Taking an infant..questions about rides, pools, etc?

[honeybear0805]

This will be our first time to WDW with an infant (many trips prior) and I have a few questions:
Can an infant ride some of the Fantasyland rides being held or in a front snugli carrier?
What are the pool rules for infants?
Any dining tips...high chairs, infant car seat carriers...what works best when they are still bottle fed?

Thanks for the tips!

 

[WIDisneyFan]

My wife and I did our first trip with an infant this past June - and while it was very different from our previous trips it was still a great time To try to directly answer your questions.....

1)Yes most definately - we took our little guy on Pirates of the Carrib., Small World, Haunted Mansion (and a few others similar in pace)

2)I believe the rules are they need to be wearing swim diapers - we did not use the pools during our stay, but use the pool on a regular basis at our YMCA (started swim lessons at 6 months old lol)

3)Depending on how old your little one is - use the chairs at the resturants (we had great luck with infant chairs at Crystal Palace - was almost like a car seat)

As for a few other pointers (based on our experience)....
Take things at a slower pace - an afternoon nap for the little one is worth the effort to return to the room
If your flying - use a bottle or pacifier during takeoff and landing - the sucking motion helps with pressure on their little ears

Have a wonderful trip and if there are any specific questions feel free to drop me a private message here

 

[dcmbshafe]

That is all great advice. One additional thing I would say is don't underestimate the amount of visual stimulation at WDW and how tiring this is for kids. We started taking our kids to WDW when they were 2 & 3 and they literally got tired just being pushed around in strollers! We've always had the best results by scheduling plenty of down time (a major theme park every other day has worked well for us) and always leaving the parks in the afternoon for naps.

 

[schnerk]

We took our 2 year old and our 6 month old in September and had so much fun that we are going back in January!

Like the others mentioned, take it slow. I grew up with a family that went commando style through Disney in 1 day on multiple occasions, so this was hard for me at first, But the afternoon naps saved our trip. I always felt bad for the people getting on the buses back to the resort with screaming tired kids in the early evening as we were heading back in with 2 well rested happy kids.

Also, we took a full day off of the parks in the middle of our trip. We had a lazy morning and then went and explored downtown Disney and a couple of the other hotels and finished up with the luau at the Polynesian, which I don't recommend for people with younger kids, especially if it is hot an humid.
This break helped my wife and I recover and relax. Remember, it's a vacation.

 

[honeybear0805]

Thanks for all the information! We are really excited about taking our son. He will be 5mths old and any tips are appreciated!

Another question- for meals, do we need to bring him his own seat or are the dining locations equipped for infants that young? Thanks!

 

[Schmeck]

I've never seen anything besides the basic toddler/older infant highchair at the restaurants, but I have older kids, so I've not been really looking...