thinking of bringing a 1 yr old. Should we even bother with US/ IOA?

[donna67]

My family and I are going to WDW in October. It's my husband, me, our 4 year old (will be 5 by Oct.) and are 8 month old (will be one in Oct.) I know they have the "kid swap" thing, but is it even worth it or will it be just a big hassle to have a baby there. I should also add that my 4 year old will go on anything that his height will allow him to. He's not afraid of much of anything and loves Spiderman and dinosaurs. Thanks!!!

 

[maryisme]

Hi Donna,
While I can't answer your questions, I am eagerly waiting for some responses. We are also going to US/IOA with our 10 month old and our 9 year old. Was wondering the same thing- will it be worth to do the baby swap thing--how does that work with FOL?

Hope you have a great trip!

Mary

 

[jez4100]

I have a 4 year old and an 8 year old and we have always visited both parks. My kids love dr. seuss land at IOA. You can always park hop. We seem to need more time at Universal. Have a great time.

 

[donna67]

sorry, new at this...think I might have sent this directly to you instead of just posting a reply...let's try again.

Did you bring your kids when they were younger? I'm sure my 4 year old would be fine...we're just trying to figure out if it would be worth it with having to bring the one year old or if we should wait a few years.

Thanks!

 

[seashoreCM]

Decide on USF/IOA based on your own desires and the desires of your 4yo. The 1yo is too young to appreciate anything he sees.

From what I am told (I don't have kids) the baby swap is very smooth. It just takes an extra ride cycle's worth of time for each ride. Sometimes they will let your 4yo ride twice if he wishes, once with each parent.

Regardless of whether you are using Express Pass or the normal line, the second parent usually stands near the ride boarding area or ride unloading area until the first parent finishes riding. Then the first parent waits for the second parent to ride and the whole family leaves together. The exact waiting location varies with the ride layout. All family members (except the 1yo) are supposed to have Express Passes or Front of the Line resort ID's to enter the express line together.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[donna67]

Thanks for your reply. I guess what we're going to do is to wait until it gets a bit closer and see just how manageable of a one year old he is at that point. It doesn't seem that there's much that he could actually go on, so we'd be swapping for every ride. We'll have to see what we think as it gets closer.

 

[HM]

We waited to do theme parks until our youngest was almost 4 years old. It just seemed so much easier to not have all the baby accoutraments to think about and be able to do everything together. -HM

 

[zaxmom]

I took mine when my youngest was just turning 2. We had a good time. I would suggest you stay at one of the onsite hotels and take advantage of FOTL. That way you could even take turns going to the parks and hanging out at the pool with the baby. They do an excellent job with the baby swap, but I would only do it with the FOTL with kids that little. Heck, that is the only way I would do it at all. Your son will probably think it is great to ride everything twice. I guess they thought about how much the parents enjoy watching their kids during the rides. My two year old was even tall enough to ride that kid roller coasters and enjoy the rides in Seuss Land and a lot of the attractions at Universal that don't have height requirements. These parks are SO aimed at 4 year old boys with the dinosaurs and aliens and flying cars and Spiderman and Jimmy Neutron and Shrek, the Animal Planet show, ET. All the things little boys (and the big boys) seem to love. I think your older son will get so much out of this. They will LOVE the pools and riding the boats to get to the parks. My sons are 6 and 4 now and we are going there for our 3rd or 4th visit. I can't keep track. Your one year old will love all the sights. And the Barney Show that we may get to skip this year! Take swim diapers with you, because there are a lot of little spash areas and water playgrounds to play in.

That being said, things will probably be easier the next October and your youngest would enjoy the parks too. If the three of you want to go this year, I would do it, it would not be that bad. If not, I would wait a year.

 

[donna67]

Thanks so much! I'm really leaning toward going. We have friends of ours that have a 4 year also that is very good friends with my son. I think it would be just such an incredible time for him to not only be there with us, but also be there with his best little buddy. It would probably be worth any hassle with my one year old just to see my 4 year old having such a blast.

We're already staying in a condo just outside of Disney because it was a great price and it has 3 bedrooms and a full LR, kitchen, dining area, pool in the complex, etc. that it just wasn't worth it for us all to try to squeeze into a little hotel room for twice the price, but we can try to take advantage of the new Express Pass thing which I've read good things about. Who knows, by then, my one year old might also be able to go on just a few things that have no height requirements. He'll be sitting up on his own, so who knows...

Thanks so much for the info! Now just to convince the hubby!

 

[zaxmom]

Oh, if you have friends who will be there, that can make all the difference in the world. Will you have multi-day tickets and be able to switch off babysitting and go back to the parks in the evening? You and your husband could go and ride the rides that your 4 year old can't and have a nice dinner at CityWalk. I would just go slow and not push it, of course. You could easily spend hours with a little one in the kids area in Dr Seuss and kids area at US. They have these water places to play in. I took a beach towel with us in the stroller. It turns into a blanket, pillow, came in so handy. The baby should be able to go on a lot of rides. They have different areas to sit in some places like Jimmy Neutron. I think you can take a baby into most of the US attractions. Seems like they had to be able to sit by themselves on Earthquake, and Jaws. I took them into Terminator. MIB has a nice waiting area and you can wait in line together like Spiderman. The Best part about babies is they just love all the lights and sometimes explosions and don't know that they should be scared if there is a smile on mom's face. Teach that baby to sit up and hold on and have a great time.

 

[donna67]

I'm pretty sure what we're going to do is purchase the 2 day park hopper pass (actually, I think they even have a buy 2 day get a 3rd for only $15 more through AAA) and go from there. We'll spend some time one day in both parks if we can and if we want to go back later in the week, we can. If not, the tickets never expire and I'm sure we'll be returning again! We're going to do the same with WDW. We're getting 5 day hopper passes and whatever days we don't use, we'll just hold on to for the future. I think it's pretty settled that we're going to just go for it. You never know what the future's going to bring, so why not just do it now if you can; right?

Anyway, thanks for the advise and we're all so looking forward to this trip!!! Did I mention that we'll be in WDW on my birthday? What a way to celebrate!!

I'll be sure to bring bathing suits and towels and such and I'm sure we'll all manage to have a great time even if we split up for some of the day so I can take the baby on things and my 4 year old can go on other things.

Take care and thanks!

:jumping1