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Mickey Mouse
Group: Forum Moderators
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 6:40:08 PM
Posts: 708, Visits: 1,827 |
| | Back in the days when Glen and I were just a couple, we couldn't understand folks taking toddlers and BABIES! to Disney. After becoming parents, we both realized we were much in need of a vacation. We also love to travel to Europe and usually do it with a backpack and Eurail pass. We knew that was out of the question with a baby. Then I discoverd that Disney had Baby Centers! Wow! We were planning to travel when dd was 9 months and we knew she'd still be nursing. The fact that I could go to a nice quite room with rocking chairs and take care of my little girl was a huge factor in deciding to go to WDW. I also liked the idea that it would always be easy to get out of the weather. At nine months dd had a blast. She loved all the musicians and live acts. She did well on all the slow rides. Her favorite part of Small World was turning around and entertaining the little girl behind us. She loved the flowers, squirrels and ducks. The CM at a popcorn stand gave her a small little paper cup with popcorn so that she could feed the ducks. Anyway, to make a long story short, it's a wonderful idea to go to Disney with a baby/toddler/child/teenager/grandparent. Don't let age concern you! You will learn to appreciate the parks from a much different perspective.
Elaine
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Sorcerer Mickey
Group: Administrators
Last Login: 11/17/2008 5:38:21 PM
Posts: 10,885, Visits: 6,229 |
| Yep, I agree. That is why we created this site. Everywhere I looked, it said don't take a baby/toddler to Disneyland. Well, as Disneyland veterans, Andy and I refused to listen to that. So, we did it, and viola - disneymouselinks.com was born!
 
May All Your Days Be Filled With Magic! And your nights full of Disney Dreams! |
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| | | Sorcerer Mickey
Group: UnRegistered Users
Last Login: 4/27/2007 9:23:51 PM
Posts: 7,445, Visits: 4,692 |
| | There is NO reason NOT to travel with a baby or toddler, quite honestly, it's a piece of cake! At 2 years 4 months, Morgan has now taken 14 round trips via plane. We've taken her to Colorado, Disneyland, and to Las Vegas (and we're not even into gambling!) The airlines (most) make travelling with a baby a piece of cake! Children up to 2 years of age fly free and can sit on your lap on the plane. Nursing them while flying is so extremely easy and let's face it, those of us who did the nursing or just gave birth have pretty much lost all sense of privacy anyway! Morgan would always lie down on my lap and nurse herself to sleep and STAY asleep for the entire flight. Now we take her car seat to sit in, used to that for sleeping in the car anyway, she's safe, she has a blast and she LOVES turbulence! Some airlines also offer discounted or free seats to kids under 2 who wish to fly in their carseat. We have also always taken our stroller with us. LOVE our stroller, it's fantastic and we get more comments on it from strangers than anything - lots of parents want one after they see or try ours. All the airlines (United being the exception) have loved our stroller and even commented that they wished all parents brought nice sturdy strollers for them to handle rather than the umbrella ones that they worry about falling apart. Our United flight was just a big hassle with some very unhappy employees we encountered, so we just choose not to fly with them anymore (despite that we have one good friend who works for them.) Disneyland was amazingly easy for us every time! The flight, piece of cake! The bus/taxi ride, piece of cake! The resort, piece of cake and quite a pleasure! The laws protect nursing mothers as well so feel free to nurse wherever and whenever you choose. The baby care centers are fantastic, although I always chose a spot up by City Hall where we could sit on the benches and enjoy people watching or parades or whatever. Not many people up there and it's fairly quiet and private so I liked that area. Anyone who says you should wait until your baby or toddler is older and able to get something out of the experience has obviously NEVER tried it - they get a lot out of it. AND they obviously don't know much about child development, any expert will tell you that underestimating your children and what value they gain out of new experiences is the first detriment to your child. Those people also have never seen their own child learn how to point while at Disneyland, learn how to run, learn how to ask for what they want, or learn to say "Wow!" I've seen this in my daughter and in my nephew! So, take them, get out of the house, have a vacation, and GO!!! |
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Mickey Mouse
Group: Forum Moderators
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 6:40:08 PM
Posts: 708, Visits: 1,827 |
| | I think the mentality of "wait till they're older so they will remember" is seated in my generation. Growing up, pictures were expensive (I was born in '63) and my parents only took 5-8 pictures per vacation (and vacations were seldom). This is referencing the late 60's,...in the mid 70's we took more pictures but still nothing like today. Now that we have a digital camera we take 100-300 pictures per trip (600 on our last 3 week Europe trip). We view them often on our computer with dd4. It's easy to do and we all enjoy it. I think the declining cost of photo's, along with the ease of watching them has helped young kids to remember their trips. I'm always amazed when Linnea tells us about something that happened several trips ago. I really believe that looking at photo's or viewing video keeps the memories fresh and makes the experience very worthwhile even at such a young age.
