Traveling with a 13 month old

[jhermanhaigler]

So we have planned a 6 day trip to Disney in early Feb 2022. We are staying at the Polynesian resort. We are big Disney fans and have been coming for years, however, I had a few questions for those experienced with vacationing with a 1 year old. Thanks so much!

1. Has anybody used BabyQuip and rented a crib for your hotel stay at Disney? What was your experience like?
2. We live in North Carolina and it is a 10 hour drive. Would you recommend flying and renting a car or driving the 10 hours?
3. What are some tips about diaper changes within the parks during the day?
4. Do babies this age typically tolerate most rides that they are "able" to go on?
5. Would you recommend buying memory maker for the trip?

 

[Betty Rohrer]

So we have planned a 6 day trip to Disney in early Feb 2022. We are staying at the Polynesian resort. We are big Disney fans and have been coming for years, however, I had a few questions for those experienced with vacationing with a 1 year old. Thanks so much!

1. Has anybody used BabyQuip and rented a crib for your hotel stay at Disney? What was your experience like?
2. We live in North Carolina and it is a 10 hour drive. Would you recommend flying and renting a car or driving the 10 hours?
3. What are some tips about diaper changes within the parks during the day?
4. Do babies this age typically tolerate most rides that they are "able" to go on?
5. Would you recommend buying memory maker for the trip?

with rides it could go either way love or hate and no way to know before unless you visit a local park before your trip. as for memory make if you usually get then yes. if characters were back I would be more worried about them than rides. one thing to think about is making a photobook for child not just family book. for years one of my grandkids had his book which helped him "remember" his baby trip

 

[jhermanhaigler]

with rides it could go either way love or hate and no way to know before unless you visit a local park before your trip. as for memory make if you usually get then yes. if characters were back I would be more worried about them than rides. one thing to think about is making a photobook for child not just family book. for years one of my grandkids had his book which helped him "remember" his baby trip

Thank you so much for the tips! That is probably true about the characters! I’m definitely looking forward to seeing her reactions to everything and taking photos to remember!

 

[sponica]

My answers are in bold. I haven't gone with a 13 month old, as my daughter was closer to 20 months when we went.

1. Has anybody used BabyQuip and rented a crib for your hotel stay at Disney? What was your experience like? I had a giant baby, even at 13 months she was over 30 inches tall so we just used the pack n play.
2. We live in North Carolina and it is a 10 hour drive. Would you recommend flying and renting a car or driving the 10 hours? Ugh, my kids can't tolerate more than 2 hours in the car. I'd fly and just book a transfer on Mears Connect.
3. What are some tips about diaper changes within the parks during the day? A good rule of thumb is every one to 2 hours or sooner if you notice it needs changing. Remember to keep them hydrated.
4. Do babies this age typically tolerate most rides that they are "able" to go on? This is child dependent. My first born hated everything that moves, my second born is a maniac.
5. Would you recommend buying memory maker for the trip? We always buy it...

 

[Rory607]

My son was 12 months for his first trip. You will have fun!
1.We used the pack and play from the hotel, but he was used to napping in one at the grandparents’ houses. I brought our own sheet.
2.Fly or drive is really kid-dependent. We always fly to Disney, but have driven lots of other places that are 12-15 hours with our kids. Both have their pros and cons. The flight would be shorter, so if he’s unhappy, at least it’s over sooner! But you have more flexibility with driving.
3. Diaper changes: use the baby care centers. They are nice and spacious and air conditioned. I always kept a few diapers and wipes in the backpack, then kept more in the bottom of the stroller so I wasn’t lugging them around all day in the bag. No one ever stole diapers, but yes, it is a possibility. The risk never bothered me
5. My kids loved rides, even as babies. Never had an issue with baby-friendly rides upsetting them. My son took a nap on the safari ride at AK at that age, lol.
6. We always do memory makers. It’s a good way to get some family photos.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We drove, mostly at night, leaving in the afternoon stopping for dinner then trading off till about 2am finishing the rest the next day.
I think this is is a personal preference. My kids did not do well on planes no matter what tips and tricks I used. Having a ipad holder on the seat putting on DL netflix videos helps.

