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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

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Original poster

Disneyland Paris or Florida ?

37 replies

Tillyboo · 09/05/2007 17:15

Which is best to take a 3yo ??
We went to Paris last December and it was lovely but dh is talking about going to Florida.
I'm concerned it'll be too much for her as it's so big and wonder whether better to wait until she's a bit older ?
Plus I hate flying !!!!!!

OP posts:

MKG · 09/05/2007 17:34

If you do go to Florida try to book a meal with the princesses. My niece went when she was 3.5 and had breakfast with the princesses. the look on her face when she met cinderella was impossible to describe.

I have a friend that takes their kids when they are 3 (you see the sheer awe, and wonder on their face) and when they're 6 (big enough to remember, but not too big as not to care anymore)

She's not too little to go.

tiredemma · 09/05/2007 17:38

Florida. Its 100x cheaper for a start!

I found Disney in Florida to be an amazing experience for my boys, but I would LOVE a daughter to take there, For little girls- it must be the most magical place.

On our first day in Magic Kingdom- as we walked up Main st towards Cinderellas castle, I heard a gasp from a little girl behind me ( aged about 5)- her face was a picture, tears in her eyes- it was as if her dreams had come true, literally.

Califrau · 09/05/2007 17:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ladymuck · 09/05/2007 17:39

Florida is a better all round holiday. You go for longer and there's more to do so you can tailor it. Stick to Disney and Seaworld at that age imo. There is also a princess dress-up place at Downtown Disney now which you need to book. Agree that the Cinderella breakfast is fantastic, but you must book in advance - seriously!

Ladymuck · 09/05/2007 17:40

Tiredemma - I think that I was there at the same time as you. But my youngest ds is rather pink so we did have breakfast with the princesses!

tiredemma · 09/05/2007 17:44

I really wanted a daughter while I was there to go to the Biddidi Bobbidi Boutique with!

We loved it- best day though was Discovery Cove- Amazing.

Every part of our holiday was a dream- I would pay 'top dollar' to experience it again.

Original poster

Tillyboo · 09/05/2007 18:23

How long is the flight ?
I'm such a wuss about flying & on top of that I worry about terrorism etc....
I think of the worst AND
god knows why I started watching LOST, that was enough to put anyone off flying.

OP posts:

Ladymuck · 09/05/2007 20:24

I do want to do DC, but I have one of 6 and one of 4 so it didn't seem fair to the youngest. But we'll definitely be back!

The flight is 8.5 hours. My top tip for this age is if you have an ipod which does video you can either rip various dvds or set up your pc as a freeview box and record loads of Cbeebies. It has a stated battery life of 6.5 hours, and if you have short things on it is great for coping with any queues in the parks etc. Much handier than a dvd player say.

Hulababy · 09/05/2007 20:27

Flight is less than 9 hours. DD did it at 2yo and 4yo, to Florida Disney. Was no problems either time and she had a wonderful time at Disney both times also.

Whoooosh · 09/05/2007 20:28

Florida without a doubt-better weather,better shopping,better language (well at least it is a version of English)better holiday all round.

Go for it,terrorists can blow up a flight of 1hour or 24hrs-either way,completely nlikely.

You will have a lovely time.

Elasticwoman · 09/05/2007 20:51

I have only been to Disneyland Paris (and LA but that was 22 years ago) and it rained, + the only ice creams you could buy were Nestle (boo! hiss!). The Nestle monopoly may well be the same in Florida but the weather is likely to be better. Didn't have any probs with language in Paris - it's geared up for English speakers.

laughinglil · 10/05/2007 12:20

i would love to take my dt's florida. They are both 3. However I just think it would be a waste of money. They wouldn't properly remember it at three and I know there would be tears and tantrums because they couldn't go on the rides.
dh and I would love to go on all the rides too but if we went now it would mean one of us would have to queue to go on all the rides whilst the other went on the little rides with the kids. So we would hardly see each other.I think the best age is from around 6 or even a bit older.

mateychops · 10/05/2007 12:30

3 is a fantastic age, 'cos they still believe in the magic of it all AND they are still in a buggy, so no tired legs. DD was 3, now nearly 6 and has loads of memories, genuine ones that we have forgotten and weren't captured on video or on camera. Florida is deffo best, plus you can take a break in the afternoon by going to one of the water parks.

tubismybub · 10/05/2007 12:32

florida is definately better but not sure i would take a three year old

laughinglil · 10/05/2007 12:37

but how are the parents supposed to go on the rides that they want to go on? Whats the point in paying all that money for myself when i can't go on the rides i want to go on and no my two are definatly not in buggys any more only when they want a sleep and then they want to be walking all the time.
I just think its an expensive waste of time when it will cost the same amount of money in a few years time for more enjoyment.Plus I am hoping my two will still believe 'in the magic' for a good few years yet they are only little.

laughinglil · 10/05/2007 12:38

but even though I haven't been Florida, Paris was a let down. I didn't have kids then however.
For the moment I would rather take my kids chessington or on a nice beach holiday though. Florida when they are a bit older and we can all appreciate it.

mateychops · 10/05/2007 12:39

Looks like you've made up your mind then,

SoupDragon · 10/05/2007 12:41

Oh god, Florida no contest. DS2 went aged 2 and he had a whale of a time. DS1 was 4.

thedogsbollox · 10/05/2007 12:46

Laughinglil for most people the point of it is to see their children enjoy themselves rather than worrying over which rides they themselves want to do. Older children may well get more enjoyment from the rides available, but you will never see the look of utter magic on their faces as you do when a young child stands at the bottom of mainstreet and sees cinderella's palace in the distance on a bright sunny day

There are loads and loads of rides that a three year old can do and I didn't give a monkey's arse that there were rides that I might have liked to do - I'm not a child!

mateychops · 10/05/2007 13:24

I'm with you, db!

laughinglil · 10/05/2007 13:39

yes i am being selfish sorry that I do not wish to spend so much money when i can wait a few years and my children will remember it and go on the rides they want to go on without screaming their heads off because they are too little.
Couldn't think of anything worse than two children on an 8.5 hour flight. They would be knackered the whole holiday. What a lot of fun that would be.
I can still see the magic in their faces in a few years time.

laughinglil · 10/05/2007 13:41

well thats you dogsbollox but if I am going to pay a few thousand pound to go to florida I would like to enjoy myself as much as my children.
If I had all the money in the world I would go tomorrow.

Ladymuck · 10/05/2007 13:50

laughinglil, I think that you may be forgetting that Disney markets a lot of its parks at the kids anyway - Disney with kids is a great experience but a different one than without. We ended up seeing many more show for example, which we would have probably skipped last time. And my 3yo was definitely into meeting all the characters which again didn't particularly do anything for us prekids.

I guess though that if cost is a mjor factor and you're only going to ever go to Florida once, then it might be worth waiting until they are 6 or 7. But in my view we could happily holiday there say every 2 or 3 years and have a great holiday but one which would be slightly different each time (I'm hoping that I won't be queuign to meet Ariel next time for example!). I think that our holiday was helped by the fact that ds2 was 40 inches when we went (he was 3, but is below 50% centile), so he could go on Splash Mountain, Thunderoad Mountain etc.

But I think that you've already made up your mind. Back to the OP - don't worry about the flight. It can be done and all the Florida flights always seem to have good family entertainment on board.

MKG · 10/05/2007 14:47

Go for the food. Disney World has killer restaurants.

iota · 10/05/2007 14:52

laughinglil - you can get fast-passes for the major rides and then one parent goes on the ride whilst the other looks after the children and vice versa.

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