Disney with a baby

[JB097]

Hi! We’re planning a Disney trip and it will also be our first vacation with an infant. (I’m due Feb 2019 and we’re planning a WDW trip November 2019) Any tips or suggestions for visiting Disney with a baby? We’re already planning on staying on the monorail loop so we don’t have to wrestle with opening/closing the stroller often.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Hi! We’re planning a Disney trip and it will also be our first vacation with an infant. (I’m due Feb 2019 and we’re planning a WDW trip November 2019) Any tips or suggestions for visiting Disney with a baby? We’re already planning on staying on the monorail loop so we don’t have to wrestle with opening/closing the stroller often.

one thing daughter did for grandson for his trip at 4 months old was his own photobook. for years he could tell you what he did on his first trip even though he had no "real" memories of the trip. this book was beside the family one which had pictures of everyone and had only pictures of him doing rides and characters with a few that had everyone.

 

[verleniahall]

I would wait until they are older

 

[stephk1981]

You all are going to have an amazing trip! We took DD this past April at (6 1/2) months. We had a great time. We didn't do a ton of rides each day. Mainly our 3 fp plus maybe 2 more. We used Kids Nite Out ,( they are amazing!,)one day to watch her while we took DS9 to Typhoon Lagoon. The only thing that was a bit challenging were table service meals. The first half of the trip it was only me and DS, DD. She would cry after sitting for too long and I'd have to get up and walk her around. When DH got there the 4 th day, we took turns. We always have done TS meals, normally one per day on every trip.... I should have picked maybe 2 TS for the whole trip. We had a great time, I am taking g DS will be 10 and DD will be 13 months old by myself again in November for 10 nights....so it was obviously very doable with a baby! Wishing you all magical memories for your baby's first trip........oh, also depending on when in February, if it is a crowded time of year, I would build in extra time for travel. It had been so easy without a stroller for so many years to squeeze into any monorail car. This time with baby in stroller it was harder to find space when the monorail did arrive. Twice we had to wait for the next one( no big deal!)....but all the monorail cars were too full for another stroller.

 

[LSUmiss]

one thing daughter did for grandson for his trip at 4 months old was his own photobook. for years he could tell you what he did on his first trip even though he had no "real" memories of the trip. this book was beside the family one which had pictures of everyone and had only pictures of him doing rides and characters with a few that had everyone.

Love this idea! We are taking our 6 1/2 mo old (then) in Nov.

 

[LSUmiss]

You all are going to have an amazing trip! We took DD this past April at (6 1/2) months. We had a great time. We didn't do a ton of rides each day. Mainly our 3 fp plus maybe 2 more. We used Kids Nite Out ,( they are amazing!,)one day to watch her while we took DS9 to Typhoon Lagoon. The only thing that was a bit challenging were table service meals. The first half of the trip it was only me and DS, DD. She would cry after sitting for too long and I'd have to get up and walk her around. When DH got there the 4 th day, we took turns. We always have done TS meals, normally one per day on every trip.... I should have picked maybe 2 TS for the whole trip. We had a great time, I am taking g DS will be 10 and DD will be 13 months old by myself again in November for 10 nights....so it was obviously very doable with a baby! Wishing you all magical memories for your baby's first trip........oh, also depending on when in February, if it is a crowded time of year, I would build in extra time for travel. It had been so easy without a stroller for so many years to squeeze into any monorail car. This time with baby in stroller it was harder to find space when the monorail did arrive. Twice we had to wait for the next one( no big deal!)....but all the monorail cars were too full for another stroller.

We are taking our DS in Nov & he’ll be 6 1/2 mos then. Was your DD used to table service meals at home or was this a new experience for her? I’m asking b/c we take DS out to sit down restaurants a good bit now & he’s usually entertained by us just playing with him or giving him a toy while we eat. He’s almost 5 mos so I know that might change but so far it hasn’t. Just wondering your experience. We have a good bit booked now, but it’s mostly character.

 

[stephk1981]

We are taking our DS in Nov & he’ll be 6 1/2 mos then. Was your DD used to table service meals at home or was this a new experience for her? I’m asking b/c we take DS out to sit down restaurants a good bit now & he’s usually entertained by us just playing with him or giving him a toy while we eat. He’s almost 5 mos so I know that might change but so far it hasn’t. Just wondering your experience. We have a good bit booked now, but it’s mostly character.

Congratulations on the new baby!!! And baby's first trip that's exciting!! We normally go out once a week.....perhaps the difference was the wait at the restaurants we chose. At home we will go to normal places to eat TS meals.....Texas Roadhouse etc. , Our normal in and out time is 40-45 minutes. At Disney we ate at our normal favorites ( Teppan Edo, Yachtsmsn, Narcoossee, Le Cellier etc. ) I think DD was complacent for the first 30 minutes of the meal, but after that she got whiny. So about the same amount of time that she does well at restaurants at home, but meals seemed to take longer at those restaurants. For our upcoming trip I am making sure to not schedule anywhere near nap time!
I am sure your DS will be fine, he is going to have an amazing first trip. For character meals you can always walk him around to see new things until they come to your table....my daughter didn't like to be ' stagnant' or just sitting for an hour. Good luck, it will go well!

