7 Tips for Traveling to Disney with a Baby

Hey there, Mama. You have decided to book a vacation and bring young children with you. Congratulations – you are far more brave than most. Lucky for you, you picked the most family friendly destination! The youngest that I have taken a child to Disney was my son who was only three months old at the time of travel. We also had our three year old with us. We were blessed, tired, but most importantly we were prepared. Here are some tips I wanted to share with you all that I have learned along the way about traveling with babies and small children when going to Walt Disney World. 

Bring a good stroller

When you are at the parks for hours on end, you want to have a comfortable stroller for your kiddos. The ones you can rent from the parks are of the hard plastic variety and if I were a baby, I would not want to sleep in there (not to mention they are designed more for toddlers and small children). When we had our second child, we knew we needed to get a double stroller. When out shopping, I literally asked the lady helping us ‘what would be the best double stroller for Disney World?’  We settled on the City Mini Double Stroller. We liked the side by side vs front/back and it is lightweight and easy to fold when riding those Disney buses. 

There are great debates on the interwebs about bringing your own stroller vs renting one when you get to Orlando. There are a ton of great companies out there to rent strollers from (like Kingdom Strollers) but we have always brought our own. Since we fly from Chicago down to Orlando, we have found that having the stroller with us makes it so much easier to navigate the airport. Not to mention, most airlines let you gate check your stroller for no additional charge. You wheel it down the jetway, and it’s magically there when you exit the plane.  

Stay in a hotel with a close proximity to the parks

When you are traveling with a baby or young child, they will need to nap. If you are like Andrew and I, we try to push through and have the kids sleep in the stroller while we grab a snack or beer and relax in the park. But sometimes, we just have to get back, soak up some air conditioning, and get a good nap in. If that is the case, I would try to stay at a resort on the monorail loop, crescent lake, or those with Skyliner stops. When it is hot and you have cranky kids, the last thing you want to do is wait in line for a bus, get the kids out of the stroller, then bus back to your hotel which could take up to 15-20 minutes.

It’s much easier to walk back to your resort within ten or so minutes. Hotels that I would recommend are:

• Disney’s Contemporary Resort/Bay Lake Tower Villas (Monorail loop)
• Disney’s Polynesian Resort/Villas & Bungalows (Monorail loop)
• Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Villas (Monorail loop)
• Disney’s Boardwalk Resort & Villas (Epcot Area Resort)
• Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resort & Villas (Epcot Area Resort)

Get a hotel room big enough for all of your stuff

If you read my “Questions to Consider when Planning your Next Trip” post, you have already heard about my experience at Pop Century Resort with a baby. When traveling with a baby, I really want you to consider the different types of room categories Disney offers before choosing one. In my personal opinion, a standard hotel room, especially at a value resort, is not ideal for traveling with a baby. The rooms are small and not ideal for a family with a Pack n Play, stroller, luggage, etc. There was barely room to sleep. Dramatic? Maybe. But it was seriously a tight squeeze. Since that first trip, we have since always stayed in a suite. If you are still looking for affordable accommodations, check out the Art of Animation’s Family Suites. These rooms offer two bathrooms and a bedroom with an actual door. This is great for napping babies and plenty of space for all of the stuff you inevitably need when traveling with small children. If you can afford it, I would recommend staying in (at a minimum) 1-bedroom suite at any of the DVC resorts. Fun fact, you don’t have to be a DVC member to stay in one of these rooms. Disney sells some of these rooms directly for cash stays on their website! 

Utilize a grocery delivery service for your baby essentials 

Did you know that you can do an Instacart or Prime Now order right to your Disney Resort? GAME CHANGER. Especially if you took my advice and got one of those DVC villas that has a full size kitchen. Don’t worry about wasting those precious suitcase pounds on things like diapers, wipes, formula, baby food, etc. Instead, place an Instacart order (or whatever other grocery delivery service you prefer) and schedule the delivery for your arrival day. I typically create my order when we are at the airport in Chicago before we leave. Things I always order are diapers, wipes, a gallon of milk, breakfast foods, fresh fruit, juice boxes, and park snacks for the kiddos. Also, don’t forget to read ‘What’s Inside My Park Bag’ to see what baby essentials I pack in my bag that I bring to the parks.

You can still ride most of the rides! 

A common misconception about traveling with babies to Disney is that they can’t do anything. This is the furthest thing from the truth. In fact, there are only a handful of attractions per park that babies can’t ride! If an attraction doesn’t have a height requirement, then your baby can ride it. If there is a height requirement, you can take advantage of the Rider Swap option. A Rider Swap gives parents and caregivers an opportunity to ‘take turns’ riding the more intense attractions and not having to both wait in the standby line. If this is something you want to take advantage of, go to the front of the queue and talk to a Cast Member. Let them know you would like to do a Rider Swap and they will set you up with a ‘fast pass’ type of pass for the second rider to go through the fast pass queue. Pro Tip – If you have an older child, they can ride BOTH times! Just make sure the Cast Member knows they are going to ride twice! Score! 

Take advantage of Baby Care Centers

Every Disney park has a Baby Care Center location. In here, you will find a calm, quiet, air conditioned slice of heaven when you just need to take a moment away from all of the hustle and bustle of the parks. In these facilities, you will find private nursing rooms with rockers, changing tables, restrooms, highchairs, a kitchen with microwave and sink, a main room with a television (maybe for the older siblings to wait patiently while you tend to the bebe) and a little shop that offers anything you may have forgotten to put in your diaper bag. These centers are SO nice and severely under utilized in my opinion. Definitely note where this is on the park map and use them!

Have a plan, but be flexible 

This is my biggest piece of advice for anyone traveling with babies, toddlers, and small children. Disney vacations can be really overwhelming. With the never ending growth in prices, there is a lot of pressure to have the perfect vacation. It’s important to have a plan. But it’s also important to listen to your body and your kids and keep those plans flexible. If someone in your travel party is miserable, then everyone is going to be miserable. Kids need breaks, especially in the really hot summer months. I remember one day on Drake’s first trip when he was three months old, we went to Epcot at rope drop because we had breakfast reservations at Akershus. It was pouring down rain and the forecast didn’t look like it was going to let up anytime soon. We ate breakfast and literally just went back to the hotel and hung out there from 10am to about 5pm. The kids got a great nap in that day and we actually got to go back to Epcot that night and stayed out WAY later than we thought we would. It wasn’t in the plan, but it worked out considering the weather and the kids were rested and happy. 

If people ever ask me, “how old should my kids be when we go to Disney” I typically answer birth. I never think it’s too early. Sure, your child probably won’t remember it – but you will! Take so many pictures and soak up all of the magic that you can for as long as you can. After all, they are only little for so long. If you are one of the brave ones who do plan to visit Disney with a young child, set the right expectations for your trip, bring your patience pants, and enjoy making memories with your babies. You wont regret it, but I promise, you will book another trip!