Disney with infant and 7 year old

[Disneynewbie]

Hi everyone,

I am coming to Disney with my 7 year old son and 10 month old daughter in early Feb. Son has been to Disney (and thanks to a lot of advice from these boards 2 years ago - had a great time!!) but this will be our daughter's 1st trip. We weren't planning to return back so soon (we love it, but thought it would be a little expensive and too soon for the baby to come) - but hubby has a work conference so his flight and our hotel will be paid for (woo hoo!).

SO, I would like some major advice on what to do, how to handle the different needs of our kiddos who are so far apart in age. AND, I will only have hubby for 1.5 days before he gets consumed by the conference. Initially we are thinking of doing the Disney-MGM Studios (since none of us has been there) for our full day and Magic Kingdom for the half day - as likely I will return back to MK for one of my solo days, and we are staying at the Grand Floridian - so easy access to and from the hotel. We are not likely going to hit AK - as we did that last trip. For my remaining 2.5 days (where hubby is at conference - but I may have friends / relatives who live in the area come up and join me - not confirmed yet) - thought of going back to MK, going to Epcot and then doing maybe a character breakfast / relaxing at the hotel for our last .5 day.

Some questions:

- Is Epcot doable with an infant and 7 year old?
- What are the best rides / attractions in general for an infant?
- Does the baby swap thing really work (and is it consistent across the parks?)
- If I end up solo (no hubby and no friends to help out) - what do you recommend - can I even do any rides that would be of interest to a 7 year old boy and accomodate the baby?
- Which character breakfast or dinner would you recommend for a 7 year old boy -- we did Chef Mickey's breakfast last time, and he loved it, but I would like to do something different. How is 1900 Park Fare? Is it too girly (Cinderella, I think?) for boys? I was considering it since it is at the hotel we are staying at.

I know I will have a ton of other questions - but these are my burning questions for now. I will also do some reading on the older posts too.

Thanks in advance!

Kelli

 

[GoinToDisney]

The baby can ride anything without a height restriction, so MK is definitely good for your solo time. You can do most of the Fantasy Land stuff with them, pirates, haunted mansion. We love the Crystal Palace for character meals... pooh characters. Liberty Tree Tavern was also nice. They bring the food to you there, so you could do it solo if you had to. A buffet would be more tricky solo, but doable. I highly recommend getting an Ergo baby carrier for a 10 month old. It is so much easier than carrying them in your arms for lines, etc. If you carry the baby on the front, my dd slept through rides that way... like small world and pooh. This way, you won't have your 7 year-old bored while the baby sleeps. Baby swap just basically gives you a fastpass, so if the fastpass lane is backed up, then you have a bit of a wait. I'm not sure if it is the same for all rides/parks. You will have a great time.

 

[susykt4]

Do you think your friends/relatives in the area would be willing to spend a day or part of a day watching your baby at the hotel? Personally, I would LOVE to hang out and explore the Grand Floridian! If I lived in the area (assuming I went to the parks at least occasionally) that would thrill me more than helping out inside one of the parks. That way you could take your son on all the height restricted rides and have some time that isn't all about the baby. Just a thought...

A solo day at Epcot would be very doable. My kids (7 & 5) love Epcot. Test Track would be hard to avoid (so huge and loud) but careful planning could minimize your son's exposure. The baby would probably love The Seas and could tag along to most of the other stuff. My kids especially enjoy the Coke tasting place, the "jumping" fountain outside the Imagination pavillion, Fantastic Plastics (make a FREE plastic robot) inside Innoventions and the KidCot stops and characters in World Showcase (though my 7-yr-old is a craft-loving GIRL.) My kids also love the monorail ride from MK to Epcot and if they get to ride in the front with the driver it's that much better.

 

[Disneynewbie]

Thank you both for the replies. They are both helpful. Not sure my relatives/friends would be willing to hang solo with the baby at the hotel - and the baby is at that stranger anxiety phase, so it may not be so fun for anyone if she weren't with me, but it is helpful to know that I can ride some rides with the baby and see different things at Epcot as well.

Thank you!!

 

[KariC]

We;re thinking about going with our 6 month old and 5 year old twins. I'm interested in hearing what advice people have, too! But, I'm not brave...I won't go to the parks with the kids by myself!

 

[laughinplace199]

I would spend more time at MK than MGM, but maybe that's just me. My kids are 8, 6, & 1 and MK is their favorite park & MGM is their least favorite. That's not to say that they don't enjoy MGM, they do, but they like the MK rides better.

You could have your DS pick the rides (with height restrictions) that he is most interested in riding and plan your park time with your DH around this. Then you and the kids can do the other parks/rides solo or with relatives. Will you have park hoppers?

 

[Disneynewbie]

Hmm, laughinplace199 - that makes sense - perhaps I should switch my full day with hubby to MK, and the 1/2 day to MGM (I read somewhere that MGM is a smaller park anyway, so should be able to do it in a shorter day than MK). We were only thinking about doing it for our full day because none of us has been there. But I like the idea of letting my son pick out the rides he wants to go on and trying to hit them all when we have my hubby with us.

I am still not sure if I am going to get hoppers (or DDP for that matter!! Yikes, I know I need to make a decision soon!) - my inclination was not, because I did not think I could manage / handle going between parks. Though, it looks like MK has wishes / spectromagic on the night we may switch to MGM - so maybe the hopper is better to have some flexibility (to hit things like that when we start out in another park?)

I am SO obsessed with vacation planning!!

 

[laughinplace199]

Glad I could help!

Does your DS like the wilder rides? My kids like the moderately thrilling rides, but nothing too extreme like ToT, RnRC, or EE. Therefore, if it were me, I would spend the full day with DH at MK and the 1/2 day at Epcot. Again, it depends on what your DS likes. My kids LOVE MS, TT, and Soarin', so I'd need DH with me for those rides. At MGM, the only ride with a height restriction that my kids like is Star Tours.

We always get park hoppers because we like the flexibility of being able to hop if one park is getting too crowded or if we didn't get to all that we wanted to do in one of the parks on a certain day. Will you be driving or using Disney transportation? It could be tricky getting on and off Disney busses with a baby and a stroller since you have to fold the stroller, but if you have one that folds easily, it might not be too bad. If you have a Baby Bjorn or other carrier, that might be helpful too. My youngest is now 14 months and I still use the Baby Bjorn occasionally.

Have a great trip!

 

[kimlooman]

We took our infant and 7 year old to Disney (twice) at the age and found it quite easy with the baby sleeping in the carseat/stroller as the seven year old got to ride lots of rides with baby swap. It works great! Actually to be honest it is easier when one is a baby than when they are mobil and turn into a toddler and preschooler! You just have to be flexible, find all the baby stations (they are very nice and the cast members are very kind and helpful). Our 7 year old loved it as he got to ride several times with both mom and dad and even more if you get the fastpass plus the baby swap. I would say from my experiences that Disney world is very family friendly at any age and very accomodating. We did all the parks with the baby and if he was sleeping in the stroller we just took turns riding, or taking him with us on the rides he can go on. He loved the lights at night walking around and all the activity to see and hear. We just go with the attitude that we do what we can and have fun and don't get too stressed out about things. HOpe it works out for you! (one trip we flew from Michigan and the other we drove with boy kids!)

 

[GoinToDisney]

I have to say, I agree that I would do the full day at MK and the half at MGM. We are not very into Epcot, but we do go there jsut for Nemo and TT w/ Crush. I would get the hoppers because I like to Hop. I did get the DDP but I think I would skip it in your situation unless you plan to do a lot of character meals.

 

[Disneynewbie]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I think we will have a great time!