WDW with an infant (5 month old) advice

[tlmadden73]

I've done WDW plenty of times (short trips generally) with two recent trips with my son when he was 2 and again when he was 3.

We are planning on going again (he'll be 4 1/2), but this time we will have a 5 month old!

Any advice (or other threads you can direct me to) to give my wife? She's more than willing to give this a shot since her friend did it a few years back and because this is a group trip with that some group of friends we went with 2 years ago she really wants to go. I want to help her out as much as I can and still have a fun and memorable trip to our favorite place!

We are purposely planning on cutting the trip short as we know we are playing with fire with such a young one on vacation. (the rest of the group will be there for 8+ days).

End of March - We are renting a house off-site with the group, planning 4-5 nights (the rest of the group will be there 8 nights).

Day 1 - Disney Springs
Day 2 - DHS and hop to MK in the afternoon/evening.
Day 3 - Epcot.
Day 4 - Rest/Pool day
Day 5 - Homeward or MK/LegoLand (depending on what the rest of the group is doing).

Some questions I have:
1) How easy is the rider swap? The thought is we would go on a ride with my son, and then swap in and the other would go and my son would go again.
Is Rider swap usable with Fast Pass or just Standby?

2) What rides CAN a 5 month old (probably strapped to one of us via a carrier most of the time) go on? If a baby is strapped to you, can you go on rides like Small World, Frozen Ever After, etc? Some rides are obviously out, but just curious what will be easy to go on as a family.

3) Without trekking back to a Baby Center, any suggested nursing spots at each park?

4) Any other general suggestions?


Mainly our expectations are low on what we can "get done". We know we will be traveling slow and may have to miss out on some things because of a baby being fussy, needing changed or being fed. But we hope to enjoy just being there .. having some yummy food and enjoying the fun my son will have (no matter what we do or don't do). Since my son will be there with some of his friends, I hope maybe he can go on some rides with them too and make it extra memorable.

 

[disneymom0104]

Rider swap can be used with FP and Standby- they just need to see your wife and baby to give you the pass (so they can't be in the bathroom for a diaper change and you ask for the swap- they need to be present when you enter the queue). You don't have to use the rider swap right away. The passes tend to be good to the end of the month- so if you are going at the end of the month, they will only be good to the end of that month.

We went with our 6 month old- they can ride anything that doesn't have a height requirement. I have seen babies in carriers on the rides.

I would nurse anywhere- you don't have to be confined to a baby care center (although they are great- the a/c is cold, the space is quiet). Wherever she is comfortable- and rides like Small World, People Mover, etc. are great for that.

I think babies are sometimes easier than young toddlers- they just go with the flow. As long as their needs are met, they are good- and having them nap in a carrier is great!

 

[tlmadden73]

I think babies are sometimes easier than young toddlers- they just go with the flow. As long as their needs are met, they are good- and having them nap in a carrier is great!

Thanks .. I hear you hear. I thought my son's trip when he was 2 (and confined to a stroller) easier than when he was 3. Now that he is 4 and even more independent I expect some "I wants" and "Carry me" whines a lot!

 

[wilkeliza]

Rider swap can be used with FP or Standby and is easy. You all go up and say we need a rider swap due to the baby. Group 1 (so you and DS) will enter the line and group 2 (wife and baby) will wait back. You will either instantly be given a rider swap pass or be given a green card (like the red flick card) to carry through the line. If you get the green card you get the ride swap at the merge. When you are done riding you give the rider swap card to your wife and she takes your son (and up to 1 other person for a total of three) in the FP line while you wait with baby.

If there is no height requirement your baby can go. All rides will let you use the carrier but some CMs have been known to demand the child be facing out not towards your chest so keep that in mind that they may ask you to flip a baby to front facing.

Honestly there is no need to cut the trip so short if you do want to stay, as long as you have a relatively healthy baby. Having a long trip would actually allow you to be easier going which in turn usually equals less stress and less headache.

Breast feed where ever your wife feels comfortable. She is protected by law to feed where ever she pleases covered or uncovered. If she prefers somewhere more private and the 5 month old will feed through anything (i.e. you feed with t.v. on at home or whatever) then the longer sit down or dark rides make great options. Here are some suggestions by park

Magic Kingdom: Philharmagic is a good choice as well as Carousel of Progress and Hall of Presidents.

