Traveling with 10 month old twins - advice please

[ljb9539]

Hi All -

So I am looking for some advice - (I am going to post this in a couple different places b/c I am not sure where the best place is) ---

We are traveling with 10 month old twins in Dec/Jan - Can anyone who has traveled with little ones before - please give me any and all recommendations on how to make this a more enjoyable/easy experience -

Any stroller recommendations? - Should we bring our own or rent one?
IS there a baby care center at each park? - Experiences/recommendations.
ANYTHING to help us plan our day a little better.

Thanks in advance.
Laura

 

[cleo]

There are baby care centers at all the parks (check your park map for locations), and a quiet place for feeding, if needed.

If you can bring your own stroller I would suggest doing so. Disney's are the hard plastic kind, not so friendly to infants. That way, you'll also have it at your resort, at Downtown Disney, etc, saving the daily fee. I was very happy to have DS's own stroller as he was used to it and was more comfortable for those all-important sleeps.

The most important thing, to my mind, is to remember to keep them very well protected from the sun and to increase their fluid intake considerably. I cannot tell you how many infants I have seen at Disneywith severe sunburns and/or dehydration. Florida sun is brutal, and burns still occur in December/January.

10 months is a great age for taking babies to Disney! They're usually still happy in the stroller and they don't spend all day saying "Mom, can we go back to the resort pool?"

 

[Disneyrsh]

We have two daughters 18 months apart and have been vacationing in disney with them since before they were born. We use a graco Duo Rider stroller-it's been to Disney with us more times that we can count!!!

Our daughters are now 5 & 6 and we always bring the stroller-we usually walk between 10-15 miles a day at the parks and you can't ask kids to do that. They sort of do roaming reconnaisance (sp?) with the strollers, they go out, they come back, they fall asleep, etc.

We always have a big light colored thin towel or sheet to hang over the front to keep the sun off them when they need it. In Dec and Jan I wouldn't worry too much about that, though!

We never used the baby centers, we usually had everything we needed in the baby bag we hung off the back of the stroller, and I could find a quiet bench to nurse on all over the place.

I've heard that they are really great, though.

 

[swilphil]

Definitely bring your own stroller. The Disney ones really aren't suitable until chidren are 2 or 3. If you have a double front-to-back stroller, that will work best. The side by side ones are a little hard to get through at some points, but it's still better than nothing. You also could get two nice umbrella strollers and one of those things that attaches them.

I also didn't use the baby centers unless we happened to be right next to them or needed to buy supplies. They are nice, but all of the restrooms have changing tables. If you are giving the babies formula, you can bring bottled water and those individual packets of water to mix on the spot.
The good news is the babies can go on all the rides, except those with height restrictions. They just sit on your laps on all the others. I would stay away from the 3-D movies at Epcot and AK (too loud and scary), but the ones at MK and MGM are fine. I strongly recommend taking an afternoon nap break each day. It will help the babies stay up later in the evening and get up early in the morning.

 

[henrylovespooh]

We took our son when he was seven months old and then again when he was 2 and his sister was 10 months old. We had a ball both times.

We took our own stroller. The kids could fall asleep and it was easier to get them from the park to the bus and the bus to the hotel room. We could also feed them in the stroller in our room or in restaurants and they could nap whenever they wanted in the parks. Usually, our son would fall asleep around 10 a.m. while we were in a park for an hour or so, then again on the bus ride back to the hotel. It allowed us to go where we wanted and him to get his rest.

We bought single serving size packets of Enfamil and brought them along. We carried bottled water and could make up a bottle whenever we needed it in the parks. The plastic baby food containers were great for the parks as well.

Both of our kids were early risers, so we went to the parks first thing in the morning and then came back for a break in the early afternoon. Sometimes we ate in the park and sometimes we got something at the food court in our hotel and brought it back to the room. We tried to get the kids to nap mid-day or took them to the pool. Then we went back out in the late afternoon and had dinner. We usually went back to the room around 8 p.m. or so to put them to bed.

The baby care centers in the parks are great. If it's hot when you are there, it's a great place to change a diaper and cool off. They have formula, diapers and even medicine if you need it. Our son had a reaction to sunscreen while there and they had some Benadryl for him - at no charge.

If you really want to see the fireworks while you're there, there are places outside the park you can go where it isn't crowded or loud. There is a balcony in the Contemporary on the same floor as Chef Mickey's where you can pull the strollers out and have a seat and watch. You can also look out the windows at the Poly next to O'Hana. We also stayed at WL once with a Woods View room on the 5th floor, and DH and I watched the fireworks while the kids slept. It was awesome.

Have a great trip!

 

[dreamalittledream]

Take lots of pictures! It will be a great vacation. We went when DD2 was 9 monts (see my picture below) but she had started walking by then so we took breaks so she could practice her new skill in places like the Boneyard at AK and the playground in Toontown.
also, Medella makes disposable microwave steralizer bags (5 for about $5) that are great for bottles and such. All it takes is 3 min, water and a microwave and it folds flat. I used the food court's micro every night to clean the bottles for the next day. (you might want to bring 2 to save time) Then I filled the bottles with the powder and we added bottled water when it was time to eat.
I also made up ziplocs with a spoon, fork, knife, bibster and placemat and carried them along and just pulled it out at meals.
One other note, they do not sell Cherrios at WDW. Bring your own.
Have a great time!

 

[Tarzan]

This will be the first time we travel to WDW for a vacation not in December. The first time was with DS-22months and DD-11months. I did not use the baby care centers that year and DH and I made good use of Rider Switch passes. I lost DD's sippy cup and had to buy a replacement one, so now I always take a spare. Be prepared for really warm, sunny days and cold, cloudy days too. The most recent trip was December '04 when DD2 was 5 months. I used baby care centers for nursing her during cold/wet weather whilst DH took DS and DD1 on rides. The private nursing rooms in AK were great. It was nice to have quiet time with DD2. We needed blankets for quite a few evenings last year. It was really quite cold. I wrapped DD2 up well to watch Fantasmic! and for MNSSHP. She always slept through fireworks.
As sad as it is, don't count on people being courteous on Disney transport. The first year I would carry both children and DH would bring strollers and diaper bag. Once when we got on the bus I had to stand with them and nobody offered their seat. After that day we used to stand in line, but when we got to the front we'd let people board, then be at the front of the line for the next bus.
Some of my favourite memories and photos are from that first trip with 2 little ones. Have a great time

 

[mill4023]

First of all, don't be stressed or worried about it. Going with babies is great and not as hard as you might think. There is so much for them to look at and keep them occupied. You'll probably be surprised at how entertained they are. Definitely bring your own stroller so they can nap in them. We've never taken breaks when we had young ones because they always just napped in the stroller when they were tired.