Disney with an almost 5 month old

[sailors_wfe]

I just thought I'd post this quick trip report now before I forget all the details, so that I can hopefully help out another family going with little ones. This was our first trip with a baby... and let me start off by saying that it changed more of our touring style then I thought it would The main thing-- we usually park hop--starting off for Rope Drop at one park and switching after mid day break to another park for the evening. That is a BAD idea now... it probably didn't just have to do with our DD as much as the combination of DD and my MIL who is in a wheelchair (and on her first disney trip). We spent the first 3 days of our trip miserable (DH and I at least) because we constantly felt rushed but like we weren't accomplishing much (our first day at MK we managed to get on 3 rides.. and it was DEAD at the parks!!!) Until we figured out to change our schedule around so we were only at one park a day and were pretty much done with the parks by dinner time... then our moods much improved so on with the tips... BTW.. we split our stay between Bay Lake Towers and Animal Kingdom Lodge Club Level (in case anyone was curious LOL)

#1 tip as stated above... DON'T plan on park hopping
#2 bring alternatives for carying your baby... I brought our City Classic Stroller; our Ergo Carrier and my Moby Wrap... I gave up with the stroller by day 3 as I usually ended up carrying her and pushing the stroller,, which I tended to forget and leave sitting somewhere LOL.
#3 Plan down time in each day...Plan on getting to the parks at rope drop and either calling it quits after dinner or taking a break somehow during the hottest parts of the day
#4 I heard this from several people while I was talking with them--don't plan on your baby sleeping much the first few days... DD was so tired and miserable the first 2-3 days but she wouldn't take a nap... by day 3 she was back to normal and slept on me through almost everything.
#5 don't plan character meals at nap time (LOL) doh! I planned her first introduction to Mickey and the gang right at nap time on our 3rd morning... needless to say, she was grumpy until about 5 minutes before the characters got to us.. promptly fell asleep right before they got to us and slept through the rest of the meal!
#6 Baby care centers are GREAT!!! I never changed a diaper in a park bathroom.. it was worth it to schelp us over to the BCC in the parks to cool off and take a break.. I usually fed her in there too.. she had trouble focusing on eating if I fed her in the middle of the parks..
#7 make sure you have everything you need for the day in your diaper bag...one day DH fixed our formula container but didn't put it in the bag, the baby care center didn't have any formula for young babies (only had 9 months +) except for Soy and that was $22 for a SMALL can (usually $10-15 in Walmart)... also don't expect them to be as hungry... DD would go 4 or so hours between feedings when she usually is screaming for food every 3.. sometimes at 4 she wasn't even acting hungry, but I fed her anyway

I guess that's it for now... we way overpacked... broght home half a pack of diapers... 2 packs of wipes.. almost a whole can of formula..3 containers of baby food... WAY too many clothes (we had a washer/dryer so that helped)

We did have a blast... didn't see the reactions I expected out of her during this trip... but we have our next one planned and she'll be almost a year, so that should be fun

[GeorgiaAristocat]

Thanks for the advice!

I'm planning to take our (will-be-then) 5 1/2 mo old next May. You gave me some food for thought!

Q - this is your first child, yes? We will also have the 7 and 5 year old along. Yes, I MIGHT be a little nuts.

[smkiya]

Thanks for sharing. I'll be going in 4 weeks with dh, dd (will be 5 on trip) and ds (will be 4.5 months), and your tips have made me feel much better.

#1 tip as stated above... DON'T plan on park hopping Glad I only have base tickets, was thinking about upgrading, now I won't
#2 bring alternatives for carying your baby... I brought our City Classic Stroller; our Ergo Carrier and my Moby Wrap... I gave up with the stroller by day 3 as I usually ended up carrying her and pushing the stroller,, which I tended to forget and leave sitting somewhere LOL. Thanks for this tip, the shopping for one begins!
#3 Plan down time in each day...Plan on getting to the parks at rope drop and either calling it quits after dinner or taking a break somehow during the hottest parts of the day We were thinking of maybe doing rope drop and finishing up the day at about 4pm, with a full day of downtime planned.
#4 I heard this from several people while I was talking with them--don't plan on your baby sleeping much the first few days... DD was so tired and miserable the first 2-3 days but she wouldn't take a nap... by day 3 she was back to normal and slept on me through almost everything. This I wasn't expecting, though DS is sleeping less often through the day now, I'll have to let you know how he does on my trip report
#5 don't plan character meals at nap time (LOL) doh! I planned her first introduction to Mickey and the gang right at nap time on our 3rd morning... needless to say, she was grumpy until about 5 minutes before the characters got to us.. promptly fell asleep right before they got to us and slept through the rest of the meal! We have character meals at breakfast and dinner, was considering something else, but will skip it now.
#6 Baby care centers are GREAT!!! I never changed a diaper in a park bathroom.. it was worth it to schelp us over to the BCC in the parks to cool off and take a break.. I usually fed her in there too.. she had trouble focusing on eating if I fed her in the middle of the parks.. Looking forward to checking them out, many people have given good reviews about them
#7 make sure you have everything you need for the day in your diaper bag...one day DH fixed our formula container but didn't put it in the bag, the baby care center didn't have any formula for young babies (only had 9 months +) except for Soy and that was $22 for a SMALL can (usually $10-15 in Walmart)... also don't expect them to be as hungry... DD would go 4 or so hours between feedings when she usually is screaming for food every 3.. sometimes at 4 she wasn't even acting hungry, but I fed her anyway I'll be breastfeeding, but I remember once I dropped dd at sil when she was a baby and received a phone call that I forgot to pack her diapers , luckily she fit one of nieces doll diapers until sil was able to run to the store... DOH! (I haven't lived that one down...)

I guess that's it for now... we way overpacked... broght home half a pack of diapers... 2 packs of wipes.. almost a whole can of formula..3 containers of baby food... WAY too many clothes (we had a washer/dryer so that helped) I just posted a thread about my overwhelming packing experience. I know I'll have too much, but I guess it's better than too little

We did have a blast... didn't see the reactions I expected out of her during this trip... but we have our next one planned and she'll be almost a year, so that should be fun Glad you had a great time! I'm happy to see that traveling with a youngin can be good times too!