Taking my son when he is a year and a half. He won't remember it, but I will. Disney is a very special part of my life and I can't wait to see his first reaction to Mickey whether it's a cry or smile.

We took my niece for her first time when she was 3 weeks old. I thought my sister was nuts for bringing her, but it was a lot of fun. Now my niece is 3 yrs old, and she's been to Disney for over 30 days all together (Annual passholders)

agree with half this is disney made for kids just stay calm. all 3 of my kids were there from birth my youngest was 2 months old we drove in the middle of the summer from new york and no problems the only problems is how we handle things do things on there terms if they get upset take a break my kids now are 17 ,26 and 31 and they love disney (my middle son now has a job in disney computer s)if you take little ones use your head if they need a break take it

Good points. The article doesn't say not to take younger kids, just points out that 5-7 is a good age. Makes sense--if you only go to WDW once, wait until your child is old enough to remember it. If you're going every year, you're an expert, so you don't need this article anyway!

I agree with this articule!!!

Or better yet, don't take kids. Disney is so much better without them

Three is definitely not too young. We took our oldest when she was three and an only child at the time and our youngest when she was three along with her tow older sisters. That age is when the magic is still real. Believe me, nowadays, kids as young as seven are "scoffers" when it comes to Santa Claus. How are they going to believe a mouse and a duck are real? You may have to use kid swap on Big Thunder Mountain and Tower of Terror, but the small ones are still going to enjoy Dumbo, Peter Pan, Small World and the rest.

BTW, the closest thing we had to a real meltdown was our youngest getting scared and not wanting to visit with Donald Duck at breakfast.

This whole thing is off base, not just one of the points, but all of them. Part of the magic of the Disney parks is seeing young children react to the world of the cartoons that they love. Based on this article, I would guess that the author would never venture any vacation with a young child, therefore missing out on amazing family memories. My extended family recently spent a week in Florida visiting all 4 of the Disney parks, both of the Universal Studios parks, and even adding a day of swimming with manatees. My son is only 17 months old and he loved every minute of the trip. For every ride that he couldn't go on, there was something spectacular to see. Sure, he would have loved our local zoo, but making the memory in the park with my son and all of his cousins is so special to me. I'm sorry that the author of this piece so despises young children and hope that they soon realize that the Disney Parks really are for children.

Brilliant article! The only two things I thought could have been added were:
(1) Keep those kids hydrated/sun screened. I've seen so many little burned/dried out kids in strollers passed out while Mom and Dad pretended that the visit was "for the kids".
(2) For heaven's sake figure out who's sitting with whom BEFORE you arrive at the ride entrance! Every ride entrance I arrive at has at least one large group having this discussion while blocking everyone else from entering. Listen folks, I can't even START to enjoy the 50+ minute wait time until you GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!

This article is spot on. I'm not surprised that on FB people are getting offended and saying that it's negative and the author hates kids. Not true, as this is all common sense. However, all the entitled parents in our society these days think their special snowflakes are the exception. One person even commented "We took our daughter at 4 months old and it was magical, she loved it." Really? REALLY? How can you possible tell your 4 month old loved it? Did she tell you? Please.

possibly*

Wow. I can't disagree with this entire article hard enough.
Valid points: research, don't overbook, only take pics of people.

When I went to Disney the first time I did it all wrong. My kids were young and we stayed off the property. The days were long, exhausting and frustrating for my 5 and 7 year olds. My second trip was much better. They were 7 and 10. We stayed on the property and planned our days by going to the park that opened the earliest and rode the rides until the lines got too long. Then it was off to a water park to cool off and rest. After dinner we went back to the parks. The boys were happier and so was I.