickeynewe Why wait? My daughter first went when she was 6 months old. Sure, we were limited on the "big" rides, but my hubby and I would just baby switch. Overall, the very first trip we spent just with her! She loved the rides and there will be plenty of things for your son to ride!! Go, enjoy, and have some fun! Start making those Disney memories.
Originally Posted By junglejoy Besides, she's free until she's three. Even at Goofy's Kitchen and Fantasmic Balcony!
Originally Posted By junglejoy Oh, I can now see that you're aware of the free part. Sorry. I'm very sleep deprived right now. Go! There are so many atttractions and rides she can go on. And it is so magical and everything is real to one so young. My three and half year old has been to DL six times or more. Out of the blue today she said, "Are they going to put Stanley's (from Playhouse Disney) on Storybook Land?" She thinks about it a lot, all with happy memories (except the going down part in POC!).
Originally Posted By hlbtimes2 Here is the link to the disney height requirement guide. <a href="http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/help/gsDetail?name=HeightRequirementsGSDetailPage" target="_blank">http://disneyland.disney.go.co m/disneyland/en_US/help/gsDetail?name=HeightRequirementsGSDetailPage</a> I doubt there will be enough growth in the next 3 months to make a difference on most rides- unless they are almost to the required height for a ride. I would go now! I took both of my kids before they were even 2 and they loved it.
Originally Posted By pirategirlscully I also took my two youngest between 18 months and 2 years old and they had a ton of fun. So far age 4 is my favorite take your kid to Disneyland age. My 6 year old was scared to go on everything (until after, then he loved it) but the four year old was ready and willing to try anything and it was so cute seeing him put his little hands up in the air and screaming going down the first drop of Pirates! )
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka We first took our daughter when she was about 20 months. She loved it!
Originally Posted By Clotho I have to say that I don't understand the desire to take kids younger than 4 or so to Disneyland. I am not bashing this decision, but honestly don't understand it. When hubby and I look around at the families with babes in arms (only babes in arms), struggling through thr crowds with strollers, having to swap the child back and forth in order to ride almost any ride, dealing with crying and napping and diaper changing...what kind of vacation is that? there are plenty of mentally stimulating activities you can do with your babies that will bring them just as much joy. But frankly, with all the work, and the fact that babies that young will not remember any of it, why not make a choice of a venue and activity that is more appropriate for a small baby? In my family, when we were 4 we got to start taking trips to Disneyland with Gma and Gpa. It was a rite of passage, and I remember a lot from even my earliest years there. Before then, I feel I would have been as much a burden as anything, with all the acoutrements and accomodations that would have had to have been made to bring me along. Aside from liking to see your baby laugh and smile, which we know can be done any number of other ways, can mommies and/or daddies explain the reasoning/appeal of bringing such tiny humans to Disneyland? Again, I mean no offense, I would just really like to hear another perspective on this to help me understand.
Originally Posted By dsny1mom "When hubby and I look around at the families with babes in arms (only babes in arms), struggling through thr crowds with strollers, having to swap the child back and forth in order to ride almost any ride, dealing with crying and napping and diaper changing...what kind of vacation is that?" Having a baby shouldn't stop a couple from enjoying DL. Once that baby is born their life is altered and dealing with diaper changes, crying, etc., becomes a part of their life, regardless of where you are. Personaly once I had children all my vacations were family vacation. I really never felt a vacation was a real vacation unless my entire immeadiate family was present. "Aside from liking to see your baby laugh and smile, which we know can be done any number of other ways, can mommies and/or daddies explain the reasoning/appeal of bringing such tiny humans to Disneyland?" Besides the desire to vacation with ones entire family, the other reason that comes to mind is many first time parents don't want anyone caring for their infant other than themsleves. Not to mention no one knows if that couple lives locally and taking their baby with them to DL is no different than taking them to the grocery store, or if they had to travel many hours by air to visit the area and they just want a family vacation. Either way it's personal choice and I see nothing wrong with it. I have a lot more respect for parents that suck it up and take their babies along than for parents that need a vacation from their babies or need to find a sitter just to go to the grocery store. I mean really your children are only babies for such a short time. When my children were babies I would never have just up and went away on a vacation without them, especially to a destination that is as baby friendly as DL. I'm sure other do though. IMHO, strollers, babies, etc. are an expected part of going to a place like DL. If people want to go to a venue where babies aren't present they ought to look into Vegas. It never ceases to amaze me how some people, not you clotho, go to family friendly places and then get their panties in a bunch that there are tons of strolloers, babies etc. dsny1mom
Originally Posted By tapdancemom We took our grandson at 2 1/2 and he had a great time, almost as much fun for him as for us enjoying the experience with him. We have video of it of course. He's 4 1/2 now and we want to take him back next summer. The free part of being under three was a perk. He actually did alot of rides. We did everything in Fantasyland. We all rode Pirates and he even went on Matterhorn, I personally wouldn't have put him on that one, but our daughter thought otherwise. He still talks about the characters and having lunch with Goofy. It was a blast for us and for him. Jacobsmeyer, go for it. Check out the height requirement link and have a great time with your boy.
