Caribbean Beach w/infant OR Offsite?

[Disneylvr]

We are driving down to WDW in October with our 7 month old daughter. This is our very first vacation/travel experience with a baby so we are a bit nervous. At first we had the FTP at All Star Music but after reading the boards decided the quietness and more subtle theming of a moderate might be a better place for her to rest after the sights and sounds of the parks. We changed our reservations to the FTP at Caribbean Beach. Now I am reading that it best to have a kitchen/laundry facilities with an infant. The Home Away From Home Disney Resorts are not in our budget but would we better off staying offsite in a condo or hotel with a kitchen? Madelyn is on formula but by then she will also be eating baby foods.

 

[Ratpack]

This is my opinion on the matter. We are leaving in 20+ days with a 5month old who is eating formula and baby foods as well. Stay on site. Yes you may have to use the resort laundry once or twice while there depending on the length of stay, but you can do that in the afternoon during nap time. Also, the magic is everywhere when on site, off site is, well, off site. The transportation too would be a plus. Just walk out and get on a bus and to the front of the park you go. No worrying about where to park, off site traffic and such. We travelled with our first child starting when she was 2 months old and we never had a room with a kitchen, or laundry for that matter. Go, stay on site and enjoy the magic the whole trip.

 

[leopardspot]

I just came back from the WL with a 6 month old. She eats formula and solids. It was not a problem not having a washer/dryer or kitchen. We took the little RTU formula cans and bought cheap bottles that we could throw away after each feeding. We put her pack and play pen in the little room where the sinks are and it worked out fine. We brought enough clothes/sheets tha we did not have to do laundry. It was our first trip with the baby andI was nervous too but we had no problems (and it rained every day!)

 

[Gillian]

I've stayed in condos and onsite & I'd go with onsite for this trip. You won't really need a kitchen for the baby, as she isn't really eating food yet. There's nothing to cook with baby food!

The only thing I'd suggest is to NOT heat the bottles you give her now. She won't suffer with room temp.

We used powdered formula & bottled water for DS. It was very easy!

 

[BevS97]

I have done both with an infant - it really depends on the length of your trip as much as anything.

We are taking our 4 month old in December, and have opted for a condo offsite BUT we will be staying for 14 nights, and we will have a 6 year old with us, so I really felt the extra bedroom would be invaluable.

we took our dd away for 2 weeks in a hotel room when she was 7 months old (it was in Majorca but the setup is the same). We hired a fridge, and a steriliser - I don't know what the guidelines in the USA are, but here we sterilise for 1 year, and it was a real hassle trying to sterilise in a hotel room - although they provided us with a steam steriliser there was no where suitable to plug it in - we ended up with a chair and 2 phone books balanced to get the height to reach the plug! Next time I would pack/buy an extension cable, I don't know why we didn't think of it!
It was also tricky to warm food - yes some food can be served cold, but for 2 weeks I think baby deserves some warm food!

I agree with not heating bottles - we never heated my dd bottles and it was SO much easier - if you have to stop and find a bottle warmer, then that can be a real bind.

I disagree about the buses though - we really like having a car with us, whether we are offsite or on. I find with a stroller it is just lots easier to take the car, and then we walk from the car to the park (unless we are miles back, but we usually find it's not that bad except at MK). I like having the car with us because we carry extra stuff with us (cooler, spare clothes etc), and also it means you don't have to go back to the hotel after each park, you can go from MK, to DTD, to a different resort, to your hotel etc etc, we move around the resort quite a lot and I think this would be harder on the buses.

Bev

 

[safetymom]

I would suggest you stay at CBR. They do have microwaves if you need to heat anything. You will be close to the parks if you want to take a break for a nap.

 

[BevS97]

They do have microwaves if you need to heat anything.

maybe in the food court, but not in the room

 

[safetymom]

That is correct. The microwave is in the food court not the room.

 

[crusoe2]

We just did the same thing - booked ASMu with a code rate and then upgraded to CBR. We spent 4 nites there with our 11 yo. DS and 6 mo. old DD. It worked out great for us. We took our own portacrib and found that it fit perfectly in the corner next to the first bed (closest to the door). There is a nice big countertop in the bathroom/dressing area that gave us a place to wash bottles (was really nice having 2 sinks, too) and I packed a little folding rack I bought at WalMart to hold the bottles while they air dried. We took powdered formula and bottled water so that we didn't have to worry about keeping formula cold - we could just mix it as we needed it. We usually only warmed her bottles while we were in the room - she didn't seem to mind it being cooler while we were out in the heat at the parks. To warm her bottles in the room, we just took the little coffee pot from the coffee maker, filled it with good hot water out of the tap and set the bottle in the water for a few minutes. This is what we do at home too so we already knew about how much time to allow for it to warm. You can warm jars of baby food the same way. Since we were only there a few days we didn't have to do laundry but the laundry rooms at the quiet pools are nice and convenient. I would just be sure to pack some of the detergent, softner, etc. that you normally use so you don't have to worry about a reaction to something new.

One thing you should consider, though, is whether or not your baby will sleep in a portacrib. If not, you can rent a full size baby bed from A Baby's Best Friend but I'm not sure where you would put it in the rooms at CBR. We almost did this and now I'm glad we didn't. Someone else may have some helpful advice on this, tho. We also initially requested a regular crib from the resort and were told that we could get one, but what they brought us was just a Pack N Play with a regular sheet folded and laid on top of the mattress - no fitted sheets at all. We were really glad we brought a bed from home. (Fortunately my mother has a real portacrib that is still usable.) Of course, if you do decide to go off-site for this reason you should still try to find out if there will be room for a full-size crib. Some of the off-site accommodations we considered were much roomier but didn't really have a good spot to set up a crib.


I hope some of this helps. I totally understand how you feel because we also wavered on whether to stay on-site or off in a condo. Now I'm really glad we decided to give on-site a try because now we know that it is definitely do-able with a baby. Good luck.

 

[2MuchOhana]

We have stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort. We loved it. I think you made a good choice. We are staying there again this July to clelebrate our daughter's second birthday. This will be her firdt time there.

Infants and toddlers are going to get messy where ever you decide to stay so just be sure to pack plenty of outfit changes. Be sure to ask to rent the refrigerator if you haven't. It will cost about $10.40 a day extra. It will help your baby formula and food last longer.

 

[Disneylvr]

Thank you everyone for the great advice! We have decided to stick with the Caribbean Beach which is our favorite Disney resort. Madelyn sleeps in a Pack n Play at daycare so she will already be used to it thankfully. But I do think I will bring our own rather than use the resort one. I also have a request for a fridge noted on our reservations.

 

[jel0511]

I've traveled to WDW with an infant before and it definately can be done in a regular hotel room. My DS NEVER drank warm formula, I found with my older DD, it was just much easier. Filled the bottles before we left the room, and then had a container which held the powder. I would just pour the premeasured powder and shake!!! GREAT! I also only used a jar of food once. If you're out in the parks, you really can't open one and then transport it back without using ice packs. Too much trouble and too much to carry. I could just throw the unopened jars and a spoon in the diaper bag and off I went. For breakfast, I always fed my DS when we ate breakfast. It helped keep him occupied while we were waiting for the food, and then his tummy was full while we ate (also did this for all meals). I had a portable bowl with a lid, so I could measure out the cereal before leaving the room. I'd again mix it at the table, and then after he finished, a quick run to the restroom to rinse it out. I'd wash it back at the room when we returned. I didn't even need the fridge, due to always using unopened baby food, and powdered formula. I did bring PLENTY of clothes so I didn't have to do laundry, but there are laundry rooms available at EVERY resort if you need to.