How will my 15 month old do in Disney

[alisonarod]

I'm bringing my 15 month old daughter with me to disney in august (she will be 15 months old then). She is a very well natured little girl. You can take her anywhere. She's always happy and sleeps the night. However, long lines, crowds, noise, heat, etc. concern me. Will she do ok on the rides or will they scare her? I understand this will vary from baby to baby but I wanted to know how well other 15 month olds tolerated disney. Especially how they tolerate pirates, the haunted mansion, spaceship earth, snow white, peter pan, buzz light year, it's a small world, etc. Thanks so much! Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[t-beri]

My daughters first trip was when she was 3 months old. I can safely say that as long as you are a reasonable human being and make some exceptions for her moods you will be fine. They have the companion lines that let 1 parent go on the ride with older kids while 1 waits with baby then you can change- that is a blessing. In the past us moms just always missed out on anything the tots were to little for. I did run into a mom last trip (while chasing my daughter all over the lobby of the wilderness lodge) who had her kid on a harness. We talked about how pre disney we'd sworn we would never impart such cruelty on our darlings but how I wished I'd had one (she would not be strolled or hold hands-my back was killing me!!) and she was glad she had one. Use fast passes as much as possible to keep her from too long of lines and have a few portable toys to keep her busy when she starts to get antsy. It's NO BIG, I promise. we've been from 3 mo. to 2 years with no major problems. Good luck, have a wonderful time!!!
...t.

 

[t-beri]

oh and I don't think she can go on buzz lightyear but Lily liked all the other rides you mentioned - she did sit close to dadda on Haunted mansion but no tears or screaming.
..t.

 

[bumbershoot]

(I'm answering based on Disneyland...things might vary for WDW)

My guy was around that age for his first visit. Now, we went in early September, so it was just a little quieter than perhaps August might still be, and it was mid-week. And the morning started off with a huge, cold, rainstorm, so we nearly had the place to ourselves until after noon! (I highly recommend that, by the way, in Disneyland so hope for rain and bring ponchos and umbrellas )

The "child swap" option is fabulous. Though, I would recommend to the waiting adult NOT to just sit there,waiting. I sat for AGES at Indiana Jones, just waiting with DS, when I really should have been sightseeing with him, wandering, and so on. Then my family was off the ride, and my SIL went on it with me, and it was fun.

By the time we got to POTC, DS was hungry, so he just nursed with his eyes closed throughout the ride (don't know if you're nursing a toddler, but if you are, that's a good ride to do it on!). No one was very happy with Snow White or Pinocchio, and I won't be doing those again until DS asks to see them. They are dark, with scary images, and the stories don't make sense, even if you know the story. IMO.

He loved Small World, which is good, b/c so do I. I can listen to, or sing, that song for hours at a time. As a child I nearly drove my new stepmom insane, playing the record over and over and over... So I'm glad DS likes it, too.

DS didn't go on Buzz (I think the DL and WDW rides are different from each other?) until last year, when he was over 2, but he LOVED it. DH tells me that he doesn't think Eamon would have liked it on our first trip,though, b/c there's so much going on. A bit too overstimulating, in DH's opinion (he's the one that took DS on).

For that first trip, I wore DS on my front (facing me, b/c I never got into the forward-facing thing until I started wearing him on my back) in a mesh-paneled mei tai carrier. That was great! We did rent a stroller, but he wasn't really comfy in it. I think the strollers are different between DL and WDW, but the ones at DL are really confining, at least for DS (he's always been tall, but never chunky).

The only line I remember was on a ride that I'm not sure is at WDW, the storybook boat ride. The line was narrow and LONG, and he did get antsy on it, but we were able to continually distract him. He was in the mei tai, and could look over my shoulder, and he interacted with the nice people around us, and with my brother and SIL (and DH of course), and the long line was dealt with in that way, with lots of distraction. It was a bit exhausting, but that was the only line I really remember!

Because we had my brother and SIL with us, we could swap people around for the child swap, which was cool. So if you have others going along, you're very lucky. If not, just ignore what I've said about my brother and SIL.


I read quite a bit in preparation, and had some good gameplans in mind. Alas, I found out that my traveling companions weren't really interested in going QUITE as fast as I wanted to, so I had to slow down, and that was fine. It still all worked out fine (especially thanks to the early rain).

Good luck! Oh, by the way, our son is really good-natured and easy-going too, and it really came through in our crazy day at D'Land. I hope your girl does the same!

