I won’t lie leading into our first trip to Disney I felt kind of insane and riddled with anxiety. Our oldest is 6 and in the “prime” age group for exploring and enjoying the Disney World parks, but at 14 months our youngest was definitely a cause for concern. I was worried how he would handle long days at the park, overstimulation, nap times, diaper changes, and SO many other things I don’t have to worry about in our day to day life where he largely dictates our schedule.
Luckily Disney ended up being smooth sailing for us despite more than one TWELVE hour day at the park! So if you are up late worrying about your up and coming trip, here are the best tips and tricks I picked up along the way for surviving Disney World with a young Toddler or baby.
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Bring Your Own Stroller (or rent a nice one)
Our little one is in the beginning stages of walking but his small uneven stride is no match for the hustle and bustle of the Disney crowds, meaning he spent A LOT of time in his stroller. The parks do offer strollers for rent at a daily fee of 15 dollars at the time of this article, but the strollers are hard plastic, ideal for easy sterilization between different users but not exactly the most comfortable thing for a little one to be confined in for hours on end.
With both of my children I have been lucky enough to own the City Mini Baby Jogger Stroller, and I can say from experience that this is the IDEAL stroller to take with you to the park. The material is soft and comfortable, the seat reclines for nap times on the go, and the extended canopy allowed me to isolate him from the craziness surrounding us as he dozed away blissfully unaware of all the activities we were doing while he napped. The storage underneath was perfect for storing purchases and small bags. I really think having a good stroller made ALL the difference when it came to our easy experience at the parks.
If you are unable to bring your own stroller, or don’t think your stroller would be the best suited for the environment, there are stroller rental companies like Kingdom Strollers and Magic Strollers which offer premium rental strollers for a comparable cost to renting a stroller at the parks.
Buy Stroller Accessories!
Honestly I had never bought ANY accessories for my Baby Jogger Stroller until shortly before this trip. Then I started thinking about how my little ones favorite past time is eating and that would be mighty difficult without a tray in front of him. So I bought the Baby Jogger Child Tray
The second accessory you are going to want is a parent console. I bought the Baby Jogger Parent Console, it straps to the handlebar of the stroller and has a drink holder, a second open area (which we often used as a secondary drink holder,) and a covered middle pocket where I stuck my phone and wallet for easy access as we walked around the park.
My final accessory recommendation is Valet Stroller diaper bag clips. I own a Petunia Pickle Bottom Diaper Bag so I bought those but they *should* work with most diaper bags and strollers as long as there is someplace to clip them to on the diaper bag. Using these we securely hung the diaper bag off of the stroller on the handlebar between the stroller and the parent console straps. These were super handy because unlike so many other parents we saw we didn’t actually have to carry ANY bags! Everything was attached to the stroller so we didn’t end up feeling like a pack horse part way through day one.
Pack LOTS of Snacks
If your little one likes to munch all day like mine does, the importance of snacks cannot be emphasized enough. Disney allows you to bring in food and water so feel free to load up on those before you head to the parks. If I felt my little one was getting fussy often a few puffs or a few yogurt melts on his snack tray was all it took to avoid an impending meltdown.
I won’t lie I was all about ease (and not too concerned about healthiness) when it came to this trip so a few of our favorite snacks to bring were:
– Gerber Graduates Lil Crunchies
– Gerber Graduates Yogurt Melts
– Gogo squeez Applesauce on the go
And we had all of the above and more on us every day as we entered the park!
Milk vs. Formula
If your little one is older than a year you have probably began to transition away from formula and towards whole milk. By the time of our trip our little one had been fully off of formula for 3 months, however he will NOT drink cold milk. It has to be room temperature or warmer. This posed some unique hurdles in a park where milk is typically served cold and where carrying around milk on us wasn’t ideal since we weren’t carrying a cooler.
If your child is similarly picky you do have some options:
– Buy warm milk at the Starbucks locations throughout the parks but this can add up quickly if you are on a budget.
– Buy cold milk at the stands/ restaurants and make a detour to the baby care centers where bottle warmers are available. Just be warned that it can mean quite a hike as baby care centers are few and far between.
