Need tips for traveling with 6 month old to BCV!

[HeatherAnne]

Hi everyone,
Not too sure if this is the right place to post this and I am sure this has been asked before but I need some tips on traveling to WDW with a 6 month old baby. I really need some ideas for the plane ride as well - he will have his own seat. It will be me, my husband, my 7 year old son and my parents - so I've got lot's of helpers - thank goodness! We will be staying at the BCV! Any helpful info or tips would be greatly appreciated! TIA!!!

HeatherAnne

 

[tigger2esq]

we took my DD to WDW for her first trip when she was 7 months old (She is now 4.5 and has 4 more trips under her belt!) we had a blast at WDW but I have to tell you it certaily was an adjustment dealing with nap schedules etc. thank goodness you are taking the grandparents (we did and it was HUGE!)

1) take your own stroller. the WDW ones are not good for infants. they do not recline and you cant wheel one out of the park. make sure it reclines and has a good sun shade. ours came in handy with grandma using it to walk DD around on the boardwalk. the rhythm of the boards under the wheels really helped at nap time!!!!

2) for the plane ride we got DD her own seat and it was HUGE. being strapped into her familiar carseat was great as she was very comfortable and in a familiar surrounding. take a pacifier (or a bottle) for takeoff and landing for ear issues. I brought a small stash of newer toys to take out one at a time to amuse her but she ended up sleeping for a good part of the flight.

3) she LOVED the baby pool (We stayed at the Boardwalk). I brought some small buckets for her to sit and play with on the edge.

4) for the parks while we had the stroller, our best investment was in a Kelty baby backpack. she was up above the crowd and could see EVERYTHING, get close to the characters without them leaning over her (which I would imagine could scare the bejeezus out of a 7 month old...) and take in all the sights and sounds. in a stroller they are at kneecap level and miss a LOT. at that age we didnt take her on hardly any rides other than possibly Its a Small World or the Carousel. Mostly Grandma kept an eye on her while we did other things. She did love the shows. esp the Lion King show at AK. she was also able to nap in the backpack. I have a great shot of my DH with DD out cold in the backpack exiting the AK park one afternoon.

5) we did not do any of the parks commando with her. we always did them in short bursts knowing even with a nap she wold not hold up long. with the grandparents we were able to switch offf hanging out with her in the room etc. taking her for walks in the stroller or down by the pool.

we DID end up having a lot of fun. and now that she is older--she is a disney pro!

one other thing--we did NOT cart with us a lot of baby stuff (diapers, formula, babyfood etc.) we made a run to the Super Wal Mart on 192 the day we arrived and bought what we needed for the week. it saved a LOT of room in the luggage! alsor e: packing--we packed complete outfits for DD in ziplock baggies that contained tops, bottoms socks, dribble bibs etc. made it really easy to get her ready each day instead of searching for all those itty bitty clothing items in a big suitcase!


a couple of other things--she LOVED the restaurant in Germany with the oompah band and the inside of the mexico pavillion. didnt care much one way or the other for the characters. she was moslty interested in smiling and waving at anyone and anything!

 

[Merilyn]

We took my 8 month old grandson for his first trip to WDW. He loved it all. The plane ride wasn't very good for him but thankgoodness it wasn't a long one. We had made sure he had seen the Disney channel on TV so he knew most of the characters. He loved going to Toontown and seeing Mickey. We have some great pictures of him. Try and get to Toontown as it is just opening. It was at 11 AM the day we went, but it may be a different times. I would check with someone. It gets really crowded and it is easier with a baby to do the pictures first before it gets crowded. He loved Chef Mickey for dinner. You get to see all the characters there and they have more time for each child. For a very little one, breakfast may be better. We ate at 5 PM which is the first dinner time offered at Chef Mickey.

I know you will have a great time with your little one. I know we did. It is so exciting to see their little eyes looking at everything! They are so amazed at it all.

 

[rhodymom]

I think it's easier to have a 6 month old than a 4 year old there!!

