It’s the question every parent asks themselves, when their young child can’t watch enough Cars or Frozen. At what age should you take your kid to Disney World? Park tickets and lodging aren’t cheap, so it’s hard to know when it’s worth the money to take the whole fam. I can’t speak for every park, but when it comes to Magic Kingdom — the most iconic one of all, if you ask me — I say the perfect age is 3.
A few weeks ago, my husband and I found ourselves at the gates of Magic Kingdom, waiting with bated breath to see how it would register with our 3-year-old son, Cooper. I was invited on a media trip to see Disney’s latest cruise ship, the Treasure, and it included a stop at Disney World along the way. Our first stop was the Main Street Confectionery to get our kid the biggest lollipop on planet Earth. Once we had secured the bag, knowing this treat would keep him patient and pleasant while we made our way to the rides, we set off.
My main concerns with theme parks, and the reason we’d never taken our son before, was that he was scared of rides. I wasn’t sure this trip would be much better, but we started small: on the Tomorrowland Speedway, where we could take a slow drive around. He was hooked. Gleeful, we bought the multi pass Lightning Lanes, which cost around $90 for the three of us to get three passes each. We knew it was worth it to get him on as many rides as we could, with as little time for impatience or tantrums as we could achieve.
We rode Under the Sea, Cooper’s favorite, and I loved watching him marvel at the special effects and animatronics. Then It’s A Small World, which he loved for all the same reasons, and he still sings the song around the house. The Dumbo ride is where he really shone, bravely yanking that joystick upward to lift our elephant into the air after making me swear up and down I’d leave it at the lowest setting.
After we had used up our Lightning Lanes and exhausted all rides with short wait times, we strolled around looking for the perfect dinner spot and some light shopping. “I like this place!” Cooper exclaimed from his stroller, massive lollipop still clutched in a chubby fist. My kid is a major homebody — he’d rather stay home and play with his toys than do just about anything — so this was exceptionally high praise from him.
As we were heading toward the park’s exit, we heard music coming from the plaza in front of Cinderella’s castle. On stage, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and crew, along with Tiana, Elsa, and more iconic princesses, danced and sang. Olaf was there too, to my son’s delight. I hoisted him up to see and we was absolutely rapt. When the song ended, Mickey said (with that characteristic laugh), “Haha, isn’t this incredible?” “This is incredible,” my son whispered in return.
Finally, we popped back into the confectionary for some big-as-your-face Mickey Mouse-shaped cookies to snack on back in our hotel room, and then headed to the monorail. We spent about five and a half hours in Magic Kingdom, which I have to say was a truly perfect amount of time. We were tired, but not to the point of being cranky, and the walk back to the monorail wasn’t as agonizing as I felt it might be had we stayed longer. So that’s my other piece of advice for your first trip with a little one: don’t force yourself to spend an entire day if you feel satisfied on magic. Like any substance, for your first time, it is best consumed in moderation.
Will my son have crystal clear memories of this trip when he’s 10, 15, an adult? No way. But I think my husband and I will, and for now, we enjoy chatting with Cooper about the Dumbo ride he was so noble on and the giant lollipop he sucked on for so long his cheeks were stained blue for days. And we will definitely be visiting again soon for more rides, treats, and memories.
