9 month old's first WDW trip :)

[runprincess9686]

Our baby girl will be turning 9 months the day we arrive in WDW. I already have all of her outfits and costumes packed up and ready to go!

She is a very flexible and easy going baby (We are more blessed than we could ever express!). She falls asleep anywhere, eats anything we give her, and is a happy baby 99% of the time (that 1% is for when she is hungry, she will let you know lol). I'm not worried about keeping her in the parks all day as far as her nap times and such go, since she is one to take 10-15 min catnaps, and will sleep perfectly fine in her stroller. I plan on keeping her in the shade and using the Baby Care Centers as needed. There will be a total of 8 of us in our party, so I also know I have extra hands on call, just in case. I just have a few questions to make our first trip as a family (finally) the best one I can!

What are the specific rides I can take her on? Whenever I research this, all I get are the rides in MK. But what about DHS, or AK? Can I take her on TSM if I have to? I know not to take her on any thrill rides, and to stay away from coasters..that's common sense. But are there any not-so-obvious rides you would stay away from with a baby?

We are also visiting both water parks on our trip. We plan on buying our own PFD for her as I have no idea what sizes they have, and I just feel more comfortable bringing my own. I know I can't take her on the slides (again, I wouldn't - common sense). But am I able to take her in the lazy river, or wave pool? We plan on letting her bringing her to the kiddie section to let her sit and splash around, but of course, I don't want to spend all day just doing that.

As I said before, I'm thankful my daughter is so flexible. I'm ready to make this another memorable trip with my family. Thanks in advance for all advice given! :

 

[msmama]

You can take her on anything without a height restriction.

I didn't take my son on TSMM because he was asleep at the time and I ended up being glad I didn't. It does jerk around quite a bit. (So if you do take her on,hold her head tight while moving).

Another one to hold tight (but we rode several times) is the Safari in AK. It can be pretty jerky. My son fell asleep on it several times.

Epcot I can't think of anything to be wary of except for the fact that the energy one is LONG and there is no escaping.

Sorry I don't know about water parks as I've never done them.

 

[runprincess9686]

I'm thinking (and sort of hoping) that my grandmother won't want to go on TSMM, so she can watch the baby for me. But if not, the baby will just have to go on because quite honestly, I know no one else in our party will miss that ride lol. We definitely plan on going on the Safari since none of us have ever done it (we already have our Fastpass for it!), but thank you for the heads up on holding tight!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

If you are familiar with the rides it will be easy to know how careful to be. Hold baby close for TSMM and Safari, Pirates and Maelstrom have drops, etc. I took my 2 month old on everything without a height limit and he did great! (And loved Dumbo, even at 2 months old!)

 

[runprincess9686]

I just read your trip report, and it makes me so excited for my little girl! We aren't using a carrier for her, just a stroller. She's getting too heavy for my back lol. But I am very excited to see her facial expressions with everything!

 

[little miss minnie]

How exciting! We are actully going to be in the same boat as you! Our daughter will be turning 9 months 4 days before we are in Disney. We have made fast passes for anything without a minimum height requirement that we think she will enjoy. Off the top of my head I know we did Little Mermaid in MK, Winnie the Pooh, Disney Junior LIVE at HS, and Nemo at Epcot.

I have a question for you, since our babies will be the same age when they are in Disney. Do you have any special baby items you are taking? Any suggestions that you've got to make life easier while in Disney? Do you plan on feeding baby Park food or packaged baby food? Since its our first time going with an infant, I want to make sure I am as prepared as possible.

 

[schmass]

We took our DS when he was 9 months old! It was great! One thing we weren't really prepared for was that he didn't really sleep in the stroller like we thought he would. There was so much going on that he didn't want to sleep. Fortunately he wasn't cranky at all, though!

I took him on TSMM, and wore him in the Ergo - it was fine. Are you bringing a carrier? We didn't use it a ton, but it was still really nice to have in certain situations.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[schmass]

I have a question for you, since our babies will be the same age when they are in Disney. Do you have any special baby items you are taking? Any suggestions that you've got to make life easier while in Disney? Do you plan on feeding baby Park food or packaged baby food? Since its our first time going with an infant, I want to make sure I am as prepared as possible.

We fed our DS some park food, but we also brought along some pouches and gave those to him as well.

