Hey!! Wanted to give you some thoughts! Every kiddo is different, though, so let me know if you have specific questions!
Trips at 7 months old vs 17 months old
Things that were easier:
- he was OBSESSED and I mean OBSESSED with the characters. He liked them and smiled last time but this time I was literally brought to tears watching him interact! So much fun! If your little one loves Disney Jr characters and Mickey I’d prioritize character Fastpasses if you can. I hate that Epcot puts the Character Spot in Tier I but we didn’t have a problem getting one after we rode Frozen and could make a new one.
- he was a little more flexible on this trip. He could handle napping in the stroller a little better and his schedule being adjusted from his normal home schedule. I was so nervous to change it up but last time we did NOTHING because my priority was his schedule.
- eating - it was fun to try new things and watch him enjoy some Disney faves like a few tastes of a Dole Whip!
- taking the buses! Last time we rode the bus once and I was done. He wasn’t super stable and I didn’t have a carrier and those bus drivers can slam on breaks and cut corners like no other. I felt unsafe holding him. Shout out to all the Mamas I saw rocking it with the littler ones. This time he LOVED the buses! He would sit on my lap so nicely and watch out the window or “talk” to other kids and it really added to the experience! We joked that we could’ve saved the $800 in park tickets and just rode the buses! Ha!
- the baby care centers - we liked them so much more this time since we didn’t need to worry about having quiet, private places to feed and rock him. We just made ourselves take him in and change him every time we were near one to avoid any emergency cross park treks/runs to change. I did change him in the bathrooms a few times but he HATES laying on those hard shelf things!
Things that were harder:
- he’s not fully walking yet so there I had this BUNDLE of energy who literally spends all day crawling around our house chasing balls and I stuck him in a stroller all day. It was hard to give him chances to get out his energy since he isn’t walking. Most floors (including our resort room) were not very clean, but I sucked it up a few times and let him crawl on the ground & resort floor a little. Epcot has an awesome Wreck it Ralph playground only for kids ages 2-5 and they let him in and (although he couldn’t do much,) it was super cool that they have it and I wish all the parks had something like that!
- finding places that had food we thought he’d like and eat AND that had food we thought we’d like and eat! Haha! Also, healthy options were available but not everywhere and not always what he’d eat. We took tons of snacks in our park bag but I think we “over Puffed” him when he was having rice with meals a lot and he got constipated (sorry for TMI!)
- a few of the parks didn’t have a ton he could ride or do so there was quite a bit of “down time.” I tried to schedule it so his naps fell when his Dad would be riding the big stuff but his schedule changed right before the trip and FPs weren’t always available to change and we had later nights than he has at home so it didn’t always work out the way I planned it and I had to just find a way to roll with it
- last time we did very little in the parks and he napped and slept AMAZINGLY well, this time he met so many characters, rode so many rides, had a million giggles and tons of fun but he slept AWFUL. It was a trade off we were willing to try but it made for three very exhausted troopers by the last day and a rough drive home.
I’ll post again if I can think of more! Let me know if you have specific questions!