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  1. #1
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    Default Best ages for Disney?

    My kids now are 10, 8, 5, and 2. We want to do one and only one trip to Disney so trying to time it for the best ages but not when the youngest is too little to even remember ever going. (Also my my kids aren't really into Disney movies, the youngest is just starting to watch Mickey Mouse clubhouse, and we also have Six Flags passes and they don't really like most of the roller coasters so...the older two are into Harry Potter though.) Maybe in two years at 12, 10, 7, 4? What time of year? They have several teacher work days in Oct usually so maybe around then? Would love any thoughts/experiences.
    Angie

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  2. #2
    bisous is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by AngB View Post
    My kids now are 10, 8, 5, and 2. We want to do one and only one trip to Disney so trying to time it for the best ages but not when the youngest is too little to even remember ever going. (Also my my kids aren't really into Disney movies, the youngest is just starting to watch Mickey Mouse clubhouse, and we also have Six Flags passes and they don't really like most of the roller coasters so...the older two are into Harry Potter though.) Maybe in two years at 12, 10, 7, 4? What time of year? They have several teacher work days in Oct usually so maybe around then? Would love any thoughts/experiences.
    I have a similar span. If it were me, I'd wait until your oldest's last year in Middle School and go that October. Once you have a kid in high school it is hard to miss school so October could be tricky. On the other hand, that might give your youngest an opportunity to get a little bit older. None of my kids so far like roller coasters but find plenty to like at Disney--even the teens! (Though we're "Land" people rather than "World" people, lol.) I'm interested in what others suggest!

  3. #3
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    AnnieW625 is offline Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
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    I would do it in 5 years….your kids will be 15, 13, 10, and 7.

    I am 43 and have never been to Disney World but I think those would be great ages. It is still eventually on our short list of family trips at some point but we have just never pulled the trigger on it. I still remember bits and pieces of my second trip to Disneyland when I was 5.5 (my first trip I was 2) and definitely remember more of the trips when I was 8, 10, 12, 15, and 16 more but I think between 5 and 7 is a great time to go because strollers are limited in need, they will have the memories, and there is less likely a chance of a meltdowns and if you are spending all of that money on tickets you all want to be able to remember it and not just have the memories of having to take C and D back to the hotel for naps and the melt down meeting a character (although I have to say character meet and greets were never big with my kids and neither were parades).


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  4. #4
    lizzywednesday is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    We took DD when she was 7 and are hopeful we can return within the next year. We went in early November because there's a multi-day state teachers' conference every year that gives us time off; DH is considering the same time of year for a return trip if DD can get vaccinated. (She's under 12, so not eligible yet.)

    The trip was something of a surprise for her, so some of the rides we'd reserved didn't go over well (Space Mountain; Spaceship Earth) but she adored character meet & greets (I think her two favorites were Rapunzel and Tiana, but they also had Elena of Avalor ... and we waited in line at Epcot for Mulan and Elsa & Anna, all of which were at her request.)

    We have passes to our local Six Flags park and she enjoys roller coasters, but she didn't want to ride much at Disney. I think she was a little overwhelmed because she didn't have a voice in planning.

    We also did Universal that trip & she was a little spooked by the video experience on the Hogwarts Express, wouldn't ride Flight of the Hippogriff, but enjoyed the Dr Seuss carousel.
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  5. #5
    mmsmom is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    I’d go when the youngest is tall enough for all the rides, can walk so you don’t need a stroller and does not need an afternoon nap. For us this was 5 years old. I will say though that unfortunately this meant she wasn’t as in to the characters but it made for a much easier trip.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by mmsmom View Post
    I’d go when the youngest is tall enough for all the rides, can walk so you don’t need a stroller and does not need an afternoon nap. For us this was 5 years old. I will say though that unfortunately this meant she wasn’t as in to the characters but it made for a much easier trip.
    This. We went when DS2 was 6.5 and it was the perfect age, cuz he was tall enough for majority of rides including space mountain. We used the afternoon breaks for pool time and snacks instead of naps. When we went, the Star Wars just opened but we only managed to get one ride out of that whole section. DS2 said he wants to return for Star Wars only and we’ll go to universal then afterwards.


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  7. #7
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    wendibird22 is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    First time we went DDs were 6 and 8.5.
    Next time they were 9 and 11.5.
    We go later this month and they are 11.5 and 14.

    Soooo looking forward to enjoying WDW with them this time around at their ages. That said, of the two prior trips I’d say 9/11.5 was the best. While DD2 remembers going at age 6, didn’t need a stroller or naps, there were definitely things we couldn’t do or she didn’t want to do and we had to ride swap. At 9 she was willing to do the more intense rides.


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  8. #8
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    The first time we went, DS was 3.5 and he does not really remember it. He remembers a few snippets, like doing the Disney Jr. breakfast and meeting Jake the Neverland Pirate.
    The second time, he was 6.5 and that was great. He totally remembers the trip and had a great time. He was able to do most of the rides. I would go when your youngest is 5 or 6 and you can probably squeeze your oldest in before she's got a "too cool for this" teen attitude.

  9. #9
    klwa is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    I would say try to plan it for when your youngest is 5+ if you want her to remember it. October is a good time of year, especially crowdwise, but it can still be during hurricane season. It's not too common for hurricanes to disrupt park operations, but it can make for a wet & soggy trip if one is going through.

    Also, you probably already know this, but it doesn't hurt repeating since you mentioned HP, Harry Potter is in a different set of parks, which means more expense & time to do both the Disney parks and the Universal parks in a single trip. The Universal parks also have rides with higher height limits, so a 5 year old may not be able to do everything.
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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by klwa View Post
    I would say try to plan it for when your youngest is 5+ if you want her to remember it. October is a good time of year, especially crowdwise, but it can still be during hurricane season. It's not too common for hurricanes to disrupt park operations, but it can make for a wet & soggy trip if one is going through.

    Also, you probably already know this, but it doesn't hurt repeating since you mentioned HP, Harry Potter is in a different set of parks, which means more expense & time to do both the Disney parks and the Universal parks in a single trip. The Universal parks also have rides with higher height limits, so a 5 year old may not be able to do everything.
    Thanks (and everyone else!) We are thinking 2ish-3 years especially since even our older kids don't even really like roller coasters at this time, that's a lot to spend when they probably won't even do a lot of rides if we were to go now or anytime soon. (Guess DH can use this to get them to do rides with him at Six Flags in the meantime- he is irked every time we go with our season passes and they won't do any of the more adventurous rides with him.) I actually had NO idea until this post that HP was something different so that is really good to know too! (And then I told DH and he didn't believe me until he looked it up! I think we both knew that Disney had multiple parks so we assumed HP was at one of them and not an entirely different thing.) I guess I would have figured it out somewhere along the way.
    Angie

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    DS- 2011 DS2- 2012 DS3- 2015 DD-2019

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