We’re headed to Disney World with my 10-month-old daughter. Are we crazy?
I’m a bit nervous about Holden’s first plane ride. We are lucky in that my parents are actually driving to Orlando, so most of our gear will be traveling with them. I’m planning on nursing (or bottle feeding) Holdy during take off and descent, but I’m more anxious about two hours in a confined seat with my eager crawler. We’ll be bringing lots of books, a Kindle Fire and a portable DVD player in our carry-on. I’ve downloaded some of the iPhone apps from Parents‘ List of Best iPhone Apps for Babies. If worst comes to worst, I’m prepared to do a lot of aisle walking. I’m told that flights to Orlando usually have many children on them, so hopefully I won’t be “that mother.” Or that only mother, anyway.
I’ve been reading up on some tips for traveling to Disney World with a baby. Traveling Mom has some fantastic hints on doing Disney World with a kid in tow. We definitely plan on taking advantage of the various Baby Care Centers located in each of the parks. These centers offer (among other things) changing tables, nursing rooms, rockers and a full kitchen to prepare bottles and food and to clean gear. They also apparently have a wide variety of baby necessities to purchase (at a premium, of course) should I (inevitably) forget anything.
If Mr. B and I decide to get our ride on, we’ll be checking out the unadvertised Baby Swap option. On the rides where a child is too small or too young to ride, Disney offers families a “Baby Swap,” which allows one adult to ride the ride while the other waits at a designated point. Supposedly, when you get to the entrance to the ride, you let a Cast Member know you are planning to Baby Swap. So we’ll see how that goes.
My friend Sarah over at How I Pinch a Penny has some great info on 1) avoiding drinking the yucky water in Orlando 2) avoiding paying $4 for a bottle of water – bottled water delivery to your hotel room! Because my parents are serving as our pack mules, I’m having them transport the case of water I purchased.
Rather than spending all week schlepping a stroller around the parks, I’m planning on tons of relaxation at the resort pool (and am really hoping Holden is on board with that!). To protect Holdy from the hot Florida sun, I picked up the following gear from Amazon. These were all very highly rated, so I hope they do the trick.
- UPF 50+ Sun Protective Baby Suit by NoZone
- UPF 50+ Sun Protection Flap Hat by Iplay
- Baby Spring Float Sun Canopy
- Pampers Splashers Diapers
Truth be told, what I really want to do on this vacation is NAP! Here’s hoping!
What do you think? Am I nuts? Have I thought of everything? Any tips for traveling to Disney World with a baby? Perhaps I’ll have some wisdom of my own to share when I get back…