We used a pack and play so I cant say about rentals.
Check out tim trackers videos from last year, he took Jackson on rides at Disney so some good info

 

[Specter]

We took DD at 10 months and it was fantastic. We had actually been very hesitant about the trip at that age but are so glad that we did.

1. When we went we also used the hotel provided pack and play, but at the time DD was very used to them from grandparents house. We also took our own sheets.
2. We flew but we also live in Texas and driving is just not in the cards for us. We opted to get a seat for the baby, too, so we had a whole row to ourselves. She did pretty well flying, only crying for a few minutes on the way there and not at all on the way home.
3. We actually only took enough diapers for the first full day and got a delivery to the room so that we didn't have to travel with as many. We did use the baby centers once or twice but mostly just changed her on the changing tables in the bathrooms we happened to be near. The baby centers were very nice, we just didn't want to have to hunt for them every time.
4. DD loved the rides that she could go on, though at that age she did sleep through several of them. But we have fantastic pictures of her on several looking quite amazed about something or another. She especially loved Frozen, Navi River, and Dumbo.
5. That trip was our first time with memory maker and DW and I agree that we will never go without it again. We happened to be on an extended family trip and made sure that everyone else was linked to my Disney account so that their pictures were captured along with ours, but we only had to pay once.

Good luck and have a great trip.

 

[bpx2]

You already have a lot of good info here, but I’ll add my experience with taking my son last November when he had just turned 14 months.

We drove for that trip (from Chicago it was around 16-17 hours), but we were bringing our dog and stayed for 3 weeks. I don’t know if we would have driven for a shorter trip.

If you fly, I would recommend getting your child their own seat if you can and bringing the car seat to use on the plane. It’s safer and nice to have a place to put them so you don’t have to hold them the whole flight. We did this on my son’s last few flights and he was so much more comfortable.

For diaper changes we mostly tried to use the baby care centers because they were cleaner and quieter and we would also go there to nurse.

As far as rides, my son seemed to enjoy them but he had a serious face during most of them…taking it all in I think. The only thing he wasn’t a big fan of was Alien Swirling Saucers. I think it was just a bit too fast for him. Honestly, I think he enjoyed just running around more than the actual rides.

We didn’t get Memory Maker that trip since we had to wear masks the whole time, but I definitely would have gotten it if we wouldn’t have had to wear them outside for pictures.

ETA a picture of my son on Alien swirling saucers

 

[disneygolfer1985]

We are going in Feb 22 as well and will be at the Poly for a few days. We will have my 3 yo and 18 no daughters. We are flying because we got great rates on southwest and our youngest will be a lap baby for the flight.

for diaper changes, I would recommend using the baby care centers in the parks. We used it and it was very helpful.

We will focus on most smaller kids rides. Our oldest loved a lot of the rides when we went when she was 18 months. We learned that she could do 3-4 rides then she would fall asleep due to the stimulation. Hope your child can sleep in the stroller.

 

[loves to dive]

We were there a couple of weeks ago with a 5 month old so slightly different.

We drove down from Georgia. 6 to 7 hour drive. It was not always great, because now the car seats have to face backward and the ones at that age have to lay on their backs instead of sitting up, she got cranky a lot. We had to make more stops then we usually would before her (my grand daughter) just to get out the car and walk around holding her so she could see things, she loves to look at stuff. On the other hand, I'm not sure how a little one would do flying since it has to hurt their little ears on take off and landing and you can't really explain that to them.

They did most of the diaper changes in the restrooms, she did go into the baby care center once but more just to see it. They have one those changing pads they used on the changing tables. Grandma did a few in the stroller. The baby is on her back and with the top up you really can't see in unless you are standing right over her. I just went to a place that was out of the way and changed her then put the used diaper in a bag, tied it and wheeled her over to a trash can. She was a premie and still isn't huge although is now in regular newborn diapers. They had a little bag that they carried diapers and wipes in and a little thing like is on a dog leash that attached to the stroller for the bags. We didn't go to the parks until 9:30 or 10 and left around 1 to go back to the room and back to the parks around 4 or 5 and left around 7:30 so. She wasn't in the parks for long times so didn't need a lot of diaper changes.

We did not get memory maker. They knew they were going to want a few pictures but not a whole lot. You have to get over 9 to break even so they just bought individual ones at the end of the trip.

