Traveling with 17 month old

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DisneyJunky

New Member
Original Poster
So, in March my wife and I will be returning to the place we were engaged at back in 2004. This time we will have a new addition in tow ;). I have to admit, the trip is just as much for us, as it is for our daughter so I had a few questions:

How does the parent swap thing work? One of us goes on the ride, then the next? Do we have to wait in line a second time? Does it work in conjunction with the fast pass?

Aside from the rides like Small world, peter pan and things of that nature, is there anything else I can take my daughter on? Can we bring her into the 3d movie attractions? She'll be too little to really understand but we will be with my sister/nephew/niece who are old enough so would be nice if we could go together. She is well behaved as of now (1 year old) ;) i would hate it if she started crying in the middle of it...anyone have experience with this? Could I just take her and leave? Should I avoid it all together? I mean it is disney, kids must freak out all the time in rides/attractions. LOL. I've seen it many times but it never bothers me because after all, they are kids and it happens especially with long disney days and heat.

I plan on bringing my own stroller...good or bad idea? It doesn't recline fully. I'm ok with buying one that does before hand or should I just rent one at the park?
 
Bravo 229

Bravo 229

Member
DisneyJunky said:
So, in March my wife and I will be returning to the place we were engaged at back in 2004. This time we will have a new addition in tow ;). I have to admit, the trip is just as much for us, as it is for our daughter so I had a few questions:

How does the parent swap thing work? One of us goes on the ride, then the next? Do we have to wait in line a second time? Does it work in conjunction with the fast pass?

Aside from the rides like Small world, peter pan and things of that nature, is there anything else I can take my daughter on? Can we bring her into the 3d movie attractions? She'll be too little to really understand but we will be with my sister/nephew/niece who are old enough so would be nice if we could go together. She is well behaved as of now (1 year old) ;) i would hate it if she started crying in the middle of it...anyone have experience with this? Could I just take her and leave? Should I avoid it all together? I mean it is disney, kids must freak out all the time in rides/attractions. LOL. I've seen it many times but it never bothers me because after all, they are kids and it happens especially with long disney days and heat.

I plan on bringing my own stroller...good or bad idea? It doesn't recline fully. I'm ok with buying one that does before hand or should I just rent one at the park?
Click to expand...

Child Swap: one person waits with the child while the other rides and then they switch. Some attractions have different ways of handling Child Swap, so make sure to ask the CM out front for details. I would assume it works the same with FP, but never done it though.

My niece is 19 months old, and we've taken her on pretty much every ride that doesn't have a height restriction, including a couple of the 3D films. We haven't had to leave a theatre, but you can do so if need be. The best thing to do is try to see the shows, and worst case scenario, you may have to leave a show early. My niece fell asleep during a couple of shows, so you never know what will happen!

As for a stroller, I would say that comes down to your personal preference. Hope that helps!
 
M

MDinMD

New Member
We took my son for his first visit when he was two and my daughter was 7 mos. for her 1st trip. It was great. We took our own stroller since cost of rentingg one can be almost what you pay to buy one in some cases.

My kids love all the rides. They are 5 and 2 now. Headed down in December for their 5th trip. We found taking the glasses off for 3d shows helps. The Tres Caballeros Ride and Nemo were hits for my kids in addition to all those in Magic!
 
SAV

SAV

Well-Known Member
Buying a compact, reclining stroller and bringing it would be my suggestion. There are many out there and everyone has their own opinion on which one to get. There are many threads on this subject, so I don't want to turn this into another one of them. Search will bring those up.

Child swap is easy. All 3 of you wait in line. When you get to the CM, tell them you will be doing child swap. One goes on the ride, one waits with the child. Then the other parent goes on when the first gets back.

Be careful if you take the child into "It's tough to be a bug" in AK. It is pretty intense in there and many young children freak out and have to be taken out screaming.
 
D

dinandmick

Member
We are leaving in a few weeks with our 19 month old. Her first trip was at 9 months and we went to all the 3D shows and gave her a bottle. Now that she is more aware, I am nervous about her reaction. My plan is to sit on the far end of the row in case we'd have to exit.

Each attraction we did the child swap on, we saw the cast member at the outside of the attraction and they gave us a fastpass/childswap pass. The other person waited outside the attraction. This is a good time for diaper changes or snack time.

I personally wouldn't rent a stroller from the park. They are expensive and don't look very comfortable. There are a couple stroller rental companies that will deliver and pick up the stroller from your resort.

Have a fantastic time. :wave:
 
Batphobic

Batphobic

Member
Someone said you all wait in line... that's now how it has ever worked for me.

Yes, it does work with fast passes.

So this is how we've always done it:

(we use child swap passes all the time -- we have 2 adults, older kids who can go on everything, and little kids who can't go on lots of stuff)

Family goes and gets fast passes for the attraction (actually, I usually run and get them). When fast passes are usable, the whole family walks up to the attraction and asks the cast member for a child swap pass. That cast member usually looks over the family, ensuring that there is indeed 2 adults and at least one child that can't go on the ride therefore meriting the child swap. The cast member hands the child swap pass to the parent staying behind. And then the parent going on first can jump into the fast pass line and go on the attraction.

Stroller: We always take ours. So... can't really comment on the rentals, but they don't look very comfortable. Our kids take naps in our reclining strollers every day we're there.

Regarding things that might be too scary... I might be a horrible parent but I'm at Disney as much for myself as I am for the kids... so I make them go on everything. Also maybe I'm just lucky not to have cry-baby kids... but they never cry or wail or anything like that. If they don't like something they just bury their head in my arm and I tell them when it's over.
 

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