baby (toddler) wearing

I wore everywhere (in the airport including through security, through disney security, all parks, majority of rides). Airport security wipes your hands and checks the carrier sometimes). I was asked to take my kid out on the carousel (which was dumb because then I had two kids on horses to deal with).

She was 2 last trip and will be turning 3 on this trip and I'm bringing multiple carriers as usual. We wore our oldest occasionally when she was 3 as well. And actually now that I think about it I wore my 4 year old a couple times last trip as well.
 
I would probably still bring a stroller to the airport, but I'm even questioning that. We did Busch Gardens on a very not crowded day this past April and had the stroller. I just found it to be a PIA. Parking it, getting to it after, all the maneuvering it through people...Even at Thomas Land (super small park) I was totally irritated by the stroller. My daughter is one that does not like the stroller. We can usually get her in it when we first get out of the car. As soon as she wants to get out the first time that's it she ain't going back in. so we end up pushing an empty stroller. I'm not bringing anything into the parks except her EpiPen jr case and our tickets/ID. I believe because of that small case we will still have to go through the bag check though. Even if we didn't bring that and I strapped the epis onto myself instead, would the carrier have to go through bag check?
I don't see why you'd need one in the airport if you can wear her. I flew by myself home last year wearing my two year old and my 4 year old walked and it was fine without a stroller. I took her out of the carrier for a bit while waiting to board but other then that we just walked the airport until it was time because my kids were so over lines (and even with a stroller she would have been trying to climb out). the ONLY issue we had for a jerk TSA agent who tried to have me step over for the hand wipe test since I had the carrier on while my 4 year old was still trying to get her coat and bag on the belt. I was like "ummmm I'm not walking away from my 4 year old. you can wait for me to get her to step to the side with me."
 
I'm an avid babywearer and am planning our third WDW trip since kids. I feel that it's totally doable to go without a stroller, especially if LO will walk some of the time. On our first trip, older DS was 27 mo. Only 3 days. We bought an umbrella stroller in Orlando as we didn't own one. DH pushed it into the park each day, where we parked it and never touched it again. We've never gone during high crowd times, so he was ok to walk about half the time, and I wrapped him whenever he got tired. I wouldn't have bothered with it if we took that trip again.

On our second trip, boys were 9 mo and 4. We dragged the same umbrella stroller back down. Forgot it in the room on our first day, at Epcot, and I had only brought one carrier to the park (mistake!). We stayed through Illuminations, both kids fell asleep, and DH carried the baby in arms back to the bus stop so that I could wrap the 45 lb 4 y/o. From then on (5 day trip) we brought the stroller and a carrier so we would have options. It still spent quite a bit of time in stroller parking, but DS4 would ride in and out of the parks and from one Land to the next some of the time. Baby rode occasionally, but was mostly worn. They will let you wear on some of the slow rides, which is nice, but it was pretty variable.

We're going again in Jan. Kids will be 21 mo and 5. I'm up in the air about whether to bother with one - we may just rent if big boy gets tired one day, and I'll definitely toss a second wrap into my bag.

What works for me may not work for you. DH wears too as long as I wrap the kids on him, so getting tired isn't really an issue. We lived in FL for years, so wrapping in the heat doesn't bother us. We haven't gone to WDW yet in the summer. We also don't usually commando the parks (except the day we forgot the stroller!). We go from RD until mid-afternoon, then relax and have a nice dinner. My older boy has always been a big walker, since we never had a stroller at places like the zoo either. Little guy hasn't been walking long, so we'll see how he does. If any of these things don't apply to you, you might want a stroller. Even if they don't you might want one anyways.

Oh, I've flown dozens of times with kids in carriers. Mine have no metal so I wear right through security - you may have to remove the Ergo to walk through a metal detector. I wear all through the airport and onto the plane. They're supposed to ask you to remove the child for takeoff and landing, but it varies flight to flight. Then I pop them back in to walk back off and get my bags.

Sorry for the novel, but babywearing is one of my areas of expertise!
 