She rode a lot of rides and for the most part loved some, tolerated some. She loved Figment so we rode it twice. All the colors and music. She loved the ride in Mexico because she watches Disney all the time. MMRR was a bit too fast, she didn't cry but she wasn't as rapt as she was on Figment and there was enough Mickey to keep her interested. She loved CoP, again music.

She saw a couple of calvacades at MK and liked the ones with Winnie the Pooh but wasn't interested in many of the others. She saw Mickey at the Land in the restaurant (we were just walking by) and loved that.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

We took my daughter at 13 months. She didn’t know to be afraid of rides so she just sat there and looked around. Characters scared her. We flew because there was no way to keep her entertained long enough to drive. My husband usually changed her because there were no lines for changing in the mens rooms.

 

[Aimeedyan]

We visit a lot so my DS has been going since he was 3 weeks old. He's 23 months now.

At 13 months, our biggest challenge in the parks was that he was a new walker and wanted to walk everywhere. He would not tolerate being held in lines for very long, and didn't appreciate being contained in the stroller. He did better in a carrier (typically on my back, so he could see) so if yours enjoys a carrier, I'd throw it in the suitcase just in case.

We rode very little at that age because we only rode walk-ons. I can't even tell you how many lines we bailed on because he just wasn't having it. Once the newness of walking wore off, he got a tad more tolerant His favorite place in all of Disney is the hub grass because he can be set free!

Baby care places are fine but definitely not worth trekking across the park for. If you're near one, stop by for a change but otherwise, just use the restrooms and throw a few disposable changing pads in your bag.

We use the hotel pack & play and bring our own sheets. Our Hatch goes everywhere with us, too, so we can stay up and watch TV and not worry about hallway noise waking him up. If you use a white noise machine, don't forget it!

Once he became aware of things, he stopped napping on the go. FOMO, I guess. We just know that he will not sleep in the stroller so we have to adjust our days if we want a happy toddler Be ready to pivot if yours decides that naps are for wimps.

 

[Disturbia]

We took our colugo carrier when DD was 18 mos, we had a baby bjorn when she was 1 and it was breathable and easy to take on and off.

We also have a convertible diaper bag so we have free hands getting on and off the buses (Allcamp-zebra).

Our daughter loved the gondola ride. She was a bit scared on the MMRR but loved the music. We went on the Mexico pavilion ride several times as it’s relaxing. Fantasyland rides were great but all had waits over 30 (mostly 45) so we only did one or 2 before a break. One day that’s all they could do and we cancelled BOG and stayed at the resort. Kids preferred pool time over rides (esp at Art of Animation). When our son was about 2, he was singing/humming the Navi song after the ride and people stopped to admire him. Don’t forget to take photos by the mountains in Pandora and above the walkway in the daytime and evening (we usually purchase a photo book).

Bring extra shoes (stuff into diaper bag as backup) as CMs won’t allow kids to walk without them (they told us there might be glass?-glass jars/containers are not allowed in the park). We use gardengrocers for food/snack/beverage delivery.

New rider switch requires everyone queue together for the outdoor queue. Also, only one child can go with the waiting parent again (was 2). We are ok with this as we didn’t even know about rider switch for first 8 years and our older child is now a teen.

We had ROTR boarding group process change 2 days before our trip and Disney IT missed my email and I got no push notification. stay on top of changes and ‘look at the app!’. I don’t get visa offers as my Disney visa card doesn’t save to my profile, but does sometimes appear in the app.

We’ve taken many trips with infants/toddlers, but CMs (lacking training) are especially rude post COVID. So do lower expectations. I believe they are starting to get better with more stability/training so hopefully they can bring back some of the magic.

 

[Disturbia]

Also, I buy a photobook (you can choose a few photopass pictures). I have purchased the memory maker twice but we don’t spend a lot of time in lines for pictures. But it’s worth it if you do a lot of rides that have photos and a special event (Halloween party character meets, special zoom photos; pirates and haunted mansion photos).

 

[CampbellzSoup]

13 month old sits on everything he can go on and loves shows. I change the diapers in the bathroom, and I ask Disney for a pack and play I don’t need to rent a crib.

memory maker is an absolute must buy