Originally Posted By duanelc jaconsmeyer: looks like once again, the debate about bringing todllers into the park takes over a string. Let's try to get back on track with your original topic. How many rides your child can go on will depend in part on his height. However, many rides don't have a height requirement... But also important is his disposition. We took our 3 year old, and found his challenges to be much different than what we expected. The 2 big problems for him was dark places and loud noises (oddly enough, not speed and heights, as his favorite ride was mulholland madness). We were able to remedy the problem with some earplugs and by giving him his own personal flashlight ("glowy" things help too). After that he had a blast. We found it best to go for it, but observe what parts of the park make your kid uncomfortable, then make adjustments. There is plenty of fun stuff no matter what he/she likes.
Originally Posted By jacobsmeyer Well, y'all have convinced me. My biggest concern was that children under three wouldn't have an admission ticket and wouldn't be allowed on any of the rides, but that doesn't seem to be the case. And he loves merry go rounds, trains, he even rode an elephant at the fair, so I think he'll handle stuff like Peter Pan or Small World just fine.
Originally Posted By mickeynewe We live in Nor Cal so for us going to Disneyland is about a 7 hour drive. Your son will be able to ride MANY of the rides without worry. I think you will enjoy the time spent with him. Plus, the interaction with the characters is adorable. I have two pictures that I adore. One is of my little one holding onto Mickey as a toddler and "kissing" his nose. The other is of her late at night, sound asleep in her stroller, and Mickey leaning down tucking her in. She may not "remember" these moments, but that doesn't keep her from happily going through the 12+ Disney albums we have and grinning from ear to ear at the pics. The other bonus: She was NEVER afraid of ANY of the characters, including the Hunchback of Notre Dame that scared a lot of little kids. As I said previously, my daughter was 6 months the first time we took her, 9 months the 2nd time because we had so much fun, and the 3rd time was for her 1st birthday. We continued to go 2-3 times each year as our budget would allow because it was so much fun. Kids grow up so fast. Before you know it, they are in school. Trying to get away for vacations then is much more difficult, at least for us. Take every precious moment you can. My husband and I have never been on vacation alone. Its just not who we are. We are definitely "family" people. Now, I have other members of my family that will happily dump their kids off to go off somewhere by themselves. The way my hubby and I look at it, we have the rest of our lives to do that, so for now, we want to build and make as many memories as we can. And some day, when we are older, we'll have plenty of time together...but even then....they'll always be an open invitation for her to join us on any vacation we might take.
Originally Posted By Clotho "looks like once again, the debate about bringing todllers into the park takes over a string" Wow, that was unfairly dismissive. I admit I haven't been around the boards much (on and off for a little over a year), but I had never seen this topic come up in the threads I posted in or read. I felt it was a fair and legitimate question, which tacked on to the question at hand, and would actually go hand-in-hand with the original poster's question. It is amazingly rude to electronically turn your back on me and dismiss me as an annoyance when I asked a very tactful, respectful question in this thread. If you prefer I start another thread on it, you could say so quite politely, suggesting I ask that question for another thread. But to "pretend I am not in the room" is terribly rude.
