Trip with 14-month old!

[disneybaby05]

Hello All,

I am planning a trip in February. It will just be me and my son (who will be 14 months old during the trip).

I'm thinking about either going the 13th-17th, or the 25th-28th. Does anyone have any recommendations on which week to go?

Also, does anyone have tips for taking a child this young? I am not planning to stay on property, but maybe at one of the non-Disney hotels accross the street, so we will be close to go back to take a nap during the day.

Any tips you can give me would be greatly appreciated! I haven't been to DL since I was 10 in 1991! I've been to WDW several times, but never with a small child.

 

[Albort]

just take a relaxing time. pace yourself, and enjoy it.

I suggest bring your own scroller so you can use it to push it back to the hotel with your 14 month old.

 

[abby]

Just remember there will be a lot you want to do but can't if traveling alone with a 14 month old, that's ok, I love traveling with my dd even if I can't ride the roller coasters. Also, some of the "kid" rides might be too intense for your kid, depends on their temperment. have a great time.

 

[staley7580]

Take a stroller that reclines! And has good storage space.

 

[TwingleMum]

I have traveled often with my children when they were under a year (even the twins) I think the best advise is try to keep to their schedule and stop and appreciate the smaller attractions and shows. My kids enjoyed all the people and excitment but every child is different. If I kept them out late one night for a parade I scheduled a very relaxing day the following day. I also tried to let them nap and rest at lunch time at the hotel it was much more restful for them then the stroller and they were able to go out in the evening if they got a good rest in the afternoon. Good Luck and enjoy!!

 

[Wendi2000]

You'll have a great time. Definitely take your own stroller. I am a single mom, so I travel with my son a lot without any help. I find that the most difficult thing (still to this day - he is 5 now) is maneuvering with a stroller through a counter service restaurant line, getting a tray and trying to get to a table (if you can find one since there is no other person in your party to save a table for you while you order). Make sure to ask when you are ordering your food if there is someone who can help you carry your tray to a table. They are very accomodating and will take care of it for you.

Another hard thing is taking a shower!!! This is hard at home, but especially hard in a hotel room that isn't baby proof. Try to do it when the baby is sleeping, and shower FAST!!! hehehe

It can also be difficult to fold a stroller to get onto a hotel shuttle/train/or monorail if your baby is sleeping or isn't yet standing on his/her own. Hopefully you can find someone (either a CM or another guest) to help you hold the baby while you fold the stroller if you need to.

When you go to the bathroom, you will likely have to use a family bathroom and push the stroller in with you, or push the stroller into a handicap stall with you.

Have a great time with your little one... it really is magical!!!

 

[dletz]

Use the baby care centers. My favorite thing at the park. If you want a nice comfortable place to feed your son that is a not quite as distracting as the restuarants, go to the baby care centers. There is one inside DL and one in DCA. the one at DL is at the end of main street near the corn dog stand. The one at DCA is behind the Tortilla factory. They have little potties for training kids, diaper changing tables that are nice (I like DLs better). They have high chairs, they will warm food/bottles. They also sell supplies that you may need. All women's restrooms, and most men's have changing tables in them but most are metal. The ones at the baby care centers are nicer. The one in DCA also has a companion bathroom, so I always took advantage of that.

You son should be able to ride everything without a height limit. Some of the darker rides he may not like, it just depends.

If your child will sleep in the stroller like mine did then take nap time to walk around and enjoy the sights. When my daughter was about that same age we met up with a group of friends who all had kids at the same time. There were about 10 families. We spent the day at a zoo. After lunch we all split up for nap time. Some parents choose to find a nice shady area for their child to lay down, others chose to go back to the car to have their child nap. We were the only ones who chose to keep walking. Our daughter was the only one out of all the kids who actually had a decent nap. I think she slept for over an hour and 1/2. We just continued to walk. Did the same things at Disneyland too. We never took time out for naps. She did much better just falling asleep when she needed in the stroller, then we just took it easy.

 

[Thumpersmom]

We just got back and I have a 13 month old. Sometimes she napped in the stroller and one night we just went back to the room earlier then normal and she had a great nap and got down for some play time.

She loved to sit on one of the benches at the hub and watch the horses pull the trolley and the other main street vehicles. She liked crawling around at the Goofy house in Toon town. She attempted to color at the Princess Fantasy Fair thing. At DCA she liked Flick's Fun Fair, the animation studio, and Monster's Inc. She danced at the High School Musical Pep Rally too! Her favorite meal was at Ariel's.

We were there for 6 nights so we were able to slow down the pace and she had a great time. This was our first visit when she actually got upset about getting off the rides. She loved the Carousel, Small World, and Dumboand Winnie the Pooh.

We stayed at the Tropicana Inn across the street. It is not fancy in any way but clean and affordable! You walk across the street and down 1 hotel and you are there so it is very doable with the stroller.

The only place I saw that had a toddler meal was at Pinoccio's and it was a small size of macoroni and cheese, applesauce, and milk, juice or water. It was $2.99! Other times I bought her a kid meal and she ate what she wanted. I also brought some of the graduate meals.

Hope you have a fantastic time!!!!

 

[disneybaby05]

Thanks for all of your fabulous advice! My family thinks I'm crazy for taking such a young child to Disney. I know he won't remember it, but that doesn't mean he won't enjoy it! I think it would probably be easier to take him now than when he gets a little bit older (and into the terrible two's and three's!)