DL with 1 year old

[maxie]

Has anyone travelled to DL with a 1 year old?

We are thinking of 9 days at the end of October. I'm looking at the Carousel Inn using the Entertainment book. We are not renting a car - flying in.

Looking at perhaps 4 leisurely days at the 2 parks - with naps in the afternoon.

Also considering Knott's for the Camp Snoopy.

Perhaps day trip to San Diego Zoo but will see how the baby travels. (unless we do couple days at San Diego....)

Would love to do a LA Tour (Rodeo, etc.) but again not sure because of amount of time spent in a bus with child

Hope about Universal - anything there for kids this age??

ANy ideas, suggestions would be appreciated!!

 

[Judy from Boise]

Honestly I think the only rides that the baby might enjoy are Small World, the Rail Road, Alice, and the teacups, and possibly the Tiki room, although it might scare her in parts.......it all depends on her temprament.

I think you can plan to have a good time using the baby swap though

 

[hookedup]

We took our ds to DL for his first birthday and we bought AP's and have gone a lot ever since. We have always had a great time. I would make sure your child is up on all his/her one year vaccines at least 2 weeks before going. Excellent changing facilities for diapers and the baby care center is awesome too. Any rides with height restrictions you can "baby swap" and get a rider switch pass so you don't have to wait in lines twice.

Some great rides for little ones are Small World, the Carousels (both DL and DCA)
Dumbo, Casey Junior Circus train, Storybook Canal, the Main Street cars, Tiki Room, the big Train and maybe the Fantasyland rides like Peter Pan and Mister Toad - if you child seems to like those (some children find them a bit too intense although mine loved them) My son also loves Pirates so go figure!

Can't answer about Knotts or Universal since it's been years since I have been there and we didn't have kids then.

 

[Sonya in Boise]

We took Allyson and she was 18 months. She loved everything except Pinochio. The whale at the end scared her.

Toon town was great. She cold ride everything except the coaster and Goofys house. She loved to be able to walk around there and chase the birds. LOL

Is that your only child?

If it's just your spouse, you and the baby make sure to use the single rider at Indy and Splash. My sister and I did this in December. We bought a thing of popcorn and let the kids feed the ducks while the other rode splash/indy using the single ride line. You just ask the CM at the entrance and they give you a pass and send you up the EXIT. You walk all the way to the ride vehicles and are on in minutes.

Make sure to use fastpass and rider switch and you will have lots of fun.

I would advise you start slowly until you know how the baby will react. Dumbo, Astro Orbitor, Storybook Canal boats, Casey JR, Alice then on to the dark rides. My 3 year old did not like Small world because the music was too loud.

 

[Dana_Buckley]

We first took our son to DL when he was 10months old, and have been going ever since. There are lots of rides you will be able take her on, and I agree to do the parent switch so you can enjoy the big rides too. One word of warning, is if she isn't walking yet, you will have to carry her through all the lines, which can get tough. Just go early and use FP. I would suggest only 3 days at DL. Then stay in San Diego for a few days. Your daughter may have fun walking along the beach (although the water will be cold) and my son's favorite was SeaWorld, because the animals are always moving in the water, not laying around like so often at the zoo. And dolphin and shamu shows are a lot of fun.
And try to avoid a bus tour, I took my son on one in San Francisco and it didn't go too well. He kept standing on the seat, and trying to walk around on the bus!

Have a great vacation!

 

[dletz]

My daughter has been going to DL since just before she turned 2 months old (and I swore when I was pregnant with her she'd be at least 3 months before we went, but I was having Disney withdrawls since I've had an AP for 15 years, and couldn't go for 6 months while pregnant because I was on bedrest the whole time). There's lots for a 1 year old to do. Train, monorail, carrousel, dumbo, casey jr, storybook, Autopia (have to be one to ride, and if you're not all going to ride in one car have baby ride in front car with someone, and have other(s) ride in car behind that way if the people behind bump you they bump the car behind, we usually stop far back so even if the car moves it won't bump the car in front). Alice, Peter pan. Basically anything that doesn't have a height limit. My daughter rode everything by one that didn't have a height or age limit, and now she rides everything she's tall enough for.

I'd skip knotts. They do Knotts Scary Farm in October, and they transform some of the rides into walk throughs for this after hours party, so they're closed. They do have something called Camp Spookey where the kids can trick or treat and stuff, but if you're just going for that section, you'll find some stuff closed. Also if I remember correctly they have more rides with height limits and such, so there's not quite as much to do there. Since I live here, we went with our daughter, then had my mom pick her up after lunch and stay with my parents while me and her dad spent the rest of the day, that worked great as we didn't have to do child switch. She was almost three, and I wouldn't have done it if my mom didn't watch her half the day.