Disney with an 11 month old

[BuckeyeGirl24]

Hi all! I'm a long time lurker that has finally created an account of my own My husband and I are Disney nuts and have gone a couple times together. We welcomed our first child, a little girl in June of 2016. We originally said no vacations for a while.... but the itch has struck and now we're thinking about Disney this May! Our daughter will be 11 months. Flying from Ohio and likely staying Deluxe, either Poly, Contemporary or Beach Club.

A couple questions:

Are we crazy? Is that too young?

What do we do about bedtime? She's usually in bed around 7:30 or 8, which is early to end the day, but I also don't want her schedule to be completely messed up when we get home. For those of you that have pushed back bedtime a bit, were you able to get back on track within a few days of getting home?

Rent or bring a stroller?

Any tips in general would be appreciated!

 

[KrazeeK120]

Congratulations on your new addition!

We welcomed our first child in October 2015. We are taking him on his first Disney trip this May. He will be 18 months old and like your daughter, goes to bed around 7:30.

We took him on a non-Disney trip last summer at 8 months and he did great. However, we kept his schedule as close to home as possible. He had a few stroller naps, but we put him to bed at 7:30 each night.

At Disney, we plan to rope drop every day as he is an early riser. We then plan to be back to put him to bed on time. That should give us plenty of time to tour the parks. Hopefully he will do stroller naps again. I think there's a good chance he would do ok getting off schedule, but I really don't want to chance it and have a disaster vacation.

It's really up to how you think your daughter will do though. I'm sure you will find many people on both sides of this issue with varying results.

I can't comment on the stroller...we are making the 16 hour drive to Disney and bringing ours!

 

[ravenanne]

Not crazy at all! We took DD last Oct when she was about 13 months. We did at least 2 parks a day, with a rest at the resort in between. She napped in the stroller whenever she felt the need. You know your kid the best, play it by ear(haha). We brought our own stroller, and we flew. It was super easy to gate check and it saves you some money.

 

[JLeeLovesDisney]

This is just like us! I had my first child DD in July 2016, and we are taking her first Disney trip this May! She will be 9.5 months old.

To answer your question, NO, you are not crazy. Just make some adjustments and accommodations for your daughter!

Here's what we are doing:
-My parents are coming with the three of us. This is such a relief to be able to have someone watch her if my husband and I want to have alone time or ride any rides that she can't.
-My dad is driving down with my husband (dad can't fly) and my mom, myself, and DD are flying. So the boys are bringing all of the luggage and baby gear in the car. All I am taking is my purse and diaper bag to the airport.
-We live in MO so its a 1 hour time difference in FL. So I plan on stretching her bed time by 15 minutes each night the week before so that she is asleep by 8. That way, when we are in FL, it'll feel like 8 but really be 9
-I would rent a stroller in your case. It's not that expensive and beats having to lug it on the plane.
-I recommend staying at the Poly, DVC villas if you can. The reason for this is because the DVC studios have 2 bathrooms so the smaller bathroom is perfect to put a pack n play in at night. That way, you can stay up longer and not worry about waking the baby. Or getting a 1 bedroom somewhere else would work too.
-As another posted suggested, work in some down time into your days. At 11 months, I'm sure your DD will be mobile (either crawling or walking) and would love to stretch her legs and explore for a while. I tend to go "balls to the wall" at Disney so I had to really think about this one!
-Do some meet n greets! My daughter's name is Jasmine so we HAVE to meet Princess Jasmine while we are there!
-Go to the parks at rope drop and take a long break in the afternoon, then go back or to another park later. I do this even without a baby.

That's all I can think of! You will have a great time!

 

[jvz82]

Not crazy! I have brought my kids as infants and it was great.

Personally, I have gotten to the parks early and put my infants to sleep on time at night. Or, maybe within an hour or so of their normal time. Even on this last trip our kids were 2, 4, 6, and 8. The 4 year old does NOT do well past his bedtime. He will just tantrum and not enjoy anything and we know that about him. So my husband brought him and the 2 year old back to our resort and they were in bed before 9 every night. A couple times, the rest of us were in bed early too (like the days that we had to be at MK at 7 am). But a couple times I stayed behind with the bigger kids and saw fireworks. It worked out fine for us because I like to be up late and my husband is pretty well spent by 7 pm.

