Disney w/15 mo. old

[DisneyMTG]

Hi there,

I'm taking a vacation to Disney in March with my DW and DD (15 mo. old). Just wondering if anyone has any helpful tips about doing Disney with an infant? Thanks!

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

My son was 15 months old on our first trip to WDW. My mom had tried to get us to leave him with her & my dad so that we could, in her words, spend quality time there with our DD, then 4. We refused to leave him behind, and he had a wonderful time! Going at a cooler time of year is so smart. We went the week after Thanksgiving and the temps were wonderful - no sweating, hot, and miserable baby. He loved everything about the trip! He loved the rides, the parades, the shows, and most of all, the characters! The only characters he really "knew" before were Pooh & friends, so I booked a character meal at Crystal Palace. When he saw Pooh across the room, he started bouncing in his high chair, pointing & saying, "Pooh!" over & over. It was precious!

My son napped everyday in his stroller. I know some are advocates of going back to the room, but we had much shorter park hours. My son would fall asleep and then he & I would find a quieter spot to hang out for awhile while my husband took my daughter on some rides. Then we would switch out. My son also liked the toddler play areas in Toon Town. They didn't have the Pooh's play area then, but that would be perfect for a little one. They can get out of the stroller and run around a little. Oh, and we took our own stroller, so it was one he was used to. Plus, it reclined, making those naps more comfortable.

Dining wasn't a problem, either. We ate at several sit-down restaurants, including Jiko, the Hollywood Brown Derby, and some lower key places. All were very accommodating, offering my son fruit, which along with Cheerios was about all he'd eat at the time! We planned early dinners so that he and my daughter weren't overly tired.

My best advice is to go and enjoy your child at the most magical place on earth! Of course my son, now 8-1/2, doesn't remember that trip to WDW, but I certainly do. He had a wonderful time while there. And I have a heart full of wonderful memories of that first trip.

 

[Hoosier Mom]

Our trip report from taking our 18 month old is below. Had a great time...except for the heat.

I second the suggestion about early mealtimes. Also our servers let us pre-order our desserts as soon as our entrees were delivered to keep the meal moving right along.

We took peanut butter, and purchased milk and a loaf of bread at the resort gift shop. Our kid liked peanut butter sandwiches so we had a little soft sided cooler that we put his sandwich in. We took some little apple sauces too. Nowadays Disney offers kids applesauces, but they are the no-sugar added kind I think.

We got in a line at MK to get his first hair cut at the barbershop. Also we had a character meal at Garden Grill.

We ended up having to carry our son quite a bit at Epcot. You can't take strollers inside some of the pavillions...The Land, Seas, etc. He could walk but we would have never gotten anywhere. He checked out every little embedded thing in the pavement, checked all park benches, and trash cans.

He loved the rides, even the dark ones. We didn't take advantage of the parent swap, but we did each ride Soarin while the other was entertaining him.

We stayed at CBR. I might add, we wished we had booked Contemporary so we could wheel the stroller right on the monorail. At CBR, we were on the second floor (no elevators). Wished we had a ground floor room since we were carrying a tote bag, kid, stroller, etc.

Have fun!! Take lots of pictures!!

 

[dizneemom]

We went last March when our DS was 14 mo old and it was a breeze. He enjoyed everything so much. We did use the swap thing and it was wonderful. Our kids were so excited to first ride w/Dad and then be able to ride w/Mom (Me). It really worked great.

If we were in line for something with him and he was getting antsy we would give him something like a fruit snack or dum dum sucker. We would start opening the bag or sucker and let him finish it which took up a little time too.

We would go early to the parks and leave in the afternoon for a nap break. We would head back late afternoon after we had eaten somethingfor an early dinner.

My kids 9, 6, & 2 get really crabby when they are hungry so for us-full tummys meant happy kids! Sometimes at Disney it is hard to keep track of time and before you know it-lunch has passed and nobody has eaten. Someone on a board said they set alarms on their watch to keep track of the time for eating. I thought that was a great idea.

Anyway, have a great trip. I know you will be surprised at how much your little one gets out of it.

 

[growinupdisney]

I dd15,ds13,dd2, the first time that i took the oldest they were 3 and 5. Wonderful ages I thought! When we took our youngest the first time she was 8 months it was absolutely wonderful, easy and enjoyable. She could ride just about everything I just held in my lap or in the side snuggly. We went again last year when she had just turned 2 a week before again a wonderful age! So so far I have taken a baby, 2 yr,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14yr olds. All ages are perfect, they love disney, whether they remember it or not you will and nothing can be more special than those memories and the looks on their tiny faces when they see their favorite character. I too have always let my children sleep in the stroller that have the best naps and i or my dh enjoy people watching while the other is on the rides with the older ones. we are going again in April, and she will be just about to turn 3 and I can't wait because all we have heard for a year is i wanna go disney world, i wanna go disney world! She remembers something! She knows that is where all the people she knows lives.

 

[Juanaiguana]

My youngest daughter was 14 months old the last time we were at DW, and she was so much fun. We did the child swap for the rides, which worked out wonderful, especially for our older girls who got to ride twice! She fell asleep pretty readily and that was when we rode Haunted Mansion and did Philharmagic...she never woke up! We were fortunate enough that my in laws visited one night and bab sat, but even with that she was easy and not a problem at all. Enjoy, Im sure your child will have a blast!