Disneyland with a One Year Old

[CayBoo]

A little backstory: I've been going to Disneyland all my life. My parents first took me when I was 4 months, and I grew up about 15 minutes away and had year passes for about 15 years. I've since moved to CO and usually make it to a Disney Park every two years. This year is our Disney year, and I'm hopeful that my husband and I can go with our son. He'll be 16 months in October when we're hoping to go.
Now while my parents were able to navigate the parks with a baby, 1992 was a lot different than 2023. I'd love any tips and tricks you have with navigating about 4 days at Disneyland. Here are some questions I have:
- How safe would non valuable belongings (diaper supplies, bottles etc.) be in our stroller while parked in stroller parking? And how common has stroller theft become if we were to bring our own stroller?
- How valuable is using the parent swap?
- I know every kiddo is different, but have you successfully done rope drop to close with a baby? Or is it advisable to head back to the hotel in the middle of the day? (We'll hopefully be staying on Disney property)
Thank you all so much!

 

[Pluto468]

A little backstory: I've been going to Disneyland all my life. My parents first took me when I was 4 months, and I grew up about 15 minutes away and had year passes for about 15 years. I've since moved to CO and usually make it to a Disney Park every two years. This year is our Disney year, and I'm hopeful that my husband and I can go with our son. He'll be 16 months in October when we're hoping to go.
Now while my parents were able to navigate the parks with a baby, 1992 was a lot different than 2023. I'd love any tips and tricks you have with navigating about 4 days at Disneyland. Here are some questions I have:
- How safe would non valuable belongings (diaper supplies, bottles etc.) be in our stroller while parked in stroller parking? And how common has stroller theft become if we were to bring our own stroller?
- How valuable is using the parent swap?
- I know every kiddo is different, but have you successfully done rope drop to close with a baby? Or is it advisable to head back to the hotel in the middle of the day? (We'll hopefully be staying on Disney property)
Thank you all so much!

Sounds like a fun trip!

I always brought our diaper bag onto the ride with us, because even though it didn't have anything super valuable in it, it wasn't something I'd want to be without. I had a small backpack type diaper bag for the parks. We brought out own stroller and nobody bothered it at all.

Be aware that sometimes CMs move strollers around, so make sure you have something easily identifiable on yours so you can find it after your ride.

We took a break in the afternoon for a nap but then stayed late and ds fell asleep in the stroller. We didn't stay until close, just 10:00 or so. Rope drop was no problem because he always woke up at like 5am no matter how late we were out the night before.

 

[Federalist45]

Anecdotally, we’ve never had a problem leaving our diaper bag in the stroller.

Everything else depends on how much sleeping your 16 month old will do in a stroller.

 

[monkeypat83]

Anecdotally, we’ve never had a problem leaving our diaper bag in the stroller.

Everything else depends on how much sleeping your 16 month old will do in a stroller.

I agree with this on both counts. I leave my diaper bag in the stroller and have small crossbody purse that I take on rides with me that has my valuables in it.

In my experience (and every kid is different) I took my daughter when she was 21 months old for the first time and we were able to let her nap in the stroller on that trip. I learned that when I could tell she was getting tired mid-day to walk to lunch the long way to give her time to fall asleep and then I would eat lunch while she slept and then she would eat when she woke up. I am not a rope drop to park close kind of person so we rope dropped and stayed until I was ready to go back to the hotel for the night. We never made it to the fireworks. I was pregnant with my second when I took her so rider swap wasn't something we did since basically I could only go on rides she could go on.

When I took her at just shy of 3 we had to go back to the hotel for a mid day nap because she needed the nap but was not going to fall asleep willingly in the stroller with so much going on around her until she was super overtired and I didn't want to have a grumpy child.

 

[chezcurrie]

Always felt safe leaving things in a stroller.

Rider swap is great, especially if you have other kids (sounds like you don’t but the re-ride feature for them is a real bonus - my boys are sad their little brother is now tall and brave enough to ride just about everything. Lol)

I *always* recommend a mid day break. No matter who the travelling party is. It’s part of my rule of 3’s: 3 rides (top priorities), 3 snacks (1 per kid) and 3 hour break! Truly just getting away from the stimulus, taking a shower/change of clothes can make such a difference in your evening experience. Those mid-day hours are also the busiest and hottest so it is nice to be resting vs standing in an hour long queue.

 

[bizaro86]

We took our younger guy at 11 months. Stroller was no issue at all, and we left all sorts of stuff in it without issue. Not having to carry everything is great!

We did a mid-day nap back at the hotel, and I recommend that. Gets everyone refreshed

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Three words: Baby Care Centers. One in each park. The Baby Care Center is a wonderful oasis of quiet, cleanliness and air conditioning. I always changed my baby in the Baby Care Center, it is so much nicer and cleaner than the bathrooms in the parks. The changing tables are cleaned after each use and have fresh paper on top (like at the doctor’s office). There’s a sink right there to wash your hands. You can nurse your baby in privacy while sitting in a comfy chair. Or pump if necessary. They have microwaves for warming bottles or baby food. The even sell baby supplies if you run out. Love the Baby Care Centers! In DL it’s by the Little Red Wagon corndog cart. In DCA it’s around the corner from Ghiredelli.

 

[RoseColored97]

While I don't have any little ones, I work in law enforcement and I say - bring the diaper bag! When we're walking around, I always cringe at all of the valuables left in the bottom of strollers. You would be fine leaving bottles of water, smaller snacks, etc in the storage underneath but I wouldn't leave anything with a slight amount of value at the stroller. Even jackets, especially Disneyland ones, I would bring them. Or - maybe get a locker and put them in there until you need them.

