1 year old baby to DLP

buzz25

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 1, 2011
Hey,

looking for some advice really!!

my partner and I have been to WDW and DLP many times over the years but we have recently had a little baby!! He is currently 3 months old and doing fine! Even with the lockdown craziness going.

Being both massive fans of DLP, we are already looking at taking him this time next year! And we are looking for advice! We would be staying onsite at one of the hotels and that has already been decided just for easy of getting back to the room.

So my questions are

1, is it worth it? Or should we wait till he understands what’s going on? (We do need our Disney drug fix though!)

2, I have only used the euro star, what’s it like on there with a baby? Is it better to drive? We are about 2.5 hours away from the nearest euro star station being from East Angela!

3, how hard is it in the park with a baby?

4, what things will he be able to take him on?

5, when’s the best time of year to go with him?


many thanks in advice
Buzz

PS this is obviously our first child and we haven’t even managed a shopping trip with him yet but we are planners and like to plan in advance 😂
 
No kids here, but my thoughts:
1. Yes, your child probably won't remember it, but you will remember it. You will see his eyes go all starry when he sees all the lights and colors and music. (But I am also very for parents going on trips by themselves after having children, so getting your fix on your own and leave your child with family/friends etc works too :) )

2. Haven't done it, car pro: you can switch drivers, can bring more baby staff. Train pro: You can both relax, you sit and a few hours later you arrive. But as you are 2.5 hours away from the station, I would probably go for car myself.

3. Millions have done it before you :)

4. I think all kiddie/family rides, and use rider switch for the others.

5. Outside (school) holidays, during the week, like any visit. But I would go for Spring, when it's not too hot, not too cold. So before or after the Spring Breaks.
 
When our son was 2 months old we flew from WI to California and during that time took my son to Disneyland Anaheim. Now he's nearly 6 and no he has no memory of it, bit do and we have some really great pictures of him with characters among other great family pictures. If you can handle doing things at slower pace given having a small child then I would say for sure go for it.

If your going to wait until a child remembers a trip into adulthood than you will be waiting until the child is at the very least 5 years old and most likely several years old than that. Just go, have fun and make memories.
 


Thank you for all your help! I definitely think we will be going with him for his first birthday! Just now need to find a good deal and see what the world is like in a year
 
In all honesty, I would wait until right before he turns 3. At 1 he's either going to just stare or be scared lol. I took my niece for her 3rd birthday so it was still free for her and it seemed to be the perfect age. She was old enough to understand what was going on but young enough to still believe in the magic! I think when they are much younger than that, it's more like just bringing along extra work with you on an adult vacation. I'd opt for a babysitter and get one more adult trip under your belt before it's all kids all the time and the real guilt sets in lol.
 
We took our daughter to DLP for her first birthday. She actually had a great time - it was us who were more tired ;)

We had thought that she'd enjoy the rides since she loved the coin operated rides at shopping malls, but to our surprise, she couldn't care less about the rides at DLP - if anything, she was more interested in looking at them than actually riding. Also to our surprise, she was absolutely in love with the character! We didn't think she'd be old enough for the character, so had not really planned this. But then saw some characters with short lines, so we went for some pictures, and she was cuddling them and didn't want to leave. Leaving after the photo op brought lots of tears ;)

Some thoughts from our trip last year:
If you have a baby carrier, take it and use it - much easier than the stroller. This is also what we did. For some of the rides, you can also leave the baby in the carrier if the baby is forward facing. Our carrier had our daughter facing me, so I had to take her out for the rides, but navigating the park carrying her was still a lot easier than with a stroller.

We struggled to find high chair at almost all the quick service restaurants in the park (didn't do table service, so can't comment on that). I was very surprised about this. In the baby center inside the park, there were lots of high chairs, but not at the restaurants.

Waiting in line was difficult even with the baby in the carrier. We bribed her with snacks, but even that was difficult at times. The early magic hour will be your best friend. Get to the park for the EMH and do most if not all of the rides then. The rest of the day would just be at leisure.

Our girl was down to 2 naps at one year old - late morning and mid afternoon. For the morning nap, she would sleep in the carrier and hubby and I would eat an early lunch peacefully in the park during this time. For the mid afternoon nap, we were usually walking back to our hotel at that time. After that, we stayed at the hotel as it wasn't worth going back to the park again.

Best time to go - I'd say avoid any school/public holiday and go at a very quiet time! We went in November since that's her birthday and the lines were never that long for most of the rides.
 


IMO bringing them at 1 is kind of pointless and will just stop you from doing lots of things. I have a now 27 year old. Would not bother bringing a kid to Disney until they are old enough to remember/truly enjoy it.
 
We took our daughter when she was one and it was great - certainly not pointless. I think if you want to go the go, if your a fan of Disney then having a child should not stop you from doing things. Having a child will limit you but make use of fast pass abc parent swap. Plus there are lots of rides a one year old can go on and enjoy.
We took the euro star, she was fine until the last hour and got a bit restless but we took things to entertain her and lots of snacks.
I think it it’s your one and only trip to DLP then wait, if it’s not then go.
 
I have been with a 9 month old and a 6 month old ( not at the same time)

They don't remember it but I have great memories. Even at 6 month they were mesmerised by the parade.

We rode carousel, flying carpets, small world, pirates of the Carribbean loads of rides. We took our own pushchair so knew they could comfortably sleep. Unfortunately they did fall asleep and miss a few of the shows.

One trip was August one sept so didn't have to worry too much about cold weather and them getting cold.

We also drove, we just chucked in everything we thought we might need without worrying about baggage limits. Pram, travel crib, plenty of changes of clothes, nappies. We are 5 hour drive from Dover and they tend to sleep most of it, we can do it with only 1 stop. Dfds ferry has a better children's area foam play blocks etc where you can lay them for a good stretch and shuffle around on the crossing. We like the French Aires so usually stop more than once, they are well signposted and pretty frequent. We stop at the ones with playgrounds as we have older kids with us too and usually spend a bit of time and have a picnic, take a blanket again so baby can have some unrestrained time.

Get it booked it's great. 😁
 

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