Might cancel trip - Need advice

[boomhauer]

My wife and I are seriously thinking of cancelling our August trip next year. Our twins are due in March, so they'll only be 5 months old. We also have a 6 year old.

At first we thought we could handle it, but now hearing that strollers aren't allowed in restaurants just brings up so many other concerns. We don't want to bring a stroller with car seats. They're too bulky and it would be a big hassle taking the seats in and out of the stroller. At 5 months, I'm assuming they'll be way too young for high chairs at restaurants.

Then, we started thinking about shows like Philharmagic, Tiki Room, Carousel Of Progress. Chances are, at least one of us will have to leave at some point if one of the babies starts crying.

We don't want to upset our 6 year old not being able to go, and it would upset us a great deal as well to have to skip a year. I'm thinking maybe we should just cancel and wait until the babies are a year old.

What do you think? Can anyone offer me advice toward going that we could do this?

 

[mrsltg]

Two babies make it harder than one (gee, I wonder if you've thought of that yet??? ). We took our 6 month (almost 7) to WDW in January. There was a lot of splitting up. One of us took the baby somewhere while the other took older dd to do something else. If there were two babies we would have been outnumbered! I agree there are some logistical issues at play with your situation. What if both babies are crying at the same time during a show? Could one of you manage? If one of you needs to take the babies back to the hotel could you do it on your own with a double stroller (ie, getting on and off the bus)?

Is there a possibility you could bring another adult with you? Otherwise I might consider waiting until they were a year or so older.

Good luck and congratulations on your wonderful blessings!!!

 

[Traveliz]

Since you said it would upset you to wait a year how about talking to your daughter about making it a different kind of Disney trip -- resorts and pool -- maybe limited park time.

Liz

 

[boomhauer]

Since you said it would upset you to wait a year how about talking to your daughter about making it a different kind of Disney trip -- resorts and pool -- maybe limited park time.

Liz

We talked about that. Actually, it's our son .

I think that would upset me more than anyone. I love being in the parks so much.

 

[wrldpossibility]

I think you can still make it work, but you may need to replan your vacation a little. (Keep in mind that I have a lot of energy and usually tried to do too much when my kids were infants. )

The first thing I would do is see if there's a grandma, grandpa, cousin, aunt, best friend, etc who you could invite along to help (being clear that they will need to help!). If you had one more person, you could take turns staying back at the resort with the babies when necessary, so two adults could go enjoy the parks with your son. Plus you could go out in the evening without the babies sometime, too.

Even if you can't do that, you could rethink your schedule and plan to spend shorter times in the parks, and one adult could stay out of the quieter shows with the babies. Plan to emphasize the resort and pool rather than the rides this time.

As far as eating out, you may have an easier time with 5 mo. olds than 1 yr olds! If you can't take a stroller inside, you could put the babies in slings on you and your spouse at the table. Not ideal though! My kids were all sitting up at 5 months, so could go in the high chairs. That may be the case. If you had another adult you could take turns eating at the TS places and watching the babies. It might be fun to have a few minutes to casually push the stroller along main street while the others are eating. They can get you someting to go, I would think.

Long post short, it's not ideal, but can be done if you want to make it happen for your son. I think taking 1 yr olds will cause as much trouble as 5 mo olds, for new reasons. So I'd go!

 

[maedelken]

We have three children under the age of five. We always took a year break between the children. We are going back this year and our children will be 4, 2, and 11 months. We always wait to the youngest is about a year old. Personally I would wait until they can at least sit in a highchair. I can't imagine taking two infants. Babies cry a lot more, need a lot of diapers. They are not as forgiving as older kids. When they want to eat you can't delay it, same with changing. I love disney so I know if I had to leave shows early or not get on my favorite rides I would be upset. I know it is not the baby's fault which then would make me feel guilty. So I would wait until everyone can enjoy themselves. Though I would still be disappointed that I had to delay. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. I am sure you will have fun and make it work.

 

[maedelken]

Maybe you should postpone till January maybe it will be easier then.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

I think I would put it off a few months, I know it's easier said than done. I took my dd2 to Disney when she was 11 months and she was able to go on plenty of rides, and enjoy alot of things! Plus you wont' have to worry about the stroller in the rest. situation, which does sound like it would be tough with two. It's only a couple of more months , it''s not like you have to wait another year, I'd say wait til they were 11 or 12 months! Have Fun whatever you decide.

