As brand new parents....

[Jon99]

..or will be in September, we are concerned about how having a 7 month old child will effect our trip in April.. Be able to do everything we have done in the past except the larger rides, wait to go for a few years when he will be able to enjoy the trip (and we can enjoy him enjoying) and have my parents babysit???

Also, how many rides have the "parent switch" deal and a single riders line??? We don't need to hot a bunch of rides, but if I don't hit TMRR, SM, TT and of course the Mission Space I think I might feel like the trip wasn't complete....

Any thoughts or recommendations????

 

[Gail T AGAIN]

Just go and have fun. Although it is different bringing a baby you will still have fun, just can't do things on a whim anymore, but you'll have a ball.

 

[snuggles]

I think our Disney for Families board will be a big help to you. I'll move your post over for you.

 

[Magic2000]

Traveling with a baby can be a lot of work, but it really is a lot of fun!!! I've taken all of my girls to Disney by the time they were about 15 months old. We had so much fun! Having a baby that young will make you slow down, but you get to see what Disney is all about. Watching your child dance with the music for the parades, waving to the characters, taking pictures with the characters, etc - its priceless memories!!!

We've always ridden the "mountains" - with child swap. Now, my two teens love child swap with our youngest because they get to ride twice - once with me and once with dad!! My youngest used to love to point to all the flowers, and she likes to try to catch the birds.

Go and enjoy!!!

 

[Selket]

My son was 2.5 when we went to WDW on vacation, however I've taken several vacations with small children. The good think is that by the time you go next April your child should be sleeping longer at night! That way you'll actually be able to stay awake during the day! After that...everything is gravy! LOL! But seriously, you have to think about doing WDW as you've never done it before - slowly, with many breaks if needed. Your baby may sleep a fair amount which will allow one person to do some riding. I also did an "e-ride" night by myself while my DH watched our son and that was great for hitting all the MK rides that I didn't get to do as much as I wanted earlier. I still haven't gotten on test track! With our next trip I'm going to list the rides I MUST make and if I don't get them during the regular park visits with the family then my DH and I will take turns one day going back to the parks alone (taking turns watching the kids) to hit some of those. Clearly this won't work if I have to hit 4 parks, but maybe 2. We are going for 7 nights this time (using the fairytale pkg) to give ourselves more time. I'd recommend taking a full week if you can for your trip (if not more). You could also use a babysitting service in room if you are comfortable with that. As my kids are now 5 and 1.5 when we're going they're certainly old enough to spend a few hours without us. At 7 months my sons were still breastfeeding a lot so leaving them would have been more difficult. At that age they are usually happy to look around and see the sites and aren't afraid of things (like characters or haunted mansion ride!).

Use your vacation to relax, unwind, celebrate your new baby and don't worry about touring the parks as you did in the past. They do grow up and soon be dragging you to the rides!

Enjoy!

 

[Gregg]

We took our 2nd daughter when she was less than 2 months and will be taking our son in late June at 8 months. It's fine -- definitely do the parent switch thing.

We also found that we got a lot more attention from the characters because of the baby.

Have fun!
Gregg

 

[Donnainnj]

We went with my oldest when she was 8 1/2 months and it worked great. We brought one of those carrier things for the lines and ride times. It almost looked like 1/2 a bright blue diaper, went around our waist and had a strap around our shoulder. Was much easier to hold her that way, I think I got it from Right Start. It also stores very compact. I was nursing which also worked great, there are a lot of dark rides I could nurse in comfortably. Just make sure your little one is comfortable, wears a hat and stays hydrated. Baby swap or fastpass will work out good to. Enjoy!

 

[DISNEYBIGGDOGG]

We went during Thanksgiving with our 9 month old daughter and had a wonderful time. We have deen with our other two children at about that age also. It is a little more difficult, but well worth the trip. We will be going in 2 weeks, she will be 15 months old, and are looking forward to her enjoying more thing. My older kids love the baby swap because they get to ride everything twice.

 

[Jon99]

How exactly does the parent swap work?????

 

[Jon99]

Oh, and thanks a million for the responses!!!!!

 

[Baloo]

My son ,Erich, was about 7 mths old the first time he went and we had so much fun!! You will travel at a slower pace but you can still do everything you'd like.

Relax almost new Daddy....all your favorites you mentioned have the Baby Swap!! Tell the CM as you get in line and they will tell you what to do.ToT and Space Mt have the coolest BS! In both of them you'll wait in line as normal.When you get to the CM that is at the boarding area you will tell them you're baby swapping...the guy at ToT told me I could trade him for an 18 yr old if I liked!!! Then this is were it gets cool.On ToT you and your baby will ride a regular elevator down while Mommy rides.Then you get to ride the elevator up and go get on the Twight Zone elevator.In SpMt they take you down a backstage tunnel to do the same sort of thing.

The characters all really wonderful with babies! You're going to have a magical time!!! Take LOTS of pictures Daddy and Mommy!

 

[Trinity721]

I love answering the questions of new parents, as DH and I are new parents ourselves. Our DD just turned 10 months, and has been walking since last month. We were just at WDW for Mother's Day weekend, and she had an absolutely wonderful time. We all had a great time!

DH and I went B.T. (before Trinity, our daughter) in 2001, compared to our most recent trip with Trinity it was a lot different. We were less concerned about riding all the rides and seeing all the shows. We wanted to relax and take things slow, just take in the magic of Disney with our daughter. And we loved every minute of it, we really had time to stop and smell the roses.

We did the baby swap a few times. How it works depends on the ride. For some of the rides, one parent stays w/ the child outside the line and the other parent rides. When the first parent returns, then the other parent can go through the fast pass line w/o waiting for a designated time like normally. For some other rides, you can both get in line and then do the baby swap in a designated area near the loading and unloading passenger area.

I would suggest to just take things easy, and go with the mindset that you are going to be on baby's schedule, not your own. You won't have to worry too much about the heat when you go in Sept. We stopped often to give DD water, and rest in the shade. If your wife is nursing, she can do that in the baby care center which they have at every park. DH and I made a several trips to the centers to feed and change Trinity. Also great place to relax b/c it's airconditioned and away from the crowds.

You will hear a lot of "isn't the baby too little?" or "the baby won't even remember it, why go?". But if you and your wife love Disney then don't let such comments discourage you. The memories you have will be worth it, and of course you'll have lots of pictures and stories to tell your little one when he or she gets older. DH and I had a wonderful time and it was definitely an experience we'll never forget. Seeing WDW through the eyes of a child is like going to Disney for your first time. Absolutely magical!

Please feel free to email me or PM me if you and your wife have any more questions, like what to bring, baby carriers, or any other tips. I love being helpful!

 

[BevS97]

you can baby swap on anything, we even used it on Buzz and Peter Pan, as my dd was feeling rather nervous one day. You just mention it as you enter the line, the CM at Buzz said there was no need, she would be fine, I said we would prefer to, so he said 'ok' and told us where to wait.

Saying that, a 7 month old will have no reason to be nervous due to content of the rides, it will only be those which are physically more demanding that will be a problem, so you will probably be able to ride more things together than you could with my nervous dd at 3.

bev