Disney with a one year old - are we crazy lol

Garyjames220

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
hey

So we have been debating what to do for our first big trip with a one year old from the UK. We have been changing back and for to all different things but after lots of talking we are thinking

10 nights Caribbean beach resort (might change to a delux but need to see how money goes ) and then

4 nights on Disney dream

Few questions I would like a bit of advice on is

- is CBR a good resort for a one year old

- we were getting put off going as we are still young ourself and really want to do some of the thrill rides. We are going to do baby sitting a few nights. Has anyone else done this and how was it if u have

- my partner is a wee bit worried it will be VERY stressful this trip. Has anyone else gone with a baby this young that could put her at ease or would you wait till there older

-what’s everyone normally do at table service meals with your Wee one. Are strollers aloud ?

Any other advice would be greatful. We want to have a lot of fun with the wee one but also wants those thrill rides for ourself. So am glad baby sitting is provided at a cost of needed

I just hope we aren’t crazy going with a one year old lol
 
I don’t think your crazy!

DD has been at 10 months, 17 months, a little over 2 to DL, 3 and a half.

We currently have DLP planned with DD 4 and a half and a 10 month old and WDW when they are 5 and 13 months.

So nope I don’t think your crazy!

For some of your questions, I haven’t been to or stayed at CBR so I am not sure.

We do the thrill rides and do rider swap, I haven’t used the babysitting service.

We do TS about 1 a day strollers are not allowed, but if the child is sleeping they willl usually allow it, but not always so don’t count on this.

We love traveling to Disney with young kids, it built in entertainment and we never are bored or deal with not enough to do. Dd slept int wh stroller for naps on her first few trips!
 
I wouldn't say it's crazy, but definitely you'll have to adjust your expectations. Going non stop from park open to close probably won't happen. You'll need to go at a slower pace and take breaks. You know your child best, but 14 nights away from home and the normal routine could be tough. Especially when confined to a small hotel room and even smaller room on the cruise ship. I have no personal experience with the babysitting services, but I personally wouldn't feel comfortable leaving a baby alone with a stranger for any extended period of time. You may want to consider saving the thrill rides for a future trip and focusing this trip on the more family friendly attractions.

CBR is good for kids. Nice pool with splash area, playground, and areas to play in the sand. I would get a preferred room to be closer to the food court and common area.
 
Not crazy at all. We have taken our son at 11 months, 17 months, and 2 years. He loves every second. I know people say "why spend the money when they won't remember it" but to me that's silly. Do they take their kids to local parks, zoos, museums and children's centers at that age? Of course they do. To me it's no different.

As you'll hear a million times in this thread dont over do it. You know your kid best of course but make sure to keep their schedule as much as possible.

One main rule is we don't get in a stand-by line that's longer than 20 minutes(that's for both of our kids really).

Our personal touring plan with a young toddler is leisurely make it to the park by 9ish. We don't stress over rope drop. We make sure the kids eat and "do their business" in the room before we head out. We usually stay until noonish if he doesn't fall asleep in the stroller and head back for an afternoon nap. Then head back to the park after he wakes. If he does get a good nap in the park(our stroller converts to lay flat) then we will usually stay until 6 or so and then get him back to the room for dinner, bath and bed. We use park hopper a lot as we may switch parks after the nap. We rarely make things like fireworks or EMM/EMH, but we will do it on occasion with special planning to accommodate. We did MVMCP for instance and just made sure he had a very late nap, like 3-5, and then as much as I would have liked to have stayed until midnight to max out the value, we left right after the first parade.

Table service for us is a big pass. But again you know your kid. The time we went when he was 11 months he was still sitting quietly in a high chair so that was great. The next two times he WOULD NOT sit at table, so we just did mostly QS or ate in the room(we usually get a 1-bedroom DVC so we have a kitchen). Areas with outdoor seating where he could run a little while us parents took turns eating and watching him helped. I would say sitting at a table is the only issue he's had there. Stollers being allowed at TS or QS is hit or miss just ask and see. If there's a young child sleeping I doubt they'd say no.
 
