Moved from DVC-Plng: Babies at WDW?

[BCV2002]

How young is too young? We just got an offer to go down for this spring break and we have a 3 1/2 month old (she will be by then). Anyone done this before and can help me with why it's OK? Or not OK? (Hoping it's OK )

 

[Chic]

Our daughter first went at 2 months old and we had a blast. She was really amazed with the dark rides like Peter Pan, Snow White, Winnie the Pooh, Pirates, etc. She is now 1 year old and has been to Disney World 4 times. We have never regretted taking her along. We did visit Disneyland when she was 4 months old but did not take her due to the lengthy plane ride, we live in North Carolina and didn't feel she could handle 6 hours in the air. She will be in Disney World for trip #5 during Spring Break, can't wait!!! Try to avoid the bus transportation whenever possible because you have to remove the baby from the stroller and break the stroller down before boarding the bus. You can leave the baby in the stroller when using the monorail and boat transportation. Have fun.

 

[BCV2002]

Did you fly to WDW or drive? B/c we'd be driving (there's no way we could afford the air fare now).

 

[lovetotravel07]

Depends on your child. We had a wedding in Florida when my youngest was exactly the same age, a little over 3 months. We were doing 2 nights in Orlando and one day in MK then Chef's Mickey's. My older daughter who almost 4 then was very, very portable as an infant, so I thought the baby would be fine. Well, she was hot, uncomfortable, hated all the rides; either too dark, too cramped or too loud. Finally, her and I went to the baby care center and she hung out on the floor in the a/c had a bottle and we stayed like 2 hours. On hind site, I should have just hung with her at the hotel and met my husband and 4 year old at chef mickey's for dinner. The character's, dinners, hotel room, pools/beaches she loved, but not being carried or pushed in the heat or carried on rides.

If you have older children let them primarily do the parks and you and the baby or your husband and the baby just do a few hours here and there.

Just my shared experience!

 

[mrs.explorer1977]

We drove down last month with a (then) 6.5 month old, from Ontario. It wasn't all that bad. The trip down, we left about 5:30 pm and drove through the night. He slept through, woke up at 2 when we stopped for gas and we fed him then.

The way back wasn't as great, because we did day driving, so we stopped A LOT more often to give him some stretching etc.

Overall though, we loved travelling with him! It was great. Stayed at AKV in a 1BR...took the bus everywhere -- got into a rhythm where I took him and the diaper bag and DH folded down the stroller (we have a Peg Perego Pliko, so it folds like an umbrella stroller). He loved the entire thing, especially the characters! We're heading back down in May for the Canadian long weekend -- flying out of Buffalo this time. Hopefully it won't be too horrid! ;-)

 

[BCV2002]

Yeah, I was thinking that we'd not really taking her into the parks much, if at all. Maybe just hanging out at the resort and then going to dinner. We'd be going with my DP's and I'm sure my DH and I could sneak off to the parks for a morning or two while they watched her back at the resort.

 

[vbarry]

We took my daughter when she was 6 months and let me tell you...it was much easier than taking her at age 2!

Go and have a good time. You know your child. If she loves the stroller and the weather is nice she may enjoy the parks for a little while. If not- stay at the resort and relax. I would definately not pass up a trip to WDW!

 

[DisneyBride'03]

3 1/2 mth is easy! They dont have as many needs Feed, burp, change, play and sleep! lol
Our youngest is 20 mths now.....We starting taking DD everywhere with us..she has traveled more in her short life than I did by the age of 30 !!! lol
Go, have fun!
My goal is to get DD to WDW as much as possible before we have to pay a park ticket!! lol Dec will be her 4th trip!

 

[Mom2PixiePrincess]

We took my daughter when she was 6 months and let me tell you...it was much easier than taking her at age 2!

Go and have a good time. You know your child. If she loves the stroller and the weather is nice she may enjoy the parks for a little while. If not- stay at the resort and relax. I would definately not pass up a trip to WDW!

Ditto to that! We first took my DD when she was 5 months. My DH's side of the family was having a reunion up there, so we HAD to go. I was VERY nervous about taking her, new Mom and all that. It turned out to be GREAT! She was a very laid back baby and she really enjoyed being strolled around. She also liked the rides, we got several laughs from her. I think the big bright movable colors are very facinating for babies.

That two year old and up stage is the one that gets me! Once they become mobile(and want to touch every germy thing around) and articulate it's a whole new ballgame! So I'd say go and make the most of it.

 

[cjs123123]

Did you fly to WDW or drive? B/c we'd be driving (there's no way we could afford the air fare now).

check with different flights, because when we went last year we took midwest out of milwaukee and my daughter (2.5 months) sat on my lap. we took airtran this past january (1 year and 4 months) she still sat in my lap. I would check to see if you can put her on your lap. They are free till 2 years old with some airlines. With gas prices going up up up it might be cheaper to fly. Also check with your doctor if you are going to fly. The only thing I had to do was give her a bottle going up and coming down. Good Luck!!

