DD is 10 and we have been every year since she was 2. Every kid is different, but in our experience, the pre-school years were magical and if you don't take them until they are older you are really missing out. At ages 2, 3, and 4 the characters and other things were all "real" and watching the character interactions with DD and DD's facial expressions during parades, shows, and rides was just amazing. At age 2, DD stood which her little hands clasped in front of her and sang the entire "A Dream is a Wish" song to Cinderella and everyone in the room parents, other kids, photographers, etc. (back then it was 3 princesses), stopped what they were doing once they realized what she was doing and watched her. That is one of my absolute favorite Disney memories. (Of course, some kids don't like characters-- DD has always loved them) At the ripe old age of 5 in kindergarten, non Disney kids- or kids with older siblings- started telling her that none of it was real. Also, in my experience, anyone who says that they don't want to go until their child is 40 inches and can ride the big rides, needs to consider that their child might not like the thrill rides even when they are 40 inches, or also that sometimes, kids who were fearless when younger develop fears and don't want to do things. At WDW, unlike other parks, there aren't that many thrill rides-- instead there are a ton of other family friendly rides- definitely more than enough for a fantastic trip with a young kid.
Here is our experience by year-also just to let you know our style- we discovered the afternoon break did not work for DD, so we were in the parks open to close with stroller naps, and then since she quit the the stroller we still pretty much stay in the parks from open to closing or near closing. We also usually stay a week or a day or two longer than that and go to parks every day:
2 --- Wonderful trip. I almost cried multiple times watching DD. She was so happy and in awe of everything and it was all "real". DD was better behaved at WDW than at home (she was "spirited" by nature). She had a giant smile on her face a lot of the trip. Possibly my favorite trip. For those not wanting to have to deal with the stroller- don't forget it is great for carrying things and for getting a kid from point A to point B in a hurry ( and DD never used a stroller at home after she took her 1st steps at 12 months).
3 --- we went twice due to deep discounts and the inlaws wanting a trip with us. DD was fine both trips- with the exception of a major meltdown one trip when we were getting on the boat to go back to the resort and catch magical express and go home. They were fun easy trips. She tended to be a pain in the butt at home (yep-"spirited"), but was very well behaved at WDW. If she started getting cranky, it usually meant she needed a snack, drink, or stroller nap. Since we were going to parks every day, it worked well to have DHS in the middle of the trip. DHS is heavy on shows for us, so it is a good slower paced more restful day- there is a lot more sitting than other days. All the sitting in shows, made for a good recharge day. She was 40 inches, and rode several of the thrill rides and really liked them- we rode some twice.
4--- another trip where DD was fine. She was more cautious about the thrill rides. She had to be bribed onto them the first time- but then most of them she wanted to ride again and said she had fun.
5-- We brought the stroller, and found out we still needed it. She did not have the stamina to keep up for full day in the parks without it. She was not as easy as at ages 2, 3, 4. She did not want anything to do with any of the thrill rides. She was much more scared of things than when she was younger. It was harder to get her on rides.
6--- This was the year she was a real pain in the butt. (We did both WDW and DL that year and it was the same both places). She had been told by several kids at school before our trip that nothing at Disney was real. She also had been told that only babies liked the Princesses- but she still loved the Princess so she told those girls she would like whatever she wanted (she is strong willed and doesn't let others tell her what to like or do). She no longer had a stroller, so we had lots of complaints about feet hurting, being tired, she walked SO slow and was dragging behind a lot. Getting anywhere was an ordeal because she was so slow! She was scared of just about everything. She did not want to ride ANY of the thrill rides, even the ones she liked in the past. She did not want to ride some of the other rides she had ridden multiple times before, never been scared of, and liked. She was suddenly scared of POTC and Haunted Mansion, and probably several others I can't remember. This was by far my least favorite age. Did I mention she was a real pain this year?
