What age does Disney World start to lose it's magic for little girls?

[Pinky]

My DD is almost 6 and DH absolutely refuses to do a WDW trip yet. I have to agree with him in that she would be an overwhelmed mess after a day at the parks and I am ok with waiting a little bit to take her. I'm just curious though when that "magic" starts to fade for little girls. Right now she would wholeheartedly believe that the princesses are real, but I know that won't last forever. I want us to go when it will still be extra special. I know she'd always love the trip, but I think there is a window that is probably best.

[nfceagles]

My kids have been several times and LOVE every trip, but they have never believed the characters were real. My DD is almost 8 and I think that would still make for a perfect first trip.

[abh5e8]

my BFF with an only took her daughter when she was 8. it was a wonderful, magical awesome vacation. she loved the freedom of a slightly older child. you have time. :)

[Pinky]

My kids have been several times and LOVE every trip, but they have never believed the characters were real. My DD is almost 8 and I think that would still make for a perfect first trip.
I'm always so surprised when my DD thinks they're real because we are really big on giving her facts about things and not talking "down" to her because she's a kid... if that makes any sense. She doesn't think Mickey/Donald are real, but she's head over heels for the princesses and thinks they are real. Well, at least I think she does. We saw Elsa at a local event and when she got her turn to talk to her she said stuff to her that indicated she thought she was a real princess. ;-) She said something like "I love your songs so much"!

[Pinky]

my BFF with an only took her daughter when she was 8. it was a wonderful, magical awesome vacation. she loved the freedom of a slightly older child. you have time. :)

Thank you! We will probably only go once and I do think we'd have a better trip with an older child... she's not really a good traveler yet. :)

[DualvansMommy]

If it's going to be your only trip to Disney ever, I think around 8 years old is a great age. Not too young nor too old, and can easily do nighttime activities in the parks too.

I knew of a family with 3 boys who recently went to Disney first time ever last summer. Their boys were 10 and 8 years old, mom told me she thought it was the best ages for them and needs into consideration.


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[georgiegirl]

We've been several times. Most recently last November. DD was 9.5 and loved it (other kids, both boys, were 6 and 2). It was fun taking DD when she was 5 and loved princesses. But she still loved Disney even though she's way over the princess thing. I think if you are only taking one trip, you should wait until she's over 40", so she can ride all the rides. DS1 was 6 and loved Disney so much. (We hadn't been since he was 3 and too small to ride the good rides.).

If you want until she's 8-10, she might be into Harry Potter and you can go to Universal as well. We went for the first time and my older two loved it so much! Very magical for them.


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[rlu]

40+ and hasn't lost it's magic yet. Never thought the characters were real. DS was scared of the characters at DL when he was 19 months. He's been twice since and loved it every time. I do think between 8 and 10 is a great age, can do most things, stay up late, no overtired melt-down.

DS has not been to WDW yet. DH and I have twice pre-kid but can't afford it now.

[ang79]

We went this past fall for the first time, our princess obsessed girls were 9 and almost 7. They loved it and my 7 yr. old still says every other day that she wishes we were still in Disney :) We went with good friends who had a boy, age 8, and a girl, age 6. Everyone had a great time. My girls were hard core into getting pictures and autographs of every. single. princess. And they had so much fun once we were back putting the pictures into their memory books with the autographs. I don't think they actually thought the characters were real (at least not the 9 yr. old), but they were still very much in awe of everything and meeting all the characters. So much so that for the first few days they couldn't even talk to the characters, they just smiled like crazy when we got autographs. By the end of the week they were able to actually engage in some conversations with the characters which was cute to watch. So you have a few years yet. And if you do what we did (hit rope drop in the morning and stay as long as everyone is cheerful), the days are long and you are exhausted by the end, so I think a bit older is better. Our goal was to do our big trip before DD1 turned 10, as friends told us ticket and meal prices jump to adult pricing once they are 10.

[SummerBaby]

We were there last year with our girls, who were 10 and 7 at the time. It was just as magical as the first time we were there, when they were 5 and 8. My older DD, even though she was far past the "wear a princess dress all day every day" stage, was totally star struck when we met Anna and Elsa. She loved it as much as my 7 year old. If your DD doesn't travel well, I would wait a bit. I think 8 is a great age.

[Dream]

We've been to Disney 3 times since ODD was 3, at 3 she believed princesses was real but the next 2 trips she knew its make believe. But we still love Disney. Even as an adult Disney hasn't worn off me yet, I still find it magical:)

[123LuckyMom]

I'm turning 45 on our trip that starts this Saturday, and it hasn't lost its magic for me yet! I know what you mean about the characters being "real," but I wouldn't worry about that. I don't think my 7 year old DS thinks any of the characters is real, but that doesn't make it any less special for him. In fact he's much more enthused about seeing characters this time around than he was at age 4.5 on our last trip. I don't know if your DD likes thrill rides, but the uppermost height limit at any Disney ride is 48". At age 8, your DD will probably be tall enough to go on any ride. At 7, DS is just shy at 47.25" in stocking feet, but I'm praying that with shoes he'll make it. Last time his hair just had to brush the sign and they cleared him.

[lalasmama]

DD had her first trip to Disneyland for her 8th birthday. While she knew the truth about the characters, she still LOVED getting to be a "little kid" and pretend it was all 100% real. It was still completely magical for her. We've chosen 7yo for taking each of the grandkids--tall enough to ride everything, daring enough to ride everything, old enough to (hopefully) remember most of it, and still young enough to "be a kid" when we are there.

Now that DD is 12, she's still finds it amazing, but now it's amazing for different reasons--she's all about the rides. As adults, DH and I still find it magical :)

[Pinky]

Thanks everybody!