Going to Disney with a 13 m.o.??

[AlisonR80]

We've never been to WDW. We are planning to go in early september and our youngest child will be about 13 m.o. I've never flown with my children, much less a toddler. The thought scares me I'm most worried about the plane trip from Detroit Metro. How do we contain a toddler for a plane ride? Do we bring him on our lap or buy him a ticket and bring his carseat to strap him in. I didn't know carseats were approved for aircraft, but i was reading the other thread and it sounds like you can use them. I feel like if he's not strapped in he'll want to be all over the place. What do you all recommend?

Also, unrelated to the travel issue...is there a good place to stay at disney where we could have connecting rooms with my folks? I'm a total newbie, I know NOTHING about Disney!

 

[becca011906]

Take the car seat, it's much safer for the child also will make the flight it's self less stress full if this is the only child and there are 4 adults it should be easy to get the car seat there...

The FFA recomends strongly that children under 40lbs be in a 5 pt harness but do not require it. most all seats are airline approved but be sure the sticker is still on your seat... good place for more info on car seat and flying or car seat in general is at car-seat.org lots of techs (me being one of the techs) on there to help you out as well as on here!!!


Welcome to the boards too!!!

 

[d1gitman]

We have traveled to WDW several time with our children. Age ranges between the 2 boys over the various trips: 7mo, 11 mo, 22 mo, 4 yr, 5 yr, 6 yr. We are prett lucky as our boys are good road warriors in the car. We have found that on the plane keeping them occupied with crayons, paper, games, books, toys, video games, etc...works very well. If the plane has in flight tv, that works too. Just bring lots of different things to keep the kids occupied and it should help. Our flight is 3 hrs. from Boston to Orlando. Some friends of ours went with us last yr. and their 2 kids are horrible road warriors in the car but did great on the plane. No real way to know but to give it a shot. If memory serves me correct, you cannot place your child in a carseat during takeoff or landing. you are however allowed to hold them in your lap, which makes no sense from a safety standpoint, go figure.

You will want to check with WDW on connecting rooms. I do not believe that the value resorts have connecting rooms. You can always get adjacent rooms, the doors are only about 6' apart.

if you are total newbie, are you interested in some tips from us fanatics? I would be happy to private message you some spread sheets on tips, etc...

One obvious one that comes to mind is your timeframe. September is great. for the last couple of years, Disney has offered free Dining plan in the spring for travel between Aug and Sept. This is a huge savings. Even if paying for the dining plan, it is worth it. this also leads me to the point of booking dining reservations as soon as Disney allows, 180 days in advance. This may sound crazy, but trust me it's not. THis also means you need to know what parks you want to be in each day for your reservations. Anyway, i could go on and on but wont unless you want me to send you our tidibits of knowledge.

By the way, you will LOVE WDW. It truly is the happiest place on earth.

 

[d1gitman]

you will love staying onsite. after the first time we stayed on site, we have never considered offsite again. there is nothing like being fully immersed in the Disney experience. We plan to go in Nov 08, unless free dining is offered again for September.

 

[Disneylush]

All the values have connecting rooms... you have to request them.

I took my 13 mo old in Jan and here are my tips:
For the plane we did not by her a seat but booked our seats so that the seat between us was emptied for her to play in.
We brought our laptop and DVD's... worked great!
Juice bought after security check so she was drinking during take off and landing.
Color wonder paper and markers / finger paints worked well for our 3 year old but not the 13mo old.
We had our own stroller so she was always comfy
we used the Disney pack and play but brought our own bedding
bring you own sippy cups
do character dinning after you child has seen a character and is not scared of them.
go at your childs pace, but know that if your home routine is broken it will be okay.
Pack your childs comfort foods... for us it was krispie bars, ramen, and granola bars.
Use the baby care stations if you are close to one.
The first aid stations will give you free meds and check temps.


I am willing to answer any questions you might have ... feel free to PM

 

[AlisonR80]

Disneylush- if you didn't bring the carseat on board did you check it so that you used it when you got there? Once you are at the resort on site...i've heard there are buses that take you places...do you just hold your child on your lap on those? Did you purchase 3 seats or just hope that the 1 in the middle was not taken?

digitman- tried to pm you buy my postcount is too low...please share your tips with me...thanks!

 

[mommylibrarian]

Hi, Alison!

You can check your carseat, but if you aren't going to use it on the plane, don't bother bringing it. You can rent one for your rental car, or if you are using the buses, you'll have to hold him... buses don't have belts to strap them in. We had no problems there.

Be sure you bring a lightweight stroller that's easy to fold up. You'll check it at the gate. At Disney, when using the buses, you'll be folding and unfolding it to get on and off.

We've also been lucky with buying window and aisle and hoping for the best, but you are relying on luck. Our children were very active, so we found using the carseat on the plane was the only option. Plus we felt it was safer. You can strap them in during takeoff and landing... no problems there. You do have to buy a seat, though, so it's up to you and how long your flight is.

