Crowded now? Help for taking an infant?

[candmforever]

We are planning a trip the last week of October. Has anyone been in the last couple weeks and if so, how crowded was it? Does anyone now the EE for each park the 28-31? Or where to find the info? Also, I'm taking my 3 yr old and 8 mo. old, any tips? A friend told me today to take our ponchos. Anything else? First time going for us!

 

[mom24/7]

We just returned from our first trip in 10 years (Oct 5-11) and this one was with our 3 yr old and 6 month old and my parents and 3 yr old nephew. We took our stroller but only used it the first day. After that, my husband or I carried the baby in one of those chest-packs. DD is 20 lbs so DH did most of the carrying by late afternoon. With the crowds the last half of our stay it was much easier to not deal with the stroller. Many times outside of rides/restaurants it was just a sea of parked strollers. Getting on and off the full buses was easier too. I carried a small bag (found at Walmart) just big enough for a couple diapers, wipes, jar of food.

We went with a very basic plan (which park/which day). this trip was all about spending time with our kids at "Mickey's house" and doing what ds wanted to do. We tried to get to the parks early each day (and as my kids are morning kids that was fairly easy)then by afternoon when the crowds picked up we were winding down and ready to go back to the hotel for a swim. we did stay for fireworks at Epcot one night and I have to say the kids were extremely good and patient that day or we would not have waited for the fireworks. We could easily have left the parks and returned later in the day but for ds the pool was too much fun.

I did not plan a character meal for our visit but once there my mom talked me into it and we ate with mickey, chip & dale & pluto at Garden grill. called from hotel on wed and got fri at 2pm. Ended up being the best money we spent. The kids loved it. Pluto even fed dd her baby food. must have taken 50 photos. the food was pretty good too. We will go back next time we go to WDW.

Be flexible. pay attention to your kids. they will let you know when enough is enough. we had a great trip and decided before leaving WDW that when dd is 3 or 4 we will return. I wish it could be sooner and should a great deal come along I will quickly prompt the kids to help me talk daddy into a trip.

 

[blessedby3]

I agree with the previous poster about the baby carrier. We went in October a few years ago when our DD was 10 mos. She stayed in the front pack most of the time and was very good. I was nursing her and she didnt take a bottle so there was very little to keep up with. I do disagree about the stroller, though. I would not even attempt WDW without one with a 3 yr old. We just went again this past April and (our then 10 mo old) was 4 1/2. She sat in the stroller a lot of the time. WDW is just too big for such little feet and it was a welcome time of rest for her to have the stroller to climb in. She even took naps in it a couple of days while we were there. I just couldnt stand to hear the whining about how tired she would be if we didnt have it. It was also helpful to have her in the stroller when we did the mass exit of the parks each night. There are so many people leaving it would be very easy for a small child to get seperated- when they are in a stroller there is less worry. When we went in October the crowds were not bad at all. THis past year we went in April and at times they were unbearable. We even went in early April and Easter was late April. Have fun on your vacation!!

 

[Doc and Family]

I have to agree with blessedby3!!!
Thank God for strollers. Our DSs, now 4 and 6, ride in them without complaint or problem. I could not imagine WDW without a stroller.
We like the umbrella strollers-small, lightweight, and easy to maneuver.
We are fortunate to be able to go frequently and have tried it without the strollers--lasted 4 hours then I rented one--life was so much better afterwards.
God Bless the stroller-makers!!!!

 

[jay1929]

We just got back last night. I don't think we could have made it without our stroller. Our DS (4 months) was much happier riding in it rather than being held. The parks were more crowded this year at this time than last year. It was hot and humid at the beginning of the week but it cooled off some toward the end of the week. We didn't get any rain during the day while at the parks. I did take advantage of the baby rooms at the parks. It was cool inside and DS enjoyed the break from the heat. I have to say DS was a trooper - he held in there with all of us.

 

[justhat]

We just returned last night from 5 days in WDW and we had a great time, but it was much more crowded than we ever expected. As bad as President's Week was this year. Almost all the hotels were filled and a bus driver told us that most hotels have very little availability this year from mid-September until New Year's, which is ver different from most years in the past he said. There were considerable wait times for many rides, but it seemed to vary a lot throughout the day (Winnie the Pooh would have a 60 minute wait at 11am, but a 15 minute wait at 1:30pm). It's really best to be there for EE and while I don't know the days of the 28-31, the EE days are MK: Su & Th, AK: M & F, MGM: Tu & Sa, and Epcot: W. The weather was great, however, with no rain at all during our trip and daytime temps in the low 80s and nights were in the mid 60s.

 

[EthansMom]

We were just there in Sept. My advice, get to the parks early, leave in the afternoon when the parks get busy (head back to the hotel for a nap), and then go back to the parks in the evening. Try to plan a day at the water parks, if possilbe -- my two-year old loved Typhoon Lagoon.

Driving to/from the parks rather than taking buses is MUCH faster and easier IMO.

If you find it too difficult to completely leave the parks and need a mid-afternoon refresher, I found it relaxing to just get on the monorail and ride in circles --- put my son right to sleep in his stroller and gave me a nice break from the heat, noise, and crowds.

Enjoy your trip!

EthansMom