I see so much about strollers but not much mention of babywearing. It seems to me like this would be the easier option than dealing with strollers. My daughter will be 3 when we go but she is tiny and my Ergo carrier goes up to 40something pounds. She's a scant 30 now and doesn't mind being in the carrier at all. Plus my husband will wear her on his back and it shares the load so to speak. Is there a drawback to using a carrier? Security issues or anything else we should know about?

Honestly, I would bring both. We used the her BEco Gemini when we were in lines, or were walking around a small area - but put her in the stroller for longer periods of time (walking from land to land, to and from the parks in the mornings/evenings/etc). DH shared the load with us too, but they get heavy (and hot!) as the day goes on. You'll want a backup plan. I know strollers can be a pain, but we always parked the stroller in one spot in a land and didn't use it at all while we toured that area. The baby carrier was great for that instead. Then we just grabbed the stroller when we moved on to the next land. We had the stroller with us when DD wanted to take a nap (she was a fantastic stroller napper), but still had the flexibility of the baby carrier - without really much extra work at all.
 

I would probably still bring a stroller to the airport, but I'm even questioning that. We did Busch Gardens on a very not crowded day this past April and had the stroller. I just found it to be a PIA. Parking it, getting to it after, all the maneuvering it through people...Even at Thomas Land (super small park) I was totally irritated by the stroller. My daughter is one that does not like the stroller. We can usually get her in it when we first get out of the car. As soon as she wants to get out the first time that's it she ain't going back in. so we end up pushing an empty stroller. I'm not bringing anything into the parks except her EpiPen jr case and our tickets/ID. I believe because of that small case we will still have to go through the bag check though. Even if we didn't bring that and I strapped the epis onto myself instead, would the carrier have to go through bag check?
FWIW, we didn't bring the stroller with us from home. We rented a stroller there from an offsite company. Once we rented from Kingdom Strollers, once from Apple. Apple was something like $35 for the entire week at the time. It was worth it to have the choice. One day at Busch is different than a longer amount of time at WDW (assuming you're going for more than 1 day). As the vacation goes on, you may find yourself wanting another option as you both (and your DD) gets tired.
 
So no one here has gone through security with a child in a carrier instead of a stroller? I expect to have to take her out to go through the gate and scan her finger etc

All children ages 3-9 are now required to scan their fingers at the turnstiles...they made this change recently (before, I believe it was optional for the ages 3-9 tickets, mandatory for the 10+ tickets). So yes, I would expect that you'll have to take her out while going through the turnstiles.
 
I have a toddler Tula and I baby wore the last 2 trips (My LO was 1 and 2)... It definitely made airport security MUCH easier because they don't make you take the baby out, they just swab your hands for residue. Lines were much more enjoyable too, especially when she would fall asleep. Plus when she fell asleep on my front, I was able to ride some rides with her fast asleep. Most rides without a height requirement let you wear baby on your front while riding, with the exception of the carousel.

I would definitely bring a stroller too though. At times, it got VERY hot and hubby and I would need a break. It was nice to have the stroller to put our diaper bag and things in and have the option for baby to sit and ride when she needed a break too. The first park we went to without a stroller and just the Tula was AK and omg it was SOOOO hot that day!!! We wore her for about half the trip, hubby and I took turns, but eventually we just let her walk around because we were all just so uncomfortable. That was the first and last time we went to a park without the stroller lol! You can always bring an umbrella stroller or a smaller stroller like the Summer 3D Lite (thats what we have and LOVE it) and then leave it at a stroller parking somewhere. That way you can grab it if you ever need it :)
 
Often I would say to bring both. But - then I had a 2.5 year old who I really wanted to ride in the stroller and he refused. He also refused to walk. He ended up in the sling which was challenging after long periods of times because I hadn't used the sling for a year for him. Carrying for 30 minutes was no big deal. But he didn't want to do many rides and wanted to stay in it or refused to move so only the sling would work so it was pretty much the entire day, day after day, with short breaks from carrying. It was tough. It sounds like you are used to carrying your child though. So - if you think that's all you'll need, then bring both but leave the stroller in the car/hotel room and see how it goes. I have carried young kids in the sling all day in the parks with no problems. I think my youngest was 26 lbs when I carried him all day in the parks for several days and it was not an issue at all. But, he wasn't yet a year old then and I was used to carrying him.

