Disney with a 6 month old?

[cocoswife]

This is our first child and it will be our first vacation in a year and a half (looking forward to it). I was thinking of planning a trip for mother's day weekend and the week after, staying at a studio in our DVC. I know it will be hot, I plan to get one of those fans for our stroller and we plan to relax, maybe, visit the parks for a couple of hours and just enjoy our resort.
I need all the tips, hints and friendly suggestions that you can provide me to make our first vacation with our baby a pleasant experience.

 

[moredisneyplease]

we were just at WDW with our 3 year old and our 6 month old and honestly it was a bit rough for the little one. I think the heat and humidity plus the time change plus his schedule being off just made for a fussy baby. Thank goodness we brought a friend/mommy's helper so we were able to leave him behind a few times to relax in the resort room while we went out w/ our 3 year old.

Good luck!!!

 

[mrs.explorer1977]

We took our DS down in January when he was 6 1/2 months old and again in May for a long weekend when he was 10 1/2 months.

He was SOOOOOO easy in January -- I brought a sling for the lines etc, plus we brought our stroller (Peg Perego Pliko P3) and he slept in both. We brought him on tons of rides, stayed for fireworks and Fantasmic (which he slept through) and took him to character dinners (which he loved).

My advice:
-- ALWAYS bring a spare outfit to the parks. The ONE day we didn't was the day we had a major poop-tastrophe and had to run around MGM looking for something for him to wear! Now, we keep a ziploc in the bottom of the stroller with a change of clothes, a spare diaper and extra wipes.

-- Visit the baby centers. The cool, quiet and a great place to change a bum (AND, Daddy can come in and change too!)

-- We stayed in a 1BR, but did 2 nights at POP before our reservation started. To clean bottles at POP, I filled the ice bucket with soapy water, and then rinsed in the sink and put on the drying rack. We drove, so I had room to bring all this stuff. In May, when we flew, I just brought a little bottle of dish soap and the bottle cleaner and cleaned them in the sink (we stayed at AKL, but not DVC).

-- The Pack'n'Play in the room was brand new. I don't think it had ever been used before. We brought our own sheet, but there was also one provided. When we stayed in January in the 1BR, we set up our own P'n'P in the livingroom and the Disney one in our bedroom. He slept in the bedroom for naps and in the living room for night. We brought our monitor from home.


I think that's it. It's pretty easy with little ones, IMO. The only other thing I can suggest is practicing sitting in the wooden highchairs beforehand.

 

[hopefor4]

Well, first of all, Congratulations!!!

Ok, we did Disney last May with out DD who was just 7 months at the time. It was GREAT! The other ladies covered a lot, but I would suggest taking a bottle of Evain spray with you, it is great to mist for a quick cool down. And be sure to have a blanket, after being outside, the indoors on some the rides, and restaurants feel pretty cold! Our DD LOVED It's a small world, and was great on Pirates, Pooh, Snow White, Peter Pan, it was great! So many things you can take babies on!

Enjoy! You will have a great time!

 

[katied]

DS was really easy at 6 mo. (last Oct). The weather was great too. He had fun people watching, was young enough to nap when he needed to, and it was a very smooth trip.

I took DS at 6 mo, 8 mo and 13 mo, and 6 mo was the easiest age. I was nursing, so we spent some time at Baby Care in each park. We also had two character meals - Crystal Palace and Garden Grill. Both places had infant seats for him (vs. high chairs) so it was easy for him. He loved the fuzzy characters at that age, and laughed and smiled with them. By 13 months he was afraid of them and screamed if they got too close.

On the darker rides he napped or nursed (like Pirates, Haunted Mansion). He loved Its a Small World, Winnie the Pooh, Buzz Lighyear, etc. We skipped the movies - we went into Mickey's Philharmagic, but realized that at his age, he did not get aything out of movies, plus it was just too loud for him.

We skipped Animal Kingdom, as he's really too young to enjoy much there. The best parks for him were Magic Kingdom and Epcot.

As I was nursing, feeding him was easy. He was just starting solids, so I'd have a few jars of fruit or cereal with me. We always had a change of clothes, and a baby sling was great because you end up carryign them so much of the time anyway.

We spent about 4 hrs per day at the park. Otherwise, we would hit the pool or just relax. Overall, it was a great trip.

I would just watch out for the heat. I've been there around Mothers Day when it's not too hot. We just got back from a trip over Memorial Day, and the last day there, at AK, DS started to overheat. We spent about an hour in Baby Care with him to cool him down in the AC before taking the bus back the the resort. It can just be really hot for the little ones. Also, try to get the baby used to wearing a hat - we did not do this with DS, so he will not tolerate a hat on his head at all. Makes it hard to shade his head.

 

[Taja]

We traveled with a 14-week-old and his 9-year-old sister last December. It was quite warm. Not August hot and humid, but warm in the mid- to high-80s and not cooling down much at night for most of our visit.

The young man's mom refused to use a sling or other body-hugging carrier (she doesn't like them--tried several with her DD), so we took turns carrying him (3 adults) when necessary--or when we wanted to! He weighed in at 12 lbs. two days before our holiday began.

Since he wasn't sitting yet, he was in his carrier or on our laps in restaurants. He went on most rides that didn't have height restrictions (did not go on Kilamanjaro Safari at AK and something else, due to bumping/jerking).

He thoroughly enjoyed the visit. He loved the sights and sounds and flirted with everyone--and many people stopped to chat with him! He's a well-socialized young man and had no issues with noise, light or darkness. He was an absolute joy--an I'm not much of a baby person! *LOL*

Edited to add:

We didn't maintain a special schedule for him. He ate and slept when he wanted to. He's accustomed to being out and about a lot, which made life very easy!

 

[cocoswife]

Wow, so many great tips, thanks!!! I'm going to go ahead and reserve our room, hope for not so hot weather and make sure my young wears a hat from the day she is born!!!

Anymore tips?