A few things...
1. every park has a babycare station. USE IT! they are awesome!! In MK it's right near Crystal Palace..in AKL it's sort of near the tree...in MGM it's near the entrance and I can't remember in Epcot.
They are a/c lots of room. microwaves, small play tables, high chairs, staffed and super clean.

2. make sure you have a great sunshade on the stroller.

3. make sure you baby drinks plenty of H20 during the day (even if breastfed I would suppliment with water)

HTH!!.

 

[CTtwins]

We took our youngest for his first trip when he was 9-months old... what a great trip!

For the plane ride, I did not get him his own seat.. I knew our flights would work well with his napping.. and I just held onto him the whole time. It was kind of tough on my arms... but a few pillows worked well... and DH helped out when he woke-up. I did try to keep him awake for take-off and landing... to help his ears pop - I fed him during this time. When he was awake, he played with a few toys. I remember he kept dropping them - so perhaps toys that you can tie to one of those straps...(I forget their name... they have them in CVS and Walgreens... they are for strapping on bottles or sippy cups onto stroller/car seat)

Yes, bring your own stroller... DS took many naps in it and was very comfortable... he slept everywhere and it would have been difficult to wake him to turn in a Disney stroller when done at the parks. One evening he fell asleep in our stroller right before dinner in Norway... I was able to bring him into the restaurant, in our stroller, and he slept through dinner. It was wonderful, relaxing, so nice! If he was in a big Disney stroller, I don't know what we would have done! He slept on the monorail... The funny part is that he really is a horrible napper.. but when he got tired enough, he slept and we took him along! I found a clip-on battery fan that I used on his stroller. This was a great help. I turned it on whenever he took a nap. I also found a full sunshade for the stroller. This was helpful when walking, many times we were facing the sun and my stroller couldn't cover him completely (I have a Maclaren). Both items were really important during our trip

I didn't see a date of your trip, but if it will be hot - you will need to keep him hydrated (as the other poster mentioned) We fed DS ice chips sometimes.. and even resorted to (watered down) slushy's once or twice. I gave up feeling guilty about some sugar - because I knew he was getting extra fluids.. it was May and it was HOT..!!

We brought along a baby carrier that was meant for swimming.. by Body Glove.. It was very handy at the pools.. and it was really lightweight to put in the bottom of the stroller.. (but the neoprene was hot..) Even so, I still like the idea. When we went on some rides (like the safari) I would leave the stroller and throw on the carrier (I could do this myself - very important) and plop him in. He was able to be close to me, sweat a little and if I wanted to take the carrier off it was easy too.

Oh, I've never stayed at BCV, so I have no specific tips for that resort! But I hope this helps! Have a wonderful time!!

 

[MikeyNS]

As another posted mentioned BABY STATIONS! Our 2.5yr old has been down 3 times so far and those baby stations are amazing. So quiet and absolutely fantastic castmembers. It's like stepping out of the parks and into sanity. Lots of change stations and a TV playing cartoons (plus the nice AC!) and everything you could ever need (for a small fee).

We also don't pack a lot of items when we go, we usually stop at the super target on the way in and pick up everything we need for the week.

 

[HeatherAnne]

Thank you everyone for all your replies and great tips! It is very much appreciated! I am still looking for tips for the airplane ride though. Although - I know he is still so little and HOPEFULLY he will sleep most of the way - I am still a little stressed about how to keep him occupied on the 3 hour flight from Mass! I was thinking of getting a DVD player with Elmo and Teletubbies videos!?!? Any other tips would be great!

HeatherAnne

 

[bobbiwoz]

DS and I, the DGM, were "in charge" of our 1 year old DGD on the plane to Orlando from Boston. We sat on either side of her, and gave the whole trip up to reading to, playing with and "worrying" about whether she would want her DMom sitting across the aisle with her siblings! It worked out fine, and we didn't worry as much for the trip home.

I hope it works out for you. This little one is our "hardest" to keep busy and happy, but it worked for us. For the second trip, they didn't need my help although DH still went to Boston to help with things.

Bobbi