Is 11 nights at WDW too long when traveling with an 8 month old?

[michelleiada]

Our May 2020 trip was canceled due to COVID. We are rebooked for May 2021 for an 11 night stay. Our daughter and her husband will be joining us, along with our first grandson . He will be 8 1/2 months at time of travel. I know traveling with a baby can be challenging but they will have lots of help from us. My other daughter and her boyfriend will be with us also. We are DVC members which means we will have most of the comforts of home; washer/dryer, full kitchen, everyone has their own bedroom and bathroom, etc. So for those of you that have traveled to WDW with a baby, is 11 nights too long? Personally, I can never get enough of WDW and I’m never ready to go home to reality. However, I don’t want to burn out my guests, or make it difficult on the new parents. Any advise, tips, insight?

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

I wouldn't think it would be too much of an issue at that age. Our kids were really chill, though I definitely wouldn't have spent that many days there when they were 3 years old!

I don't know if they are open during COVID times, but the baby care centers at the parks were helpful places to take breaks. Also, a pool tip is you may need to ask the lifeguard for the smallest size life vest. Or at least at Ft. Wilderness they only kept the bigger swim vests out. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[sullyfam]

Sounds like a fun trip! Babies are pretty adaptable to Disney as long as their needs are being met and they are kept on somewhat of a normal schedule. And if he's not crawling yet, even better! I would say toddler/preschool age kids might get really worn out after that many days but a baby should be fine assuming they are getting enough sleep. Challenges might be if they are going through any kind of sleep regression/teething or wanting to spend a lot of time crawling around/exploring. That can be especially hard at Disney as there aren't a lot of places for babies to get down a crawl around (other than the hotel room). Also, at that age they may be getting more sensitive to strangers (stranger danger), separation anxiety, stimulation overload, being scared of loud noises etc. Just some things to be aware of but overall, sounds like you'll have a lot of hands on deck which is always helpful! Building in lots of down time at the resort is always a good plan for long trips. In general, I always just follow my kids lead when we are at Disney and don't push them too far, make sure we take enough breaks, they get enough rest and plenty to eat and if you do that, everyone has a better time - enjoy!

 

[pigletgirl]

It really depends on the baby. As you probably know, they are unpredictable so you would want to go into the trip with minimal expectations. I can tell you it would have been a bit overwhelming for me as a new mama, but everyone is different.

 

[michelleiada]

Thank you all for the responses.

 

[MJJME]

I think that age is perfect for Disney! It's the next "age group" that is difficult to be in Disney, even for just a few days.........I think the 2-6 age group suffers because they need more attention, are out of a stroller, walk more, cry more and worse of all, cant get on all the rides due to height restrictions (can be a particularly bad problem if they have older siblings that do go on rides they cannot)..........

 

[pigletgirl]

I think that age is perfect for Disney! It's the next "age group" that is difficult to be in Disney, even for just a few days.........I think the 2-6 age group suffers becauSAmse they need more attention, are out of a stroller, walk more, cry more and worse of all, cant get on all the rides due to height restrictions (can be a particularly bad problem if they have older siblings that do go on rides they cannot)..........

Same deal with that age group too! I found 12mo-2.5 the hardest for sure.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Absolutely not. I would suggest making sure you have a nice big full-size crib, which you can rent from a third party.

 

[nancipants]

Agreed on the above-mentioned crib, although our son did really well in our pack and play when we stayed at the Fort Wilderness cabins. We have a mattress we bought separately to make it more comfortable for him. We stayed for 6 nights when we was around 8.5 months old. We also had help from grandparents, which was nice.

The biggest considerations I hadn't thought of before having a baby - sleeping arrangements. When we stayed in the cabins it was great because we had a separate living room, so when the baby went to bed around 7:30, we had a separate area to hang out until we went to bed. BUT our son sleeps in his own room so it was difficult getting used to tiptoeing around and having to sneak out to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. And forget being able to do anything in the morning because he usually wakes up before us. At home it's fine because he just rolls around in his crib until we get him, but since we were in the same room he heard us and the one morning I went to the bathroom he had a full-on meltdown when he saw me leave the room. We're staying at the Dolphin this weekend and requested a balcony room just so we had a place to sit while he's sleeping and napping.

As for food, we started giving our son whatever we were eating on that trip, so it's a great age to introduce them to solids. No need to bring baby food, although snacks are a must!

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Depends on how the baby sleeps someplace other than their bed at home. It could be fine or a disaster.

 

[tiggerx3]

Our first visit with our daughter was a 2 week trip to DW and she was 8 1/2 months old too. One tip is we did pack some of her favorite foods/snacks in case we couldn’t get them in the local stores.
I will tell you that and time again my husband will say that was his favorite trip to Disney. And we’ve been there over 20 times. Being there so long, we were able to relax, take our time at the parks and truly have an amazing trip.