 

[mom2jcc]

Hi Mom of 8 month old twins here!! First of all, congratulations Sorry if I missed this, but how many days are you planning on being at WDW?? I would suggest at least 5-6 days so you don't have to rush to get everythng in that you want to do. If you have a relaxed schedule to give you room to go back to your hotel for breaks the babies will thank you for it. I think you will find that having twins will feel totally normal to you and your wife once they are born. I stressed for months before their birth especially since we had one child that was 7.

Have you heard of the Bumbo Seat? These are FANTASTIC for 5 month olds!! We brought our two Bumbos to restaurants and sat them right on the table in front of us. The babies loved it!! The seats are super lightweight and easy to carry (of course not if you are going straight from park to restaurant).

At five months your babies should be on a good schedule and as long as they are not hungry or have a wet/soiled diaper I think they will like the shows. They will have lots to look at!! If you can postpone your trip to say Thanksgiving (I'm assuming you can't go unless it is during school holidays) then the babies will definitley be in high chairs by then.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me. Your son is going to LOVE his babies....it is such a joy as a parent!!!!! BTW, boys or girls or both???

 

[laceemouse]

I would postpone for sure. For one thing, the heat in August is brutal. The babies are gonna be hot and miserable. Those sling things everyone uses always hurt my back, and talk about HOT! I could not handle that at all! Wait until the babies are older and the weather cools off. I would not worry about your DS, just tell him that you want to try a different season (maybe you could do early December? Beautiful time to go and much, much cooler!)
I know lots of folks on here take tiny babies all the time, even when it is 100 degrees out. That is just not my idea of a relaxing, peaceful vacation!!
We went once when our DS was 5 months old, but it was cool and we lived a short drive away. Other than that, we have always waited until they were a little bit older. Disney will still be there if you wait......

 

[maedelken]

Hi Mom of 8 month old twins here!! First of all, congratulations Sorry if I missed this, but how many days are you planning on being at WDW?? I would suggest at least 5-6 days so you don't have to rush to get everythng in that you want to do. If you have a relaxed schedule to give you room to go back to your hotel for breaks the babies will thank you for it. I think you will find that having twins will feel totally normal to you and your wife once they are born. I stressed for months before their birth especially since we had one child that was 7.

Have you heard of the Bumbo Seat? These are FANTASTIC for 5 month olds!! We brought our two Bumbos to restaurants and sat them right on the table in front of us. The babies loved it!! The seats are super lightweight and easy to carry (of course not if you are going straight from park to restaurant).

At five months your babies should be on a good schedule and as long as they are not hungry or have a wet/soiled diaper I think they will like the shows. They will have lots to look at!! If you can postpone your trip to say Thanksgiving (I'm assuming you can't go unless it is during school holidays) then the babies will definitley be in high chairs by then.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me. Your son is going to LOVE his babies....it is such a joy as a parent!!!!! BTW, boys or girls or both???

What awesome ideas!! You sound like a pro. I always wanted to have twins but it hasn't happened yet. Oh well I have three awesome single kids. Maybe we will try one more time maybe. Everyone I know who has four or more kids always tell me to stop at three. My DS was born feb 22nd 06!

 

[Jaymie]

Maybe wait until the babies are born to see what kind of personalities they have. If they're laid back, relaxed kind of babies, I'd try it. But if they tend to higher maintenance or have colic, you may want to wait.

Having said that, we took our DS (only 1 baby, not 2) when he was 5 months and it was a blast. He was great baby. For the very few restaurants that didn't have the infant high chair, we just put a diaper bag or camera bag, wrapped in a blanket, behind him to prop him up and it worked out fine. I wouldn't worry too much about babies making noise at attractions, it's Disneyworld, not a romantic dinner for 2. Most people don't expect kids to be quiet there. At least I don't. They also have great baby centers at each park too.

We went again when he was 18 mths and that was a lot of work. At 18 months he was a lot more active and harder to contain. I couldn't imagine chasing 2. Plus when he was 18 months old, we went with a group of 13, so I had plenty of help and it was still hard work.

We'll be taking our DS again in Jan 2007 and I'm sure at 2 1/2 it'll great.

Good luck to you!

 

[Disney Deb]

We brought our twins to DW when they were about two years old (along with their older sibs ages 6 and 8).

Is this a new rule about not bringing strollers into restaurants?? Frankly if this rule had been in effect way back then (mid 90's) I honestly don't know how or if we could've done it.

That being said........can you wait and see how you and your wife are handling your growing family? Perhaps after they're born you'll have a better understanding on whether your trip is doable.

Had you considered maybe one parent just taking the 6 year old? Not a great compromise (especially for the parent staying at home ), but what a nice treat to spend one on one time with the new big brother!!

