Go now or wait (w/ 16 month old)?

[patti9girl]

Hi - I was hoping I could get some of your opinions...

My husband & I have a timeshare in Orlando, and we're trying to decide whether our son will be too young to visit WDW this fall (he'll be ~16 months). We haven't been on vacation since he was born and thought if we were going to go anywhere, Disney might be the best family vacation we could think of. However, we're hesitant to take him since he'll still be so young (i.e., will he like it, or will it overwhelm him too much?).

So...either we're going to WDW or nowhere at all. Do you guys think it's worth the hassle of going, or should we just wait until he's a little older?

Also, I've heard that if we do go, we should stay at a Disney hotel so we can use the monorail to run back for naps. Of course, if we do that, we can't use the timeshare, but that's not such a big deal (although definitely more expensive). If we were to stay at a Disney hotel, which one would you recommend?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Patti
ds 5.27.01

 

[Disneymagicfor4]

We are taking our 16 month old twins in May for 5 days. I cannot wait. We are all so exicited. I went and bought a Disney sing-a-long video so the kids could get to know the characters and I have been doing a lot of reading and visiting this web site to find out what to take them to. It seems to me that just being together and even just sitting in the park and playing on a bench would be fun for all of us. Take the little guy and have a ball. We are staying at OKW b/c of the kitchen and roominess and access to the pools etc. It is going to be a lot of work but we are taking a teenager and another adult - so we can all play a little. Good luck w/ whatever decision you make, Kathy

PS I have read that the Poly is really good for little kids - its on the monorail, reasonably priced and a lot for them to look at.

 

[ChiTownZee]

If this would be your only trip in years and years, I would say wait until he's older. If you can return fairly frequently, which I assume you can since you have the timeshare, GO! GO! GO! Your kids would love it!

As for using your timeshare or staying onsite, I can only say we've always stayed off-site. We always brought DD's good stroller, that's plush and folds flat and she slept in that during her nap, and I enjoyed that time because it gave me time to shop without little hands grabbing for anything. We'd also baby-swap and just sit and enjoy the scenery during nap-time.

 

[Magic2000]

I would definitely suggest BRING THE BABY!!! You will have a great time - our three DD have all been to Disney starting when they were about 1 yr old. Take your time and enjoy!!! I would think that since you are going in the fall, staying at the timeshare should be fine. There shouldn't be too many crowds. (If it were the heat of summer, I would suggest staying on site and using the Disney transportation.) If your child will take a nap in the stroller, he should be fine. We always let our little one set the pace, and we've always had GREAT vacations!!!

 

[momofmikey]

We just got back from WDW with our 1 yo DS - IT WAS GREAT! I agree with the other poster: if you can go frequently and this won't be your only trip, then it's definitely worth it! We plan on hopefully going every year, so we decided to bring the baby b/c even though he won't remember this trip, he'll have a good time and Mommy and Daddy get to go away! Only advice is to let the baby set the pace - don't expect to be able to do all the things you did before the baby. After 5 days before baby, my DH and I were always ready to go home. This time, we felt we could stay another week! We stayed at the Poly, and it was wonderful! The baby would fall asleep in MK in his stroller, and we'd be back in our room, watching TV, with him still fast asleep in his stroller - the monorail is wonderful!

 

[MinnieGi]

We took our then 14-month old to WDW this past Nov. and had a blast. She loved all the sounds and sights and Mommy and Daddy had the best time watching her soak it all in. Since you already have a timeshare there I'm sure this will be one of many trips to come. It was our first family vacation and as you said if you are going to bring one so young - WDW is defintely the place to go.

For naps - just bring your babies normal nice reclining stroller. Our DD would just nap in there when she needed to nod off. We did stay right at the WL but usually it was Mommy or Daddy taking a nap back at the hotel and DD could not be persuaded to lie down. She was having way to much fun. She woke up every morning and started banging on her stroller to give us the hint she wanted to go and check out more fun for the day.