DHS any of the shows but especially Little Mermaid since it is A/C. Also at the exit of Tower of Terror there is a small seating area with benches. It is A/C and most people are just rushing through to get to their next ride so not rushing off. Oh there is also some seating in Launch Bay, again in doors and A/C.

Epcot: The exit of Mission Space has some sit down areas since there is also a playground. Any of the movies in World Showcase if she can do it standing up (I know some moms who can't comfortably). If it is Flower and Garden then the Festival Center is also an option. If the Lion King movie is showing at the Land pavilion that is also a good option.

DAK: At the two shows. I wouldn't do the bird show just because of the birds but Lion King or Nemo are good choices.

 

[jeepnjudy]

1. Rider swap can be used with both FP+ and stand-by and your oldest will LOVE it since he can ride more than once!
2. As stated above the 5 month old can go on anything without a height requirement. Many of the rides at MK are like this!
3. Nursing around the park... my mom made me a poncho type cover that I took when I was nursing and nursed anytime my DS was hungry. Made life much easier than running back to only ONE baby center within the park. Made it discreet for anyone around me and no one seemed to care anyway.
4. Traveling with an infant was much easier than traveling with a toddler as there was little variation between being at Disney and being at home. Once they become verbal and mobile though, game on!

 

[murmer]

I love Disney with a baby! The only advice I have is to have a place to sit with the baby while waiting for rider swap. I.e. Splash/big thunder there is a little spot under the bridge with spots to sit. Speedway has the grandstand. Just knowing where I am going to sit with baby while waiting makes it more pleasant, those are also good enough spots to nurse baby as long as she's comfortable nursing in public.

 

[kboo]

We went last end of April with two girls at almost the exact same ages: 4.5 and 5 months. We stayed onsite, though. We went for a week and it was my "end of maternity leave" "vacation." It went really well. We didn't take any park days off, but definitely took it slow and didn't try to do too much. Lots of good advice above, so I'll just try to add to it (this is based on our April trip as well as one the month before):

1. What EOE said on Rider Swap - you just need to make sure they see the parent with the baby. your 4.5 yo gets to ride again. I think she rode Star Tours like 4 times in a row one day, because the line was short, so we got a rider swap. Then we all had FP too, so got another rider swap when we used our FP.

2. Yes, anything without a height requirement. Different rides and ride operators will sometimes say you need to take the baby out of the carrier to ride, others are fine. I don't think I took the baby on the carousel, despite the no height requirement. DH took the baby on TSMM in a carrier (and he still beat us) but then we were in Buzz lightyear and they said to take the baby out. So just prepared to roll with what the CMs say and don't expect uniformity. Also - they WILL NOT give you a RS option if they tell you you have to take the baby out and you don't want to because baby is sleeping. (ie no height requirement so baby "could" ride but you just choose not to, because you don't want to wake the baby)

3. Nursing - I NIP *ALL* the time while at WDW. It is really BF-friendly and I didn't use a cover. I wore a nursing tank under a T-shirt, so lifted up the T and unlatched the panel on the tank - very discreet. I don't think I set foot in a baby center the entire trip. The times I needed to nurse or change the baby, we happened to be nowhere near. Oh well. All of the shows, people mover and slow dark rides are good for nursing. I also nursed at dinner (we usually did a TS meal for dinner), while looking at the menu and waiting for food to arrive. I don't remember so many out of the way places to nurse at MK outside of rides/shows, except maybe Main St. (Oh, I did nurse in line while waiting to meet the characters in the circus tent, LOL. I think we have a Memory Maker picture of it.) At Epcot, there are lots of great places - one of my favorites is a secluded bench after the exit from the Nemo ride in the Seas building. Most people don't even notice the bench because it's pretty far from anything. I also nursed the baby in China (outside on a bench), in the France movie, and in the car display after test track (where DH waited after rider switch). I also found shaded benches near Star Tours (in that area near the bookstore and one of the restaurants) that were very peaceful.

4. Other suggestions:
We rented a double city mini in March so there would be no fights over the stroller when ODD was tired, and we brought our carrier EVERYWHERE. I also spend some time before the trip taking the baby out for a walk in the stroller around naptime so she got used to sleeping in the stroller. In April, we used an umbrella stroller, and there were plenty of times where the baby was in the carrier and ODD was in the stroller. We probably used the stroller more for ODD.

Bring ear protection for both kids! WDW is LOUD and ODD used it for some of the shows and for fireworks. If we were out and YDD was asleep in the carrier, we put them on her and she slept through rides, shows and fireworks!

