9 month old and disney

[caitlynw72]

I am looking for any advice about bringing my 10 month old son to disney with my husband. Places to stay, eat, tips. We are military as well so if someone knows info about places to look that would be great! We are planning to go November 2017 and my son will be 10 months.

 

[kniquy]

With being military Shades of green I believe gives decent rates (i am not military so i don't know how good the pricing is compared to other resorts). Not sure if there are any park ticket deals (others can chime in here). You can certainly price out other resort options and might actually consider a monorail resort to make going back for nap time a little easier/quicker. Over all resort/park transportation is pretty efficient so getting back and forth isn't too difficult. I believe pack in plays might be standard in all rooms. If your little one is good in restaurants then maybe plan a couple table service meals (keeping in mind usual nap times), if not then there are plenty of great quick service restaurants at the resorts and parks. Probably the best thing you can do is plan you day around your son's usual schedule. If he is an early riser then hit the parks at opening stay until lunch and then back to the resort for an afternoon break. If he is a good stroller napper then you could certainly spend more time at the parks and just make it an early evening. At least you are planning on a good time of year when it won't be so hot out -nothing is worse than a hot, cranky baby.

I have never used it but there is a rider swap if you and hubby want to ride the same ride but one has to stay behind with the little one. You could read up on that to see if it would work for you or what rides have that option.

Keep in mind for a November trip dining reservations open up 6 months ahead (which is around now). Fast passes are 60 days out if staying on property.

There is a lot to plan for a disney trip but you still have time to make it a successful and enjoyable trip.

Thank you for your service to our country!!

 

[Sundowner2]

Being military, you guys can stay at Shades of Green, right? I don't know much about it, but some friends of ours were in the Army and that's where they've always stayed. We always stay at Pop Century, and here's why. It's a value resort, but it had EVERYTHING you need. It's quiet in the 50's section over looking the lake and it doesn't share bus service with any of the other resorts. Art of Animation is just a short stroll over the lake away, so if the Art of Animation bus arrives before Pop Century bus, we just take that and enjoy the walk. There's a huge food court with loads to choose from and the people are so, so nice there. This will be our 3rd visit there. We just love it so much, we don't want to risk any other place.

For eating, I would suggest getting the Unofficial Guide Book for Walt Disney World. Yes, it's massive, but if you've never been before, it's SUCH a wealth of information. You get pretty in depth descriptions of the hotels, rides and restaurants. That's how we've always picked ours and have been pleased.

https://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-G...ds=unofficial+guide+to+walt+disney+world+2017

Our favorite places:

Magic Kingdom : Be Our Guest for breakfast. Cosmic Ray's for lunch, and Peco's Bills for Dinner. (though, not always in the same day, we can't eat that much lol!)

Animal Kingdom: Flame Tree BBQ

Hollywood Studios: Backlot Express. The only place we know of, other than Be Our Guestor resort food courts that (as of right now) has free refills on drinks.

Disney Springs: Wolfgang Pucks

All those are considered quick service, but don't taste it. My husband loves the ribs at flame tree BBQ, and the fajhits as Pecos Bill. The chicken and waffles, or chicken sandwiches at Backlot express are really good too, as is the half chicken, green beans and mashed potatoes at Cosmic Rays.

You can read through the menus here.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/

We've always done the quick service dining plan, it works well for us, especially with little kids because it doesn't take a lot of time, and the food is still pretty good.

 

[snowwhite84]

We are taking our baby for her first trip, and she will be 9 months, so I have done tons of research. Like pp said, we are staying on the monorail to make transport to and from MK easier. We plan on letting her set the pace, and keep our expectations of how much we can do in a day low. If we get to do tons of stuff, great! If not, no sweat. We are staying in a studio at Bay Lake Tower, so we'll have the kitchenette area for bottles. And we will likely use uber a few times for easier transportation when we can't use the monorail Uber is super easy to use at Disney!

Also, make sure you know where the baby care centers are at each park. Looking forward to seeing other tips on here!

 

[Dismama2boys]

For us traveling with kids, a kitchen and washer and dryer were non-negotiable. As was having a separate space from the baby, so that we could be awake and watching tv or whatnot while he was sleeping. We stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek for those reasons, but we prefer to use our car and not Disney transportation.

Definitely utilize the baby care centers! I found it much easier to change diapers there than in the bathrooms.

Switching back and forth between the stroller and a baby carrier made our trip much easier - in fact I would never go there without a baby carrier. It was definitely necessary for waiting in lines, and on some rides.

We found it super easy to travel with our littles at that age. Have a great trip!

 

[KristinU]

My DS is 13 now, but his first trip was at 9 months. If you are formula feeding, one of the best pieces of advice I got was from our pedi to mix his bottles with room temp water and not mess with heating them. That was awesome for travel and middle of the night feedings, made life so much easier! Same with baby food, we didn't mess around with heating (except for homemade baby food from the fridge/freezer) but we used jars for travel (do they still even have jars??? LOL).

In general, expect to go with his flow and don't have tons of expectations on long days and you'll be golden. A reclining stroller is key for naps. DS was cruising by that age, so a hotel room was great for him since the beds were the right height. He was a huge water baby, so we brought his floatie seat thing, that was great. A nice big bucket hat for sun protection, too. Know where the baby centers are at the parks, they are very helpful. Oh, and I had packed little diaper change kits in ziploc baggies so DH and I could grab a ziploc and have everything we needed for a change instead of pulling the big bag off of the stroller.

We liked having a rental car when DS was little so we could make quick get-aways if he was melting down. So along with that was a sun cover for his car seat, or at the very least a towel or something.

Have fun, enjoy every moment...they change so fast!

 

[Garyj800]

Our first trip with the little one was when he was 6 months old. Like it was previously mentioned each park has a baby care center located somewhere inside, those are life savers and we can't say enough about them. My wife would go there to nurse him in a nice quiet, cool room. It would be a nice time to relax before going back out in the park. It's also better doing a diaper change there instead of trying to do it in a crowed bathroom or in the stroller. With the FP+ system we would make our selections based on his nap schedule. You'll get a chance to do that 60 days out if staying on property so you'll have an idea what your little one naps like. Def go at the little one's pace, cause if you try to do too much at once then s/he will start to break down then the whole experience gets ruined. On our first trip our boy got up around 630/7 am. then would be ready again for a nap at 9. When he woke up he would eat then we would get him back down for his early nap before going to the park. Once he got up we would then leave for the park. Granted you get to the park later but we found we were able to stay out later because he had a good morning nap and was able to get a quick one in the stroller or at the baby care center after nursing. Don't be afraid to leave the park mid-day and go back to the room for a quick nap if needed, all of you would benefit from it. If you all recharge your batteries then the night time can be enjoyed by everyone.

Living in Florida, I know November weather can be hit or miss. Sometimes its cool, sometimes its not. We have a small battery operated fan that we got from Babies R Us for $15, another life saver. I've seen them sold in the parks for the same price but I wouldn't count on it being there, ours broke onetime and we were able to get the last one the shop had.

Disney allows you to bring snacks and drinks in. We have a soft sided cooler that we bring our son's snacks and drinks in with. You can also heat up said snacks or food at the baby care center's microwaves.

On the military point don't forget to check out https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/ They currently have military discounts.

Thanks for your service and safe travels.

 

[kreckl]

Not really what you asked, but my suggestion is to carefully look all about your room for random items on the floor. Get down on your knees and look like a baby would, everywhere. We have found candy, coins, and a pill once! Also consider other room things- nightlight, sound machine, familiar things from home like a blanket- anything to make your baby feel comfortable.