My 1 year old at Disney

[WDWNeighbor]

Hi everyone,
For all of you out there who might hesitate to bring your 1 year old to Disney, I just want to encourage everyone to do what they think will be best based on THEIR child's personality. We are fortunate to have APs and started taking my son recently, his first trip was on his first birthday, and he has been doing great! He absolutely LOVES the characters and has not been afraid on a single ride, including the Haunted Mansion. Only one ride -- part of Figment -- scared him (for some reason, he does not like the scene with the upside down house?!?!? No idea why???) :shrug: He has even napped in his stroller during his usual naptime when we were at EPCOT enjoying the F&W Fest. So for anyone who might be discouraged by people saying "oh they are too young", don't be if you think your kid is ready. The photos we have from our trips have made it so worth it. And watching his reaction to it all and all of the extra smiles, just warms a mom's heart. He even waves to all of the other "children" (i.e. animatronic figures) on It's a Small World. :lol:
Bottom line is, you know your kids better than anyone else. Just my two cents on the never-ending debate about when to first take your children.

 

[Auroragirl]

So true!!!!

The first time we took our DD's was in 2007... we had a 4yr old and a 6mth old. We had a blast!!!

Next trip... was Sept 2009; 7 and 2 yrs. Best part, the little one was free On this trip the baby enjoyed everything!! It was wonderful.

Then again this year; 8 and 3... We had a great time... however, I did notice that the 'baby' wasn't too happy on the 'dark' rides. We know now that Pirates, TTA (b/c of the Space Mountain area) and even Nemo will probably not be on our list next time, at least for now.

But we all had a great time.

 

[foreverbelle]

I agree with you 100%. We brought our son this year, on his 1st and then back at 18 months. I don't think your kid is ever to young to go. You are right you just have to go with their personalities, and to keep in mind that they could change. There were rides he went on at a year but at 18 months he was a little scared of...hoping this will go away. But you are so right, you are never to you nor to old to go to Disney.

 

[accord99cutie]

I am glad to hear how your trip went seeing that we are going next fall two weeks after our youngest turns one If you have any special tips for me I'd love to hear them!!

 

[WDWNeighbor]

Biggest tips I have, which have all been mentioned on the discussion boards at one time or another are:

1. Try to make a breakfast reservation for the Crystal Palace before the Magic Kingdom opens ... getting those pictures without the crowds in the background are so worth it and my son loved starting the day with Winnie the Pooh, etc.

2. Do Dumbo first when the park first opens (do not pass Go, do not collect $200, DO NOT stop to take photos on the way!)

3. Don't be afraid to try to the bigger rides (i.e. Haunted Mansion and Pirates -- my son loves both so far, completely fascinated) Worse thing that could happen is that your child doesn't like it, but you won't know until you try.

4. Use Baby Care Centers at all of the parks (they are constantly cleaning the changing pad areas, so you don't have to worry about wiping it down and if you want them to wipe it down just to be sure, the cast members will gladly do that for you)

5. If you think your child can nap in their stroller, then give it a shot. My son won't nap in his stroller on a daily basis, but will at Disney with no problem. Worse case scenario, you go back to your hotel in the afternoon.

6. No matter what food they eat at home, it doesn't mean they won't eat them at the parks (i.e. my son doesn't eat chicken nuggets at home, but will at Disney -- maybe they put some kind of baby drugs in them??? :lol

7. Take advantage of Baby Swap at the adult rides.

8. Use shows like Country Bear Jamboree, Festival of the Lion King, etc., for a break from holding your child in line. If yours is anything like mine, he will be trying to wiggle out of your arms to grab everything in sight (i.e. chains along the lines, other people's hats, sunglasses, etc).

9. Go see the characters at the Character Connection at EPCOT when it first opens -- the Fab Five are all there, one after another -- makes it SOOOOO easy!

10. Use little play areas, like the ones at the Living Seas with Nemo, Mission: Space, by Splash Mountain, etc. to let them blow off some steam. If they are walking, there are even more options (i.e. maze by UK at Epcot, Boneyard at AK and probably more I can't think of right now).

11. If you happen to be at the Magic Kingdom for the fireworks and your child is scared, then go to the Baby Center. The walls are soundproof in there so they won't hear a thing. (We haven't taken him to see fireworks yet, so no idea how he will act, but he did pop a latex balloon in his face once and just went along his merry way acting like nothing happened. )

12. If you are going during the warmer months, then make sure to bring a little water misting fan and take breaks in the A/C. The little ones get overheated much faster than we do!

If I think of any else, I will post them.

 

[becanya]

So true!!!!

The first time we took our DD's was in 2007... we had a 4yr old and a 6mth old. We had a blast!!!

