I took some time off from my blog to go on vacation with my family. We went to Disney World in good ole Orlando, FL. I wanted to share some tips I have for traveling to Disney parks with a baby. Disney World, in particular, can feel very overwhelming, especially with a little one. Don’t let that intimidate you – it is actually a fantastic place to bring little ones. My daughter was 3 and a half months old when we brought her for the first time. She loved it. I’ve been to Disney World multiple times and Disneyland once. Most of these tips are great for traveling there with or without kids/babies.
- Buy Disney Gift Cards at Target using a Target Red Card and save 5% off your tickets, park food, gifts, etc…
- While 5% doesn’t seem like much, it definitely adds up when you are spending hundreds or thousands of dollars. Bonus Tip: Buy more gift cards than what you need for your family’s admission tickets. You’ll want some to buy food, parking and gifts inside the park (again, you’ll want to save that 5%).
- Once you buy your gift cards, go to the Disney Gift Card website so that you can combine your gift cards into one. This makes it easier when buying your theme park tickets. Then go to the Disney website directly to purchase your tickets. Do not trust any outside sources when purchasing your tickets. You don’t want to show up to find out the tickets are bogus.
- Check out the crowd calendar, by Undercover Tourist, prior to planning your trip. This website has been so handy for all of my trips to the Disney parks. It is a crowd prediction resource so that you can pre-plan which parks you’ll want to attend on which days. It breaks it down by individual park on each day. This is so handy to avoid the large crowds.
- Fast Pass in advance – If you haven’t heard of Fast Pass, you’re going to want to pay attention. Fast Pass is Disney’s way of giving you up to three passes (per ticket holder) to enter a ride within a certain time frame so that you can avoid waiting in long lines. While you may have to wait in a small line for some of your fast passes, I can guarantee you it’ll save you a ton of time during your day. You can download the Disney Park app and use it to select fast passes for you and/or your entire party for the days you want.
- Try to pre-plan what your party wants to ride and book the fast passes as early as possible to ensure you can ride them. The popular rides go fast with fast passes.
- We focused on only rides that had no height restriction so that the baby could come with us on every ride. However, if you want to ride a ride with a height restriction, Disney does this thing called ‘Rider Switch‘. This allows one parent to ride while the other waits with the baby and then the other parent can go while the other parent watches the baby (this is done without having to wait in line twice).
- Download the Disney Park app. The app allows you to make Fast Pass selections (see number 3), make restaurant reservations, order food in advance, etc…
- Several of the restaurants throughout the parks have mobile ordering. This is great if you’re in a hurry. They have dedicated ‘pick up’ windows to pick up your food with a minimal wait. This saves you time
- Baby Wear as much as possible. If an adult in your party can bear it, have them wear the baby while in the parks. This is the one my husband wears with our daughter and they both enjoy it.
- We tried the whole stroller thing and it has some perks, but it is more of a pain than anything. If you have multiple children or children that are too big to baby wear you’ll have to use a stroller, but if you can avoid it, do it. If you do need to use a stroller, try to get / use one that isn’t too bulky. I recommend something light and cheap like these strollers. At Disney, you cannot bring your strollers while waiting in lines nor on any rides. They do, conveniently, have stroller ‘parking’ for each ride.
- With baby wearing, you can also wear the baby on any ride that doesn’t have any height restrictions. This made it more fun for us instead of having to carry her for all of the rides.
- Focus on only one park per day. Going to a theme park with a baby (or kids) is already a hectic, long day. Why add additional complications by visiting multiple parks in one day? While the parks are all fairly close to each other, you still have to travel via foot, bus, boat, tram and/or monorail to get to one them.
- In my opinion, focusing on one park per day is definitely the way to go. There is sooooo much to see and do in each of the parks. We went in with a plan for each park for each day. That allowed us to be less stressed out prior, during and after our park experience (remember item 3 above and Fast Pass as much as possible).
- Paying for the tickets without the park hop option also saves you a good bit of money. We always only do one park per day. It is more than enough.
- Disney PhotoPass – use it to your advantage. My husband and I didn’t know anything about the Disney PhotoPass prior to our last trip to Disney. We wish we did.
- Basically, you can have the professional Disney photographers take photos at various spots throughout their parks. All photos can get added or synced with your Disney ticket. After your trip (or during) you can log in online or through the app and purchase your family’s photos. You can buy just one, buy multiple, a days’ worth or from your whole vacation. This is nice so you don’t have to fully rely on strangers to take photos or do a bunch of selfies. This is a nice feature, if you can afford it.
- Bring your own snacks and/or water bottles to the park with you. Not everyone knows that Disney allows snack and drinks in the park.
- There are guidelines you need to follow, so check those on the Disney site directly. You may bring snacks that don’t require heating.
- This should be fairly obvious, but this helps save a ton of money in the park. Prices for food and drinks are pretty pricey (I mean, ~$4 for a 20 oz bottle of soda).
- Bonus Tip: If you do buy a quick meal in the parks, try opting for the kids meals if you just need something small. These usually include a drink and helps save a little money.
- There are guidelines you need to follow, so check those on the Disney site directly. You may bring snacks that don’t require heating.
- Time of Year is KEY to limit crowds! The best times of the year to go to Disney World is typically the beginning and end of the year (Jan-Mar and Sept-Dec minus the holidays and the week around them).
- The best time we’ve personally experienced and have been told by many locals in FL is the month of September. We also enjoy the end of October, but pay attention to special events like Mickey’s Not So Scary Party, etc… (those cost extra).
- Weekdays will always be less crowds than weekends (keep that in mind as well).
- Baby Care in General. Disney Parks have Baby Care Centers in each park. Here, you can feed baby, pump, nurse, change diapers, etc… They also have baby products you can purchase if you run out of something or forgot to bring something. This is a great stop for families when mommy needs to pump or nurse the baby. Check out more information on Baby Care Centers here from a fellow blogger.
- Take frequent breaks throughout the day. You’re going to be tired and the rest of your party will likely be tired.
- Let your baby take normal naps. My baby napped at least 2 times each day we were in the parks. We just let her sleep.
- If you go to regular restrooms throughout the park to change your baby, you might have to wait in a small line. In my experience, there was only one changing table per restroom. I had to wait a couple of times. It was no big deal though, every mom tried to go in there and get the job done quickly.
All in all, Disney is a great destination for families with people of all ages. I encourage you to not be intimidated by Disney Parks. If you are wanting to travel there but nervous to do it with a baby, don’t be. Go, your family will have so much fun!
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