WDW with a 9 month old. Give me your best tips and advice please

[michelleiada]

We are booked for May 2021. Our May 2020 trip was COVID cancelled. Just to give you some background, my daughter is pregnant with our first grand baby and due next month. She and my son in law, were engaged at WDW during Happily Ever After at the California Grill on a family trip a few years ago. Disney is such a special place for our family. Our trip will include myself, my husband, our married daughter, her husband and their 9 month old baby boy, and my other daughter, and her boyfriend. We are a DVC family. We will be staying at Bay Lake Tower, in a 3 bedroom grand villa for 3 nights, and then move to Beach Club where we will have a two bedroom and a studio for 8 nights. We go to WDW every year, for the most part, and sometimes twice in a year so we are experienced with WDW...but its been a very long time since we’ve done it with little ones or a baby. I would love to hear your tips and advice on everything. What stroller do you recommend? How do you keep baby cool on a hot day? Do you recommend a baby carrier? Are they uncomfortable and heavy to walk around with? Do you pack individual diaper changing packs? What type of bag do you prefer for the parks? What experiences are must dos with a 9 month old? I know that traveling with a baby can be a lot of work, but they will have us to help them, and staying in a villa with a full kitchen, washer and dryer, and plenty of space will be a plus. I’m very excited for his arrival and have already purchased his first set of mouse ears and lots of Disney baby clothing. Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[michelleiada]

I should also ask, do you pack tons of diapers or do you order and ship to the resort? Anything else recommended to be ordered and shipped to resor?

 

[soTinkalicious]

Congrats Michelle! We've travelled many times similar to you. Both when my kids were babies and when my sister was pregnant, and with her twins! Firstly - we decided after doing both ways that it was easier for us to rent the strollers in the park. We always had plenty of hands to hold the babies on the buses. But strollers are a pain on the bus. Second - we always planned a nap. Sometimes that nap would be in a quiet place, but mostly in the hotel. Rested babies made for a happier trip all around! We did lots of shows! We also did a lot of the less popular activities - in Epcot we did all the inside activities in the park. Japan, China, Mexico, Canada - they all have relatively unknown rides/movies/exhibits! At Animal Kingdom - we took to the train to the Discovery Island (I can't remember if that is still there!). Spent a lot of time indoors there. We would look at the activities for the parks in advance and plan the child-friendly ones. A word of note - my kids went through a transition where they loved fireworks and then hated them. We would often watch fireworks as we walked out of the park. Also - my oldest hated the characters. Absolutely terrified of them. So we didn't really do character dining until she got a bit older. Some rides that they liked as babies - they hated as toddlers. So flexibility became the name of the game. Bring a fan that squirts water.

 

[sponica]

I've gone with a 20 month old and will be going with an 8 month old next year. We ordered diapers through Amazon Prime (or Garden Grocer, I can't remember) so that we wouldn't have to bring down 94387593487 diapers.

If they're formula feeding, I would have that delivered too.
If they're breast feeding, make sure MOM stays hydrated to help baby stay hydrated. As far as cooling, I'd make sure there's an indoor attraction after every couple attractions...like country bears, carousel of progress.

I never baby carried in real life, but that's a personal preference more than anything. Some kids love it, others hate it.

We have a columbia diaper backpack that attached to the stroller and used that.....for one day. My husband felt it was too big and bulky so we moved the changing pad and enough diapers for one day to my messenger bag which we put on the stroller handle.

My friend LOVED bringing both her boys at 8/9 months...they could react to what was going on but at the same time were like furniture and napped in the stroller.

 

[michelleiada]

Thanks for the input. We will order diapers and have them delivered for sure. My daughter will be breast feeding so hydration will most definitely be important. I appreciate your tips.

