DL (and beyond) with one year old...any suggestions?

[DawnAK]

I am looking for some suggestions for the couple days we have after our DL part of the trip. This is our first time traveling with a little one and it is a bit overwhelming!

We are traveling to CA in mid-January. We check in to HOJO on Friday,
Jan 9th. We will be spending 3 days in DL/DCA...we check out of HOJO on Tuesday Jan 13th. Our flight doesn't leave until thursday afternoon. So, my question is...what should we be doing those extra couple days? We could rent a car and go to San Diego...see the Zoo, or Sea World, or go to Lego Land...but would a one year old enjoy any of these? We have the ent rate at Hojo...maybe we should just stay there and hang out. If we did that, is there anything else nearby that would be an option? I thought about taking the Greyhound on one of their tours, but am nervous about the baby on the bus for a long distance. I assume we wouldn't be able to bring his carseat and he certainly wouldn't sit still for that long on the bus!

Any ideas or experiences to share would be so helpful!

Of course, any great ideas for the DL part of the trip are welcome too!

Thank you!
Dawn

 

[Gisele]

Do you want to bring your baby with you or do you have to? Just wondering. I personally would wait until the baby is older. But there are some people that like to take their infants, and toddlers with them. I am not in that group.

 

[jennifur25]

How old is your baby? I took my twins at 15 months old and they had a great time. I don't think that's too young for disney at ALL- they had a great time just taking in the sights and all of the Disney magic.

 

[pixiewings71]

I think one is a great age. You may need to take extra breaks during the day but just imagine the look on that little face!!

 

[Gisele]

See in my world, there is only enough room for one person to possibly become demanding, and it is not a baby! It is I! Seriously..........needless to say, I do not have any ankle biters. I frankly do not think I could handle the idea of watching any very young child all day long, unless they take a very long nap. Even then, maybe not. Babysitting my sister's children is enough for me. Besides, I am getting too old anyway, apparently to them, so I don't care anymore.

 

[JennCa]

I've been to Disney area a few times with one year olds and we love it! It's not like going with adults but they are likely to love the colors, characters and you'll love the pics. I'd think about what you'd like to do and bring baby along for the ride... You will be surprised how many rides they can go on and might enjoy the parades, shows, etc.

I would suggest getting a car, going on a bus can be unpredictable, kid gets sick, decide you don't want to go, fussy, etc.

I love going to Laguna Beach. There is a beautiful kids play park on the sand about 100 feet from the ocean. Lots of little shops to wander in and eat at. Several of them very casual. it is very upscale looking, very So Cal : )

Haven't been to Legoland, but I think I'd wait on that one just from seeing the height requirments for the rides, I'd say 3 years old would be fabulous time!

The zoo is beautiful if you want to go (I do!), but it is pretty hilly so be prepared for a workout with your stroller. Wild Animal Park same thing. I just went to Animal Park last weekend and enjoyed it immensely.

If the weather is iffy you won't want to be out as much so if you like museums there are MANY in San Diego and also in LA.

If you decide to stay at Hojo the whole time it saves you a lot of time packing/unpacking, not having a transfer day and then you can choose which days to do Disney according to your mood or the weather. If you decide to split your stay then you have to go certain places, certain days.

I really like the zoo so I've taken my children there. Same goes for Seaworld, South Coast Plaza, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach is our fav, Mission San Juan Capistrano (beautiful mission, pretty town with flowers and old buildings), Hollywood (a bit gritty in certain places), Rodeo drive but I thougth was touristy. Balboa Park would be my vote for museums, any of them are good, love Ruben H Fleet. Gaslamp and Old San Diego are also fun.

Jenn

 

[DawnAK]

Jenn-thanks so much for your insight and taking the time to post so many suggestions. i am crossing my fingers and hoping for nice weather! we are traveling from Alaska, so sunshine and mild temps would be so nice! although, anything above zero and daylight in January is delightful! LOL.

thanks to all who replied! i am looking forward to seeing my baby boy meet his buddy the mouse for the first time. he loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the morning, and the other day we had his one year pictures taken and the portrait studio had a giant mickey (about 3 times bigger than my son), he couldn't take his eyes off of Mickey!

I know it will be a more laid back style of Disney than we are used to, but well worth it!

dawnAK

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Hi ~

Just a thought, how 'bout you visit DLR on weekdays to avoid crowds?? You might want 1 weekend day for the fireworks &/or Fantasmic, but if I were you I'd spend a couple weekdays in the parks.

When we visited DLR in Sept of 07 my nephew was with us ~ he turned 1 as soon as we got back home. He had a great time and we had a great time with him.

Perhaps you could rent a car for a day or 2 to do some non-Disney things (which I would do on the weekend).