7- Her stamina was pretty good and she was better able to keep up. She was still a little bit of a pain in the butt and a ride chicken. By this age, she was well aware of what was "real", but the magic is still absolutely there- but it just isn't the same magic as those preschool years. I wouldn't give that preschool magic up for anything. We did the BBB (not for the first time), but this time she was the oldest kid in there at the time she was doing it (pretty much everyone else in there at that time was 5 and younger) and felt a little out of place and like she was too old for it. Other than the BBB day, she no longer wore Princess dresses to the parks (which when she was little- she did every day). She still loved to see and interact with all the characters, but it is different than when she was little and bouncing up and down with excitement, and they were getting on the ground to be at her level, or bouncing or dancing with her, or in Tink's case even playing hide and seek. She still talked to the characters and they were still great, but it wasn't the full out amazement on her side and them playing with the little girl who was in absolute awe of them at ages 2 through 5. We no longer had the little Princess running around the park being thrilled every time someone called her "Princess" because of her dress. If this had been our first trip, we would have missed out on Flying with Peter Pan, smashing acorns with Naveen and Tiana, bouncing with Tigger, playing Hide and seek with Rosetta and Tink, being so in awe of Aladdin that he invited her to ride the Magic Carpets with him and Jasmine, the Cinderella performance mentioned above; the Stepsisters and Stepmother spending a large amount of time with her and being absolutely hilarious because she was an Anastasia fan; the first time she walked into Magic Kingdom at age 2, and didn't take a 2nd glance at the castle, but spotted Pluto and patiently waited in line and then threw herself in his arms (paws?) like he was her long lost best friend; and many more special moments. We had so many special moments in those preschool years! They were definitely gone by age 7. This trip was better than age 6, but not as good as ages 2, 3 and 4.
8- Good trip again. She had the stamina to keep up and go open until near close. Still Disney Magic-- just not the same kind where everything is real and amazing like it is on the pre-school trip. Getting too old for some of the things she loved in the past- we booked the BBB, but she changed her mind and decided she was too old, so we cancelled before the trip. Some of the play areas she had enjoyed in the past, she still wanted to do, but she was one of the biggest kids there. Bribed her onto EE and she hated it. Some nights she was ready to leave before park close, and would tell us when she was ready to go.
9. Great trip- but definitely with an older kid. I get nostalgic looking at all the little Disney princesses. Finally, she was willing to ride most of the thrill rides. Willingly got on EE and loved it. Won't set foot on TOT even though she liked it last time she rode it. Won't set foot on RNRC. Too big for some of the play areas and other things she really liked in the past, and she was sad about that. She was tall for her age, and at DLR, where at that point you went to the show and had to get picked for Jedi Academy- we tried 2 or 3 times, and each time all the kids they picked were younger than her. She had been picked the year before- so it was not that big of a deal except it made her feel old (we had learned from the boards the year before that if you really want to be picked, not to give up and to try to get to multiple shows where the same people are still working as they often will recognize that you are coming back multiple times to try to be picked and will pick you). We tried one other time a different day when there was a different jedi master running the show, and that master did pick one or two older kids and she was one of them- so she did get to do it.
10. Great trip-- I still get nostalgic for those preschool days. She is now willing to ride all the thrill rides except TOT and she will only ride Splash at DL, not WDW. Loves EE. Finally agreed to try RNRC and was really excited about it --- had a panic attack and freaked out at the front of the line. The people around us, couldn't believe that we made her stay on (she had been talking about it all day and couldn't wait- and we knew if she got out of the car and exited, she would regret it in about 2 minutes and want to ride). Screamed like we were killing her the whole ride--- got off- acted like she didn't like it for about 3 minutes (enough time for the people around us to keep their opinion we were awful parents), then admitted it was fun and asked to ride it again. Rode it again another day and LOVED it. We are the ones wanting to go to bed now- she can get to the park at 8:00 a.m. and stay until midnight. She does not like to leave before the park closes, an if it is 9:00 p.m., complains that it closes too early. WDW is really fun with a 10 year old- and she is easy now- but I still would love another one of those preschool trips!
So, there is our year by year breakdown of how our child was at WDW. Hope it helps someone, but again every kid is different.