I would also bring a diaper clutch (skip hop makes a terrific one) rather than a diaper bag, and then take one of the clear stadium bags for everything else. And DH and I made a "parks checklist" we kept in the notes section on our phone, that we would go over before we left, so we wouldn't forget anything for the kids. It's kind of amazing how much longer it takes to get out with 2 rather than 1 kid, though once we had the list and packed what we could the night before, we were pretty fast!

Enjoy, we found it surprisingly easy with a baby, and ODD at 4.5 really enjoyed herself with no meltdowns.

 

[MissPrice]

I took my daughter when she was 4 months old. We took her on many slow dark rides while she was in the Baby Bjorn facing out, and the cast memebrs were fine with it. Peter Pan, SMall world, living with the Land, even pirates! She seemed to enjoy it. I have never used rider swap but we are planning to during our upcoming trip so I would like to hear how that works. I would suggest a stroller since it can get exhausting carrying around the bjorn all day. We did have a scary moment when trying to exit MK one crowded night.Main street was so jammed, people were pressing up against the stroller with no regard to the infant inside. I would suggest avoiding leaving the park at that time (like after Wishes, rookie mistake I know). Have fun! -Amanda

 

[MissPrice]

1. Rider swap can be used with both FP+ and stand-by and your oldest will LOVE it since he can ride more than once!
2. As stated above the 5 month old can go on anything without a height requirement. Many of the rides at MK are like this!
3. Nursing around the park... my mom made me a poncho type cover that I took when I was nursing and nursed anytime my DS was hungry. Made life much easier than running back to only ONE baby center within the park. Made it discreet for anyone around me and no one seemed to care anyway.
4. Traveling with an infant was much easier than traveling with a toddler as there was little variation between being at Disney and being at home. Once they become verbal and mobile though, game on!

OH jezze, we are taking our almost 2.5 year old in Feburary. Should be interesting...

 

[jeepnjudy]

OH jezze, we are taking our almost 2.5 year old in Feburary. Should be interesting...

Still a fun age but more work than the infant! But you guys will have so much fun!!

 

[Imagineer5]

We are purposely planning on cutting the trip short as we know we are playing with fire with such a young one on vacation. (the rest of the group will be there for 8+ days).

I do the absolute opposite!! We took my then-8-week-old for 12 nights in Jan/Feb of this year (TR is over halfway through if you want to check it out!!) and it was SO nice having so many days that the park days could be shorter - like 8-1 then afternoon free to relax.

Some questions I have:
1) How easy is the rider swap? The thought is we would go on a ride with my son, and then swap in and the other would go and my son would go again.
Is Rider swap usable with Fast Pass or just Standby?

2) What rides CAN a 5 month old (probably strapped to one of us via a carrier most of the time) go on? If a baby is strapped to you, can you go on rides like Small World, Frozen Ever After, etc? Some rides are obviously out, but just curious what will be easy to go on as a family.

3) Without trekking back to a Baby Center, any suggested nursing spots at each park?

4) Any other general suggestions?

You've received a lot of advice on Rider Swap and rides. Just wanted to stress that RS is SO awesome, esp if you plan for it when choosing FP - for example you can grab 2 FP for BTMRR, 1 for Splash at the same time - 2 ride big thunder and grab a rider swap, then 1 rides Splash ,grabs a rider swap. Switch then or come back anytime during the trip to ride again for up to 3 ppl (sometimes they let you in with more).

For nursing, I rarely used the baby centers, because it was easier to find a bench. I did use a travel nursing pillow and cover (stored in stroller). Speaking of stroller, take something comfortable for both kids! We have a City Select and LOVE it.

If you want more specific advice feel free to message me or go check out my TR's. My older dd is now almost 5, and went to Disney starting at 8 months (and has been something like 18 times, I lost track). Younger DD is now 13 months and went to WDW at 2m, 12m and Disneyland at 7? months. I have #3 on the way and we already have 2 2017 trips planned, one when she will be about 5 weeks old, and another when she'll be around 6 months

 

[DisMommyTX]

I agree with longer trips. We prefer 7-10 day trips so that we don't feel like everything has to be done in one day. When you only have one day in a park, it is too stressful. With longer trips, we don't hesitate to sleep in or head back to the condo early. You can skip a ride and come back later if the line is long or someone in the party just isn't feeling up to it at the time. No worries! One day split between HS and MK sounds like way too much pressure to me.