Originally Posted By mickeynewe >>>> Well, y'all have convinced me. My biggest concern was that children under three wouldn't have an admission ticket and wouldn't be allowed on any of the rides, but that doesn't seem to be the case. And he loves merry go rounds, trains, he even rode an elephant at the fair, so I think he'll handle stuff like Peter Pan or Small World just fine. <<< Not to worry! Once inside those gates...you never show your ticket again! He will be able to ride anything that doesn't have a height requirement. Also, if you and your wife would like to ride the "bigger" rides, be sure to take advantage of baby swapping! It saves a lot of time and then you both can enjoy the larger rides. Definitely make sure you take him in to see Mickey and Minnie over at Toon Town. Have a great trip!
Originally Posted By BoyStory I wont pretend you're "not in the room", Clotho. As a mother of 5 (ages 8 months to 11 yrs) I have much experience in taking children under age 4 to Disneyland. If it was such a negative experience for ANY of our family members (as you depict) I obviously wouldn't repeat the "under 4 yrs" vacation experience- but it's quite the contrary. I can't help but shudder a little at your whole synopsis of taking a younger child to Disneyland b/c you describe the "babes in arms" as if they are "excess baggage" on a Disneyland vacation or impeding our level of enjoyment there. Disneyland was DESIGNED by Walt with the littlest patrons in mind. It is no struggle to take a baby/toddler to Disneyland for parents who have a tad bit of patience and understand that having a "magical" experience at Disneyland is most certainly not restrictive to age. I think the real "problem" with taking your toddlers anywhere that could be concepted lies with others who don't want share their precious space with small children. Not my problem. My children are well behaved and Disneyland is their favorite vacation spot. I also wouldn't deprive my older kids of Disneyland just b/c they have younger siblings that can't ride on all the rides. I agree with the pp that said that many parents don't want to leave their babies in the care of other people. I happen to be one of those parents.
Originally Posted By mickeynewe LOL...this may be a little off-topic, my apologies in advance...but my boss often asks me, "Don't you EVER get tired of Disneyland? Its the only place you go!" Well, not entirely true, we also enjoy camping in Yosemite...but the point is....I used to use the excuse that we wanted to take our daughter to DL....but lets face it.....the "big kids" want to have just as much fun! I finally realized I wasn't fooling anyone!! The memories we are creating with our daughter are priceless. In our family, we would rather snuggle down on the couch and watch movies every Saturday evening as a family instead of going out to dinner/movies and put our "Entertainment" budget towards an extra vacation trip to DL.
Originally Posted By MickeyMommy And as mickeynewe said, you will really treasure those pictures! Just remember to take things slow with a young one, take lots of breaks, and he will have the time of his life. And you will those wonderful memories, even if it is a little foggy for him.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Well we just got back from a trip to Disneyland Paris that entailed 9 hours in the car. My DW and I took our son aged 2.5 (he was age 3 months on his very 1st trip) and our daughter, aged 4 months, and we had a blast. We rode most things with the kids, except the coasters, and the character interactions were priceless. The likelyhood is that your kid will not grow much by the time they are three, so why pay extra. GO NOW!!!! Clotho - let me explain a little something. My wife and I are Disney addicts, it's not a hobby, it's a way of life (and has been for 30 years). We also dearly love our children. They changes, feeds, sleepless nights are all a part of the territory, whether we are on vacation or not. Do we go without a vacation because our kids are small? NO WAY. Do we go on vacation without them? ABSOLUTELY NOT - I don't see enough of them as it is. So we go to the resorts with them. For me, the attractions at a Disney park have become secondary. IT is about the environments, the restaurants, the shopping, the live entertainment and the character interaction. May sound crazy, but as I have matured, I enjoy being in a Disney park, full stop. So while I enjoy riding Space Mountain and other big thrills, I always have preferred the family friendly offerings of Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Country Bears, and Small World. I used to be all about the rides until about the age of 24, then my enjoyment of the place was greatly enriched by enjoying the experience. And having kids has made me enjoy it more.