All of the rides have enough storage for a backpack/diaper bag if you're all going. It might be a hassle to carry, but I would rather be safe than sorry. Disneyland is a place I would consider to be very safe, but you just never know what opportunity people will take to steal.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

While I don't have any little ones, I work in law enforcement and I say - bring the diaper bag! When we're walking around, I always cringe at all of the valuables left in the bottom of strollers. You would be fine leaving bottles of water, smaller snacks, etc in the storage underneath but I wouldn't leave anything with a slight amount of value at the stroller. Even jackets, especially Disneyland ones, I would bring them. Or - maybe get a locker and put them in there until you need them.

All of the rides have enough storage for a backpack/diaper bag if you're all going. It might be a hassle to carry, but I would rather be safe than sorry. Disneyland is a place I would consider to be very safe, but you just never know what opportunity people will take to steal.

This is great advice for all places. That said, I do wear a cross body with my wallet and phone but I have always left my backpack/diaper bag with my stroller. I’ve left merchandise in my stroller (under the stroller/out of view) and been lucky but that’s probably not a great idea. I’ve even forgotten my iPhone too many times to count just sticking in the cup holder on top of my stroller and no one has ever taken it. Again, not a smart idea but this has been my experience.

I do think Disney people are kinder and more honest than people in most other places. I recently dropped my wallet in Tomorrowland but didn’t know where. I reported it missing with lost and found but figured I’d never see my money, Disney gift cards, credit cards, my driver’s license again. Got an email about 6 hours later that my wallet was found. Every single thing was still inside even the cash and Disney gift cards.

In contrast, my son lost his precious stuffed sloths at SeaWorld that were worth nothing (except to him) and no one ever turned them in.

 

[RoseColored97]

This is great advice for all places. That said, I do wear a cross body with my wallet and phone but I have always left my backpack/diaper bag with my stroller. I’ve left merchandise in my stroller (under the stroller/out of view) and been lucky but that’s probably not a great idea. I’ve even forgotten my iPhone too many times to count just sticking in the cup holder on top of my stroller and no one has ever taken it. Again, not a smart idea but this has been my experience.

I do think Disney people are kinder and more honest than people in most other places. I recently dropped my wallet in Tomorrowland but didn’t know where. I reported it missing with lost and found but figured I’d never see my money, Disney gift cards, credit cards, my driver’s license again. Got an email about 6 hours later that my wallet was found. Every single thing was still inside even the cash and Disney gift cards.

In contrast, my son lost his precious stuffed sloths at SeaWorld that were worth nothing (except to him) and no one ever turned them in.

Ugh, my heart hurts for your son. I still remember I left my favorite doll in the women's restroom on the back of the toilet at Disneyland near City Hall, probably when I was 4 or 5 years old. It never turned up and I was so devastated by that!

I also got lost at Disneyland in Fantasyland by the carousel when I was maybe around 5 and freaked out. I went up to this older woman who looked like Cinderella's fairy godmother saying I couldn't find my mom and she was so sweet, she took me into this store and the CMs ended up finding her pretty quickly. The kindness of both the guest and CMs that day have always stuck with me.

I definitely agree that Disneyland is safer than pretty much everywhere and I probably view things through a more pessimistic lens because of my job, but it's always good to err on the side of caution. That is amazing that your wallet was returned without anything missing. You don't hear about that often out in real life! <3

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

I took my son when he was 14m and it was a very fun trip, but definitely different!

I left the diaper bag in the stroller, but took a small crossbody with valuables with me on the rides. Our stroller sometimes got moved by CMs, but I had no problems with anyone taking anything. I've heard of several times people thought their stroller had been stolen, and later discovered it was just moved while they were on the ride, so keep in mind that it often will get shuffled around as needed. It's helpful to have something very distinctive to attach to your stroller so you can easily find it. On that trip we used a balloon, but that thing was so annoying that I never did that again.

I used a Moby Wrap to hold him when we were standing in line, and he sometimes fell asleep while I was wearing him. I took him back to the hotel for a nap on one of our days, but he napped in the stroller on the second day so I just found a quiet spot to sit with him and let him nap there. He didn't nap as long and was fussier that day, and dozed off a few more times in the Moby wrap. It was okay, but I think it was better when we went back to the room and he had a "normal" nap midday.

Every child is different, of course! I found things went best when I just played it by ear and was attentive to what he needed - sometimes he just needed a chance to crawl around somewhere and not be restrained, sometimes he needed a quiet spot away from all the stimulation, sometimes he needed a snack...etc etc He was especially enthralled by Eeyore, Small World, and Pirates of all things and added "yo ho yo ho" to his vocabulary because of that trip!

 

[ClaraOswald]

We took our son when he was 17 months old....this was back in 2015. We brought a smaller/lighter stroller but one that still had some storage underneath. We kept the diaper bag (small backpack) under there while on rides. Nothing was ever stolen but we still never put anything under there we would be upset about losing. Just in case.

We bought a visor extender for the stroller that was a life saver even though we went in February when it wasn't that hot. It was nice to pull down a bit when he fell asleep.



We used ride swap for a few rides and it worked well. We took breaks back at the hotel in the afternoon. Actually, we still do this. It's nice for our legs too.

Are you flying or driving? If flying, I highly recommend purchasing your child a seat and then bringing a lightweight car seat. Not only is it the safest way to travel (in case of turbulence), it's also good because kids are typically used to sitting in a car seat. Also, this was good because we could use our own seat in the rental car. We even brought a little tray for toys though it probably wasn't necessary.