Disney World – How young?

Is there such thing as being too young for Disney World?  Although I may agree that there may be an “ideal” time to take a youngster to Disney World, given each persons circumstances and plans, but I am not sure you could get me to agree that someone is too young.  Alright, maybe I can agree that a one month old does not need to go to Disney, but my 3rd child (Mason) did make his first trip at 6 weeks.   We will get to a great story about how I believe he remembers that trip later.

There are so many reasons and benefits to take a youngster to Disney World, I am not even certain where we should begin.  Let’s start first with the frequent, “but my child will not even be old enough to remember the trip.”  My 6 & 8 year old children have both been to Disney World more than 15 times, and I can promise you that it is completely selfish that I take them.  I have very little care or concern if they ever remember any of the trips, because my wife and I have so much joy sharing those experiences with them.  As each of them gets older, and we return to Disney World, it is a very different and unique experience.  Even if the kids do not remember the trips, we have tons of photos and memories that my wife and I will be able to share with them as they do get older.

Cost

One of the best reasons to take children while they are young is the cost.  Under 3 is completely free – Free entry, free dining, free events.  I do not know about you, but it does not get much better than free for me.  I am actually dreading the day that my 2 year old and 6 month old will need a ticket (or annual pass, ouch).

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Rides and Attractions

With over 100 rides and attractions in all 4 theme parks, only 17 of them have any height restrictions at all.   This means that even at 6 weeks old, Mason was able to accompany us on most of the rides and attractions in the park. Once a child reaches the height of 40 inches, the number of rides they can not ride is down to 6, and at 44 inches, they can ride every ride but 2.  But even when the child cannot ride, Disney offers the family a benefit – Rider Swap.

Rider Swap

What is rider swap and how does it work?  When one child in a family is not tall enough to ride, Disney will provide the family a special ticket.  While one adult stays outside the ride with the smaller child, the remainder of the family can go on the ride (via the regular line or the fastpass line).  Once the family returns from the ride, the person waiting outside can then utilize the special ticket to enter the fast pass line with 3 other family members. For a family of two children and one infant, this will allow the two children to ride every ride with a height limit twice; once with mom and once with dad.  This is actually a great benefit for younger families.

Just recently, I discovered another added benefit that I was not aware of previously. When riding the Tomorrowland Speedway with two children, there is a separate program called “driver swap.”  If you are an adult with two children that are not old enough to ride alone, let the cast member know you would like to do driver swap just before you are sent to your car’s pit position.  When your car arrives and the previous drivers get out, they will velcro a special sleeve on your car.   All 3 people will get into the car at one time for the first lap around the track.  When you return to the starting area, they will not require you to get out.  Instead, they will remove the sleeve from your car, and instruct the children to switch seats.  You will then be able to take one additional time around the track while the second child gets to drive.

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Memories and Experiences

Now back to the story I mentioned earlier… Our third child,  Mason, went through much of his first 4 months crying just about all the time.  He did like being outside so being at Disney was definitely a blessing.  That one week was one of the quietest weeks of his early life.  The blessings did not end their however.  Our first trip to Disney with Mason was just before Halloween, and our trip included a night at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.  One of the great highlights of the party is the Boo to You Parade.   Even at 6 weeks of age, this parade became a very special event for Mason.  After returning home from Disney World, the constant crying continued, but we now found one thing that made him happy.  Every time we experienced the crying, we would turn to YouTube and play the Boo To You parade.  Even though a 6 week old baby cannot see very well, the music of the parade silenced him every single time.  Although it is hard for most people to say a 6 week old got anything out of a Disney World trip, I can truly tell you that it was very special for Mason.  Whatever it was about that parade and the music, it was the only thing that we found to soothe him in the early months of life.