When your little one is napping you might want to go have a nice sit-down meal. They let you bring any napping child into the restaurant in their strollers. This worked well for us too. Her stroller was well padded and had a canopy sunshade so it was dark and cozy for her. We knew if we had tried to make it back to the hotel for her to finish her nap - she would have been awake by then.

Go and have fun planning!

 

[AnnaE4]

We went to WDW last year in November when our DD was 15 months old. She might not remember anything about her trip but she had a good time. I purchased Disney singalong videos on Ebay so she would know what the characters were all about and not be scared of them. And, it worked in our case. She slept in the early afternoon in her stroller and we shopped or took breaks along with her.

Everything went so well, we are leaving in 15 days for a 4 day trip to WDW. She's a little more active now and still might not remember that first trip but, everytime she sees a Disney commercial or a picture with Mickey Mouse, she gets very excioted and says "See, see!". We didn't get to see a lot last time but that was OK. This time we will try and see some of the things we missed but still take our time.

Funny this thread has come up. This morning I got a telephone call from a woman looking for a puppy and we started talking about kids and WDW. She told me that she has a 3 year old DD and a 1 1/2 year old DD and that I should definitely wait until my DD was at least 4 years old to take her to WDW. She was really surprised when I told her that we went last year and our DD has a blast. She made the comment about DD not remembering anything and then I told her that it didn't matter to us because our child had a great time and we enjoyed seeing her smiling so much (we as parents also got a bit of a break just going to WDW). Each to his own I guess but I wouldn't have missed that last trip for anything (nor the next one!).

Denise (15 more days!)

 

[PMart]

Take the baby you will have a great time. Just take it slow, I have taken both of my DD's at early ages (last trip was with 10 month old) The baby will enjoy looking at everything and since yours is older he will probably really enjoy the rides. Before you go let him watch Disney videos that have the charcters in them I swear this helped make them accept the charcters , they both never had a problem with being scared of them, I have stayed at All Stars and just used the buses to return for a midday nap, if you can stay on the monorail line it is even better the Poly is our choice, super easy to travel around with a baby.

 

[kimberwing]

We're taking our 18 mo old and a 5 yr old. Both are such magical ages! We contemplated leaving the younger one at home, but I wanted us to have a REAL family vacation, with all members included.

Go for it, and have a great time!

 

[doggy]

The first time we took our children to Disney we waited
till they turned 4, and I am very glad we did. I watched
others that had smaller children and once again was
very glad we waited. By then they can do alot of walking
on their own and just have more energy to make the
whole experience better, FOR EVERYONE. We have done
this same thing with 3 children now and do not ever
regret waiting till they were turning 4 years old.

As for staying on property. You I suppose will have a
car so transportation will be no trouble. If you need to
get away for resting, then once again in my opinion you
should get away from everything to get a real good
nap in and then come back for the evening...But I would
like to mention that our 4 year old usually never had to
take a nap in the middle of the day, this is just another
advantage to waiting till they are older in my opinion..

 

[pwoodham]

We have 5 boys and if we waited until the "right time" to take them, we would not have visited WDW for the last 10 years!! As it is, we've been several times and have had a wonderful time EVERY time. There's no place like it and everyone gets a smile on their face just being there. All of our children have been there before the age of 2.

 

[LKS]

My favorite age for a first trip is just before they turn three. They are still free, but they can do a LOT!. That said, any age is fine. I took my youngest at 3.5 months because we had annual passes, time off from school and just wanted to go. He didn't get anything out of it, but he was no problem. We went again when he was 7 months and he looked all around - didn't get much out of it, still no problem though. I took him again a few months before he turned three - it's the best travel bargain I've ever seen - Free admission, free buffets! What's not to love! To make your life easier though, you might want to make sure he's willing to sit in a stroller happily. I have a friend whose 18 month old child refused the stroller and she's the only person I told, "wait 'till he's older."