We rented a stroller from stroller kingdom. Worked out great! My infants have never slept in the stroller at the parks (except when I brought my 8 week old!) but they often fell asleep on rides in my arms.

Best advice would just be to go at her speed and enjoy everything. My favorite trip was when I went with my 8 week old and 2 year old son a few years ago. We took it slow and just did all the infant/toddler stuff and it was amazing. It is hard now with older kids and younger ones.

 

[westie55]

Hi all! I'm a long time lurker that has finally created an account of my own My husband and I are Disney nuts and have gone a couple times together. We welcomed our first child, a little girl in June of 2016. We originally said no vacations for a while.... but the itch has struck and now we're thinking about Disney this May! Our daughter will be 11 months. Flying from Ohio and likely staying Deluxe, either Poly, Contemporary or Beach Club.

A couple questions:

Are we crazy? Is that too young?

What do we do about bedtime? She's usually in bed around 7:30 or 8, which is early to end the day, but I also don't want her schedule to be completely messed up when we get home. For those of you that have pushed back bedtime a bit, were you able to get back on track within a few days of getting home?

Rent or bring a stroller?

Any tips in general would be appreciated!

No, you are not crazy. I took DS at 8 months, 11 months, and 16 months and all were wonderful trips.

We tried to do a reasonable bedtime which often ended up being 9 or 9:30 instead of the usual 7:30. If you rope drop, I think you'll find you still get plenty time in the parks.

We brought our stroller from home. Gate checking it is very easy. DS took all his naps in the stroller while we did baby swap or browsed gift shops, etc.

At 11 months DS was ok with characters but he disliked being close to them at 16 months. I'd plan one character meal but maybe not multiple until you can gauge how your LO feels about characters. Last trip we had multiple planned in 24 hrs so I couldn't cancel, but I felt like we wasted money since he didn't want to get pictures or be anywhere near the characters.

DS loved all the rides he could go on, which was anything without a height restriction. Do use baby swap for the rides your daughter can't go on! Only one of you needs a FP for those rides, so you really get extra FP for having a baby. Definitely a bonus!

Be prepared for your daughter's appetite to change at Disney. At 11 months I brought my son's food with us as he wasn't adventurous to eat from buffets yet. At 16 months he ate a lot more at home, but refused to try foods at Disney from the restaurants. I would bring foods she is comfortable eating.

You can was bottles or cups in the sink each night at your resort.

My son looooooved the resort pool at 11 months. That trip was in June so the water was super warm. At 8 months he was a little cold and didn't enjoy it at all.

Have a fantastic time!

 

[BuckeyeGirl24]

Thanks all! Our family thinks we're crazy. My mom said to just leave LO with her while we go. I'd feel awful leaving her to go to Disney and I think I'd spend the entire trip thinking about how much LO would enjoy everything!

 

[jo-jo]

We took our DGD at 8 months. One of our great disney memories is seeing her at the lion king show. She couldn't get enough of it. She may not remember it, but we do.

I would bring a stroller or rent one from off site. Disney strollers look as comfortable as a wheelbarrow.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

We took our son at 11 months and had a great time! A few things we did:
1. I was still nursing which was great - no need to pack bottles or formula. Plenty of quiet places to nurse at Disney. My fav was innoventions bc there are so many deserted areas there.

2. We kept our sons normal 7:30 bedtime. We stayed at Boardwalk villas and took drinks onto our balcony after he went to bed. It was a great way for my husband and I to wind down and have alone time after a day in the parks with a baby. If you're going to do this, maybe spring for a room with a better view than you normally would.

3. If the baby falls asleep in the stroller, let him or her be! We tried to transfer our son once and that did not go well! Ha. Find a place to walk around for awhile. Again, innoventions works for this too if it's hot outside.

4. If your kid still eats baby food, bring your own - not a great selection at the resort stores. We brought a bunch of those pouch things.

Have fun! We had a good time with our 11 month old. Id do it again.

 

[BuckeyeGirl24]

Omg you guys, we pulled the trigger staying at Contemporary for 4 nights in mid May!!!!!!!!

 

[ravenanne]

Omg you guys, we pulled the trigger staying at Contemporary for 4 nights in mid May!!!!!!!!

Awesome! You will have a great time! I honestly tell people all the time that you can have fun at Disney with kids if any age! Don't worry about it and just enjoy!