Well we did it! We took our 5 month old to Disney and survived. Not only survived, we thrived – it was an absolute blast! I know so many people say to wait to go to Disney when the kids are older but some of us just like Disney all the time! And while those babies are 2 and under (so until they turn 3) they are FREE! We just rolled Hilde through the ticket gates at Disney every morning. Babies bring with them their extra baggage and complication but honestly it wasn’t as intimidating as I thought it would be. Everything went smoother than I could have anticipated and while Hilde may not remember anything from this trip, we will! And she will have plenty of photos to look back on.
I started a post that was called “Everything you need to know about bringing a baby to Disney” and once I hit 2000 words not even halfway in, I knew I needed to split up all the posts! So this is the first of many and once they are all published, I will make sure to link them all together for easy reading! This post is all about what to bring with you!
What to Bring to Disney with a Baby
Bring a Stroller
If you are bringing a baby, you need a stroller. It is so nice to not have to carry them the whole time plus strollers are nice for entertaining, napping, and carrying around all your stuff. Personally, I think it is worth it to bring your own stroller instead of renting. You know how your stroller works, your baby knows your stroller, and you will have it no matter where you go (you don’t need to worry about picking up a stroller at the park every day.) I also recommend bringing a stroller with storage space. It is so nice to not have to carry around everything. We threw all our water bottles, backpacks, coats, the carrier, and diaper bag in the stroller for the day!
If you bring a stroller, you need to be able to fold it up for bus rides between parks and to your hotel but you do not need to fold it up for the monorail or anywhere else.
Worried about your stroller being stolen? We were but it turned out not to be an issue at all! Here are some quick tips for that:
- Have a stroller that is easy to recognize or make your stroller stand out. Our white UppaBaby Vista was easy to find in stroller parking and less temping to thieves because it didn’t blend in. We also added a fun stroller toy to the handle that not only was fun for Hilde, also made our stroller more obvious. You may think blending in will help you but it is the opposite, standing out helps more.
- Put your name on your stroller or a photo of the family. It deters people from pretending it is theirs because it is more risky.
- Add a Tile or smart device. We hid a tile in our stroller. Because of the way it works this isn’t suuuper helpful. But if your stroller get stolen you can alert other tile users and it will show up when near them so they can help you locate it again.
- Take a wheel off & throw it in your backpack when you go on rides and have to park your stroller. You can also use a bike lock but you cannot lock it to anything besides itself because it is a safety hazard.
- Don’t leave valuables (cameras, wallets, etc) in the stroller when you park them but feel free to leave coats, blankets, your carrier, the popcorn bucket, etc – you don’t need to carry all that in line.
One more thing, if you are bringing your own stroller, get a travel bag for it. We bought the UppaBaby Vista travel case for our stroller to prevent it from getting dirty and damaged in flight. We still check it at the gate so we can have the stroller in the airport with us, but we just fold it down and zip it up right before we board. PS: If you have an UppaBaby stroller and get their case, make sure to fill out the warranty form because they cover any damages that happen while your stroller is in one of their bags (or car seats!)
Bring a Carrier
I read that it is important to bring both a stroller and carrier when doing Disney with a baby and I 100% agree. We needed both of them. Like I mentioned above, we had this in a bag that we kept in the stroller all day. When we had to park the stroller for a line or homegirl just needed a nap, we would bring out the carrier. I recommend one that is easy for both mom & dad (or aunt 😉 ) so that one person doesn’t always get left out during nap time. We love our Lillebaby Baby Carrier and it was perfect for this trip! So easy to put on and off! And so cozy for baby girl.
Bring the Diaper Bag (with Extra Outfits)
I went for two a day – another outfit and a pair of jammies. You never know when babies will poop and it would not be fun to have to get all the way back to your hotel room to change them. Bring a ziplock bag for poop clothes and extra outfits and you will be golden! Hilde did poop in her outfit one day and I was so thankful for a backup. Ironically it was her Winnie the Pooh outfit that she pooped in. haha. Also obviously bring extra wipes and diapers to cover all the messes!
Also make sure your diaper bag is properly packed every morning with enough diapers, wipes, sunscreen, back up pacifiers, and hand sanitizer. If you forget anything at home or even at your hotel, you can buy any baby related thing at the baby care stations located in each park. Even though we didn’t use this, I thought it was super cool.
Bring Bags (or get one of the reusable Disney bags)
Since you will have a stroller, you can carry around more things and it is SO nice! Bring that water bottle and sweatshirts for when the sun goes down. But remember that you will need to fold up the stroller for the bus so having a bag to throw all the loose things in is essential. We got a medium reusable bag for about a dollar and used it to throw all the random stuff in for getting onto the bus. It was so helpful.
Bring a Nursing Cover
There is a nursing room in the baby station at every park but you do not need to go there every time to feed your baby. In fact, I never did that. I just nursed Hilde wherever we were. When we sat down for food, it was always an easy time to feed her but I also fed her on rides (Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, It’s a Small World) and during shows (The Hall of Presidents, The American Adventure, Frozen, The Muppet Show). Having a baby does slow you down a bit, but there are plenty of beautiful places to hang out and eat a snack while you nurse in Disney!
Bring Disney Outfits / Money for Souvenirs
Babies are the cutest in Disney thing so I brought a bunch of fun Disney outfits for Hilde. I also knew I wanted to buy some souvenirs while we were there. Specifically a hat with her name on it. We announced our pregnancy at Disney and I just think the hats are a fun keepsake as they grow! We also picked up her adorable Winnie the Pooh Outfit at Disney World for her to wear. Set aside some money to buy things while you are there but also bring some outfits from home because you can save money by shopping not at Disney! Plus I found way more things I wanted at Target and GAP then actually at Disney.
Bring toys & pacifiers that attach
Things can easily get thrown out of the stroller while you are walking down Main Street or dropped on the bathroom floor. To prevent this, make sure you have clips for all your pacifiers and keep them clipped to the stroller or baby at all times. I also like to have a backup just in case. Also, make sure your toys attach! We love our fox spiral toy that hooks onto the stroller because Hilde cannot throw it out – it’s stuck! But she still can play with it!
And that about sums it up! It is much more than what we used to bring. Bruce and I prided ourselves by how little we would bring into the parks (aka phone and magic band) but now life looks a little bit different. The stroller helps because you really can just use it as a pack mule for all the things! Did we miss anything that you think is a must for bringing to Disney with a baby? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
