One & Done: Only child

Anyone taken your only to Disney world?

Hopefully its okay that I post here.  I"m not very active but would like to be.

DH and I are seriously thinking about taking our DS to Disney next June.  We are thinking it would be a good time because he will almost be 3 but not quite (so his tickets are free) and June is our deadline for deciding on another child or not.  We figured it would be either a "last family trip with just us 3" or a "yay we are only a family of 3" type thing.  My SIL turned me onto it saying that our nephew loved it before he turned 3 and our son really does love almost everything disney as it is.  I know he would REALLY enjoy it but I also know he won't remember it. 

I am debating whether it is worth the money for a trip that we will all really enjoy but our son won't remember.  I went when I was almost 5 and I don't remember anything except the pictures.  Has anyone else taken a trip to disney with a little one?  Is it worth taking such a "big" trip that our DS won't remember?  I know my DH and I will have fun regardless because like i said I haven't been there since i was 5 and my DH has never been.  I know it is ultimately up to us but just thought I could use some input. 

Thanks all!

Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker

Re: Anyone taken your only to Disney world?

  • I haven't been with a little one, but Disney has been huge to my parents and I, so I can kind of speak to it on that perspective.

    I, personally, think it would be a waste to blow a ton of money at Disney with a child under 3.  If you lived in Orlando and it was easy, that is one thing, but for an actual major vacay?  Not worth it. You and DH wouldn't have that much fun because you could never ride any of the rides together because one would have to stay with LO.  The kids stuff is fun and exciting, but you could have just as much fun with a nearly 3 year old at a free splash pad, kid's resort locally, children's museum, etc.  I think you could EASILY come up with a fun family vacation that is half the cost.

    Our plan is to take DD to Disney when she is 6 because she will have more stamina, a better memory, and can ride more of the rides.

    image







  • We planned to take LO to Disney World when he was five. He is easily spooked by costumed characters and I think that he would be overwhelmed. Since the military sent us to Germany, instead of taking LO to Disney World next summer as we had originally planned, we will be going to Disneyland Paris! :)
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • Loading the player...
  • While our son is only 16 months, we recently made the decision not to take trip to a Caribbean Beaches resort for a family wedding because it was going to be pretty expensive and we knew that while DS would probably enjoy, in the moment, things we did there, he, in no way, is old enough to take full advantage of all a resort like that has to offer - and that made the expense not worth it, to us. 

    So, I'm of the camp that I'd wait on a big expensive vacation until you know your child is going to really "get it" and be able to talk about and remember all the fun he/she had.  Maybe 3 is that age for your DS and for kids in general?  I don't know - we're not there yet!  :-) I know I'm excited to take DS to Disney someday so we'll see how long we can hold out beore the excitement overtakes us - I'm shooting for probably between age 4-5 (before he goes to school so we can go in an off season).  We'll see if we can wait that long!

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • Ds is 3.5. We rent a beach house and go camping each summer. He remembered retails about the beach house we rented last summer. When we went to his annual denist appointment, he asked for an "orange balloon like I had last year." Your ds will remember some things about the trip. If it is something you'd like to do, do it.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • I haven't been with a little one, but Disney has been huge to my parents and I, so I can kind of speak to it on that perspective.

    I, personally, think it would be a waste to blow a ton of money at Disney with a child under 3.  If you lived in Orlando and it was easy, that is one thing, but for an actual major vacay?  Not worth it. You and DH wouldn't have that much fun because you could never ride any of the rides together because one would have to stay with LO.  The kids stuff is fun and exciting, but you could have just as much fun with a nearly 3 year old at a free splash pad, kid's resort locally, children's museum, etc.  I think you could EASILY come up with a fun family vacation that is half the cost.

    Our plan is to take DD to Disney when she is 6 because she will have more stamina, a better memory, and can ride more of the rides.

    We thought about this and actually my parents showed some interest in going.  We do have a lot of things to do locally but we do them all the time so not sure that would be a good "vacation"  we went to a local tourist trap about 2 hours away 2 years ago and we spent about what this vacation would cost us minus the travel.  I feel like with hotel and food you alway end up spending a lot no matter where you go. 

     

    Thanks for all the responses it is making me think about different options. 

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • I went to Disneyland Paris when I was 18.  Their Space Mountain, as I recall correctly, is so much better than Disneyland's.  Also, they had a rollercoaster based on Indiana Jones.  Pretty cool.

    Things may have changed since 1998 but I think they had an Alice in Wonderland hedge maze for kids/adults.  I remember having a good time.
    Pursing Domestic Infant Adoption through a local agency. In the meantime, our dog is our baby.  Bumping from Portland, Oregon. 
  • We haven't yet but we're planning on taking him before he's three (since it's free for him anyway). I don't care at all that he won't remember at this point-- I will! And I'll love watching him have a good time and experience stuff. I don't think we need to make a week out of it at that age but a long weekend would be really fun.
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker


  • I haven't been but I'd totally take my son at this age (he's almost 3). And who says he won't remember!? My kid is STILL ranting about his soccer party that we had when he turned 2. Go! Have a blast! 

    image
    SEAHAWKS! And... Macklemore. Seattle's WINNING! 
  • We just took our son to Disney World in June - he was 18 months at the time.  It was an extended family trip, so it wasn't just us, but because my son is so little compared to his cousins, we ended up doing a lot of the park by ourselves to accommodate naps and breaks.

    Can I just tell you want an AMAZING TIME the three of us had?  There is actually very little at Disney World that little ones can't do - a few obvious ones, of course, but we were there for six days, and jam packed every day.  And my son DOES remember!  He is now completely obsessed with Mickey Mouse, loves looking at pictures from our trip, and really enjoys watching our videos of the different shows and parades.  We stayed in the Key West Resort, which helped us save a lot of money on dining because we had a kitchenette, and could do breakfast and lunch in.  I was able to order groceries on-line for delivery before our arrival.  We had such a wonderful time, that we plan on taking him again next fall right before he turns three.
  • We're going in February, just after DD's 2nd birthday. We LOVE Disney - my parents have a vacation home (a condo in Orlando), about 10min from Disney World. We try to go every year, but weren't able to this year because of a big family vacation to Italy that ate up most of our vacation time for the year. I'm so excited to see it all through her eyes! It's so magical ...

     

     
    A+S | Met 8/24/06 | Married 9/27/08
    Started TTC 12/2008 | dx PCOS 5/2009
    6 failed clomid/femara/TI cycles, 1 failed clomid/ovidrel/IUI cycle
    Successful Cycle: 5/12/11 - 1000mg Metformin + 100mg Clomid(late response) + TI = BFP

    2/13/12 - We proudly welcomed our daughter, Hadley Teresa!
    Lots of Luck to all of 3T/IF

    Lilypie Second Birthday tickers

     

    www.MyVacationCountdown.com Ticker

  • We took DD to Disneyland when she was 18 months old (she is 21 months now) and she remembers going.  She gets very excited when she sees the fireworks during the opening of a Disney movie and asks to go to Disneyland again. 
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"