Elaine
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| | | Sorcerer Mickey
Group: UnRegistered Users
Last Login: 4/27/2007 9:23:51 PM
Posts: 7,445, Visits: 4,692 |
| | Not quite sure where it comes from since I hear that from parents in their early 20's - what's up with that??? We have pics from our trip when I was a kid, but the rides were not what the trip was about and that's not what I remember anyway. I remember going as a family, doing things as a family, my dad's excitement, Mickey's face in flowers, shopping for a plush Mickey, the hotel swimming pools...that's about it. |
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Mouseketeer
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 4:52:08 AM
Posts: 265, Visits: 1,245 |
| | I have to agree that at any age the kids will enjoy it however, in my opinion, if your trip was going to be a once in a lifetime trip never to be repeated, as it will be for some families, then I would suggest waiting until they are older. Cullen did have a good time but we were really going for us. Yes he LIKED the characters and the rides but we LOVED the look on his face, we LOVED the characters and the rides. He will enjoy looking back over the photos when he is older however, I imagine that will be coupled with "when can we go back" Now for us we will probably be able to afford it again at some stage and because we will be going home to NZ for family trips we can probably incorporate it at some point but it won't be for a few years. My friends family went when they were little the youngest can't remember a thing the oldest has very fond memories, the youngest gets very annoyed with the others when they discuss all the things they did. I reckon if you can afford it go for it what ever the age as you will enjoy it and they will enjoy it. Kirsten |
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Mickey Mouse
Group: Forum Moderators
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 6:40:08 PM
Posts: 708, Visits: 1,827 |
| I would love to go to New Zealand. I hear it is beautiful. I'm always surprised when Americans vacation to Australia and skip over NZ. I may have some NZ questions for you down the road, as we've talked about traveilng there sometime.
Elaine
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Mouseketeer
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 4:52:08 AM
Posts: 265, Visits: 1,245 |
| | Ask away, always happy to help. It is a lovely country so much to see and friendly people, beautiful scenery and mostly great weather. Australia is fab as well though both worth a trip. I can give you some good tips and pointers of places to go and see. People can't understand why we choose to live in the UK but you make your choices and for us living here means we can afford to go to NZ and see my family and friends because the pound is a strong currency, if we lived and worked in NZ we just wouldn't be able to afford to come back to the UK and visit friends and family here quite as often. Plus I love the UK it has a lot of good things going for it as well. Kirsten |
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Mickey Mouse
Group: Forum Moderators
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 6:40:08 PM
Posts: 708, Visits: 1,827 |
| | I think it's so fascinating that you can find "Swiss like" Alps, rainforests, canyons, rolling hills and tropical beaches, all in such a compact little area. I have heard wonderful things about the people. My father traveled there in the 70's and was so impressed he wanted to move there (unfortunately there were too many hurdles so we didn't get to experience NZ). I'm off to San Fran tomorrow, but I may start a new thread where we can chat about NZ. That probably needs to go under member chit chat. I've been a little naughty letting this thread get off topic!
Elaine
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