 

[CastAStone]

We went to Disneyland with an 11 month old. Some thoughts:

• Take a nap break every day! It sounds like there will be a lot of you, you don't all have to go every day.
• Take the same vacation you always do, the kid will be to little to appreciate much of anything
• Use a stroller, not a baby carrier. I'd suggest something that folds up extremely compactly for use on buses or trams. Remember on buses you will likely have to be balancing it in a folded position. A lot of people like the City Mini and you can rent one from stroller companies at the Orlando airport and drop it off when you leave.
• Bring a diaper bag and load it up with everything you could conceivably need, then chuck it in the bottom of the stroller and leave it there when you go on rides. My wife and I were proud no-bag people before kids so this is hard advice to give, but nothing is worse than having to leave the park because you don't have some random item for baby.
• Learn where the baby care centers are in each park and don't be shy about going to them for basically any reason at all. Great place to cool off.
• My kid liked things with music or colors. That included just walking around and looking at the buildings. He also loved random little things like the Mr. Toad statue. But like I said before, mostly, he was just taking it all in, so we did a lot of what we enjoyed.
• Learn how the Rider Switch program works now so no one gets left out of something like Flight of Passage.

 

[YesterDark]

Great questions. For context over the last 5 years, I've gone when my kids were 2.5/8mos, 5/2.5 & pregnant wife, and 6/4/1.5. Obviously COVID changes a lot of things

What stroller do you recommend?
We brought a cheap double umbrella stroller to use from the house to the airport and then rented a double stroller for the parks when we were on property. I recommend something that can hold a bag easily either from the handles or underneath. We don't have a preference on brand and you obviously don't need a double!

How do you keep baby cool on a hot day?
Shade. We've gone typically in the summer so we've dealt with the hottest weather. You need to plan your day around breaks. Longer character meals (if available) or just somewhere indoors. Do a lot of shows. When we went, we did open to close so it can be done, but your day needs to be a slow one. Make use of the indoors nursing areas too.

Do you recommend a baby carrier?
We used one our first trip because we only brought a single stroller. I wouldn't recommend it only because if you have a stroller you won't ever need to use it most likely.

Are they uncomfortable and heavy to walk around with?
No, but it's just one more thing you have to carry around with you.

Do you pack individual diaper changing packs?
No. Our diaper bag was packed like it normally was.

What type of bag do you prefer for the parks?
DON'T BRING A BAG! Bring a backpack! Someone's shoulders will thank me later.

What experiences are must dos with a 9 month old?
Nothing specific. When you're bring young ones, they aren't getting much out of it, and they won't remember anything really (changes around 2.5/3 yo). This is all about being a family and building memories from the trip as a whole. So whatever brings your whole family happiness, do that and take plenty of pictures! Personally for us that was your typical pictures in front of the castle, cool shots around property that we found in the moment. Character meals and character meet and greets etc.

 

[fancymouse]

As far as strollers go, if you are driving you can take whatever! Personally, my requirements were good sun coverage and the ability to lay flat (relatively) for naps. You’ll also want to make sure it folds up pretty easily as you have to do this for most transportation. If you are flying I would rent a stroller when you get to Orlando. There are companies that deliver to your hotel room or companies where you can pick up at the airport. The Citi Mini or Bob are both great and you can rent them. I would not rent a park stroller, though. They are hard plastic, don’t recline, and have little sun coverage. If I had a much older child that maybe just wanted to take a break for a minture then it would be fine, but for children under 2 the stroller is increadibly important!

When we went, we did bring a baby carrier for use in lines and often we had to park the stroller somewhere and then we walked around to do rides etc, so it was nice to have both options. I would never use a carrier all day as I think it would be exhausting, but it’s nice to not have to hold a heavy (and wiggly) baby while waiting in line or doing a quick activity. Also if you rented a stroller you could use the carrier in the airport on the way there. This would definitely make security and getting around the airport easy and normally you aren’t walking around for hours at the airport, plus you can use it on the plane if you plan on “holding” the baby instead of purchasing a seat. At the parks we just stored the carrier below the stroller until we needed it. We used it for transportation around property too. Whenever we had to fold the stroller we just trasferred my son into a carrier. It worked out well! I‘ve had several carriers now. I love the Bjorn Free as it’s cool, comfortable, and flexible so it folds for storage. That being said, my son is 9 months now and I’ve just had to purchase a carrier with more hip support as the Bjorn hurts my back after a while. It doesn’t bother my husband at all though, so it probably just depends. However 9 months olds are deceptively heavy after even just a few minutes so you want to find a comfortable one!

I don’t think the kind of bag makes a huge difference. I’m sure she’ll have a diaper bag she likes, but the only thing I focused on was making sure it wasn’t too big. The stroller is amazing for storage so it’s not like you need to worrying about carrying a bag all day, but for me I didn’t want to leave anything important on the stroller when we parked it (for several reasons), so we used a backpack style bag that we took with us on rides.

