Hey there Brenda,
Welcome to planDisney and thank you so much for this question! There are a number of us planDisney panelists who have taken our children when they were 3 or under, so you're in great company!
My family and I took a trip when our son was around 1, and then another trip when our daughter was about 6 months old. Both of those trips were incredibly special and we learned a lot about visiting with little ones!
First, to directly address your questions, only children who are 3 or older need their own
theme park tickets. For those little Mouseketeers under 3, they're able to enter the parks with you for free!
As for attractions, there are some attractions that they would not be able to ride (due to height requirements), and there might also be others that they could technically ride, but you might not want them to depending on their temperament - due to somewhat scary scenes for little ones.
There is a great
Height Requirements FAQ page that covers all the attractions that require them between the two parks. Additionally, I like to use the
"Young Families" filter on the Attractions page to get a good sense of what other attractions might be fun to experience with little ones.
Anecdotally, both of our kiddos rode just about all the attractions that they were able to ride when they were little and did really great. Typically, I recommend being a bit more careful about whether or not to ride scarier attractions like the Haunted Mansion,
Pirates of the Caribbean,
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, or
Pinocchio's Daring Journey, but anecdotally, my kids loved them when they were little! It just really depends on the child.
Also on the attractions page I referenced above, you'll see a "Scary" keyword for attractions that might be worth skipping.
Thanks again for your question, Brenda! I hope you have an excellent time visiting the Happiest Place on Earth!
Have a Magical Day,
Greg