Day Trip with 10 month old

[purplebelle]

Our family trip to Clearwater, FL at the end of this month (August to early Sept) that originally included our extended family has been truncated to just me, my hubby and 10 month old baby due to a family medical issue. Clearwater wasn't my choice of location, but my husband is sold on it and everything is booked, otherwise I would love to move our entire vacation to Disney. Hubby strongly dislikes Disney World but said he might be open to a day trip from Clearwater to one of the parks, and back (all in one day). MapQuest informed me that the distance is 1 hr 40 minutes each way. Both he and I are used to driving far distances for work, so that doesn't bother us so much. What worries us more is that we are unsure how our baby will nap during the day. We're bringing our umbrella stroller but it does not recline enough for baby to sleep (I'm guessing; she's never slept in it before but hasn't been in it a long period of time either). And we're obviously too far to go back to our villa for an afternoon snooze. Am I being unrealistic to want to try one of the parks?

I'm contemplating any of the 3 parks except Hollywood Studios (least fave).

 

[kohlby]

Can you rent a stroller that reclines? However, the sights and sounds could keep your baby awake anyway - and that could be fine. On one trip, my youngest was 11 months old and refused to nap - we even had a stroller that reclined all the way. I put the sling over it to make it darker and block out the sights, but he wanted nothing to do with it. He didn't fall asleep until around 6pm, while in the sling. So - it could work out that your baby sleeps on the drive back and refuses to nap there. I'd do a park and figure that babies are portable. The worse that can happen is that the nap doesn't happen.

 

[Jarmo]

We went with a 10 month old... Naps at the park were mostly in a carrier. You can even go on a lot rides if the baby is strapped to your front.

I'm not sure an umbrella stroller would work too well but it all depends on the kid!

 

[danceintherain]

Is there any way you can bring/rent a different stroller just for the day? Some kids will sleep anywhere. Some kids need a little bit of help.

Otherwise, worst case scenario, your kid doesn't sleep and gets super cranky, so you don't end up staying as long as you originally intended. Then she'll likely fall asleep on the drive back.

You could also take a break in one of the Baby Care Centers, the one at AK is the nicest. Depending on your kid, if you take her back into one of the feeding rooms and rock her, she might sleep for a little while.

 

[msmama]

My 10 month old would fall asleep in a carrier if not a stroller. My personal favorite was a Babyhawk mei tai, but that was many years ago and there's so many more choices of carriers now!! Granted, he was used to being attached to me.

He also took a lot of cat naps rather than a full nap (again, not uncommon at home either) in the middle of the day. He'd often fall asleep on rides or shows (which also made having the carrier really helpful).

 

[purplebelle]

Bit of an update -- my husband agreed to a one night stay at a Disney resort so we can have a night's rest before driving back to Clearwater. Only issue now is that WDW site doesn't seem to have any availability or maybe doesn't allow bookings of one night??

 

[Jarmo]

Bit of an update -- my husband agreed to a one night stay at a Disney resort so we can have a night's rest before driving back to Clearwater. Only issue now is that WDW site doesn't seem to have any availability or maybe doesn't allow bookings of one night??

You can book one night. What are your travel dates? I see a lot of availability for early September.

 

[purplebelle]

August 31-sept 1. Looking to see what the price is for value resorts. Still no lock on my end for rates this morning.

Jarmo- thanks in advance if you are able to check! :-D

 

[Jarmo]

August 31-sept 1. Looking to see what the price is for value resorts. Still no lock on my end for rates this morning.

Jarmo- thanks in advance if you are able to check! :-D

Try Orbitz rather than through Disney

 

[purplebelle]

Yep, Orbitz I get $82.60 all in for one night. Do you know what WDW's late summer rate is? Similar?