I would bring more into the parks though - but one small backpack that people can take turns carrying makes that easy. A change of clothes for the youngest, sunscreen, water bottle, ponchos, epi-pens, emergency snacks.

Also, how many days are you planning on spending in the parks? That makes a huge difference too. It sounds like you'll be okay carrying for one day. But things change as the week goes on. (Same thing with non-stroller kids. The same kids who walk and don't need a stroller at all on day 1 could very easily need one quite often on day 7).
 
All children ages 3-9 are now required to scan their fingers at the turnstiles...they made this change recently (before, I believe it was optional for the ages 3-9 tickets, mandatory for the 10+ tickets). So yes, I would expect that you'll have to take her out while going through the turnstiles.
Sort of. My 7 year old did have to do his fingerprint. He has some sensory issues and it was a struggle to get him to do it right. I don't have any sort of assistance pass for him because we can usually deal with it. When I mentioned at a turnstile where he was having trouble and that it's challenging to have kids do it, I was told it didn't have to be his fingerprint - I could use my fingerprint for his band! (I was already wearing his magic band as he can't handle that). So, I did that for the rest of the trip and it worked out much better.
 
Sort of. My 7 year old did have to do his fingerprint. He has some sensory issues and it was a struggle to get him to do it right. I don't have any sort of assistance pass for him because we can usually deal with it. When I mentioned at a turnstile where he was having trouble and that it's challenging to have kids do it, I was told it didn't have to be his fingerprint - I could use my fingerprint for his band! (I was already wearing his magic band as he can't handle that). So, I did that for the rest of the trip and it worked out much better.

Yes, adults can do this but - for us - I wouldn't do this. If your party splits up at any time for whatever reason, the adult that used their fingerprint for the child *must* be with the child in order to enter the park.

Just as an example..DH ran the Avengers 1/2 Marathon last year. After the run, he rested in the hotel while DD and I headed into the parks with my parents. If he'd used his finger for her finger scan then DD wouldn't have been able to enter the park unless he was there. Thankfully the finger scan wasn't required of her at the time. This year he and I are both running the 10K, and he's also running the 1/2. I totally understand the sensory issues..DD has developmental delays and I have concerns about her w/the finger scan too, but any adult using their finger for DD - for us - could end up being an issue, so I'm crossing my fingers she'll be able to do it herself.
 
Yes, adults can do this but - for us - I wouldn't do this. If your party splits up at any time for whatever reason, the adult that used their fingerprint for the child *must* be with the child in order to enter the park.

Just as an example..DH ran the Avengers 1/2 Marathon last year. After the run, he rested in the hotel while DD and I headed into the parks with my parents. If he'd used his finger for her finger scan then DD wouldn't have been able to enter the park unless he was there. Thankfully the finger scan wasn't required of her at the time. This year he and I are both running the 10K, and he's also running the 1/2. I totally understand the sensory issues..DD has developmental delays and I have concerns about her w/the finger scan too, but any adult using their finger for DD - for us - could end up being an issue, so I'm crossing my fingers she'll be able to do it herself.

For this issue, I'm not looking forward to the finger scan either. We will see if my kids can do it or not, but I am going with grandparents and DH so I want them to have the ability to take her if I end up with a migraine. But at the same time the guys in our group are going to do Universal one day and if DH does her finger scan, then I wont be able to take her into the park at all that day.
 
I think it is a good idea to do a carrier, but don't discount her walking . We just went with my 3 yr old and she walked almost the whole time. We had a stroller and Ergo (for her 7 month old brother) and she only rode a couple times.

I don't wear her cause she is huge, but I wore the baby a bunch and temp was fine.
 





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