 

[bumbershoot]

We had our first DL trip when DS was about 16/17 months old. He spent most of the day in the mei tai (traditional Chinese cloth baby carrier) just looking around. We did rent a stroller, but he was in it for about 5 minutes when we got to IASW and then he just never wanted to get back in it.

It was only a day trip during a bigger trip to San Diego so we went from day to night non-stop, which is something I don't recommend.


I don't think we went to SeaWorld on that trip, but having been there a few times since I just can't imagine taking a one year old there. There's just not enough, other than the Sesame play area, for them to do. Well there are big horses (the Budweiser Clydesdales), and there are animals of course, but to me it's just not worth it unless the adults in your family really really want to go there.

But to just see animals I'd go to the zoo. We did go there on that same trip and he enjoyed it. Parking is free there which is nice b/c the zoo is otherwise a bit spendy, but the place is HUGE. And it won't be so hot and icky in January, which saves you guys a bit.


When DS was 1 and 2 he had fun, but the trips were mainly for us. Color us surprised when a few months after the trip when he was 2 he started talking about it!!! He's 4.5 now and still remembers that trip, and of course we've had several more since then, but like I said, that first trip especially was for us, and it was fun!

 

[Krissy Marissy]

I love going to DL with little kids! They are sooo much fun! They are just purely happy and everything is amazing to them. We are taking our little ones in april...there will be four in our group all under 3, so we are super excited! Just take it easy and take breaks...follow your babies cues! You guys will have a blast!

 

[LavenderPeach]

There is also the Santa Ana zoo which is fairly close to DLR. No, it's not as good as the san diego zoo but it's a lot closer and a lot cheaper (i think $12 for adults). So that might be a possibility if you want to do some sort of animal outing on a smaller scale.

 

[jernysgirl]

Or you could always consider upgrading your tickets to a longer hopper, and enjoy DLR even more. With a little one, most will definitely want to take it easy and slow. We took our DS when he was 11 months on his first trip (in March 06) and we had a great time. I was pregnant at the time, and although most would think relax and nap, we had no problems staying in the parks all day. He was so little that he napped in his stroller off and on and we didn't have to go to the hotel for naptime. (We are ALWAYS commando, and NEVER leave the parks! )

Just be prepared to bring LOTS of extra clothes and diapers with you (especially into the park). Trust me.... (TMI ahead>>>) kids and diapers never seem to work like they should while in places like DL, compared to the way they do at home for me. We ended up going through an average of 3 outfits a day I believe.

 

[cheshiregirl]

To the OP, I haven't taken DS to anywhere else in SoCal except Disney although we are planning to hit the Aquarium of the Pacific and the Queen Mary during our next trip. However, here are some things that you might want to know about DLR with a 1 year old.

My DS is 14 months old and we are just over 5 weeks away from making his 6th visit to DLR. The first couple trips he was too young to enjoy anything and was really there more for me to take pictures and make memories than anything else. However, the past two trips were for his birthday and then again for Halloween and he had an amazing time!

As a new walker he loved running around Goofy's house and garden in Toontown (a great stroller break). He also really enjoys Casey Jr. and Dumbo in Fantasyland and Flik's Flyers and Heimlich's Chew Chew Train in A Bug's Land at DCA. The Tiki Room, Buzz Lightyear, the Winnie the Pooh ride and Peter Pan Flight are also big hits. But, the two carousels (King Arthur in Fantasyland and King Triton on Paradise Pier) are by far his favorite two rides. I think that we rode the two a combined 13 times over 2 days Halloween weekend!

Additionally, he love, love, loves the parades and meeting characters. We have literally had to peel him off of Minnie Mouse, Pooh Bear and Pluto. The character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch was a particular hit with him as he got to play on the floor with Goofy and then Pluto, Goofy and Stitch made multiple visits to our table to play games with him. Minnie and Friends wasn't so great for us, as we had to wait almost an hour to have any characters visit the table and then they were very rushed. We are trying Goofy's on the next trip and giving Minnie a second chance as well.

Another thing he really enjoyed is the Playhouse Disney show at DCA and I would highly recommend hitting it even if your child doesn't watch any of the Playhouse Disney shows. But, if they do watch Handy Manny, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, Little Einsteins and/or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse it is a truly magical experience.

Finally, and perhaps the most endearing thing that DS loves is just being in his stroller as we walked down Main Street. He literally gets so excited that he is dancing in his seat as he greets the people around us and takes it all in. We have a Disney DVD that is a sing along set in Disneyland and there is a song on it about "Walking Down the Middle of Main Street USA" and I can't help but sing it in my head as I watch how excited he gets each and every time!