 

[Princess Roo]

DS' first trip was at 15 mons, last July! He had a GREAT time. We got to the parks right when the opened, when the lines aren't as long. But even when the lines were long, he didn't seem to mind. There is so much to look at there, it's not boring.
His favorites that trip were Dumbo, Aladdin, Carousel, Small World, Buzz Lightyear (loud, though), Safari at AK, and all monorails, buses, and trains! He was take-it-or-leave-it on Peter Pan, Pooh, and Fantasia. He also LOVED the pool

 

[monorailsilver]

I took my oldest when she was 15 months old also in August but it was August 2002.

She was an early bird-early walker, early talker & a learner & still is, basically a sponge. She was able to name pretty much all the main charcters.

She hated the stroller & wanted to walk but as soon as she learned the stroller would get her to a ride faster she was fine with sitting but we did let her walk wherever she wanted.

She loved the characters but she hated the face characters (Cindrella, Fairy Godmother, etc..).

She practically leaped out of our arms to get to them too.

But like I said she was (and still is) a very vocal girl & understood much more then most kids her age & was able to talk alot at that age (I have 2 other kids & they are both younger & not as advanced as her but I don't know if that makes a difference since my ds was 22 months but he was shy & hated the characters unless I was holding him).

I think she got a little scared on the dark rides but we reassured her & tried to point out 'happy' things like "look at the moon" or "look at that leg dangling" and things like that. She never screamed so we didn't have to not go on the ride but she got nervous. I know we took her on the Haunted Mansion but we didn't go on it in 2005. She did tell us yesterday that we were going to go on "this ride" when we go next time. We were in the car listeing to Disney music & the Haunted Mansion music came on.

We went on all the rides other then the E ticket/Thrill rides with her with no problems (basically if they required an age/height we didn't take her on it but if it didn't we all went on them).

We did for this trip cut out her am nap. But we still went back to our room for the pm nap & then did the park til closing & she was in bed by 10 most nights & happy as a bug in a rug.

Good luck & have a great trip.

 

[tjmw2727]

I just wanted to clarify that the babyswap/childswpap option is only available on the attractions with a height restriction. If you choose not to take the baby on say the Haunted Mansion then baby swap won't be an option. For the rides that offer baby swap you need to approach the CM and tell them you want to swap - the baby must be present. The CM will give you a rider swap pass that works like a fast pass for the second parent to ride via the FP line. There is no special compainion line and like a pp said you don't have to wait once you have the swap pass. Let the first parent ride while the other parent takes the toddler to do an attraction or play etc.

As I said in my answer to you on the theme parks my youngest had a fabulous trip at 15mos and rode everything without a height restriction. Oh and Buzz Lightyear has no height restriction and would be fine for a 15mo. You can find the height restricted rides here:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/height.htm

Use the fountains and playgrounds as well as the baby care centers and take it slow!

TJ

 

[SnowWitch]

DD #1 was 14 months last July. We had a blast. She tolerated all the rides that didn't have height restrictions quite well. HM spooked her at first but then she mellowed. We hit the parks early, we generally stay away from the EE park of the day but with Anna, we always took advantage of the MK early hours. We were able to ride most rides 1-2 times each with little or no wait. Then we just strolled around met characters (which she loved), she chased ducks, picked flowers. It was great to watch everything through her eyes. Another park that i would use EE with is AK, it can become incredibly hot in the summer and the extra hour in the am is a huge help.

Another highlight was the kiddie pool at the BC. They have a nice waterslide for the smaller set and allow you to ride down with the children unlike the larger pool slides. Anna loved that slide!

We're going back in 60 days with Anna and her baby sis who will be 6 months old. Can't wait!

 

[MomtoEmIs&Ow]

oh and I don't think she can go on buzz lightyear but Lily liked all the other rides you mentioned - she did sit close to dadda on Haunted mansion but no tears or screaming.
..t.

Why no BUZZ?? I may be a bad mommy or something but our little guy came on with us, he just sat on my lap.

 

[aroyer]

My little guy was 15 months last August when we went. He loved it! He loved the characters and gave them hugs. He tolerated the heat really well (we do live in Texas so he is used to extreme heat) and even napped in his stroller- which he normally does not do. His very favorite ride was the Pooh ride- his little face just lit up during the whole ride. He didn't ride tons of rides, he really just enjoyed looking at everything. One great tip (that we got from the dis boards!) is that we kept our schedule flexible- if he needed to nap DH took him back to the hotel for a nap while I stayed behind at the parks with DD. He still gets excited when we go to the Disney store and he sees pictures of his favorite characters.