 

[runprincess9686]

We aren't bringing a carrier. It'll automatically be in our van (I leave it in my stow and go compartment), but she's finally gaining weight, and I can feel it. Unless my hubby wants to carry her around lol. Between the 6 adults (I'm not counting my brother, he only held her the day she was born and did not seem comfortable lol), I'm sure someone will hold her when needed. And she is excellent in her stroller, but I'm sure she won't want to sleep either with everything going on around her lol. It'll just make for a better night's sleep!

As for food, I am bringing the liquid bottles of her formula, and will give her water when needed, since she can have it after she turns 9 months (though she's had a tiny bit before). And we got organic food in pouches for her to try out right now, so we know if she's good, and so far, she loves them. Oh, and the Gerber Graduates puffs are a Godsend.. we plan on getting a snack container to put on the stroller for her snacking. We will also give her any table food we know she will take. I will be bringing her powder formula and cereal for her nighttime bottles in the room. We are staying at Kidani in a Villa so we have a kitchen, which will be nice for washing her bottles and such. Oh, and I fully intend on getting a stroller fan when I'm down there.

 

[little miss minnie]

We aren't bringing a carrier. It'll automatically be in our van (I leave it in my stow and go compartment), but she's finally gaining weight, and I can feel it. Unless my hubby wants to carry her around lol. Between the 6 adults (I'm not counting my brother, he only held her the day she was born and did not seem comfortable lol), I'm sure someone will hold her when needed. And she is excellent in her stroller, but I'm sure she won't want to sleep either with everything going on around her lol. It'll just make for a better night's sleep!

As for food, I am bringing the liquid bottles of her formula, and will give her water when needed, since she can have it after she turns 9 months (though she's had a tiny bit before). And we got organic food in pouches for her to try out right now, so we know if she's good, and so far, she loves them. Oh, and the Gerber Graduates puffs are a Godsend.. we plan on getting a snack container to put on the stroller for her snacking. We will also give her any table food we know she will take. I will be bringing her powder formula and cereal for her nighttime bottles in the room. We are staying at Kidani in a Villa so we have a kitchen, which will be nice for washing her bottles and such. Oh, and I fully intend on getting a stroller fan when I'm down there.

Bringing the liquid formula is a great idea. I didn't even think of that. I did make a note to bring food pouches as they are easy for on-the-go. We are also staying at a villa in AKA, so the kitchen will be a godsend when it come to cleaning bottles and making any powdered formula. The whole table food thing is ominous to me as we have yet to cross that bridge. I just have no idea what she will eat in the parks.

 

[runprincess9686]

Bringing the liquid formula is a great idea. I didn't even think of that. I did make a note to bring food pouches as they are easy for on-the-go. We are also staying at a villa in AKA, so the kitchen will be a godsend when it come to cleaning bottles and making any powdered formula. The whole table food thing is ominous to me as we have yet to cross that bridge. I just have no idea what she will eat in the parks.

We've been giving her different foods for a while now. She LOVES fruit! But I would definitely go out and get some pouches, and see how your baby girl likes them. They are different variations from the jars..ingredient-wise. Now that we know our baby girl will take them no problem, when I go back to babies r us for her new car seat, I will be buying the spoon attachments for the pouches, and keeping them in a Ziploc bag.

 

[Chrispygal]

I took my DD at 9 months and we rode a TON! Here are some that I can remember:

-Haunted Mansion. She sat between us and did awesome. Not afraid of anything.

-Little Mermaid, Pirates, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, Jungle Cruise, Dumbo, Character meets, Toy Story in MK, Mickey's Philharmagic, Peter Pan - and loved them ALL!

-Puked after the carousel. You've been warned.

-We rode Winnie the Pooh and it was so bumpy! We thought that was the toughest ride for her.

-At AK we did the Safari and saw the Lion King Show. She loved that! For the life of me I cannot remember what else we did there. haha!

-At HS we saw Fantasmic, Little Mermaid show, Disney Jr, and that's about it.

Do not forget to use rider swap! For rides the baby can't go on you can all get in line and wait together. You tell a cast member that you want to do rider swap and one adult stays with the baby while others ride. When the group is done, a different adult takes the baby and the adult who sat out and up to 3 other people (I think it's 3) can ride the ride again right away. Awesome perk for those traveling with older kids too!

Some of my favorite memories from the trip were the character meets when I had DD dressed like the princess she was meeting. SO sweet! And don't forget the parades! My DD loved watching those!