Last edited:


i commented on your last thread, but we took our baby for his first trip at 7 months. we loved it.

no advice on cbr, because i’ve never stayed there. wherever you stay, do your best to create sleep conditions like at home. that’ll be a project at any hotel, really.

we’re young and love disney ourselves too. what worked for us was to use rider swap during the day when we were all in the parks.

it’s different but not that stressful. travel with a baby doesn’t need to be stressful. my advice is that you just need to be okay with your travel plans being different than the past. it’s a totally different experience to meet a character through your baby’s eyes.

no strollers in restaurants. they all have high chairs and staff that understands babies.
 
hey

So we have been debating what to do for our first big trip with a one year old from the UK. We have been changing back and for to all different things but after lots of talking we are thinking

10 nights Caribbean beach resort (might change to a delux but need to see how money goes ) and then

4 nights on Disney dream

Few questions I would like a bit of advice on is

- is CBR a good resort for a one year old

- we were getting put off going as we are still young ourself and really want to do some of the thrill rides. We are going to do baby sitting a few nights. Has anyone else done this and how was it if u have

- my partner is a wee bit worried it will be VERY stressful this trip. Has anyone else gone with a baby this young that could put her at ease or would you wait till there older

-what’s everyone normally do at table service meals with your Wee one. Are strollers aloud ?

Any other advice would be greatful. We want to have a lot of fun with the wee one but also wants those thrill rides for ourself. So am glad baby sitting is provided at a cost of needed

I just hope we aren’t crazy going with a one year old lol

We started traveling to WDW with our DS when he was 1. IMHO, when kids are that young, it's a trip, not a vacation. We had fun, but it was not a relaxing trip. You may be in WDW, but you are still parenting 24/7 and lugging a ton of baby stuff with you. The trip was slower paced and very kid-focused. We really had to go with the flow because my DS was in an unfamiliar place and his schedule was thrown off. Keep in mind, for the first few days, you will also be dealing with a time zone adjustment. What worked for us was early morning park touring, a lunch TS, afternoons back at the resort and then playing the evenings by ear. Sometimes we made it back to a park at night. Sometimes we just hung out at the resort. In terms of resorts, if there is any way you can afford a resort that is closer to the parks so you can keep stroller folding and buses to a minimum, I would do it. Even if it means a split stay to try to reduce costs. In terms of the cruise, again, unless you plan on utilizing the nursery a lot, you are simply parenting on a ship. It's not really fun, IMHO. When my DS was younger, we always took a babysitter or family member on our trips with us (at great cost, but it was worth it). It was the only way we could ensure some down time so we could relax and have some free time. I'm in the US and didn't start traveling internationally with DS until he was 6. Personally, I would wait until your child is older to fly all the way to the US and go to WDW. Have you considered Disneyland Paris if you want some Disney time? Or even one of the DCL cruises out of the UK?
 
I few mixed reviews really

Mybe the person who said do a Disney cruise around Europe till there a bit older may be better as it’s closer


Aghh this is so hard picking
 


You know what your toddler can handle, but dh did not want our kids going that early. So we took them a 6ds and 10dd. A cruise would be nice too!!
 
You know what your toddler can handle, but dh did not want our kids going that early. So we took them a 6ds and 10dd. A cruise would be nice too!!

and what *you* can handle. i read @DisneyWishes14 reply and it really
made me reflect. i loved taking my baby, but i can see the trip vs vacation line and why it might not feel worth it for some.

i guess it was a risk that our kids first flight was an international one. we did follow our baby’s schedule pretty closely, and we definitely hauled baby gear everywhere the whole week of our trip. my partner and i know ourselves and what we can handle, and we decided all the work was worth it for us. but it really might not be for others. i loved parenting in disney, but not everyone will.

OP: the fact is, traveling with a baby is different. it won’t be the same as when you visited pre-baby. maybe starting with a smaller, more local vacation is a good idea. it’ll give you a sense of how your whole family does traveling together and what factors you need to consider. there’s no right or wrong answer: some kids and some families will be okay at a young age, others will have a better experience if they wait.
 
and what *you* can handle. i read @DisneyWishes14 reply and it really
made me reflect. i loved taking my baby, but i can see the trip vs vacation line and why it might not feel worth it for some.

i guess it was a risk that our kids first flight was an international one. we did follow our baby’s schedule pretty closely, and we definitely hauled baby gear everywhere the whole week of our trip. my partner and i know ourselves and what we can handle, and we decided all the work was worth it for us. but it really might not be for others. i loved parenting in disney, but not everyone will.

OP: the fact is, traveling with a baby is different. it won’t be the same as when you visited pre-baby. maybe starting with a smaller, more local vacation is a good idea. it’ll give you a sense of how your whole family does traveling together and what factors you need to consider. there’s no right or wrong answer: some kids and some families will be okay at a young age, others will have a better experience if they wait.

Hmmmm. Am just thinking is going round a busy park with a stroller going to be fun

Am thinking Mybe a longer Disney cruise may be a better option after reading some of the reply’s and more relaxing with the nursary onboard too
 
Not crazy at all! Only advice I can think of, is bring a really good stroller (buggy) that baby can nap in! Go with the flow sometimes, and you can also take turns doing single rider lines at some thrill rides too!
 
