Best Ages for WDW

Morana

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jun 22, 2017
Hi Dis Fans! I’m a total Disney tragic and as normally happens I’ve instilled that in my two daughters (4 & 2). We have a baby due in November and thinking about doing a Disney trip in the next year or two. My wife thinks it might be best to wait until the kids are older as they’ll be able to go on more attractions and remember the trip (considering we’re coming from Australia and it’s going to be $$$).

So - what age do you think is best to take your kids to Disney if you’ll blow your 5-year holiday budget on one trip?!

Can’t wait to get people’s thoughts!
 
The first time we took kids to WDW, they were 2 and 4. They had fun, but we had to drag them out of the pool to go to the parks. The next time we brought 5 kids, ages 4 (almost 5) - 11, and I thought that was perfect, no diapers, no naps, tall enough for everything.
 
There is definitely something wonderful about bringing small children because they find everything magical and it's sweet to watch their little faces light up. But, you're correct that in the long run those are memories that the parents will have but the little ones won't remember.

Coming from across the world for a once in a lifetime trip, I would definitely wait until they are old enough and tall enough to enjoy all the attractions. My teenagers still love the "little kid" attractions and meeting characters on occasion, so I wouldn't worry about them being too old.

My daughter below was so excited to meet Merida and her face lit up just like she was a little kid even though she was 17.
 

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YMMV but I would wait until they are of an age to not have to ask you about a bathroom every 30 feet... aka don't go during the potty training years... Otherwise SO MUCH of your trip will be deciding that themed restrooms are an attraction!
 
Wait that is not a big age gap between kids so you could wait four years and have an 8,6 and 4 year old big enough for most rides and two are fully toilet trained which would make flying a little bit easier also.
 


I was telling myself we had to wait until our youngest was at least 40", but low and behold couldn't hold off and we are booked for April (he is 3 and just 36", our daughter will be 6 and is just 42"). With this in mind, we're going to miss out on some rides and pushing the envelope to do everything we can squeeze in.... but at this age everything is going to be so real still, and yes the youngest will need naps and potty will be an issue, but slowing down our pace is not going to be such a bad thing on vacation. I'm actually really looking forward to experiencing the Disney World for very littles and seeing the magic through their eyes.

I do have to look at it like it isn't going to be our only DW vacation though to be honest. You can't see it all in one stay anyway, so going early in their lives is giving us a chance to experience it in stages. We'll go again in a few (3-4?) years, and experience it totally differently. And I plan to take tons of photos. We did a Disney Cruise last year and they still remember it when we look at the pictures and talk about our favorite memories of our vacation. Videos help too. :)
 
I was telling myself we had to wait until our youngest was at least 40", but low and behold couldn't hold off and we are booked for April (he is 3 and just 36", our daughter will be 6 and is just 42"). With this in mind, we're going to miss out on some rides and pushing the envelope to do everything we can squeeze in.... but at this age everything is going to be so real still, and yes the youngest will need naps and potty will be an issue, but slowing down our pace is not going to be such a bad thing on vacation. I'm actually really looking forward to experiencing the Disney World for very littles and seeing the magic through their eyes.

I do have to look at it like it isn't going to be our only DW vacation though to be honest. You can't see it all in one stay anyway, so going early in their lives is giving us a chance to experience it in stages. We'll go again in a few (3-4?) years, and experience it totally differently. And I plan to take tons of photos. We did a Disney Cruise last year and they still remember it when we look at the pictures and talk about our favorite memories of our vacation. Videos help too. :)

Is 40" the magic number for most attractions? That's about 100cm... I'm getting out the tape measure when I get home!
 
Hi Dis Fans! I’m a total Disney tragic and as normally happens I’ve instilled that in my two daughters (4 & 2). We have a baby due in November and thinking about doing a Disney trip in the next year or two. My wife thinks it might be best to wait until the kids are older as they’ll be able to go on more attractions and remember the trip (considering we’re coming from Australia and it’s going to be $$$).

So - what age do you think is best to take your kids to Disney if you’ll blow your 5-year holiday budget on one trip?!

Can’t wait to get people’s thoughts!
Ages 7 - 11 are ideal for WDW, as they're young enough to enjoy everything without cynicism, but they're old enough to ride most of the rides.
 
Is 40" the magic number for most attractions? That's about 100cm... I'm getting out the tape measure when I get home!

The bigger thrill rides are over that, but 40" does get you to some good ones for the family like Soarin, Tower of Terror, and Test Track. All favorites of ours.
 
I suppose I don't have any experience in this situation, but perhaps at least wait until the new baby is old enough to partially remember it. So it might be wise to wait till at least the baby is 4 so everyone can somewhat remember their experience?
 
I suppose I don't have any experience in this situation, but perhaps at least wait until the new baby is old enough to partially remember it. So it might be wise to wait till at least the baby is 4 so everyone can somewhat remember their experience?

That's probably the way we'll go!
 
Whenever I see posts about the best age for WDW, my first thought is the age I am now. lol. ANY age is great for WDW. As PP mentioned, 40 inches for a rare trip is kind of a key height. 48 inches will get you on anything, but 40 gets you on the vast majority of attractions. Height is more important than age for this.
 
We are here now, fromNZ. DD is 10 which is an awesome age, but more expensive for character meals etc as she is considered a Disney adult. I reckon oldest no more than 9 would be the way to do it.
 
If I was only going to go once, I would wait till the youngest was 5 or almost 5. My first trip was at 4 (had just turned 4) and I remember very little of it. It is possible I don’t remember much of it though because we went somewhat frequently when I was a child, so the memories blend together a bit.

I would definitely wait for the youngest to be 40 inches. They won’t miss out on most of the rides and it’s much easier to ride things as a family than having to take turns.
 
If this is a once in lifetime type trip - I'd wait until the youngest is 5 years old.

Disney can make great memories at any age for a family - but if you want the KID to remember it, too - I'd say 5.
 

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