 

[runprincess9686]

I took my DD at 9 months and we rode a TON! Here are some that I can remember:

-Haunted Mansion. She sat between us and did awesome. Not afraid of anything.

-Little Mermaid, Pirates, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, Jungle Cruise, Dumbo, Character meets, Toy Story in MK, Mickey's Philharmagic, Peter Pan - and loved them ALL!

-Puked after the carousel. You've been warned.

-We rode Winnie the Pooh and it was so bumpy! We thought that was the toughest ride for her.

-At AK we did the Safari and saw the Lion King Show. She loved that! For the life of me I cannot remember what else we did there. haha!

-At HS we saw Fantasmic, Little Mermaid show, Disney Jr, and that's about it.

Do not forget to use rider swap! For rides the baby can't go on you can all get in line and wait together. You tell a cast member that you want to do rider swap and one adult stays with the baby while others ride. When the group is done, a different adult takes the baby and the adult who sat out and up to 3 other people (I think it's 3) can ride the ride again right away. Awesome perk for those traveling with older kids too!

Some of my favorite memories from the trip were the character meets when I had DD dressed like the princess she was meeting. SO sweet! And don't forget the parades! My DD loved watching those!

Thanks so much for your input! I am so excited to see her experience Disney! And she has every princess outfit there is (minus repunzel.. but hey, we still have over 2 weeks..and a trip to BRU is in the plans anyway! Haha)

Has anyone experienced a water park with a baby?

 

[hannouz4]

DS was 7 months our first trip and he had a blast, again anything without height restriction. He loved TSM, Pirates, Small World, I think he fell asleep during Peter Pan, he actually did well in haunted mansion too. At AK he did not like the Bug show but I think it was more noise related but we also was Nemo and he loved all the colors and music to the show. Same with Littler Mermaid at HS. He sounds a lot like your DD very laid back he did great, slept in stroller for naps and then was good to go. We leave in 26 days for our next trip and he is 3 now so I cant wait to see the difference.

 

[runprincess9686]

DS was 7 months our first trip and he had a blast, again anything without height restriction. He loved TSM, Pirates, Small World, I think he fell asleep during Peter Pan, he actually did well in haunted mansion too. At AK he did not like the Bug show but I think it was more noise related but we also was Nemo and he loved all the colors and music to the show. Same with Littler Mermaid at HS. He sounds a lot like your DD very laid back he did great, slept in stroller for naps and then was good to go. We leave in 26 days for our next trip and he is 3 now so I cant wait to see the difference.

I'm pretty sure it's a bugs life is closed on our trip, which some aren't happy with, but with the baby, I don't mind skipping it. However, I am not happy whatsoever that Philarmagic is closed. My daughter, even as young as she is, love love loves Mickey! I take credit since I put her in front of the tv with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when she was about 3-4 months old lol. We are all bummed about that, but I think she will do fine with all of the other rides. I'm still trying to talk hubby into seeing Nemo, since we saw it in 2011, and he says its a one and done deal. So my fingers are still crossed I can change his mind lol. Have fun! I'm sure it'll be a big but awesome difference!

 

[MSSANDRA]

Remember that strollers are not allowed in lines so it will be a choice between holding her and wearing her. Neither of my guys really like to be worn, and like you, I liked holding them for better interaction, but the carrier might be nice for lines and some of the rides.
There is VERY little she can not go on and at nine moths, there will not be a fear factor other than noise or dark. they have no clue a ghost is scary.
Remember that liquid formula has to be kept cold where powder, you can simply mix with bottle water when you are ready to feed. I like the ready to feed bottles of liquid. Expensive but SOOOO easy, and nice. Maybe that is what you had in mind....sorry.
I was always VERY careful not to introduce any new foods on vacation. DS reacted to eggs before 9 mo and developed a few more allergies by the time we was two. We discovered a sesame one as we were eating at a fast food place as we were leaving town. Could have been just as easy out of town.

Sounds like your are ready for a great trip.Have fun.

 

[runprincess9686]

Yeah, that's why I'm happy I have 12 other arms to put her into lol. And yeah, I was talking about the ready to go liquid bottles. I get them at BJs for a decent price, and they really help a lot when we are out and about.

My DD has actually experienced more variety of foods than I think any normal 9 month old to be has... but I don't intend on giving her anything she hasn't had.

I am ready to go! I need this trip sooooooo bad!