When I started sharing about our most recent Disney trip, I began to get a lot of questions about schedules. Specifically how we handled naps, feeding, and general baby life in the middle of Disney World. I’ll be honest, I was nervous about what this would look like but I was pleasantly surprised by how it all went down. I wanted to share with you some tips that we learned on our vacation with our 5 month old that you can put into action when you go to Disney with your bebe.
Prioritize night sleep
Sleep is important! We all know sleep matters, but don’t stress super hard about nap times. Going back to your hotel for nap times is a little bit of a pain and results in your family or part of your family missing out on that Disney life. For us we prioritized night time sleeping. We never woke Hilde up in the morning, we always let her wake up on her own. We also kept her on Colorado time. So her 8 o’clock bedtime here was 10 o’clock in Disney. Which meant her 7 am wake up looked like a 9 am wake up. We thought it best just to go with this flow instead of trying to adjust her to the new time.
Let Naps come as they Need
Naps in Disney were less scheduled times and more like Hilde falling asleep when she was too tired to stay awake. There is so much to look at that “making” her go to sleep wasn’t working, but she would fall asleep when she needed. She slept in the stroller, in the carrier, and in our arms. Quite often she would fall asleep while nursing and I would move her to the stroller to continue her nap. It worked great for us! I thought about bringing a sound machine for the stroller but the background Disney life is practically just that! haha.
Use Child Swap for Big Rides
Child Swap is a thing Disney offers for rides that the whole family cannot go on. If you are doing any ride with a height limit, you can go to the cast members at the front by the fast pass station and let them know you are doing child swap. Then they will scan the magic band of you and up to two other people. That means two people get to go again right after the ride. Everyone besides the person waiting with the baby goes on the ride and then when they come back out, you and the two people who get to go again go to the FastPass line while the rest of the family waits with the baby. You can do child swap for rides that you are waiting in the normal line and lines that you are doing FastPass – just let the people at the front know what you are doing.
Babies and children under the height limit for a ride cannot even be in the line for a ride so you have to wait outside for you party to get through the line and off the ride. I didn’t have an issue with this – I just wandered around, nursed Hilde, and bought myself snacks! haha.
Bring Baby on all the Other Rides & Shows
Anything that does not have a high limit is for the whole family! Baby can sit on laps or in the carrier for so many rides and shows! You’ll be surprised how much babies can actually do with you!
Dealing with Dirty Diapers
All restrooms (Men’s & Women’s) have a changing table so no matter what bathroom is nearest to you at the moment, you will be good to go. A couple times there were lines at the changing tables in the women’s bathroom so Bruce took Hilde into the men’s restroom. This is the best place to change a diaper because you can easily throw that diaper away instead of holding onto it.
There is also a baby station in every park. These have a nursing room, a room full of changing tables, and a store filled with any baby item you may need. Keep this in mind if you run out of something or forgot something.
Fit in feeding with your own schedule
Like I mentioned in my last post on what to bring to Disney, I brought our nursing cover and nursed her all over the place. While waiting for child swap, while eating, while riding rides, etc. Whenever I was sitting down already, I made that the time that Hilde was nursing so that it didn’t take away from experiencing Disney. Even if you are not nursing, I suggest offering snacks, meals, and bottles during this “sitting” times.
For sit-down restaurants that we had to park our stroller outside for, we got a high chair. This helped Hilde have a place to sit after she ate and while we were eating. All Disney restaurants offer high chairs so you can put your baby at the table with you. Keep in mind that they do need to be included in your party size so you get a table that can hold a highchair.
Go with the flow
Days at Disney with a baby look different, that is just how it is. But it can be a lot of fun! Honestly, it is nice to have a reason to slow down, eat some food, sit somewhere cool, and do slow rides. We used to have a “Disney Walk” where we would pass all the families but now we are the family being passed! There are seasons for it all!
Food, rides, and naps. I think that about covers it! Don’t let having a baby discourage you from doing a day at Disney! They are only free for so long so enjoy it while you can 😉
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