Park hop or not to park hop with an infant?

[SarahJC]

Hello!

Me, my husband, and our son who will be 15 months old at the time of travel have a trip planned November 9-17. Our son's first time,
We are on the fence about whether or not to get park hoppers, we only have base tickets at this time.

Currently, my sons nap times are 10:30 am, and about 3pm, about an hour each. He goes to bed between 8:30-9pm. Wakes up between 8-8:15am most days.
Pre baby -We are morning people we would enter the parks right when they open. I've also noticed, that EVERY SINGLE TIME we left the park, it's 2pm, went back to the resort to rest, and we return that evening. I plan on still doing that, since my son will need his nap. ( so will we, LOL)
We have non park days planned out, one of which we will be visiting family in the area.

I'm really not sure whether to get PH or not with our trip. Any suggestions would be helpful! Thank you!








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[CaptainAmerica]

I would, mostly because Epcot is opening so late that your "in the parks early" strategy doesn't really work on Epcot days right now. I also usually recommend against whole days off. I think it's more restful to do four half-days off rather than two whole days off.

 

[SarahJC]

I would, mostly because Epcot is opening so late that your "in the parks early" strategy doesn't really work on Epcot days right now. I also usually recommend against whole days off. I think it's more restful to two four half-days off rather than two whole days off.

Thank you for your input. I guess I shouldn't call them "rest days," more so, non-park days.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Thank you for your input. I guess I shouldn't call them "rest days," more so, non-park days.

And with a 15-month old, you're likely to find they enjoy the pool or the resort playground as much as they do busing to the Magic Kingdom for 6 hours! With the young one, it will be a much slower pace - at least it will be if you want them to enjoy it! We used the non-park days periodically when our boys were that young, and it worked out really well. Quality over quantity for this trip would be my recommendation. And if he enjoys the pool, take advantage of the non-park day there! Have a great trip.

 

[SarahJC]

And with a 15-month old, you're likely to find they enjoy the pool or the resort playground as much as they do busing to the Magic Kingdom for 6 hours! With the young one, it will be a much slower pace - at least it will be if you want them to enjoy it! We used the non-park days periodically when our boys were that young, and it worked out really well. Quality over quantity for this trip would be my recommendation. And if he enjoys the pool, take advantage of the non-park day there! Have a great trip.

Thanks, I realize this is going to be a completely different trip than what we're used to, so we'll just move and go at his pace. We have never been hardcore planners, I've made reservations before, etc. But never have I been one to think I'm going to "Do it all." There will always be something new, and I feel like I will never get to do it all even in a lifetime, lol.

 

[sponica]

I'd get the park hopper, but that's just a constant in my life.

Also be prepared for what's NORMAL at home to be completely different elsewhere.

My first kid stroller napped pretty easily, so we stayed at the parks until 7ish most days. But she was up at the crack of dawn.

 

[SarahJC]

I'd get the park hopper, but that's just a constant in my life.

Also be prepared for what's NORMAL at home to be completely different elsewhere.

My first kid stroller napped pretty easily, so we stayed at the parks until 7ish most days. But she was up at the crack of dawn.

Thanks, yeah we're just going on his cues. He's only been in a stroller for walks around the neighborhood, my husband always carries him, so with that being said, I'm not sure if he's a stroller napper, lol. We may go to the local theme park for a trial run

 

[Rory607]

We always get hoppers, but I know not everyone feels they’re necessary. If you’re good to do a midday break it’s nice to have the option to do a different park in the later afternoon/evening. Even though you likely won’t be closing the parks down, you can do dinner in another park.

 

[mjkacmom]

When I read the title, I was going say sure, because infants can be carried around anywhere, but you have yourself a toddler. I had very scheduled toddlers who did not stroller nap (wouldn’t let them), but maybe take some walks in the park around nap time and see what happens.

 

[sponica]

When I read the title, I was going say sure, because infants can be carried around anywhere, but you have yourself a toddler. I had very scheduled toddlers who did not stroller nap (wouldn’t let them), but maybe take some walks in the park around nap time and see what happens.

Yeah my first was a stroller napper up until age 3 or so, I don't think my second is much of one unless she's beyond tired/bored.

 

[loves to dive]

We were there a few weeks ago with my son's 5 month old and did have hoppers. She still wakes up around 4 or so for a bottle then goes back to sleep until around 8:30 or 9. We were getting to the parks between 9:30 and 10:30. She does sleep in her stroller, at that age they pretty much eat, sleep, pee, cry and start all over again with maybe 15 min. in between the process when they are human. We would stay in the park until around noon or 1 when it started getting too hot (we had two fans blowing on her in the stroller) then go back to the room. We would rest for awhile, maybe get her to take a nap or go to the pool. Then we would go to another park between 4:30 and 5:30 (usually Epcot to snack at booths for supper) and leave around 7:30. Her bed time is between 7:30 and 8. Obviously, we didn't get a lot done but my son and his SO were able to ride both Star Wars rides, I got us a BG for RoTR and we did child swap and I didn't need to ride MF so I watched the baby. She was able to ride a few rides and really enjoyed Figment a lot.

 

[BostonEd]

I had very scheduled toddlers who did not stroller nap (wouldn’t let them),

Why on earth not?

 

[mjkacmom]

Why on earth not?

I had 5 kids in 6 1/2 years, many years with multiple kids in cribs/diapers, I needed to have a few kid free hours a day to get stuff done, and had kids at different schools on different schedules to drop off and pick up. My oldest put herself on a sleep schedule as a baby, made life easy. If my kids fell asleep in the van or stroller it would take the edge off and ruin nap time, and not all could be transferred without waking.

 

[Marthasor]

I would just wait until you get to WDW and see how it goes. You can always upgrade your ticket to a PH onsite.

 

[disneygolfer1985]

We went in 2019 with my 18 mo daughter. We park hopped mostly because that is how we have always travelled. She was able to nap in her stroller so that helped. The one thing we noticed was she could do about 4 attractions then would take a nap due to the stimulation.

 

[bakerworld]

My daughter purchased one PH and the rest MYW because they wanted to get a few parks done and then relax for the rest of the stay. She priced it out and she said it wasn't much of a savings but it took the 'need to hop' off the table. We purchased a 3D PH in May and only hopped one day.