 

[Megara5115]

We just got back from a trip with our nine month old and he went in the carrier on many rides: Haunted Mansion (slept through it twice!), Buzz, Small World, Pirates, Living with the land, triceratops spin, safari, nemo, voyage of LM... probably a couple I'm forgetting but you get the idea. The only ride we would have had to take him out was the carousel but we were given the option to sit in the regular seat so DH did that while me and other DS rode the horses.

I personally would not take our baby on Frozen I just found it too jerky during direction changes for me to be comfortable but it is allowed. Rider swap is available for that though and used in conjunction with a fp it was easy for us. I rode by myself with one FP and then DH and DS11 rode after with rider swap. Helped us also use FP for Test Track. That was just my opinion/plan though.

Rider swap is so easy and helpful. I agree with a pp to remember to bring everyone to the entrance to get it because a couple times during our trip I heard a couple people sent back to get the rest of their party when trying to get a pass without the party that was sitting out.

All in all taking a baby was a lot easier than I expected. I personally like doing going to the baby care center (nursing room specifically) because it was quiet and relaxing in there.

 

[Madivan]

So much good advice.

I have a 5 month old now and we are local AP holders. I've been taking my son since he was under two months 2-3 times a month. You can baby wear on any ride that baby can go on (i.e. anything without a height requirement). My son hates the stroller so he is worn all. day. long. when we're there. I'm a Disney babywearing pro at this point. I prefer wearing him to just holding because he's so close and tight to me. It makes the ride smoother for him, although I do not go on anything jerky with him either way. Pooh is about the jerkiest I go on with him.

I would totally recommend BFing anywhere with AC. Is your wife comfortable with nursing in public? If not I'd start practicing now and get used to it. That will literally determine if your trip is enjoyable or not. I'd be a basket of nerves always having to look for a private place to nurse in such a busy place or trekking to the baby care center each time.

 

[kboo]

There is also a BF support thread with lots of advice here...

 

[tlmadden73]

You've received a lot of advice on Rider Swap and rides. Just wanted to stress that RS is SO awesome, esp if you plan for it when choosing FP - for example you can grab 2 FP for BTMRR, 1 for Splash at the same time - 2 ride big thunder and grab a rider swap, then 1 rides Splash ,grabs a rider swap. Switch then or come back anytime during the trip to ride again for up to 3 ppl (sometimes they let you in with more).

Interesting .. I didn't think of that .. so I can basically maximize my Fast Passes.

So at Epcot (for example) . .I could get two preciouse Tier 1 Fast Passes since we can't ride on those rides together anyway?

So I could get a FP for Test Track, while I get my wife a FP for Frozen (and then we just hit Soaring at RD? (and do Rider Swap there too?) .... AWESOME!

 

[SweetMissy]

We took #3 when he was 4 months old and #4 when he was 7 months old. Taking a baby is easy...IMO. There's plenty of places to sit and nurse. I did it wherever, even on certain rides/shows....haha even most recently a couple weeks ago with my 18 month old. We recently moved to FL and have AP, so we've gone a couple times already. A baby can go on quite a bit...especially at MK. I also baby wore at that age, which made it a lot easier, especially in the lines. Have fun!

 

[jennygirlmt]

I'll just ditto a baby I so easy. Wore her on all the slow rides, nursed and napped along the way. Had a stroller for a two year old and could lay the baby down if she needed to stretch. With a house you'll have space, I wouldn't even stress!

 

[mum of two pirates]

does anyone use a gps tracking chip kinda thing on the stroller and if so which one? i was thinking whoever kept the baby could go to the next ride or find a place to hang out untill the rest are done on the ride. but when the rest get off the ride they could just pull up an app on there phone and locate the stroller within a few feet ect. Then if the stoller ever went missing we could also find it. We havent bought a stroller yet but DS wants a combo stoller carseat and i dont want to spend a ton of money on it and it come up missing sometime. Thanks

 

[wilkeliza]

Interesting .. I didn't think of that .. so I can basically maximize my Fast Passes.

So at Epcot (for example) . .I could get two preciouse Tier 1 Fast Passes since we can't ride on those rides together anyway?

So I could get a FP for Test Track, while I get my wife a FP for Frozen (and then we just hit Soaring at RD? (and do Rider Swap there too?) .... AWESOME!

That only works if your 4.5 year old will understand he only gets to ride 1 time for those rides. So if he isn't tall enough for say TT or Soarin make sure he has a FP for frozen so he can ride that twice if that makes sense.