Some other things I would remember to bring are stroller fans, cooling towels, a hat (for baby carrying), a large changing pad (I’m a germaphobe so I wanted this when using the changing tables in the park), hand wipes (highly recommend Wet Ones). Also remember each park has a baby care center that sells essentials in case you forget anything! Good luck!

 

[soTinkalicious]

Great questions. For context over the last 5 years, I've gone when my kids were 2.5/8mos, 5/2.5 & pregnant wife, and 6/4/1.5. Obviously COVID changes a lot of things

What type of bag do you prefer for the parks?
DON'T BRING A BAG! Bring a backpack! Someone's shoulders will thank me later.

Ohh! I forgot about this. My brother-in-law was the one that often carried things that didn't fit on the back or beneath the stroller. But yes - a backpack was a must versus the diaper bag.

 

[sponica]

Ohh! I forgot about this. My brother-in-law was the one that often carried things that didn't fit on the back or beneath the stroller. But yes - a backpack was a must versus the diaper bag.

That's so funny, because my husband ABSOLUTELY hated using the backpack diaper bag that clipped onto the stroller handle. We only used it for a day and then just brought the bare minimum in my messenger bag and hung it on the stroller.

 

[Jobelle]

I'm a big fan of carriers and it absolutely fit my parenting style. That said, we used then differently with each baby - my oldest hated the carrier and my youngest lived in it. But for both of them the carrier was a great way to get them to nap when out of the house and in a new environment - but that was already our established norm - for your daughter it might be completely different. I wouldn't recommend using a carrier for WDW if it isn't already what baby is used to. So I think the stroller vs. carrier decision really will come down to what she and baby are most comfortable with already. FWIW, I personally would bring both.

 

[lynzi2004]

We’ve taken 3 kids to the parks all at different et ages. Current ages are now 8, 7, and 2. Depending on the size of the 9 month old, he may get to big to be comfortably carried in the heat. 2 of my kids would have been a breeze to carry at most any age, my middle kid would have broken my back by day 2, so your mileage may vary with a baby carrier. Personally by 9 months, we loved a good stroller.

Backpack vs messenger style bag-they both have pros/cons. I loved the backpack to throw on when leaving the stroller somewhere but I preferred the messenger style bag to strap across the stroller and then it seemed like things weren’t buried quite as much in it. It’s hard to find stroller bottoms deep enough to hold a full backpack so I prefer to be able to hang the bag on the stroller in some way. You’ll be surprised how quickly the bottom fills up with the adults in the groups random crap

I never filled the diaper bag full. I hated digging through junk just to find what I actually needed. We put 5-6 diapers, plenty of wipes, spare paci, a muslin blanket and a change of clothes and went with it. I feel as though if my kid goes through more than 2 changes of clothes, mostly likely he’s got more than himself messed up at that point and we likely all need a break/change of clothes.

We only took breaks if us adults needed them when the baby was small. Typically we could time a feeding in the baby care center and a diaper change with nap time and then we walked around enjoying the parks or letting the big kids ride with rider swap. Don’t underestimate the baby care centers. Sometimes they seemed a bit out of the way, but if it worked out, it was glorious! Lol

The biggest help for us when the kids were small was a stroller fan. No one had to squirt it or hold it, we charged it at night and clipped it on the stroller. It was fantastic!
Hope you all have a great trip!

 

[Disco Lemonade]

I should also ask, do you pack tons of diapers or do you order and ship to the resort? Anything else recommended to be ordered and shipped to resor?

What we did was rent a car and made a visit to Target to get supplies on the way to the resort. We were able to drop the car off at the resort, so it was a brief rental. Seemed weird to do it that way, but it worked. We got a lighter weight stroller before we left-the Summer Stroller 3D light. It is a very popular option at the parks, probably for that reason. We bought some patterned fabric and tied it to the stroller so it was easier to find after getting off rides. That was a good recommendation made to us, since CM will move strollers around. It won’t always be right where you left it. The stroller was sturdy enough that we could hook the diaper backpack to it, which is nice since carrying a black backpack around in Florida summer heat isn’t fun.

 

[michelleiada]

Great advice everyone. I appreciate it very much.