Congrats and good luck.

 

[mom2jcc]

Maybe wait until the babies are born to see what kind of personalities they have. If they're laid back, relaxed kind of babies, I'd try it. But if they tend to higher maintenance or have colic, you may want to wait.

Having said that, we took our DS (only 1 baby, not 2) when he was 5 months and it was a blast. He was great baby. For the very few restaurants that didn't have the infant high chair, we just put a diaper bag or camera bag, wrapped in a blanket, behind him to prop him up and it worked out fine. I wouldn't worry too much about babies making noise at attractions, it's Disneyworld, not a romantic dinner for 2. Most people don't expect kids to be quiet there. At least I don't. They also have great baby centers at each park too.

We went again when he was 18 mths and that was a lot of work. At 18 months he was a lot more active and harder to contain. I couldn't imagine chasing 2. Plus when he was 18 months old, we went with a group of 13, so I had plenty of help and it was still hard work.

We'll be taking our DS again in Jan 2007 and I'm sure at 2 1/2 it'll great.

Good luck to you!

Propping the babies in the high chairs is a good idea, too!! I did that with their excersaucers here at home when they needed the support...I used blankets.
Since I posted the first time I read some posts on a thread that talked about the "reclined high chairs". Seems like they are at some Disney restaurants, but not guaranteed at specific locations. I'm sure you can take the stroller into the food courts at the WDW resorts. Most of the time this is where we eat dinner anyway because it is quick, close to our room and we are tired.

 

[boomhauer]

At what age is typical for a baby to be able to sit in a high chair?

Just for reference, the sit down restaurants we'd be eating at include Rainforest Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Liberty Tree Tavern, Teppenyaki, Sci Fi, 50's Prime Time, Marrakesh and Chef Mickey's.

 

[In Luv with Disney]

Just so you all know, MOST Disney restaurants have the INFANT high chairs that the little ones would sit in PERFECTLY. They don't have to sit up on their own. It's basically an infant seat, attached to the high chair. And I took my double stroller in MANY resturants with us when DD (4 1/2 months) was sleeping! They made sure to put us at a table where we could squeeze the stroller in. It worked out GREAT!

Those Bumbo seats sound great, but two might be a lot to carry throughout the parks all day! While they are super lightweight, they are pretty bulky.

 

[mouseketeer_mom]

OT: hi mom2jcc, I too have B/G twins. What fun!

Boomhauer: I wish I had an easy answer to your question. I tried to remember just what life was like when my twins were 5 months old and it just wasn't coming to me.... oh yea, now I remember, they were five months the Christmas of 02. They all (including the older sibling) had the Norwalk virus and we spent that Xmas in the hospital. I can't fathom why I would have blocked that!
My only advice would be to wait until about June to decide. You should have a pretty good system down by then and will be able to look just 8 weeks ahead and have a better idea of how to handle two babies at once. It will definitely be a different kind of vacation but different can be good.

*sidenote: If it were my decision, I think I'd prefer to wait until the begining of Nov. Keeps the babies out of the heat of the August sun and gives them a little extra time to be sitting independently.

 

[maedelken]

My DS was in a restauant highchair at about 6 months but I had to put a blanket behind him to support him better. He was still a little shaky. He is 8 months now and he sits in the res highchair very well.

 

[Jaymie]

At what age is typical for a baby to be able to sit in a high chair?

Just for reference, the sit down restaurants we'd be eating at include Rainforest Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Liberty Tree Tavern, Teppenyaki, Sci Fi, 50's Prime Time, Marrakesh and Chef Mickey's.

Just like walking, talking or potty training, all babies are different. We only tried it for the first time when he was 5 mths in WDW, because we had to.

I know Chef Mickeys has a ton of the infant high chairs, we saw then in the basement near the bathroom. 50"s Prime Time would be really cramped to try to take a double stroller in. We've been to other Rainforest Cafe's (not in WDW) and had no trouble taking a stroller in, same with Planet Hollywood. But I'm not too sure about the other restaurants.

We also made a point to wait until our food came to put our DS in the highchair. That way he didn't have to sit in it too long and that usually worked.

 

[boomhauer]

*sidenote: If it were my decision, I think I'd prefer to wait until the begining of Nov. Keeps the babies out of the heat of the August sun and gives them a little extra time to be sitting independently.

See, that's another issue. Our 6 year old will be in the 2nd grade, and his school is VERY strict about taking kids out of school for vacation. I don't agree with it, but at the same time, I don't want to make life difficult at school for him.