 

[LSUmiss]

Congratulations on the new baby!!! And baby's first trip that's exciting!! We normally go out once a week.....perhaps the difference was the wait at the restaurants we chose. At home we will go to normal places to eat TS meals.....Texas Roadhouse etc. , Our normal in and out time is 40-45 minutes. At Disney we ate at our normal favorites ( Teppan Edo, Yachtsmsn, Narcoossee, Le Cellier etc. ) I think DD was complacent for the first 30 minutes of the meal, but after that she got whiny. So about the same amount of time that she does well at restaurants at home, but meals seemed to take longer at those restaurants. For our upcoming trip I am making sure to not schedule anywhere near nap time!
I am sure your DS will be fine, he is going to have an amazing first trip. For character meals you can always walk him around to see new things until they come to your table....my daughter didn't like to be ' stagnant' or just sitting for an hour. Good luck, it will go well!

Congrats to you too! Thank you for the info. I tried to pick things that are similar to what we do at home & also character dining. We have a lot though b/c we hate CS, but are prepared to cancel if things don’t go well. But, he loves to eat so that’s how we entertain him now when we eat out. You said y’all didn’t ride much. What was the reason for this? I figured he may enjoy all the rides that we are able to take him on which is quite a few at Mk. I kinda figured as long as we keep to his usual schedule he’ll be ok.

 

[buzznina]

We have been going to WDW since our 1st DD was 6 months old and they were great trips. Both DDs were so easy to deal with on the trips and the videos we took from those trips, are both our DDs favorite ones to watch over and over. Like you, our 1st trip was at POLY so we could use the monorail, but we learned that dealing with a stroller on the buses were not even close to the hassles people posted. We did try to take afternoon breaks but after 2 days of failures and wasting a lot of time, we found that our DD when tired would just fall asleep in the stroller
Tips: Just look at the maps of each parks to know where their baby care centers are just in case you need one.
We tried not to take our DD on any load or real dark rides, and when watching the fireworks we would be farther away for less noise.
Just take it slow, relax and enjoy.

 

[Beth33]

I have a friend who recently had a baby and is thinking about a trip next year. She's talked to me about bringing one of those strap on carriers in case LO got fussy (her baby likes to be held), making a list of playground-ish areas where she can let LO crawl around and get the wiggles out, and making a list of quiet areas to retreat to if LO seems overwhelmed/overstimulated. I'm sure you'll have a great trip!

 

[stephk1981]

Congrats to you too! Thank you for the info. I tried to pick things that are similar to what we do at home & also character dining. We have a lot though b/c we hate CS, but are prepared to cancel if things don’t go well. But, he loves to eat so that’s how we entertain him now when we eat out. You said y’all didn’t ride much. What was the reason for this? I figured he may enjoy all the rides that we are able to take him on which is quite a few at Mk. I kinda figured as long as we keep to his usual schedule he’ll be ok.

I think your DS will be fine then! For some reason my kids don't like characters lol...so we don't do character dining, and when we went April, DD wasn't on table food yet. I think her getting to eat what we eat will make a difference this November!

As far as rides, we have DS who was 9 and don't live overly far, so go semi frequently. It was more about DS not wanting to wait in a lot of lines after our 3 fp, we added a fourth then fifth most days. After that he is ready to go back to the resort to swim. DD went back to nap, but would have napped on a stroller or ergo had we wanted to do more rides. Trips with baby's are different, but I didn't feel like it was ' negative' different or that much harder.....just different. Honestly, we didn't have any crying fits or tantrums, and if your DS does well out, I don't think you will either! We kept DD on her normal schedule, as you said you were going to with DS. It helped a lot. The only thing besides the TS meals, which wasn't a huge deal, was not getting to go on the height restricted rides as a family. We did take advantage of rider swap, so DH and I both got to ride with DS. When DS was too small to go on those rides DH and I just skipped them. Now DS still wants to go on them obviously. When we go in November without DH I have hired KNO to help with DD a few days so I can ride larger rides with DS. I hope you all have such an amazing trip! I remember our first trip with DS, it really was magical Take lots of pictures and videos for memories!

 

[Missyrose]

Congratulations on baby! We took our daughter to Disney at 7 months and here are a few things we learned:

*Baby wear when possible. I know it's hot and the baby gets heavy, but she really loved being able to be higher up and see everything rather than being stuck in the stroller all day.

* We rented a car even though we were staying at Grand Floridian. Being able to go back and forth to Epcot/DHS/AK/Disney Springs by car meant no waiting for buses and the cool, quiet car was a nice break from all the over-stimulation of the parks.

*Bring noise-canceling headphones for fireworks and shows (they can get loud).

*Take things slow, we didn't do much more than our FPs each day. We saw shows and parades, did character meals and just people-watched in the parks.

*We rented a stroller instead of bringing our own (we rented a City Mini from Magic Strollers)

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[JB097]

Thank you for the ideas and feedback!

One more question, do you think it would be better to skip a standard hotel room and opt for a one bedroom villa instead? I’m sure the separate sleeping space and kitchen could come in handy

 

[Missyrose]

Thank you for the ideas and feedback!