– Regress to formula temporarily and buy on-the go formula sticks. This was the option we picked because it was SO much easier to bring those and a few water bottles and mix it as we needed it around the park.
Pack That Diaper Bag
While the baby care centers do sell diapers and wipes they tend to run way more than at the store so be sure to load your diaper bag full of those. Also don’t forget the diaper cream since it may be difficult to change your little one as frequently as you do at home. Pack some sunscreen since no matter the time of year the Florida sun is out in full force. A change of clothes and socks are also must haves (for hopefully obvious reasons). There’s a full Diaper Bag Checklist on my list below so be sure to print that off to make sure you have everything!
Rides ARE Fun but Be Careful
There are actually A LOT of rides you can get on with your little one. We rode The Journey of the Little Mermaid, The Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Midway Mania, and a few others. However I will say that it can be tricky to get on a few of the rides holding a baby, especially if you are a bit clumsy like yours truly. Rides like the Journey of the Little Mermaid and The Haunted Mansion utilize a moving walkway as you board, and the uncoordinated author of this post may or may not have felt like i was going to trip getting onto the ride since I didn’t have my hands free. So if you are at the parks with your husband who is more steady on his feet perhaps let him hold the kiddo on the rides.
And on the rides the little ones can’t ride be sure to ask about rider switch which is available for many rides. Typically we already had a fast pass for the rides but rider switch allowed another member of our party to ride the ride again with the person who waited. So how in essence here is how rider switch worked:
Before we got in line for a ride we had a FastPass for (like Slinky Dog Dash) we would approach the cast member at the front as a group (with my husband and youngest ) and ask for a rider switch pass.
The Cast Member would swipe my husband’s card and my 6 YO’s magic band giving them each an additional FastPass for that ride.
Me, my sister, and my 6 YO would ride the ride using our previously booked FastPass while my husband waited.
Then my sister and I would watch the little one while my husband and 6 YO rode the ride using their Rider Switch FastPasses.
You can also use Rider switch for rides you don’t already have a Fastpass for so only the first group has to wait in the often long lines.
Never Wake a Sleeping Toddler
This is something I found EXTREMELY helpful, most seated restaurants and shows (like the Candlelight Processional) have stroller parking outside and typically prefer you to leave your strollers outside and either hold the baby at the shows or utilize highchairs at the restaurants. However I’ve found that if your toddler is sleeping the cast members are more than happy to allow you to bring your stroller in and make room for it at your table or next to where you are sitting at the show. (A wise move if you’ve ever seen a toddler woken up after too brief a nap).
Diaper Changes
We went during the busiest week of the year (between Christmas and New Years) which meant A LOT of families were out enjoying the parks. This translated to A LOT of babies needing diaper changes and often not enough changing tables to go around. However we quickly discovered a hack. Normally moms are the ones lugging the kiddos into the bathrooms BUT all men’s rooms also have changing tables. Not only did those tend to be cleaner because of infrequent use, but they also NEVER had a line. So moms use this as a PERFECT valid excuse to get your husband to handle the diaper changes at the park.
Be Prepared for Cooler Nights
We went in December and I was NOT expecting it to get as chilly as it did the first night. We hate late dinner reservations and by the time they rolled around my teeth were chattering. Our little one was in a long-sleeved tee but still seemed chilled so we made an unplanned blanket purchase. So especially if you are going in the winter be sure to pack layers and a blanket!
Shoes Are A MUST
While we are going about our everyday lives my toddler rarely wears shoes, however we made sure he wore them everyday to Disney. The reason for this is three fold. First You want to protect those toes from pinch points on rides and around the park. Second as previously mentioned it was cold at night! Third there were a few times our little one was sick and tired of the stroller so we found a quiet corner and held his hand as he walked around and stretched his legs. For all of three of these reasons I highly suggest your toddler have a pair or two of shoes accessible at all times.
Hopefully with these tips bringing your toddler to Disney will be a breeze! In our case it went SO much more smoothly than I had ever hoped and now I can’t wait until we get to take our little one back in a few years for a trip he will actually remember.
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