What age would be better regarding a toddler?

[Annyeb]

We're starting to plan our first family WDW trip (we went to DL almost 7 years ago with a 5, 3 and 5 month old). Trying to decide on next fall, next spring or fall '14. If we went this fall, kids would be 12.5, 10.5, 7, turning 5 and a new 1yo. Would a new 1yo be a trickier age than say, a 19-20 month old? That's how old she'd be in the spring. If we waited until the next fall, she'd be 2. I don't think this will be our one and only WDW trip. I'd love to go again when dd is around 6 (we don't plan on having anymore) and before our oldest graduates high school. So from that, going earlier seems to be better and maybe I shouldn't worry about a young toddler? I guess I just wonder if one age is trickier than another?

[megs4413]

If it were me, I'd go when she's younger if you're planning to go back again in a few years. I think a 1 year old would be easier to deal with than a 2 year old, but that's just based on my memories of age 1 vs. age 2! LOL

[BayGirl2]

I took DD to DL at 12 mos and to WDW at 20 mos. I think 12 mos was marginally easier from a "compliance" perspective, although at that age she was still on bottles/formula instead of milk so we had to deal with that (we were only BFing at night so that part was easy). She also seemed to get really hot and sweaty and not deal with the heat as well (SoCal in Sept). At 20 months she had more opinions but was still young enough to follow along and do what we wanted. She ate/drank off the kids menus and regular snacks so we just needed to bring a sippy cup along. She seemed to deal better with the heat (FL in May) even though it was the same temp and more humid, and we had the same stroller/clothing both trips. She also seemed to enjoy things a bit more and would point at certain rides that she could see and ask to go on them (my DD is very verbal). We didn't have to worry about her being scared but there were a couple times in 3D movies where she go overwhelmed. We turned her away from the screen/towards us and she was fine.

I wouldn't really suggest one age above the other, I'd go with whatever works best in other ways like crowds, weather, school schedules. My 3-4 yo was more work than the baby in both cases.

[Annyeb]

Good things to think about. I've only been to WDW and DL in the fall (September and October) and it was nice, so that's what I wanted to do again making dd either a new 1yo or new 2yo. We're running out of time to do it this coming fall. We're limited on hotels due to being a large family. Starting to think spring might not be so bad? Mid-late April? If we get past prime "spring break" time, might not be bad. DD would be about 20 months then. She might enjoy it more. Do they ever run those deals around that time like discounts or free meal plans?