Disney World at 3.5 Yrs and 20 Months?

I'd wait. Those big characters in costumes can be scary to a little one. How did they do with Santa? Magnify that reaction 10-fold and you have Disney.

I personally would wait a couple of years.

Unless you can afford to go back in a few years I would do something less expensive. They aren't old enough to really enjoy it. The 3 yr. old will get the general idea and have some memories of it but the 20 month old won't remember it at all. She needs to be 3 or 4 for her first visit. I would wait until 2013 and save a lot of money so that it would be a great trip that caused no financial strain. That way they both will still like Disney stuff and also have some memories of it.

Personally, I would wait. Our kids were four and eight when we took them. We were there for a week (not on site) and we went every other day. We went in the summer and it was hot. We went back several years later (14 and 10) and had a blast! They could ride the rides and it was so much fun!!!

Our son just went this past April and he was able to go to Hogwarts that just opened at Universal. He said it was amazing! I can't wait to go!

Personally, I would wait until the younger O. is about 4.

We just went last year w/ our 4 yo and I think if your daughter is under 42 inches it is not worth the money as you need to be that tall to ride most of the rides.

You'll also need to consider how well your children do w/ waiting in hot sticky lines. We were there over a 2 week span the 1st week we waited around 20 mins.to 45 mins (most of the time) for the little kid rides and then the 2nd week it was spring break in most of FL and they offer residents a huge discount to the parks. The lines that week were an hour to 1.5 hours for the same rides. No lie... we actually stuck to the shows and movies that week b/c the lines were that bad. Even the lines for the characters were really long.

So I would do a little research and if you're going w/ kids that small I would stay on property b/c they have extended hours for on property guests and I would also go during a time of year that was not as popular.

It would be a lot of work for both you and your husband. For our first trip my youngest was barely 4, she really didn't get to ride as much as she wanted (a daredevil at that age) and we had to return to the resort a lot for rest.

We are going next January when my son will be 3.5 and daughter will be 5.5. My parents are paying for the majority of it....if we were paying for all of it out of our pockets, we'd wait until they are older so they can ride on the larger/more exciting rides. I figure we'll go next year, then again in 5 years when they are older and then again in 5 more years when they are teenagers so they will have a few experiences at different ages. My suggestion - wait until your youngest is at least 5...that way your oldest will be 8.5 and will be able to ride on more rides. Your 20 month old will not be able to ride on anything (or much) alone at this age.

I wouldn't go now. I'd wait until the youngest was 4 or 5. Go to the Dells instead. All you really need is a play area and a pool to keep your kids happy.

So not worth it. We went with the extended family (otherwise we wouldn't have gone) when our oldest was 17 months and one of his cousins was 29 months. There were very few rides they could go on, they didn't really understand the shows at all, there was just not much that they were interested in that we couldn't have done at a local park.

I'm planning to wait until my kids are more like 5 & 8 or 6 & 9. I would actually wait longer, but I know other family will want to go and I wouldn't want my boys to miss out if other family wanted to do a big trip.

I know many will say that the really young ones are at a magical age, but the magic fades very fast and then the reality sets in, "I'm tired, I'm hungry, how much longer till we get on the ride?" They're just too young.

Take them when they're older.

Oh bah humbug to the naysayers! We took our kids for Christmas in 2009 - they were 6, 4, and 2. Our youngest STILL remembers details and tells us about it. We were supposed to go again in September, but with my husband and I both changing jobs at that time, we didn't have the leave to go.

I think you go and make of it what you will. Don't jam pack your days and if you don't get it all done, you don't. But I think that's the perfect age to go!!

Tons of people were there with only babies when we went.

Plan naps! Get fast passes for busy rides, and just take it easy!

I'd wait.
Last time I went to Disney World every single place we went there was at least one screaming infant and multiple kids with reeking/leaking dirty poopy diapers and the parents were so busy trying to 'have fun' while not attending to their kids it ruined it for everyone around them (the smell had my eyes watering).
Granted there are parents who travel very well with babies and take very good care of their comforts and needs, but for every good one there seems to be 20 bad ones and it almost makes me wish Disney would ban kids who are not diaper trained.

I took my then 20 month old son then end of October. It was a lot of work, but I'm glad we took him. He LOVED the characters (he is not a fan of Santa, but LOVED all the characters at Disney World ran and hugged them all). He also LOVED the parades and live performances. He enjoyed the rides, especially Dumbo.

We stayed on site and rented a car. We were VERY glad we had a car for the week. We would get up and go to a park in the morning until lunch then come back to the room for nap. Then in the afternoon do something else like the pool or downtown Disney or a water park (which he LOVED, they have a section for toddlers)

If a ride had a long line we skipped it. We went with the mind set we will do what we do and not worry about missing anything.

We went off season and during a week that had a free dining package. If you can search for weeks they are doing deals and you can save money. We also booked through AAA which saved us even more money.

Just because they won't remember it doesn't mean they won't have a great time while you are there!

6 is the perfect age for Disney... If you are going to be in Orlando Seaworld will be much more fun for your kids.

I live with in driving distance to Disney land, so to me no age it too young to enjoy disneyland. Your oldest will not only remember it but have a blast! But if it truly is something you can only do 2 or three times their whole childhood then I'd wait. Ours was 24 months the first time we took her and she loved it.

My cousin and her husband took their two at those ages and regretted it tremendously. Halfway thru the day the kids had to go back to their room and take naps. They couldn't even make it to the fireworks and light parade at the end of the day. She said they enjoyed it but the kids didn't and really didn't remember it (some of the characters scared them). They went back when the kids were 4 and 6 and they had a much more enjoyable time. (they also go back every two years) They warned us and we waited until our girls were 6 and 8 and they had a blast. They are teenagers now and still remember and talk about it. We went for two weeks and spread everything out and didn't rush anything and it was great. We didn't have to worry about naps and the girls were excited to stay late with the late passes to ride rides and see the night shows. Like Tinkerbell flying down and lighting the castle. They were in awe. I'd wait another year and do something less expensive this spring. Good luck and God Bless.

At your kids ages, I would wait. We did Disney last year with our 3.5 year old daughter and we had a great time (and she still remembers quite a bit!), but we didn't have a younger child, and we plan to go more often (i.e. maybe every 2 to 3 years). I would agree with waiting until the youngest one is at least 4 or 5.