Disney with a one year old...

[nurse27]

I love Disney and we have decided to take our daughter for her first birthday in November. My husband and i have been many times but never with a child. Any tips you can give me to make my life easier? Or things we need to make sure we do? Thanks in advance!

 

[Caseheidi]

We took DD at 18 months. She was a new walker of a about 3 months and loved to walk at the parks. The best advise I can give is to take your time and go with the flow. You have no idea how she will react to everything until you are there. You will have a great trip if you don't set high, unrealistic expectations. Traveling with a little one is different then with just adults, but still wonderful.

I would highly recommend taking your own stroller. It should be familiar to your child and they will be more comfortable taking naps there. I also had great success with packing her outfits in gallon sized ziplock bags. I would throw two in the diaper bag each morning. They especially came in handy after meals or when she found a splash pad to play in. We went through three outfits one day, and ended the day purchasing a shirt and just having a diapered bum. Like I said earlier, go with the flow.

To get to ride the high powered rides is possible, but not as easy as before. We were lucky that DD would put herself down for naps in her stroller, so we would take turns doing the single rider/child swap lines at that time.

Also expect overstimulation on your child's part. WDW can over stimulate an adult so think what it does to these little ones. I have seen the most mild manner of children throw a full blown tantrum in the parks, and would put it down to being out of their comfort zone and being over stimulated. That is the number one reason I recommend your own stroller. It is something familiar to your child. W also took DD at 3 1/2 to Disneyland, and used her stroller. When she got overwhelmed, she would ask to have the seat back laid down, and would pull the cover down to close out the park. My child who had stopped napping took a short nap almost daily there. The parks exhausted her mentally.

We also put a food order in to Garden Grocers to have there when we arrived. They deliver right to the front desk. We live in OR and went for two weeks. So when e arrived, I had diapers, baby wipes, swim diapers, milk and snacks for DD as well as a case of water. It was great only packing what I needed for two days in my luggage and having it all there. And I was able to have food she was familiar with.

Also, when I was planning, I found the mom's group on the WDW site (sorry, can't remember the exact name) was a great resource. It is a place you can actually send in questions and get expert advise from Disney Vets who are parents (some are Dads) on specific things. Must reading through older posts gave me great ideas. I even asked a few questions and got answers back quickly.

Have fun planning your trip. I am sure you will have a great time.

 

[Caseheidi]

http://disneyworldforum.disney.go.com/

Here is the link to the Moms Panel. I had to look it up as it was driving me crazy trying to think of it. We are planning my DD 3rd Disney trip for May, so I need to review this as well for ideas. She will be 5 this time!

 

[khibs]

When we use to go as a couple we would have a table service meal everyday, however once we had our DD(4) and DS(1) we tend to just opt for a few table service meals. We found it too much for them especially if it meant two buses to get to another resort & it was less stressful to just grab a QS meal and head back to the room. We tend to also do quite a few character meals as its the easiest way to get to meet characters without having to wait in line.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Disney for Families board.

 

[bostonminnie]

We just took our son for his first birthday this past summer and we had a blast.

One tip that saved us a lot of melt downs was to bring along disposable place mats that stick to the table. My son would rip and throw the kid place mats that the restaurants provide. As soon as we were seated at the table, I could stick the place mat on, and start feeding him whatever snack we had packed for him.

My son also enjoyed the characters, so we did breakfast at Cape May and lunch at Tusker House. We have the best pictures of him kissing Minnie's nose.

I guess my biggest tip would just be to follow your daughter's cues. We did not do all the rides with our son, we took frequent breaks, and we had a great time. I know as he gets older and wants to do more the pace of our trips will change, so we just enjoyed the pace.

Have a wonderful time

 

[Meshell2002]

Great ideas already posted here.....I'm just adding a little. I've taken my older kids at this age, and plan on taking #3 at same age. Main thing is be FLEXIBLE, if u went commando before I would say don't expect to this trip, pick 3 things u must do and consider anything else gravy. Arrange time for naps, if ur LO naps at home, some people go back to their room some don't and do a stroller nap, just know u will need to have rest time. Bring snacks from home and anything else ur LO loves to eat. Bring the oragel, Tylenol, diaper cream, even if u don't normally use it. My oldest got his first tooth at wdw and had a teething rash from it...only diaper rash he ever had. Even if ur LO isn't walking some cms r strange about babies needing to wear shoes or socks on rides, so bring some even if u normally don't use them. And get some good pics! We take a few pics around the world in the same place every trip....love watching them grow up in the world!

 

[Monorail Al]

Speaking as a grandfather who was with his 11 month old grandson this past June, flexibility is key. We rode what we could, with my wife pushing him in the stroller while we rode. For meals, we had a table service every day usually in a noisy place like Cape May, Tusker House, and the Beirgarten. Places like that would keep his attention. He would not nap in his stroller, so when he had enough his parents read his cues and took him back to the resort for a nap or a swim. Have fun!! It was the best experience ever to see Disney through my grandson's eyes.

 

[glassslippergirl]

We took DS when he was 10 months. The best experience was the first haircut at the Harmony Barber Shop on Main Street. The cast members were great with him; it was an amazing way to make big deal about a small thing. And relatively inexpensive by Disney standards ($18 for haircut, commemorative certificate, and first haircut mouse ears).

The baby centers are great. I expected the changing and nursing facilities, but there is so much more including high chairs, a tv area, a kitchen or kitchenette to heat up food, clean bottles, etc. Check them out early in your trip so you can plan the best way to use them.

I agree with PP to bring your own stroller. It was a last minute choice for us and made the trip much better.

Since some babies are scared of the characters, we took DS to see the princesses first thinking it would be a good way to judge his comfort level. All went well, so we proceeded with our breakfast plans at Cape May Cafe, which I highly recommend-- great character interactions led to great pictures and memories.

Finally, the biggest hit of the trip was the one place in all of the parks I think DH and I never visited in our child-free days-- the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids movie play set. DS had so much fun playing at the water wall. Other things like the interactive queue at Winnie the Pooh were the surprise hits of the trip. Be open to all the possibilities. Also, be aware of the things that could be scary for a baby. DS was most scared on the Peoplemover. I never even thought if it, but much of that ride is in the dark-- like can't see your hand in front of your face dark.

Have fun. Take lots of pictures.

 

[nurse27]

Thank you all for your great advice! I booked my daughter's first haircut while we are there! I'm so excited to be taking her for her first birthday! We will be flexible and go with the flow. So far she is pretty relaxed and does well going places...I hope she acts the same way at Disney!