Hope you have a fabulous trip!

 

[Mom2JPL]

Not sure how old all of your children all (or how many), but we went in Oct with our 3 little ones (4, 2.5 and 12 months at time of travel) and this is what worked well for us: the baby was a "lap ticket" (ie, free) and my dh and I took turns holding her and honestly it was a piece of cake! We're from PA and had a connecting flight and she was great...she slept, she ate, she drank...she was completely happy to be held. Our two older kids were seatbelted into their seats and were perfectly content to color, play with stickers, etc. We laugh about how my son ate his way from PA to FL - he had his tray table down and loved the peanuts, cookies, etc, that they served him on the plane! I too worried about how they'd do on the flights, but they were terrific...the two oldest each had their backpacks with a change of clothes, diapers for the little ones, a few fruit snacks, stickers and sticker books, coloring books and crayons (the crayola's that are triangular shaped so they wouldn't roll). I thought about brining a dvd player and was glad that I didn't...they don't use one at home in the car so I didn't feel they needed it. They were content to look out the windows!

There was a little guy on our flight (one child, 2 parents, 2 grandparents) and this kid was a terror! His grandparents sat in front of us and he just kept running up and down the aisle, they brought a dvd player for him and he had no interest in it, he wouldn't sit when they tried to grab him and therefore he screamed, and he was no younger than my 2.5 year old. I was just amazed at how 4 adults couldn't control one little kid - obviously he was used to getting his way all of the time!

 

[danielle916]

You will want to check with WDW on connecting rooms. I do not believe that the value resorts have connecting rooms. You can always get adjacent rooms, the doors are only about 6' apart.


ooh i hope you are wrong about this, because i booked two rooms in a value and my agent told me they are connecting...i have 6 all together, 4 kids, 2 adults...i better call just to be sure...i used the mouse for less agency

 

[Dallas_Lady]

We took our 12 month old in Septmeber 07. Here are some things that worked well for us:

-We bought her a seat on the plane and brought her carseat. It was an extra expense, but VERY worth it IMO. She is a very squirmy girl, and would have been a nightmare to contain if I held her in my lap. In her carseat, she didn't know it was any different than being in a car. She slept most of the way there and the whole way back.

-We brought a high-end umbrella stroller (Graco IPO) that was comfortable for us to push, easy to fold and reclined all the way back. She took all her naps in the stroller. We'd planned to go back to the room midday, but I didn't want to wake a sleeping baby to put her on the bus. While she napped, we ride-swapped the things she couldn't get on. We also put a big lime-green strap on our stroller so it was easily identified in the sea of strollers after getting off a ride.

Get yourself a good guidebook so you can become more familiar with Disney as a whole. I recommend the Passporter.

 

[lexmas]

You will want to check with WDW on connecting rooms. I do not believe that the value resorts have connecting rooms. You can always get adjacent rooms, the doors are only about 6' apart.


ooh i hope you are wrong about this, because i booked two rooms in a value and my agent told me they are connecting...i have 6 all together, 4 kids, 2 adults...i better call just to be sure...i used the mouse for less agency

When we stayed at pop we had a room that was connecting another room...we didn't know the people there, but there was a door between the rooms, so they do exist! Just thought I'd ease your mind!

 

[Jennygt]

We just went in Sept with my then 12 month ols and my parents. We flew from NJ, Buy a ticket and use the car seat, he slept all the way down. It was a pain to instal but worth it. Aslo my DS feet touched the seat in front, we bought the tickets in front of us for my parents to sit and it worked out well. I used my Macleran in the airport etc and rented from ABBF for the big stroller in the parks and I rented the crib and a strap on high chair seat for the room, ABBF rocks check them out. We had connecting rooms at the Poly and it was like havimg a suite, we could but the baby to bed and then go hand out on my parents balcony and watch the fireworks etc. We were in Tahiti on the second floor and I would highly reccomend it! Any more questions let me know!

 

[frtchr]

We took our 11 m.o. in December and we're going back with her in April. She HATES the carseat-it's her own personal hell-so we're not using it again in April. Someone else mentioned not being allowed to have a child in a carseat during takeoff or landing, but I don't think that's true. Our DD was in her carseat for landing and takeoff both ways...and screaming her fool head off. I'm thinking about a CARES restraint this time around.

Have a great trip!

 

[Disneylush]

To answer your questions... we did not use a carseat at all. Plane, DME, or the buses. (you can't on the buses)
On expedia.com you can watch the seating on your plane fill up. We have always been lucky and the middle seat has never be filled.
It is REALLY important you have a good stroller! Do not cheat your child or your back out of comfort just because you are afraid of how much room it will take on the bus.
Someone else already suggested this but BUY A PASSPORTER book!