Next trip... was Sept 2009; 7 and 2 yrs. Best part, the little one was free On this trip the baby enjoyed everything!! It was wonderful.

Then again this year; 8 and 3... We had a great time... however, I did notice that the 'baby' wasn't too happy on the 'dark' rides. We know now that Pirates, TTA (b/c of the Space Mountain area) and even Nemo will probably not be on our list next time, at least for now.

But we all had a great time.

We had the same experience w/ our 2.5 year old this year. Last year she did everything and this year she was scared of the dark rides. Even the great movie ride.

 

[cbettua]

I am going in 4 days with my almost 1 year old. I can't wait!

 

[KC82271]

WDWNeighbor - couldn't have said it better myself! The only one I would like to add is - rather than go back to the hotel for a nap if the carriage doesn't work - try riding the Railroad at the MK, the train out to Rafiki in AK or the Monorail at either MK or Epcot for a calming effect that will put them to sleep. DD is 5.5 and our trip 3 weeks ago was the first she didn't nap. But 9 trips prior, she napped everyday. It was great - she knew getting on the Railroad at MK that it was time to chill and she would just fall right to sleep - but we did it for 4 years straight - so her body knew!!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

I know this thread is a few months old now but I just wanted to thank everyone for their input, we just booked a trip for September at which point our daughter will be just shy of her first birthday. Not that I was worried about taking a very young child or anything, but these comments and tips are terrific.

I know my wife and I are very much looking forward to the trip and giving Ella here first Disney experience. Even if she may not remember it herself, we certainly will!

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

We took our son at 8 months and 15 months. No regrets.

 

[foreverbelle]

I know this thread is a few months old now but I just wanted to thank everyone for their input, we just booked a trip for September at which point our daughter will be just shy of her first birthday. Not that I was worried about taking a very young child or anything, but these comments and tips are terrific.

I know my wife and I are very much looking forward to the trip and giving Ella here first Disney experience. Even if she may not remember it herself, we certainly will!

And believe me, those memories, are worth a lifetime...

 

[Matt and Kelly]

And believe me, those memories, are worth a lifetime...

Yeah, that's what we are counting on. It's going to be very special for all involved even if it's going to be a much different trip than we are used to.

 

[bmarkelon]

I totally agree with you too! My oldest had her first trip at 14 months, she is now 6 and has been to Disney 4 times. My monkey in the middle had his first trip at 11 months, he is 3 and has been 3 times. And the baby had her first trip at 5 months. Our next trip is in August, bring it on! We have never struggled and always have a magical time. You just have to plan ahead and plan for their needs.

 

[yankeevttch]

Thank you for bumping this thread. We are going in Oct with my DS. He will be one in Sept and this will be he first trip!!

 

[meganwdw]

Thank you for bumping this thread! We're going in May when our twins will be just shy of 15 months! SO EXCITED!:sohappy:

 

[redfive13]

We had the same experience w/ our 2.5 year old this year. Last year she did everything and this year she was scared of the dark rides. Even the great movie ride.

We've taken our daughter at 10mos & 18mos and she did awesome!!! I think this year, she'll be 2.5 also, is gonna have a hard time with the dark rides. She's just starting to be concerned with shadows and "monsters"... Wish us luck!

 

[sbkline]

We left our son with grandma on two different occasions before bringing him last year on his first trip at 3, going on 4. By that time, we had a daughter, who was about 10 months old and we left HER with Grandma. For our upcoming trip, we have been planning all along to leave her with Grandma again before taking her for her first time next year. This week, we started talking about taking her and were really weighing the pros and cons, and for now we've come to the "final" decision to go ahead and leave her home again. I put it in quotation marks because we could, of course, always change our mind, since she is under 3 and wouldn't cost anything extra to add her on at the last minute.

Sometimes she gets a bee in her bonnet over something and will cry all the way to church, and we're not sure we want to listen to that all the way to Florida. :lol: We're not sure how it would work with all the sleeping arrangements. Would she be able to fall asleep in a playpen right there in the room with the TV on and all of us pacing around making noise? Would we have to come back to the room earlier than originally planned for her to go to bed? I don't know, but we were very leary about taking that chance. My wife doesn't like alot of the rides that require a height requirement, so she would only affect a small amount of rides, such as Test Track, and some at Universal, but we ended up deciding, like we have in the past, that a child that young might be more of a liability on a big trip like that.

There always seem to be strong opinions on this subject. I've seen some people practically accuse someone of being an unfit parent if the don't take their child to WDW, and I've seen the other end of the spectrum, where some have practically being accused of being unfit if they DO take their kid. Of course, each parent has to make his own decision on what is best, and we have tentatively decided to make one last trip with just our son, and then introduce our daughter to "the world" next year.