Ages

[Ashley McCord]

Wanting to take my girls to Dinseyland. They would be 7,5 and 3 . Good ages or wait until the younger one is older?

 

[holden]

We took our youngest when she was 15 months old. I wasn't thinking about whether or not she'd remember the trip. I thought about how DH and I would remember the time with her there. For me it's all about creating memories.

 

[tink9702]

IMHO it depends on whether she's newly potty trained? DO NOT take a brand new potty trained child to Disney regardless of their age!

If you do go, you'll want to use Rider Swap a lot for the 7 year old while the other parent takes the younger one(s). As long as you factor that in - the timing and splitting up for various rides it can be a fun trip!

good luck deciding!

 

[KrazeeK120]

IMHO it depends on whether she's newly potty trained? DO NOT take a brand new potty trained child to Disney regardless of their age!

That’s so hard to plan around though. We have a trip booked for the week before my son’s 3rd birthday. I’m planning on giving potty training a whirl when he’s 2.5. I have no idea how it will go. He likes using the potty, but doesn’t tell me when he needs to go and I haven’t pushed the issue yet. I don’t have a clue when he will be trained. He might end up being newly trained when we go.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

I think 7, 5, and 3 are great ages. If you wait much longer, the 7 yo might start to outgrow the princesses and magic. The 5 yo will probably remember a lot of the trip and will probably be tall enough to ride the majority of rides. The 3 yo obviously isn't going to remember much (if anything), but at that age, I think the little ones still notice and appreciate a lot of the little things (fountains, the light up carpets in the play area after Figment, the magic of Donald reappearing over and over again in the 3 Caballeros ride... So going with someone that young definitely helps you to see the parks from a different perspective. I think those are great ages.

 

[KenHutch]

I took my daughter for the 1st time when she was 5 and we did the whole park commando thing (wore her mother out). Took her half sister (my god daughter) at 2 and she was fine.

 

[unrequited23]

Are you taking another grown up with you? You have to be 7 to be able to ride on your own. If it was just going to be you and your girls. I would wait 2 yrs until your middle daughter is 7. Otherwise, I say go for it. We took our boys at 5 and 2.5 and they both remember the trip, had fun and ask when we are going back.

 

[tink9702]

That’s so hard to plan around though. We have a trip booked for the week before my son’s 3rd birthday. I’m planning on giving potty training a whirl when he’s 2.5. I have no idea how it will go. He likes using the potty, but doesn’t tell me when he needs to go and I haven’t pushed the issue yet. I don’t have a clue when he will be trained. He might end up being newly trained when we go.

Yes, definitely hard to plan around - but waiting in lines for bathrooms at Disney with a child who can't "wait" because they have just learned how to tell when they have to go potty sounds like my idea of he**. LOL We didn't do Disney the year my kids turned 3, but we did do other amusement parks and I totally regretted it the time my kiddo was just newly potty trained!

You could always put him in pull ups though!

 

[KrazeeK120]

Yes, definitely hard to plan around - but waiting in lines for bathrooms at Disney with a child who can't "wait" because they have just learned how to tell when they have to go potty sounds like my idea of he**. LOL We didn't do Disney the year my kids turned 3, but we did do other amusement parks and I totally regretted it the time my kiddo was just newly potty trained!

You could always put him in pull ups though!

I don’t think I’ve ever waited in line for a bathroom at Disney! I’ve waited in line for a changing table though! And if there were a line for the ladies room, the men’s room typically doesn’t have lines. My husband is just as capable of taking him to the bathroom as I am.

Financially, it makes more sense for us to go right before he turns 3. We probably won’t go back for a few years after that.

 

[FallsChurchDad]

I haven't seen anybody mention this, but if your older kids like riding thrill rides, then I think the key is to make sure the 3-year-old is at least 40 inches.

At Disneyland, the following rides have a 40" requirement: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, Star Tours, Radiator Springs, Soarin', Tower of Terror, Jumping Jellyfish, Symphony Swings.

Those are some of the most fun, iconic rides at any amusement park anywhere. Our 3.5 year old loved everything he could ride, even Tower of Terror. Of course, every kid is different.

Rider swap can help, and it means the older kids can get double rides sometimes, but it is much worse at Disneyland than at Disney World, because of tighter timing constraints. It also means separating the family, and it takes way longer for everybody to ride everything. And it can create stress when you're constantly trying to split up and meet back up, or when the riding party knows that the waiting party has been waiting longer than expected. It's more fun for the family to be able to stay and ride together.

 

[JK World]

Just took my son for his 3rd birthday. Had a great time! He wasn't 40 inches, and we just did rides he was tall enough for (no rider swap). You could do the same, your 5 and 7 year olds don't have to ride the bigger coasters to have a great experience.

Regarding potty training, just be prepared and it's no big deal. Be proactive with potty trips rather than waiting for him to ask, bring a change of clothes into the park, and roll with it.

You do need 2 adults to get all 3 kids on the rides, other than that you are good to go!

 

[AFwifelife]

I would look at it like any other trip. Is this going to be a once in a lifetime trip? Or will there be more DL trips in the future? We haven't been to DL yet (because it will most likely be a once in a lifetime trip for us) but we've been taking our kids to WDW since 16 months and 4 months. We are Floridians moving around thanks to the Air Force so we knew that we would be going there many many times. Every trip is different depending on what they are willing and able to do but it doesn't bother us because we know we will be back. If this is probably your one and done trip, I would hold off until everyone is tall enough to ride what they want to ride. Potty training isn't even something I would put into consideration.