What's the perfect age for Walt Disney World?

I've always heard lots of people ask if their kids are too young to go to Disney World.  Recently several people have mentioned wanting to take their kids before they are too big for Disney World.  So what is the perfect age to go?

 I personally never thought I would take a child younger than 5 or 6.  I never wanted to mess with diaper bags or strollers in the parks.  That would ruin all the fun wouldn't it? 
I changed my tune after we had our son.  I had no desire to take him as a baby, but when he was 2 and started to love Disney characters I got the bug.  I gave in and I'm glad we did.

For those with little kids under 3 you can get them in the parks and feed them at buffets for free! Plus, what can beat this expression of pure joy??

The best time to take a small child is right before their 3rd birthday.  If you can time it right to go at this age your child will still be free AND big enough to enough for lots of rides. Even if your child turns 3 during the trip (what a birthday present!) he or she will still be free the entire time.
 Our son was also potty trained by this age so that saved us from needing a diaper bag.  Although, we did have to visit LOTS of restrooms. 
Each child is different.  There are questions to consider before you take them at this age:
-Is your child scared of characters in costume?  That is a lot of the appeal at this age so if they are scared waiting might be better.
 -Is he/she scared of the dark?  Several of the rides that small kids like the best (Winnie the pooh, peter pan, etc) are dark rides.  I never thought about my son being scared of these, but he was the first time.  After he knew what to expect he loved it. 
-For small children their height will also determine what they can ride.  There are plenty of rides for small ones, but here is a list of rides with height requirements as well.

 

Want to ride one of these, but your child isn't big enough?  No problem!  Disney has a child swap pass!  Just tell the cast member at the ride entrance that you want to use child swap.  You get to go ride while your spouse and child go play somewhere else.  When you are done your spouse can use his pass to skip the line and go ride!  It is a fantastic system that my husband and I have used many times.  we love the thrill rides and can't miss those!

 

What about those wanting to wait until their kids are older?  I still think 5 or 6 is the perfect age for the first trip.  They won't be free any longer, but they will remember more of the trip and be able to enjoy more of the rides.  We took my son back at age 5 for 1 day at the Magic Kingdom and it was perfect.  He wasn't scared of anything, still loved the characters and had a ball!  Plus we didn't have to visit quite as many restrooms.

 

Now for those of you asking if your kids are too old......NEVER!!!  You never outgrow Disney.  Lots of people associate Disney with princesses and character that only little ones would enjoy.  Disney is so much more than that.  All those rides above with height requirements are awesome at any age. Plus pirates, haunted mansions and fireworks. You never outgrow good food or good rides. There is so much great food (my next blog will talk about food).

My husband and I actually like to go without our kids (please don't tell them!).  We had several trips together before they were born, and even a couple of date nights since they have been around.  We love not only the rides, but the food and the atmosphere.  And what big kid wouldn't enjoy this water slide at Blizzard Beach?? 

 

So the best age?  Well it really depends on your family and your child's personality.  If you are going to make more than 1 trip in their childhood (of course I think you should), then try my suggestions above at 2, 5 and anytime after that.   If you are saving up for 1 big once in a lifetime trip wait until at least 5.  If they are still a little scared of rides at that age then wait a couple more years.  They won't outgrow it by then!



Don't let the new FastPass system stress you out!

 Recently Disney changed the Fast Pass system.  I know this has raised many questions, even with Disney veterans like me! I was stressed out, and  VERY opposed to this new system.  I think I pouted over it even more than my 5 year old pouts over bedtime!  (that's pretty bad)
How could Disney do this to me??  Oh the drama!
 I recently got to put this new system to the test with my family. Once I pulled myself together and gave it a chance I actually liked it (most of it anyway). I should take the advice I give to my children more often.  This new system was like the new food I put on their plates.  You have to try it before you say you don't like it :)

Figuring out the new system can be overwhelming so here are some tips!
After your vacation is booked (call me for that part :))  you want to make sure you log onto www.mydisneyexperience.com    Here you can set up an account if you don't already have one.  This will help you keep track of everything in one place:  hotel reservations, dining reservations, Fast passes and more!   You will just  have to enter your reservation number.

First customize your magic bands!  You need to do this before your vacation is 30 days away.  If you don't, you will get boring grey bands.  They will still work fine.  They just aren't as much fun as these!

These new bands are your room key, theme park tickets, they hold info for your Fast passes and you can even add the ability to charge purchases to your credit card.  They are pretty comfortable and water proof.  I really liked the bands.  It was much easier to me than trying to keep up with tickets and paper fast passes. 

You can make dining reservations from this site.  If you are my client I can do this for you as early as 180 days in advance, and those most popular restaurants book up fast!  If you want this pineapple  bread pudding let me know and I'll reserve it for you.  YUM!

 

Now for those very important FastPasses!  I NEVER thought I'd want to plan my fast passes 60 days in advance.  How do I know which park I want to be at each day, much less what time I want to ride splash mountain??  What if it rains and I want to go to Epcot instead??  Isn't vacation for having fun and being spontaneous??  Before my trip I really wanted to throw a hissy fit over these fast pass changes, and believe me my kids have taught me how to throw a good one.  Now I know it's not so bad. 