Not crazy at all! Only advice I can think of, is bring a really good stroller (buggy) that baby can nap in! Go with the flow sometimes, and you can also take turns doing single rider lines at some thrill rides too!

Yeah good point

Just hope the parks wouldn't be to stressful if not a cruise may be better
 
Have you looked at the Disney for Families board here on the DIS? Lots of expertise there!
 
So hard.

Sometimes we think do a longer royal cruise

Then part of me thinks just the parks

And other part thinks 10 days parks and 4 night Disney dream

So hard. We just can’t pick

What would u guys pick
 
I find a Disney vacation to be less stressful then a beach vacation with young kids.

My daughter is bored at the beach in 2 hours, wants her iPad, wants me to play in the sand, wants dad to play catch. We don’t get a break it’s exhausting.

At Disney she wants to do 90% of the same exact stuff we want to do, meet princesses, ride mine train, see festive of the lion king, etc. It’s way more relaxing for me when we are all interested in doing the exact same activity.

Don’t get me wrong, we do both types of vacations, I’m just saying for my family neither is at all relaxing, and frankly Disney keeps us all on the same page 90% of the time. Which for mom is less stressful!
 
I find a Disney vacation to be less stressful then a beach vacation with young kids.

My daughter is bored at the beach in 2 hours, wants her iPad, wants me to play in the sand, wants dad to play catch. We don’t get a break it’s exhausting.

At Disney she wants to do 90% of the same exact stuff we want to do, meet princesses, ride mine train, see festive of the lion king, etc. It’s way more relaxing for me when we are all interested in doing the exact same activity.

Don’t get me wrong, we do both types of vacations, I’m just saying for my family neither is at all relaxing, and frankly Disney keeps us all on the same page 90% of the time. Which for mom is less stressful!

So u would do Disney parks only with a one year old
 
So u would do Disney parks only with a one year old

Personally I won’t do a cruise with a non potty trained child. They can’t use the pools even with swim diaper.

They can use pools at wdw with a swim diaper.

Listen I’m being 100% honest when I say this traveling with kids is different then before kids. But it’s amazing. I love it, we have done all different types of vacations, and will continue to do different types, but no cruises yet since DD2 is to little imo. Everyone’s mileage is different I have friends who have not traveled at all with thier kids and I have friends who have done significantly more travel then we have. No one can tell you what will work for your family. Honestly it’s not going to be relaxing no matter what you do. But it will be fun and a great memory no matter what you do.
 
Personally I won’t do a cruise with a non potty trained child. They can’t use the pools even with swim diaper.

They can use pools at wdw with a swim diaper.

Listen I’m being 100% honest when I say this traveling with kids is different then before kids. But it’s amazing. I love it, we have done all different types of vacations, and will continue to do different types, but no cruises yet since DD2 is to little imo. Everyone’s mileage is different I have friends who have not traveled at all with thier kids and I have friends who have done significantly more travel then we have. No one can tell you what will work for your family. Honestly it’s not going to be relaxing no matter what you do. But it will be fun and a great memory no matter what you do.

Yeah u mention rides like the mine train but wouldn't be able to do stuff like that

We would miss the thrill rides but was going to do baby sitting and try this child swap

As long as there is still enough for all three us

How old were your children when u went first with them, did u find table service dinning to be ok with them

If we done the parks only we would go for 14 days but could have more relaxing days like spending them at resort or even the water parks
 
Yeah u mention rides like the mine train but wouldn't be able to do stuff like that

We would miss the thrill rides but was going to do baby sitting and try this child swap

As long as there is still enough for all three us

How old were your children when u went first with them, did u find table service dinning to be ok with them

If we done the parks only we would go for 14 days but could have more relaxing days like spending them at resort or even the water parks

My daughters first trip she was 10 months (trip report in my signature). She has been since at 17 months, just over 2 to Disneyland and 3 and a half to WDW.

We will do DLP this year at 4 and 10 months, and the wdw at 5 and 13 months.

You can do rider swap, honestly there aren’t that many rides she can’t do at 1, only ones she can’t do have height restrictions she can do everything else.

14 days is along time, but do able, you can take it easy have resort days do day trips etc. You’ll have plenty of time for shows which she will love the music and singing.

I wouldn’t hire a babysitter to stay in the room with my kid at 1, but I would consider the service that comes with you to the park if I wanted to ride with DH. But honestly we took turns, skipped rides she couldn’t do, it wasn’t a huge deal to me, can do them another time.

ETA: I can’t decide for you, are you coming from the UK? What about testing out DLP first?
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top