 

[michelleiada]

Agreed on the above-mentioned crib, although our son did really well in our pack and play when we stayed at the Fort Wilderness cabins. We have a mattress we bought separately to make it more comfortable for him. We stayed for 6 nights when we was around 8.5 months old. We also had help from grandparents, which was nice.

The biggest considerations I hadn't thought of before having a baby - sleeping arrangements. When we stayed in the cabins it was great because we had a separate living room, so when the baby went to bed around 7:30, we had a separate area to hang out until we went to bed. BUT our son sleeps in his own room so it was difficult getting used to tiptoeing around and having to sneak out to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. And forget being able to do anything in the morning because he usually wakes up before us. At home it's fine because he just rolls around in his crib until we get him, but since we were in the same room he heard us and the one morning I went to the bathroom he had a full-on meltdown when he saw me leave the room. We're staying at the Dolphin this weekend and requested a balcony room just so we had a place to sit while he's sleeping and napping.

As for food, we started giving our son whatever we were eating on that trip, so it's a great age to introduce them to solids. No need to bring baby food, although snacks are a must!

Our first visit with our daughter was a 2 week trip to DW and she was 8 1/2 months old too. One tip is we did pack some of her favorite foods/snacks in case we couldn’t get them in the local stores.
I will tell you that and time again my husband will say that was his favorite trip to Disney. And we’ve been there over 20 times. Being there so long, we were able to relax, take our time at the parks and truly have an amazing trip.

thank you so much for the tips.

 

[morganms22]

Same deal with that age group too! I found 12mo-2.5 the hardest for sure.

I learned that lesson this week...we were scheduled to be at Disney in April just before my daughter turned one, but obviously that was cancelled. We are here right now and it’s been quite a challenging week with a walking (sometimes running) 1.5 year old. I’m glad to be returning home tomorrow for the first time ever.

In response to OP, I think that is a great age to go (before they are really mobile). My daughter did really well traveling at that age as long as we kept her on a schedule. We used a pack and play with a Dream on me mattress. She slept perfectly. Have fun!

 

[Pumbaa_]

Rent a crib for the time, will be nicer than a pack n pkay

with a kitchen and full laundry available it works. In a hotel room I would say too long.
sounds like a fun trip

 

[TamaraQT]

I think it will be fine because you are staying at a DVC which means you have all the comforts of home instead of a basic hotel room. You are going during a time of year where the weather is more comfortable. If baby can't/doesn't sleep well, there will be a balcony to relax and lull the baby to sleep without waking others in the room. It's going to be fine. As others have suggested, reserving a crib instead of a standard pack n play may be a better idea for the lengthy stay. It's going to be fine.

 

[Specter]

We stayed for a week when our daughter was 10 months and found it to be a great age, and if we could have stayed longer we certainly would have because then we could have done more.

Thankfully our little one is very easy about napping almost anywhere, though we still went back to the room to let her cool off. One thing that we really loved having on that trip was the individual packets of formula. Yes they cost a bit more but they were so convenient. We'd measure water into her bottles before going to the park and throw a few of the packets into the diaper bag, then when it was time to eat it didn't matter if we were in line for a ride or eating ourselves, tear them open, pour, shake, and feed. She did also eat some solid food but she was a little slow to get those teeth so she was still on the bottle at that time.

We found the pack and play to be perfectly fine but I think that might be in part because she was used to it from both grandparents houses, and, as I mentioned, she is generally agreeable when it comes to putting her down for a rest.

 

[nancipants]

One thing that we really loved having on that trip was the individual packets of formula. Yes they cost a bit more but they were so convenient. We'd measure water into her bottles before going to the park and throw a few of the packets into the diaper bag, then when it was time to eat it didn't matter if we were in line for a ride or eating ourselves, tear them open, pour, shake, and feed.

The packets are great, we used them when our baby was smaller. You could also use a container that has sections and scoop individual servings of formula in each section. That's what we use now because the packets stopped being the size of bottle he was drinking. For mixing, if you don't have water handle, you can fill up bottles at the baby care center. The ready-to-use formula bottles are also great in hangry emergencies!

 

[Shellyred8]

The resorts also have cribs that you can request. They are on a first-come-first-serve basis though.

 

[Deb & Bill]

A longer trip means you don't feel bad for just staying in the villa every once in a while. Sometimes you (and the baby) just want to relax at home.

 

[Jhondy]

We took our daughter for a week long trip when she was 14 months and wish the trip would have been longer. It took my daughter a 3-4 days to really understand what was going on and get into the fun of it all. The last few days of our trip were the best.

just be ready for kids to change through out the trip. My daughter loved the characters the first few days of the trip and then freaked out screaming in fear whenever she saw a character the last two days. I was not expecting things to change like that and one of our last meals was at H&V with characters