The one bad thing is deciding in advance which park you want to go to each day.  (once again I can help with this - I can tell you what the crowd levels will be like at each park).  The good news?   if you want to change it once you are there you can!  Of course the best FPs for that day may already be gone, but there will still be some good options if you want to change.   The My Disney Experience App makes it easy to change your FastPasses and check wait times for rides in the park.  I LOVE the app!

When booking your FPs 60 days in advance you can book 3 for each day.  They do have to be in the same park.  There are some rides listed that you do not want to waste a FP on - for example I love Mickey's philharmagic, but it does not usually have much of a wait and would be a terrible waste of a FP.  Instead go for the roller coasters or Peter pan. 

 

When reserving your FP online it will give you just a few times to choose from.  pick the one you like best and then you can go back and change or look for more times. They don't show you all the times in your first option.  After playing with the system a good bit I found out it is easy to change your times and their are usually a lot more options than you see at first, 

 

Once you have used your 3 FP for the day you can get more!  This is the best change they have made to the new FP+.  You will have to go to a kiosk in the park to get your FP, but there are cast members there to help and it is easy.   When you get these extra passes that is the best time to get a FP for shows or parades.  They are great options, but I would not waste my first 3 of the day on one.

 

There are a few things I still don't care for with the new system.  I do not like the categories they use for FP at Epcot and Hollywood studios.  I still hope they will change those.  While it was nice to have 3 FPs at the start of the day, I miss some of the spontaneity of deciding what should we do next!  You can still tour the park this way, but you may have to wait in more long lines. 

 

Stay tuned in the next few weeks for tips on dining plan, changes to the memory maker package and tips on going with small kids!



Our quick family Disney trip - June 2014

This year we were not able to do a big family vacation, but we were blessed to be invited to visit my sister-in-law in Fl.  We had a blast with her and her family!  Thanks for letting us invade :)  Of course since we were going to be an hour from Disney World I could not pass up a chance to visit.  After all 1 day at Disney is better than none!

We took off with our 5 year old for 2 nights at the All Star Sports resort.  My sister-in-law was kind enough to keep the baby.  (Since it was such a short trip we decided to make her first trip next year when we wouldn't be so rushed.)  We usually stay at Pop Century, but decided to try a new place this time.  My son LOVED the giant football field.  He ran around and had a great time.  I personally prefer the theming at Pop, but it was fun to visit someplace new. There were not that many differences from Pop, but I think the transportation at Pop was a little better. It's still my favorite value resort.  I'm saving to try a moderate next time though.

 

After arriving we had a dinner reservation at our favorite Disney restaurant - 'Ohana.  YUM!  We cannot make a trip to Disney without having wings, steak, shrimp and pineapple bread pudding from 'Ohana.  It was excellent as always.  We stuffed ourselves as proved by these before and after pics.

 

 

We went back to our room for early bedtime.  The next day we had a breakfast reservation at the Crystal Palace before the Magic Kingdom opened.  That is the absolute best time to go!  You get to walk down Main St in the MK before the crowds are there.  It is a perfect time to have your picture made infront of the castle.  It is one of my favorite things to do.  Plus, they have custom made omelets that are great too.   My son enjoyed Mickey Waffles and puffed French toast as well as meeting the Winnie the Pooh characters.  I'm glad he still loves them, but even when he thinks he is too old to meet Pooh we will still have to go here for early entry to the park and omelets.

 





After breakfast it was off to tackle the park!  This was my very first trip using Fast Pass +, magic bands and the My Disney Experience App.  I have been a Disney World fanatic for 24 years and I was nervous about these changes.  I've always loved using fast passes, but the thought of planning them in advance did not appeal to me at all.  Right now you are allowed to reserve 3 per day in advance.  I was lucky enough to get us FPs for Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and the new 7 Dwarves Mine Train.  The hardest thing about these advance passes was explaining to my 5 year old that we couldn't just jump on every ride we saw because we had scheduled times for these rides.  I have to admit that I liked the new system much more than I expected.  I think I'll always prefer the old way of getting Fast passes as we go, so we don't have to plan so much in advance.  BUT I did enjoy having 3 passes already in hand when we arrived.   The new system also lets you get more FPs after you use the first 3.  You can only get 1 at a time after this, but that is no different than the old system.  We were able to get 3 more passes during the day including one for the 9pm electrical parade. 
This is one of my new favorite tips!!  If you plan to see the parade this is the way to do it!  The area in front of the castle is roped off for these FP holders.  You are allowed to enter 20 min before the parade to claim your spot.  It give you an uncrowned, prime spot to view the parade without having to sit and save your spot an hour or more before. 

I loved the magic bands and the My Disney Experience App.  They are both great additions.   My 5 year old did not want to leave his band on all day, but we had no problem with ours.  As I mentioned we were very lucky to get a FP for the new ride that just opened: The Seven Dwarves Mine Train.  I was really excited for this new coaster.  The animatronics in it were fantastic.  I loved what they did with it, but I wanted more!  I was hoping for more movie scenes, but what is there is very well done - as most Disney things are. 

After 12 hours in the park we were worn out.  My son even asked to go to bed and fell asleep before we got to the room.  Those are 2 things that are unheard of for him.  Needless to say, we all slept well at All Star Sports that night.  We made a quick visit to Downtown Disney then next morning.  We could not miss a visit to the Lego store to spend my son's life savings on the biggest lego set he could find.  I'm not sure how long it will take him to complete the set he bought, but I think he may still be working on it when we make it back to Disney next year.