 

[DVCisME]

W etook our children a couple times each when they were infants and never had a problem. A couple of things I did that made it rather easy were:
having ready made formula with disposable nipples delivered to the hotel
carried the baby in the carrier on and off
took breaks in the a/c store or rides
Have fun!

 

[dwelty]

I think it really depends on the time of year. We took both of our daughters to Disneyland when they were a month old! (Dr. told us, if they are healthy enough to leave the hospital, they are healthy enough to go to Disneyland). Now the weather would be my only concern. It is always ince in Southern California. My youngest's first trip to WDW was when she was 6 months. However that was in December. I would never dream of taking an infant to WDW during the summer months. I say if you go between October and May go ahead and do it. I would not subject an infant to summer tempatures in Central Florida under any circumstances.

 

[wildernessDad]

My grand baby is 11 months old and DD won't let her go to WDW yet.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Well... you're responses are across the board. We took our kids when they were in elementary school for their first time (not by design). Excellent time... best ever times. I have to say though that we soooo many times looked at couples struggling with younger ones. We thought at that time that being in public school was a good rule of thumb. We still believe it.

On the other hand, this is not the first time I have said that, and I have gotten many outraged responses about how it is so wonderful to take a pre-schooler.

Just comes down to you and your child. I never claim to be right.

 

[BCV2002]

Thanks for all of the help! My DH and I are feeling pretty good about her being down there right now.

To be honest, my DH and I are most worried about the drive. There's no way we could afford plane tickets right now and we're coming from IL, so it'll be a 17 hour trip down. She's a pretty easy going baby, but we don't know how fair it'll be to her in the car. Anyone ever taken their infant on a long car trip like this before? What did you think?

 

[JimMIA]

I have to say though that we soooo many times looked at couples struggling with younger ones.

I think a lot of that is self-inflicted. We took DD-soon-to-be-six on her first trip when she was about 3 weeks short of two. It was our first trip with a child and we pushed her too hard...for which we were richly rewarded with Magic Kingdom Meltdown. We also had Epcot Meltdown (duh ), and I had to call Lost and Found to ask if anyone had turned in Cinderella's lost slipper (seriously). They hadn't.

However, we learned a lesson on that trip, and so did she. Mommy and Daddy haven't forgotten that we were mostly to blame.

Our Princess has made four very successful trips since then, with her sixth trip coming up in May -- two months after her sixth birthday. She's also been to California twice, Boston twice, and some other, shorter trips. She's a seasoned trooper!

I think you just have to adjust your pace and recognize that little people get tired. They're built very close to the ground, so the stimulation of walking down Main Street, for example, is much greater for them than it is for us. Plus, they have to take a LOT more steps! You just have to do Disney (or any other travel) at the kid's pace, and they'll have a great time.

And, of course, every kid and every set of parents are different, so there's no equation you can plug numbers into and get a good answer.

 

[Chic]

BCV2002-Yes, we fly to Orlando from Greensboro because it's only an hour in the air. As far as airfare prices, they're probably going to be very high since your travel date is only a few weeks away. I watch the airfares like a hawk and typically have been able to book excellent prices at the 3 month window. We usually get round trip airfare for about $140 a piece which is less than it would cost us to drive. We will be visiting March 23-27 this trip. When do you guys plan to be there?

 

[welovewdw]

our son's first trip was when he was 10 weeks old - he was a piece of cake, but then I've always paced what we do around the kids when they're with us. ditto what the previous poster said about baby care centers - they're great! He went 6 times before he was a year old. He's 15 months now - and it's MUCH harder with him now since he prefers to walk/run around - we spend alot of time chasing him. LOL

We usually fly but did drive once with him when he was about 5 months old - it's normally about 10.5 hours for us, it took a few extra hours with him since we had to stop a bit more. It wasn't bad at all honestly - he pretty much ate, and slept - but he's a very laid back baby and the car puts him to sleep. But I think if you go with the expectation that when he's not happy, you pull over and deal with what he needs, you'll be fine.

Our son has flown about 2x/month since he was born - so he definitely is a great little traveler. at least so far. knock on wood & all. But I think the key is to tune into what your baby wants or needs when they are that little - most of them have pretty basic needs to be relatively happy.

Oh - and definitely bring a baby carrier - we had a Baby Bjorn with us and used it a TON. SO much easier when you're standing in line or when he's tired of being in the stroller and wants to be held.

Good luck!

 

[BCV2002]

Thanks for the tips, welovewdw!

Our DD is very easy going, anywhere, including a car, so I'm hoping she'll be OK.

For those of you who got the clip on fans for the stroller and the stroller sunblock cover, where did you get those at?

 

[welovewdw]

I forgot all about the fan - great tip! We bought a "Mickey hand" one in the parks - it's great, but eats batteries. (it also entertained our son immensely! )

We bring our stroller, which has an extend panel in it for sunshade - also has a great rain cover, which as I'm sure you know, has come in handy at WDW more than once. (we call him "the boy in the bubble" when it's on.)