3&1/2 months too young for a Disney Trip??

[jmjdisneydad]

I am a little nervous, but have booked the trip anyway.
We will have a 3&1/2 year old and 3&1/2 for our trip to WDW in November. I (DH) am the only one who has ever beed there before, DW and DD3 are really excited. If anyone who has been in this situation (traveling with a new infant DD 3&1/2months) I'd love to hear it.

We are staying at a 4 bedroom pool home in Windsor Hills for two weeks.

I imagine we will buy 10 day park hopper w/ water park tickets, but don't know if I should purchase in advance or when we arrive. This way we can come and go as we want and don't have to worry about getting it all in, in a short period of time.

Of course we will be renting a jeep or something like that. I am hoping we will be able to take our infant seat and kids seat on the plane with us so I don't have to rent them.

We will be purchasing a Phil & Ted's Sport Double stroller to bring with us along with a baby bjorn. I think we will be able to navigate the parks with ability to let both kids ride or nap with this.

I'm not sure what else to expect as far as traveling with the infant, I can hardly remember what DD3 was like at that age.

Are there any rides or attractions that we can all do together, or are we going to have to take turns the entire trip?? What are some favorite whole family things to do??

Also I plan on character dining a few times, which ones might be best for us??

Thanks for any help.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I would talk to your pediatrician first.

 

[blessedby3]

We just did this in Jan. We took our 4 kids (18, 12 9 and 3 1/2 mos) to Disney for 10 nights. It was GREAT for the most part!! Our baby did fine, it was Grandma and DS that gave us problems. They both got sick while there and Gma twisted her knee getting off the airplane
The baby was a piece of cake. She rode in her stroller or in the baby bjorn with DH or the sling with me. She was nursing for the most part there (she went on a nursing strike- maybe all the stress of the sickness/accident?) and so we ended up having to get formula which we werent planning on. The parks to carry some (only carnation though). She went on many rides with us. We generally left her in the carrier and rode them. Lots of stuff in Fantasyland and then Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion. She LOVED the shows like Bear Jamboree, Lion King, Nemo and watched them intently. We traveled in Jan. and some evenings were cool. Besides her jackets we also took her bunting which came in very handy. I dont think I would travel in the summertime with a small infant. Too much chance of dehydrating. It gets very hot. November will be a great time to go. Just pack various types of clothes as the weather can be tricky. We went in Nov (2005) and it was pretty cold. Went again in Dec. (2006) and we were in shorts the whole time. Anyway, have fun with your new little one. Take lots of pictures of the baby with the characters and enjoy!!
Oh yeah, our favorite character meal is Ohanas for breakfast. Quite yummy. Chef Mickeys is also fun, but with a 3 1/2 yr. old the Crystal Palace may be better.

 

[JVL1018]

We went with our daughter at the same exact age in February 2000.
It was FINE, no worries-we did bring her carseat/stroller combo, and realized after the first day that since she was always in the carseat in her stroller at home, we needed to put her in the carseat in the stroller on vacation as well.
She wasn't liking the change. So I would just stroll the baby around the way you will at the parks.
We had the Baby Bjorn too, but usually used the stroller.

Other than that, it was easy peasy. She was sleeping through the night by then, as well, which made it easier..but since you'll be in a house, not a hotel room, even that doesn't matter for you.

We did Chef Mickey's and Chip and Dale spent 5 minutes playing with her while she laughed and smiled and grabbed at their noses and fingers-Chef Mickey's also has infant high chairs which was helpful.

She went on all the rides withotu a height restriction that we wanted to go on,all the Fantasyland rides except the carrousel, TTA, Pirates of the Caribbean, Hall of Presidents(she napped), Haunted Mansion(she was sleeping in the Baby Bjorn), in MGM(DHS now) we skipped the Great Movie Ride because it's pretty long and I was concerned that she may start to cry and bother others, in Epcot we did Spaceship Earth, and the ride in Mexico and Norway..really it's very easy to travel with a baby.

We stopped and gave her a bottle when needed, we relaxed and enjoyed, there was no gung ho-ness. She never cried when we were in a restaurant or a show, but if she had, we would have left immediatly.

We talked to the ped before we went and he said we shouldn't have any issues and that we could use sunscreen on her even though she was under 6 months.


Here she is on our way out of MGM--she found the parks pretty relaxing.

 

[PEANUT1]

Babies are really easy to take to the World....they sleep, eat, poop and repeat. The only thing I would worry about is flying with a newborn. There are so many viruses that are passed in confined spaces.

My kids got pneumonia about a week after we returned from our last trip (in November) and I bet it was from the plane. This past winter has also been really bad for the flu.

I probably wouldn't fly with a newborn unless I had to ...but that's me.

 

[Whitaker24]

What was the weather like in Nov at Disney? Son 3 year old wants to go this year and mom as well, however we already have beach trip planned for July or so. Maybe do disney in sept or maybe may of 09.

 

[_queenie_]

I took my two of my kids on vacation at three months, and suprisingly it wasn't that bad. One advantage I'll bring up in particular is that they usually sleep all the way through dinner (depending on the child, it sometimes helps to book late), and if they wake up they just look around (and both were far from "sleepers").

 

[dspads]

We did this in '04 with a 4mo and 2yo. The baby was really so easy. I worried about it a ton, also nervous it was going to be all new again the 2nd time around. But by then it was 'old news' already.

I'd just make sure to have a comfy stroller and carrier -I used the bjorn a bit. I also used the snap-in car seat in the stroller a few times, like restaurants and evenings. Our DS did not love laying flat in the stroller. Of course you don't know that stuff yet.

I did not have a seat on the plane for the baby and you are able to gate-check the carseat (in case there are extra seats they will let you use it for free -we got lucky 1 way).

The hardest part for me was the night feedings

The rides should not be a problem. there will be some you may want to do with older DC that you wouldn't want to take infant on, say Dumbo. But baby will be OK on most rides and shows that are appropriate for a 3yo. I was happy sometimes to sit out on a bench and rest a bit with the baby while DH rode with 2yo and vice versa! I remember bringing him on Safari, Jungle Cruise, Small World, Pirates, etc.

Also, character meals that are not buffets are in general easier. The only one I know off the top of my head is the breakfast served family style at the Poly with Mickey, Goofy, Lil, Stich.

Have fun!

 

[Conservative Hippie]

My DD was 12 days old for her first trip to WDW....but we do live here!

We have no trouble taking Baby to the parks. However, we always use the Baby Bjorn--she has never been in the parks in a stroller.

You can take Baby on anything that doesn't have a height requirement. Also, USE THE BABY CARE CENTER! Except for the one in MGM, they are wonderful!

 

[lucigo]

Although most likely everything will go fine, I would make sure to have trip insurance on anything you have to put money down on just in case. A lot of things can happen between now and November. Of my four children, three would have been great to take to Disney at 3-1/2 months. One, however decided to cry around six weeks and cried basically until he was eight months old LOL Doctors called it colic. He loved being in the Bjorn but the plane ride and car rides were insane. We had to drive from Florida to Maine when he was 5 months old because his grandfather was dying. We thought we would "break" him eventually...well we didn't. We stopped every 2 hrs and it was a very long drive. All I'm saying is you just don't know what you are gonna get LOL

 

[nateryan]

Just wanted to add...I wouldn't take the baby on the Safari in AK. It is a extremely bumpy and rough ride. We did take our 12 month old on (who ended up falling asleep on it ) but I had forgotten just how bumpy it was.

Definitely use the baby swap passes! It saves time because the person staying with the baby can go through the fast pass line with that pass.