What age is the right age for Disneyland? As you might have guessed, my family and I love Disneyland! As a newer Disney blogger, I have imagined some of the questions readers may have. One that I struggled with personally was what’s the right age to visit Disneyland? I imagine some of you may have the same concerns.
So my wife and I discussed, with some trepidation, taking our toddler son with us right after his 3rd birthday. We wondered what’s the right age to visit Disneyland? Additionally, we were feeling slightly guilty over the number of trips we’d taken since his birth to Disneyland without him. So we said Hakuna Matata and off we went. This was an especially good trip for his first visit. We were fortunate enough to have my Sister in law and her family with us, including our 6 year old niece. They were visiting us from Stockholm for a few weeks, so off we went. It was both kids first visit!
I know many, many parents have asked me what’s the right age to visit Disneyland? I’m not fully sure there’s a correct answer. Before going we felt 3 may have been too young. In some ways we were right, mostly we were wonderfully surprised at his enjoyment, wonder and curiosity over the whole magical experience. Were there moments of time that we wanted to rip our hair out, yeah… Quite a few moments. Were there just as many, if not more moments of looking at each other with pride in our kid who was loving Disney as much as we were… Absolutely.
Top Reasons to bring your toddler to Disneyland:
You will experience Disney anew through them
Starstruck look when seeing Mickey live for the first time
Raising your hero status to unprecedented levels
Magical Memories
They find everything to be curiosier and curiosier
You will see parts of Disneyland you didn’t even know existed
Finding that ride that makes them giggle uncontrollably
Top Reasons NOT to bring your toddler to Disneyland:
They will lick EVERYTHING… Including the chains separating lines
They want EVERYTHING… Including bringing Mickey home
They eat EVERYTHING… If it’s a treat, they will eat it
They will cry about EVERYTHING… you will never go the right way, ever
They want to do EVERYTHING… Right NOW!
Those are our experiences with bringing our toddler to Disneyland. You’re now on your own. However, feel free to leave comments with your own experiences and concerns!
One last tip, watch your kids around Captain Hook though, he’ll lure them with cool balloons and turn them into Pirates!
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Thank you for sharing this beautiful post. With the help of this post, I got my answer. I wish I could win this one day.
Newborns and Toddlers should not be taken to Disney. First of all you are not doing it for the child, you are doing it for yourself. Don’t be so selfish. When I worked at Disney World I saw so many toddlers passed out in the 100+ degree heat while the parents continued to go around the park. I’ve seen thousands of kids come to Disney World and there is no way that a newborn or a child of 1 or 2 will enjoy themselves and they won’t even remember the experience after a short time. Parents are simply doing it for themselves.
I love all the comments! Thank you for sharing your feedback with my article. I generally agree with everyones thoughts. Yes standing in line is an important skill. Kids need to learn how to self-entertain in and out of lines in general. So I’m all for the trying to teach that. Although I’ll admit I’ve used my phone a time or two. :)
James: I concur that young kids and toddlers can’t handle the same day an adult can. This article was more directed at Disneyland which is a completely different day or two than a week at Walt Disney World. However, parents tend to know what their kids can and can’t handle. I always planned to take my son back to the hotel but he’d just nap in the stroller and when he was refreshed up he came and kept going. He’s now 7 and still remembers bits and pieces of each trip. So I think you’re right to a degree, that not all parents (but I think most) need to be aware of their kids limits.
Thank you everyone for sharing! I love reading other’s experiences as well!
Thank you for posting about Disneyland! I’m a California girl and love this site. I’m glad to read about Disneyland, although I do want to go to WDW one day! One nice thing about bring children under 3 to Disneyland is that they are FREE! We’re trying to squeeze one more trip in before my 2nd turns 3 in October!
For Disney it is more about height than age…..most of the rides and attractions have height requirements…so if your shorter you are not allowed on, which for most families makes it hard if one parent has to stand and watch with a younger child while the other parent rides with the older sibling…better to wait till all children can ride…..so look up the height restrictions and measure up…..once my boys reached it in 3 and 5 grade they both had a fantastic time our first trip and then they were only to tall for one ride in toon town goofys bounce house…..definately worth the wait while watching is ok its not as fun as doing….and the expense of a Disney trip is huge so wait to make all the good memories you can with your children
I agree!
I have 3 kids- the oldest is 3 and a half. We’ve been to Disney 3x since she was born! I don’t want to go back until our youngest is 3 now (2 1/2 years from now), mostly because I had to miss out on A LOT watching the baby this last time. A couple things I would like to add- if it’s alright- is 1) don’t let your kids bring games/play on your phone in line. ENGAGE them and teach them how to wait in line. Everytime we’ve gone it has taken ONE time of them not riding a ride because they could not listen and wait patiently and they never did it again. Sure it sucks and you miss out too, but it is worth it in the long run. It was sad howaby kids/parents weren’t even talking to each other and just standing in line on their electronics… even my 2 tear old can now stand in line pretty darn good! 2) There is NOTHING better than watching your kid experience and enjoy Disney for the first time. My 3 year old last year (was 2 1/2 then) saw the magic in everything and my 2 year old this year was the same. I LOVE that part the most!!!! Next year the baby will only be 18 months so I want to wait another year till she can ride most everything and will have that same wonder of experiencing the magic of Disney on her face :) I agree that 3 is really the perfect age for a first experience!
I don’t think there is any right or wrong age to take a kid somewhere. It all depends on the kid(and the parents). All four of my boys have been to Disney by the time they were at least 2 (the youngest one has been there was a week after his first birthday) If you think your child wont handle it ( or you don’t think that you can handle your kid there) it probably wont turn out so well. All my boys handled the experience well. They all loved the characters and we just took our time walking at their speed, took lots of breaks, and used the same discipline that we use when we go to a store and they want something. No means No even at Disney. I think a big part of people not enjoying the expeience is that they try to do too much. A child used to naps and going to bed at 8 is NOT going to be a happy camper out in the hot florida sun from 8am til midnight. When the kids get cranky(or hopefully before), head back to the hotel, cool off nap, swim whatever, go back when you are refreshed. That is the best tip to take when you are visiting. It makes the world of difference and makes the trip so much more enjoyable. Are you going to see everything, no but guess what you’re not going to see everything anyway so why miss the stuff you really want to see because everyone is cranky and tired?