One more question, do you think it would be better to skip a standard hotel room and opt for a one bedroom villa instead? I’m sure the separate sleeping space and kitchen could come in handy

We were in a DVC studio, so we had a kitchenette, which was handy. But we didn't feel like going up to a one-bedroom villa was necessary. The full kitchen isn't something we need on vacation and we lived just fine without the separate bedroom.

 

[kanadar]

Congratulations! We took our son on his first trip when he was 3 1/2 month old. Find what works for your baby. For example, my son did not like to sleep on us, so the baby wearing idea didn't work for us. He did however like sleeping in his stroller. Make sure you take a fan with you. It was definitely a life saver for us. We went in November last year and it was still quite hot. We used the Chicco Keyfit caddy as the stroller and had his car seat. It worked really well, and some restaurants they let us bring the stroller in since it didn't really take up anymore room than a high chair would.

He did pretty well in restaurants, and I think we had TS reservations almost every day we were there. He was used to being out at restaurants. We stayed in a DVC room at the Poly. It was nice to have the kitchenette, and honestly, we set up the pack in play in the smaller bathroom lol. This worked out super well for us because we were still able to do things while LO slept. We did take a break in the middle of the day, but that is something we typically do anyway.

Sounds like your LO will be about 8-9 months when you go. I would just suggest maybe being back at the resort for 1 nap, so they can get a good nap in. Really, just take this trip at a leisurely pace. You'll quickly find out what works for you and what doesn't work for you. Have some rides planned, but know that you probably won't get to everything. If you're like us and have been several times and will go again (LO's second trip is in about a month!) don't worry about missing things! Enjoy your time in the happiest place on earth with your LO!

 

[Beth33]

When our oldest was a baby, we always found that we enjoyed trips *much* more when we had a separate sleeping space for the kidlet. He seemed to sleep better and thus feel happier. And when your baby is happier, you are happier! If it isn't a strain financially, I'd upgrade to the 1 BR. If it isn't in your budget right now, though, I wouldn't worry about it too much. You'll find a way to make things work. Taking a mid-afternoon nap has it's appeal even for adults at WDW

 

[YesterDark]

Hi! We’re planning a Disney trip and it will also be our first vacation with an infant. (I’m due Feb 2019 and we’re planning a WDW trip November 2019) Any tips or suggestions for visiting Disney with a baby? We’re already planning on staying on the monorail loop so we don’t have to wrestle with opening/closing the stroller often.

I went with my son when he was 8 months old a few years ago along with my 2.5 yo daughter at the time. Tips?

1) Plan your vacation around breaks. Take lots of them. By breaks I mean sit down meals, parades, shows etc. Things to do that aren't walking.
2) Make sure your diaper bag is a backpack and not a shoulder strap bag.
3) Bring an ergo carrier so carry the baby on your back/front. You can park the stroller somewhere and walk without it when you're in a specific land.
4) If you're breast feeding, Disney has areas for this. Make sure you know where they are.
5) Depending how your baby is, you may really need a reclining stroller. I have a 3rd child now that is nearly 9 months old and she probably wouldn't need a full reclining stroller right now but all babies are different. If you can get away with an umbrella stroller, do it!

Most important at all, have fun as a family and build those memories together and enjoy yourself. Don't try to do too much. You'll be back another time.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but my best advice is to stay offsite. Now that my kids are older we absolutely prefer being onsite. But with babies, it was so much easier renting a condo or house. Many of them come with all the baby equipment you need... crib/pack n play, high chair, gates, etc. Having a separate sleeping space for the baby and a living area (and even a pool/hot tub) to hang out in once the baby is sleeping for the night, is priceless. Access to a kitchen for cleaning bottles is so convenient, as well as easy access to laundry. I totally get the appeal of the monorail loop, but those rooms will generally be tiny and super expensive. Unless this is a once in a lifetime trip, I would stay offsite and save some money for future trips.

 

[Beth33]

You've gotten some great advice, OP! One thing I wanted to mention: if you choose to breastfeed, you can do so anywhere that is safe and comfortable. If you are most comfortable in a more private space, each park has baby care center with a nursing space and I'm betting there are discrete spots in each of the parks to tuck yourself away. You could probably use google to find some. If you are comfortable nursing on a bench in the middle of the park, that's fine too. Though I don't think they'd let you nurse on BTMR

 

[YesterDark]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but my best advice is to stay offsite. Now that my kids are older we absolutely prefer being onsite. But with babies, it was so much easier renting a condo or house. Many of them come with all the baby equipment you need... crib/pack n play, high chair, gates, etc. Having a separate sleeping space for the baby and a living area (and even a pool/hot tub) to hang out in once the baby is sleeping for the night, is priceless. Access to a kitchen for cleaning bottles is so convenient, as well as easy access to laundry. I totally get the appeal of the monorail loop, but those rooms will generally be tiny and super expensive. Unless this is a once in a lifetime trip, I would stay offsite and save some money for future trips.

I personally wouldn't do this with a baby/infant/toddler. Lots of travel time.